Which heavyweights unified belts?

[jiopsi]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...ns#Heavyweight

Here's a list of all undis[oted heavyweight champions ever............. crazy to believe the last unification showdown was 15 years ago.

Thanks for the list, I'll try to go through that list.

Holding champions beat to unifying the belts:

Mike Tyson

Tony Tucker (IBF)
James Smith (WBA)
Trevor Berbick (WBC)

Lennox Lewis

Evander Holyfield (WBA, IBF)
vacant (WBC)

Joe Frazier

Jimmy Ellis (WBA)
vacant (WBC, NYSAC)

Muhammad Ali

George Foreman (WBC, WBA)
vacant (NABF)

Ernie Terrel (WBA)
Sonny Liston (World Heavyweight)

[TBear]

Thanks for the list, I'll try to go through that list.

Holding champions beat to unifying the belts:

Mike Tyson

Trevor Berbick (WBC)
James Smith (WBA)
Tony Tucker (IBF)

Lennox Lewis

Evander Holyfield (WBA, IBF)
vacant (WBC)

Joe Frazier

Jimmy Ellis (WBA)
vacant (WBC, NYSAC)

Muhammad Ali

George Foreman (WBC, WBA)
vacant (NABF)

Muhammad Ali also unified against Ernie Terrell. The WBA was unhappy that Ali was to rematch Liston and stripped him of the title. Ernie Terrell ended up winning that title and eventually fought Ali who was still recognized as heavyweight champ.

[jiopsi]

Muhammad Ali also unified against Ernie Terrell. The WBA was unhappy that Ali was to rematch Liston and stripped him of the title. Ernie Terrell ended up winning that title and eventually fought Ali who was still recognized as heavyweight champ.

Yeah true, edited it in the previous post.

[Dynamite76]

Thanks for the list, I'll try to go through that list.

Holding champions beat to unifying the belts:

Mike Tyson

Tony Tucker (IBF)
James Smith (WBA)
Trevor Berbick (WBC)

Lennox Lewis

Evander Holyfield (WBA, IBF)
vacant (WBC)

Joe Frazier

Jimmy Ellis (WBA)
vacant (WBC, NYSAC)

Muhammad Ali

George Foreman (WBC, WBA)
vacant (NABF)

Ernie Terrel (WBA)
Sonny Liston (World Heavyweight)

Lewis already had the WBC title when he unified against Holyfield the second time.The NABF is a regional title.

[jiopsi]

Lewis already had the WBC title when he unified against Holyfield the second time.The NABF is a regional title.

Yeah but he didn't beat holding champion to it.

[soul_survivor]

Muhammad Ali also unified against Ernie Terrell. The WBA was unhappy that Ali was to rematch Liston and stripped him of the title. Ernie Terrell ended up winning that title and eventually fought Ali who was still recognized as heavyweight champ.

was just about to say that.

However, what is the point of this thread? I think unifications have lost all credibility over the last 15 years or so, especially in the heavyweight division where there are God knows how many titles, regular/super champs and so on.

Edit:
Tyson beating the champs for WBA/WBC/IBF meant something at the time because the IBF was pretty new and the WBA/WBC normally went hand in hand in the heavyweight division. Now the WBA can crown 2 or 3 champs per division which is ridiculous.

[jiopsi]

was just about to say that.

However, what is the point of this thread? I think unifications have lost all credibility over the last 15 years or so, especially in the heavyweight division where there are God knows how many titles, regular/super champs and so on.

Edit:
Tyson beating the champs for WBA/WBC/IBF meant something at the time because the IBF was pretty new and the WBA/WBC normally went hand in hand in the heavyweight division. Now the WBA can crown 2 or 3 champs per division which is ridiculous.

The point is to find fighters who truly cleaned up the division. For me Lennox, didn't really clean up the division even though he had all the belts. He won WBC champ, but at the same time he didn't fight WBA or IBF. Then when he won WBA/IBF he just fought random guy to WBC.

Frazier, Douglas, Holyfield and Bowe didn't clean up the division either when they were the undisputed champions.

For me that creates a certain respect for Tyson, who truly fought and beat everything in front and side of him, Ali too.

[K-DOGG]

Well, I guess John L. Sullivan would get the first nod, as he unified the American and British versions.

Then, you have to give Max Schmeling credit for unifying the European and NBA (American) championship with his foul win over Jack Sharkey.

Then' Ali when he beat Terrell.

Frazier when he beat Ellis and Ali.

Tyson when he beat Smith, Tucker, and Spinks.

Lewis when he beat Holyfield.

Wladimir has unified every title but the WBC......so, that's about it, I think.

[MisterHardtop]

If I may, I'd like to go off topic to a certain extent and talk about unifications in general.
Unifying titles is as old as boxing itself, something many new fans or younger fans may not realise. For as long as various commissions, states, nations and continents have reocgnised titles and "world" champions, there have been unification bouts. Yes, the idea of an undisputed champion may be relatively new (I don't remember much mention of that term in my early years of watching the sport) but there were always fights to decide the lineal or true champion within a division.

In the 1920s both the NYSAC and NBA both recognised champions and even when they both recognised the same champion, especially in the glamour division, there could be issues with the fighters one organisation favoured over another or in some cases, when one body disliked the idea of a rematch. So championships were split, with Europe at times wading into the argument.

So, although unification may seem a modern conundrum and it is certainly exaggerated by the alphabet bodies, it is a problem as old as the sport itself.

[K-DOGG]

If I may, I'd like to go off topic to a certain extent and talk about unifications in general.
Unifying titles is as old as boxing itself, something many new fans or younger fans may not realise. For as long as various commissions, states, nations and continents have reocgnised titles and "world" champions, there have been unification bouts. Yes, the idea of an undisputed champion may be relatively new (I don't remember much mention of that term in my early years of watching the sport) but there were always fights to decide the lineal or true champion within a division.

In the 1920s both the NYSAC and NBA both recognised champions and even when they both recognised the same champion, especially in the glamour division, there could be issues with the fighters one organisation favoured over another or in some cases, when one body disliked the idea of a rematch. So championships were split, with Europe at times wading into the argument.

So, although unification may seem a modern conundrum and it is certainly exaggerated by the alphabet bodies, it is a problem as old as the sport itself.

Very true. Nice post.

...and, to use a tongue in cheek quip, I read once, "If any champion were 'undisputed', he wouldn't have any challengers."