Enclosed are my top 15 ranked heavyweights by 20-year intervals. The criteria for the

[JAB5239]

- -How did George duck Lar when he was never a ranked fighter when George was active.

All this extraneous monkey motion in your thinking is frying your intellect.

They were both ranked top 10 in 76 and 94. FACTS!!

[JAB5239]

- -You have the Jack/Gene scorecards is it?

Rich, and you have the full fight footage too?

Wow, you sound like an expert!

And you've seen the Pep/Robinson amateur fight even though no one else in the world has. Aren't you the pot calling the kettle black? Rich!!

[DeeMoney]

Doing anytime of rankings with arbitrary time bands (in this case 20 years) always produces some odd cutoff points.

You don't have Ali ranked at all in the Golden Era band, despite having a 4-0 mark against that group by the end of 1965, the marked cutoff year. Any thoughts of ranking him in both eras, as his career didn't fit nicely within? I know you wrote you only wanted to list fighters once, but you did rank Charles twice.

You shortened the TV Expansion era a few years to better fit with the rise of Eastern Europeans. Had you extended it to the full 20 years do you think it would have looked different?

Nice Work, always fun stuff

[billeau2]

Enclosed are my top 15 ranked heavyweights by 20-year intervals. The criteria for the ranking as follows.

1 ) Head to head vs. the field, which is strictly my personal opinion. 40%

2 ) Resume of wins and losses, excluding losses that happened when a fighter was passed their prime. 30%

3 ) The distinction of the fighter as champion by beating top contenders in title matches if applicable. 20%

4 ) Historians input, which matters most to fighters, not on film. 10%
I will try to list each fighter only once, placing him closest to his prime years. I am also open to shifting the ratings a bit, as this is the 1st draft. So constructive feedback with explanations is most welcome.

1885-1905 Pioneer era: The transitional time between bare knuckles and London Prize-ring rules to Queensberry rules.

1.Jeffries
2.Fitzsimmons
3A. Jackson
3B. Corbett
5. Sullivan
6. Sharkey
7. Slavin
8. Ruhlin
9. Goddard
10. Griffin
11. Maher
12. Choynski
13. Hart
14. McCoy
15. O’Brien


1906-1925 Black and white filmed era:

1. Dempsey
2. Tunney
3. J Johnson
4. Langford
5. Wills
6. Jeanette
7. McVey
8. Willard
9. Greb
10. Gibbons
11. Burns
12. Miske
13. Godfrey
14. Norfolk
15. Smith

1926-1945 Great Depression to World War II: An era where war and the great depression in the USA hurt boxing. I have trouble with the bottom of this list, as the depth is rather thin.

1. Louis
2. Charles
3. Schmeling
4. M Baer
5. Carnera
6. Godfrey
7. Moore
8. Bivins
9. Schaff
10. Conn
11. *****
12. Pastor
13. Farr
14. Loughran
15. Galento

1946-1965 Golden age era:

1. Liston
2. Marciano
3. Patterson
4. Walcott
5. Charles
6. Johansson
7. Ray
8. Terrell
9. Machen
10. Folley
11. Williams
12. H. Johnson
13. Valdes
14. D Jones
15. Chuvalo




1966-1985: TV expansion to Cable and PPV: This era is loaded with talent.

1. Ali
2. Holmes
3. Foreman
4. Frazier
5. Norton
6. Witherspoon
7. Thomas
8. Quarry
9. Page
10. Coetzee
11. Shavers
12. Lyle
13. Cooney
14. Young
15. Weaver


1986-2003: 12 round era and super heavyweight era. This era had tremendous depth and a lot of talent.

1. Lewis
2. Holyfield
3. Tyson
4. Bowe
5. Ibeabuchi
6.Byrd
7. Moorer
8. Mercer
9. Douglas
10. Tua
11. Morrison
12. Bruno
13. Rhaman
14. Ruiz
15. McCall




2004-2024 – Eastern European dominance era. While this era is only half over, the nations producing the top talent has shifted. Once the iron curtain in Eastern Europe fell both the amateur and professional ranks have been dominated by Eastern Europeans. Only 2 Americans made the top ten. Since many of the below fighters career’s are over, and future talent in the amateurs will arrive, this list will likely look very different after the Klitshcko’s come 2026. It is possible young pros such as Joshua will rate in the next 4 years. Hopefully, we will all be here to debate it!

1A. V Klitschko
1B. W Kltischko
3. Povetkin
4. Joshua* Still active
5. Fury* Still active
6. Chagaev
7. Sanders
8. Ibragimov
9. Wilder * Still active
10. Haye
11. Adamek
12. Chambers
13. Brewster
14. Peter
15. Valuev


*** If Pulev beats Joshua, he's on the list ***

Whether we agree or not, it's a matter of opinion to some degree. At least you put in the work and were willing to share. Salute.

I agree with T. Frankly I don't know how you guys do it... I cannot make a list with 1/10th the criteria lol.
Thanks for sharing

[Dr. Z]

I agree with T. Frankly I don't know how you guys do it... I cannot make a list with 1/10th the criteria lol.
Thanks for sharing

Thanks.

Boxing has changed so much over the years; I felt I had to break it down by intervals. I mean what champion today could go 25 rounds with no mouthguard, horsehair light gloves that split and mark people up quickly, no cut man or enswell, a metal cup that can do more harm than good, and a ref that let's them fight...in the heat of the outdoors or a stuffy air-conditioned area?

In a similar fashion, what chance would a heavyweight from 100 years have today vs. a man who has the benefit of " nutrition." , 100 years of training, and for the most part would be fighting an opponent 2-3 weight classes bigger than he is?

[Dr. Z]

- -You have the Jack/Gene scorecards is it?

Rich, and you have the full fight footage too?

Wow, you sound like an expert!

I've been a participant ( Not professional ), fan, and student of the history of the game since the 1980's.

No, in the first fight round 7 is not on film. It would be rare if you find it. Tunney won this round easily. Round by round reports will show you that.

However you can see most of the action of the first fight, which I think was rain delayed here.

Are we allowed to post you tube links?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rkwNb4IQXY.

[QueensburyRules]

I've been a participant ( Not professional ), fan, and student of the history of the game since the 1980's.

No, in the first fight round 7 is not on film. It would be rare if you find it. Tunney won this round easily. Round by round reports will show you that.

However you can see most of the action of the first fight, which I think was rain delayed here.

Are we allowed to post you tube links?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rkwNb4IQXY.

- -Two min rds of two Ten rd fights of worn out fuzzy jumpy film ain't shush.

Drunken fight writers reports is the last refuge of documentation just like today.

What I saw was an even fight save for the notorious 14 sec count that Jacks understudy Tyson suffered from vs Douglas.

[GhostofDempsey]

Good lists.

'26 - 45, I'd include Sharkey and possibly Braddock.

'46 - 65, I'd bump Charles ahead of Patterson, and Williams in the top ten. I agree, Liston beats Marciano. Rocky got knocked down by smaller, lighter punchers in Moore and Charles, and Liston's boxing was highly underrated.

[QueensburyRules]

They were both ranked top 10 in 76 and 94. FACTS!!

- -Slight of hand stuff about how boxing disorganized everything it touches.

https://boxrec.com/media/index.php/T..._Ratings:_1976

Note 76 was actually chosen in March of 77 by which time George had retired, so fer shlts and giggles check out who Lar fought that March buried in the undercard, why it's none other than novice Horace Robinson...WoW

Same deal with the 94 rankings chosen in 95 by which George had aleady made two title defenses.

U a treasure that just keeps on giving...literally priceless!

[Rockin']

I'd have Godfrey equal Primo given the fixes. Both fought loads of fixed fights or at least suspected to be fixed, Primo got favors while Godfrey got cuffs.

What was Godfreys story, I haven't heard about him.........Rockin'