Who's Number 1: "Greatest Records"

[butterfly1964]

WHO'S NUMBER 1?! WHO'S NUMBER 1?! WHO'S NUMBER 1?! WHO'S NUMBER 1?!
FROM THE CINDERELLA STORIES THAT GAVE US REASONS TO CELEBRATE,
TO THE WORST COACHES WHO JUST COULDN'T MOTIVATE,
TO THE BEST MASTERS WHEN BEING GREAT
DEPENDED ON HOW WELL YOU CAN CONCENTRATE.
FROM THE WORST TRADES BY GM'S WHO JUST COULDN'T EVALUATE,
TO THE BEST GAME 7'S THAT MADE THE HAIR ON YOUR ARMS PERCOLATE,
FROM THE BUZZER BEATERS THAT MADE YOU HAPPY THAT YOU STAYED UP LATE,
TO THE MOST OVERPLAYED MOMENTS THAT WEREN'T THAT GREAT!
TO THE NFL DRAFT BUSTS WHO JUST COULDN'T GET OUT THE GATE,
TO THE MOST OUTRAGEOUS CHARACTERS THAT YOU JUST LOVE TO HATE.
IF "WHO'S NUMBER 1?" IS THE TOPIC THAT YOU LOVE TO DEBATE,
THEN SMILE, 'CAUSE YOU NO LONGER HAVE TO WAIT!
YOU SEE THIS IS NOT A COMMERCIAL, THE SHOW HAS ALREADY BEGUN.
SO WHO'S NUMBER 1?! WHO'S NUMBER 1?! WHO'S NUMBER 1?

Who's Number 1?


"Greatest Records"

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to "Who's Number 1". I'm your host, butterfly1964. World records happen all the time, not just in boxing, but other sports and events. Some happen that are obsure, some, that are easy to break, etc. But Once in a while, a record comes along that is written in stone, because that record is so far ahead second place that it more than likely will never be broken. I have compiled the twenty greatest records of all-time.









20

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20. Young Otto (Most First Round Knockouts): Lightweight Young Otto could punch, boy he could punch. Although he never got a shot at a world title in his entire career, he still fought some decent fighters and managed to win many fights in under 3 minutes. So many, that no one else has touched this record. In his career which lasted from 1903-1924, he won fights in the first round 42 times!

To knock out someone in the first round is harder than some people think, because your opponent is also trying to win, too. And for someone to have 42 of them in a career, no matter who your fighting is something special.

Maybe he was too good. No one would give him a title shot, and I don't blame them, looking at all those one round knockouts!

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19. Mike Tyson (Most Consecutive Knockouts Starting From Professional Debut): Mike Tyson, aka "The Iron One", went on a rampage that started from March 6, 1985 and concluded on March 10, 1986. In other words, he knocked out his first 19 opponents!

When Mike Tyson burst on the scene, their were talk of him breaking all kinds of records. 11 year reign, youngest champ, and a lot of others. this one is special, too, because it provides for great marketability, if you not only win all your fights, but you win them all by knockout!

Many great fighters had decisions early in their careers, because of their inexperience, and they basically had to hone their finishing skills there, but Tyson was already a great finisher from day 1, because of all those knockouts.

I don't think that record will be broken. Nobody can knockout their first 20 opponents. I mean some people thought that Tyson couldn't do it with 19.

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18. Lamar Clark (Most Consecutive Knockouts): Talk about rampage, Tyson is not the only person to have gone on one. For exactly two years, heavyweight Lamar Clark from January 11, 1958 to January 11, 1960 posted 44 straight knockouts. Not only that, only one of them were not by the clean ko.

Lamar Clark was one of those fighters, that you kind of heard of, but you knew that his chances at success in the ring were slim, so to make up for that, he made his own claim to fame by doing all these knockouts.

That record will definetely stand forever. It hard to imagine someone who could do that.

Oh, by the way, Clark's last fight was a knockout loss in 1961 to none other than 5-0 Cassius Clay or as you might know him as, Muhammad Ali!










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This guy proved that big things sometimes can come in small packages.

17. Tommy Burns (Most Consecutive Knockouts in Title Defenses): Five foot eight inch, 181 pound Tommy Burns won the heavyweight championship in 1906, and successfully defended it 11 times. Now here's the record. The last 8 title defenses ended in knockouts.

Tommy Burns deserves a lot of credit, unlike Tyson and Clark, because they are title defenses! The people he's fighting are worthy contenders, and he flattened eight straight of them. Not even Joe Louis, who had a lot of knockouts in title defenses achieved this feat. Tommy Burns deserves a lot of credit.

It's possible that the record could have grown higher than eight, if Burns didn't run into the greatest defensive marvel of his generation, Jack Johnson!










16

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That is something you will never see again in a world title fight.

16. Bernard Hopkins (Won the Shortest Title Fight): On January 27, 1996, IBF middleweight champion Bernard hopkins squared off against Steve Frank from the Colliseum in Pheonix, Arizona. The fight lasted only 24 seconds, and Hopkins retained his title via tko!

It's like they start fighting, and before you know it, the fight's over!

Bernard Hopkins is a great figther. fast, powerful, good skills. And he was just too much for that guy.

It's one thing for a fight to end in 24 seconds. It's another thing for a world championship fight to end in 24 seconds! I can't see anyone breaking that.

Dont flinch, don't move an inch, don't even make a sound!
We'll be back like center field, at the Polo Grounds.

[butterfly1964]

Winners taking it all.
Legends taking the fall.
Quarterbacks taking the ball.
And history, recording it all.
Welcome back, to Who's Number 1.










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15. Muhammad Ali (Most Appearences on "Fight of the Year"): It's no doubt to anyone that Muhammad Ali has treated the boxing public to many great fights. Well, this record confirms it. Since 1945, The annual "Fight of the Year" award has been awarded. Well, Ali has appeared in that award 6 times! It Started in 1963 against Doug Jones, and ended in 1978 against Leon Spinks the first time. The four fights in between were Sonny Liston in 1964, Joe Frazier in 1971, George Foreman in 1974, and Joe Frazier in 1975.

Ali was such a showman. when you went to a Muhammad Ali fight, you always got your money's worth, in the pre-fight, and then the actual fight itself.

Through the years, Ali has been involved in so many great moments over the years. It's hard to overrate this guy, cause he has acheived so much that you can't help but believe he actually was "The Greatest"

To be on the "Fight of the Year" once is good. Twice, maybe three times. But 6? That is just amazing!

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14. Jack Dempsey (Most First Round Knockouts by a Champion): Jack Dempsey was a mauler and a brawler. He also became heavyweight champion of the world in 1919. He gained his reputation by knocking people out early, preferably in the first round. No champion ever did that better than Jack Dempsey. Dempsey managed to compile 25 first round knockouts, the most of any champion in history.

Dempsey was a terrifying force in the heavyweight division. he was knocking people dead in a matter of seconds. Not only that, but he did that to top contenders, not just bums or journeyman.

Being champion and doing that gets more credit, because the competition is better, than if you were doing it to nobodies your whole career, so this is better than let's say Young Otto, who never even fought for the championship and fought guys constantly with like one or two fights under their belt, sometimes none at all.

Dempsey knocked out Fred Fulton the number two contender in 18 seconds. Then he knocked out number one contender Carl Morris in 14 seconds, before hammering Jess Willard to the canvas. Dempsey was a killer!

I've never seen a fighter who was capable of taking a fighter out faster than Jack Demspey!

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13. George Foreman (Longest Span of a Beltholder): On January 22, 1973, George Foreman took the heavyweight title away from Joe Frazier. After losing to Muhammad Ali and taking a ten year hiatus, Foreman returned to the ring and captured the title again from Michael Moorer in 1994, and defended it three times before losing it to Shannon Briggs on November 22, 1997. Now think about it. From the first time Foreman won the title to the last time he lost it, 24 years, and 10 months passed! That is the longest span of any championship beltholder in boxing history!

They say the last thing to go in a fighter is his punch. Well, Foreman definetely had the punch, so he took it as far as it could take him, and 20 plus years is hard to imagine.

Some fighters win the title quickly and burn out quickly. Some fighters win the title very late for the first time. foreman won it both times! he's the oldest heavyweight champion, and one of the youngest heavyweight champions as well. the longevity of that is remarkable.

I can't believe he fought all those years and still isn't brain damaged or something! Hahahahahahahaha!!!

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Streaks are nice. But if you get right down to it, consistency is what really counts!

12. Rocky Marciano (Highest Knockout Percentage of an Undisputed Champion): Rocky Marciano clocked in at 1000 psi, so you know he could punch. And his record speaks for itself, the record that most people forget about. The fact is Marciano knocked out 88% of his opponents. That is a record for any undisputed champion of any weight class.

One of the reasons for such a high knockout percentage is because of his stamina. He would never stop throwing punches. Some fighters fade in the later rounds, but not the rock, he would carry his power into the later rounds, so he could basically knock you out at any time, and he did.

Marciano would always find a way to win, and he wasn't some sort of slick, beautiful boxer, so the only chance he had a lot of the time was to knock you out.

Besides George Foreman, nobody ever came close to Rocky Marciano in knockout percentage!

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11. Wilfredo Benitez (Youngest Champion): On March 6, 1976, Wilfred Benitez would make history. He would win the WBA light welterweight title against Antonio Cervantes. But that's not the historical part. Benitez's age was, get this, 17 years, and 6 months! No one in boxing history has won a title that young.

Can you imagine a 17 year old winning something that great in other sports, that's like a high school varsity football player leading an NFL team to the Superbowl!

He started at an early age, and he took advantage of that, and was able to win it at such a young age. That probably is one of the greatest achievements in sports history.

It's funny, because no one will ever beat that because now the minimum age to become a professional fighter is 18, hahahahahaha!

When it comes to who's number one, everyone has an opinion.
Some say it's the cat with the best stats,
other's say it's the one who did the most winning.
So we're here to bring all debates to an ending!
So stay tuned. I promise, we'll be back pretty soon.

[butterfly1964]

Who's Number One

Welcome back to this edition of "Who's Number 1". We're counting down the greatest records of all time. Here's a recap.

20





Young Otto (Most First Round Knockouts - 42)





19





Mike Tyson (Most Consecutive Knockouts Starting From Professional Debut - 19)





18





Lamar Clark (Most Consecutive Knockouts - 44)





17





Tommy Burns (Most Consecutive Knockouts in Title Defenses - 8)





16





Bernard Hopkins (Won the Shortest Title Fight - 24 seconds)





15





Muhammad Ali (Most Appearences on "Fight of the Year" - 6)





14





Jack Dempsey (Most first Round Knockouts by a Champion - 25)





13





George Foreman (Longest Span of a Beltholder - 24 years, 10 months)





12





Rocky Marciano (Highest Knockout Percentage of an Undisputed Champion - 88%)





11





Wilfred Benitez (Youngest Champion - 17 years, 6 months)

And the best is yet to come! Here's the second half of the list.










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10. Jimmy Wilde (Most Fights Without Suffering First Defeat): British flyweight Jimmy Wilde knew how to win. This is attributed to his first 101 fights, none of them being losses!

Jimmy Wilde is a forgotten fighter in boxing history. First of all, he's a flywieght, which says enough right there. Second he boxed in the 1910s and 1920s! So he doesn't get much respect, but this record shows everyone how good he was.

I don't care who he's fighting, if you are going that many fights without one single loss, then you're something special.

Wilde's first loss was to Tancy Lee in 1915. But he rebounded from that loss and on December 18, 1916, he officially became the very first flyweight champion of the world, tko'ing Young Zulu Kid in the 11th round.










9

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Down goes Moorer! On a right hand!

9. George Foreman (Oldest Heavyweight Champion): On November 5, 1994, George Foreman knocked out Michael Moorer and won back the heavyweight title. He was 45 years, and 10 months old!

Foreman was getting the stuffing beaten out of him for nine rounds, basically. Then he knocks him out with one right hand and all of a sudden, Foreman is the heavyweight champion of the world again!

Many fighters don't even fight when their 45, to win a title, and the heavyweight title at that age, has to be one of the biggest accomplishments in boxing history!

Foreman would defend his title three times before losing his last fight to Shannon Briggs in 1997.










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8. Rocky Marciano (Most Undefeated and Untied Record): Rocky Marciano had a big punch and a big heart. He carried that all the way to the bank and never looked back. The result, 49 fights, and forty nine wins, no losses, draws, NC's, nothing, but wins!

The fact that he never lost is astounding in itself because of all the good boxers he fought. Ezzard Charles, Jersey Joe Walcott, Roland LaStarza, and others.

Marciano had a great trainer Charlie Goldman that was able to guide him through the early stages of his career, and as he rose through the ranks, Marciano became better at the style that Goldman was teaching him.

No one except Holmes has come close to beating it. I doubt it ever will.

It's sit back and have a beer time!
Relax in your chair time.
We'll be right back, like your hairline.

[Yogi]

16. Bernard Hopkins (Won the Shortest Title Fight): On January 27, 1996, IBF middleweight champion Bernard hopkins squared off against Steve Frank from the Colliseum in Pheonix, Arizona. The fight lasted only 24 seconds, and Hopkins retained his title via tko!

If you're including meaningless alphabet titles like the IBF belt, why not give credit to Daniel Jiminez' 19-second knockout of Harold Geier in a defense of his 122 pound WBO title?

[butterfly1964]

You don't have to fight about this anymore!
You don't have to write about this anymore!
We've come to settle the score and end all wars,
in living room and barbershop floors
about, "Who the number one this?", and "Who's the number one that?"!
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome back!










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7. Joe Louis (Most Successful Title Defenses): Heavyweight Joe Louis was named invincible. And he lived up to his name. While it is an incredible feat in and of itself to win a title, The Brown Bomber did something even better. He was able to seccessfully defend it 25 times!

Louis was so much better than his opponents that they started this thing called the "Bum of the Month Club", but in actuality they were highly ranked contenders, who just looked like bums compared to Louis.

Louis took on all-comers and beat them all, and he did it 25 times, which is unbelievable. And there were some good names, too!

Louis' resume is impressive. He beat Jersey Joe Walcott twice, guys like Max Schmeling, Lou Nova, Bob Pastor twice, Billy Conn twice, and he just cleaned out the division like no other champion did before or since, and the 25 title defenses prove it.

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If your talking about the pantheon of great heavyweight champions, no matter what you think of him now, the name Mike Tyson has to be mentioned. Just look at how quickly he won it!

6. Mike Tyson (Youngest Heavyweight Champion): Once legendary trainer Cus D'Amato had Michael Gerard Tyson, he had a dream. That dream was that Tyson would become the youngest heavyweight champion in history, breaking Floyd Patterson his old protege's record. That dream came true on November 22, 1986 when "Iron" Mike Tyson in less then two rounds knocked out WBC heavyweight Champion Trevor Berbick. Tyson was only 20 years, and 5 months old!

Tyson was a Jack Dempsey type fighter. He would swarm his opponents and try his best to make short work of them by throwing bombs from beginning to end.

Most guys are just starting college when he won the title. To do that and to do it so quickly, I can't see any boxer doing this. Many people tried to have this record, Ali tried, Foreman tried, many people tried but they all fell short, except Tyson.

It's harder to win the heavyweight champion at a young age than it is any other weight class, because the men are a lot bigger so that you basically have to be a grown man to do this, but Tyson defied that.

That fight against Berbick showed one thing, that Mike Tyson was for real!

5

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To me, who's the greatest fighter of all-time? You need not look any further than Henry Armstrong!

5. Henry Armstrong (Most World Titles Held at the Same Time): In 1937, Henry Armstrong won the featherweight title from Petey Sarron. He moved up in weight and captured the Welterweight chapionship from Barney Ross in 1938. And Armstrong, then moving down in weight proceeded to take the lightweight title away from Lou Ambers three months later. The result? Armstrong held 3 world title at the same time!

To win a world title is a great achievement. Only a handful of fighters in boxing history were able to do that. To have two at the same time, only a couple have done. But three? Until we saw Hank Armstrong do it, I thought it was impossible.

To do this, you have to make weight for three different weight classes, and you have to juggle between that, and that is a tremendous thing to do as opposed to making defenses for only one or two weight classes. Armstrong deserves full credit for this.

No question. Henry Armstrong, pound for pound the greatest fighter of all-time!

If being "Number One" is your life's dream occupation,
then hopefully you've got a couple of more doses of dedication.
Because the greats will tell you with no hesitation,
that you don't win it in the game, you win in the preparation. Who's Number 1?

[butterfly1964]

Who's Number 1? "Greatest Records"










4

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Harry Greb knew how to do one thing and one thing only. And that's the one thing in boxing that really counts. Win!

4. Harry Greb (Most Wins): From 1913 to 1926, Harry Greb managed to win the middleweight title, and also pile up a record 259 victories!

Greb was a great fighter. Smart, slick able to move and slip and slide out of the way of punches. He gave fighters a lot of trouble, and even fighters that beat him had a hard time doing it.

Greb had a lot of great fighter on his resume. Gene Tunney, Tommy Loughran, Mickey Walker, Tommy Gibbons, Maxie Rosenbloom, and a host of others. So it's not like he was padding his record up to get all those wins, those were good wins.

Most fighters in boxing history don't have half as many fights as Greb has wins, so that's somehting to think about.

That's a mark that will stand forever. Two hundred fifty-nine wins by a boxer, that will never be broken.

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Muhammad Ali was a lot of things, but one of those things was definetely resilient. That's why he was successful in boxing for so long.

3. Muhammad Ali (Longest Era): Muhammad Ali won the heavyweight title on February 25, 1964. Banned from boxing in 1967, he returned to the ring in 1970 and after suffering a couple of defeats won back the title in 1974, and then kept it until losing it and then regining it in 1978. He vacated the title on September 6, 1979, vacated the title. In short, Ali even when not the champion dominated boxing from 1970-1974, and was the champion for the rest of the years. In total, Ali's era lasted 15 years, and 6 months, the longest of any boxer in history!

They didn't call him the greatest for nothing he dominated boxing for two decades, the '60s and '70s, and captured the imagination of the public for so many years, that it's hard to not believe he was 'The Greatest".

He dominated at a time where the crop of heavyweights was at it's best. He beat people Like George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson, Ken Norton, and others. To go throught a list like that and still be successful in the ring is unbelievable!

There's never been an athlete that has been more important or well-known, than Muhammad Ali! Inside or out he was always a great attraction. He not only dominated his sport, but he doinated all-sports. He used to walk around and sign autographs, and take pictures with other people, and kiss babies. He wasn't running for some sort of political office or competing to be anything, except to be "The Greatest", which he was!

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2

And Archie Moore retains his title once again by a knockout!

2. Archie Moore (Most Knockouts): Ageless Archie Moore could do everything in a boxing ring, including knocking you out. This is proved by his record, 141 knockouts! A record that seems out of reach by any boxer.

Moore would always find a way to win, even if it looked as if he would lose, his opponent would oftentimes end up sprawled on the canvas.

Archie Moore could punch. He always did it from wierd angles and would catch people by suprise, and before you knew it they were flattened.

Today, fighters don't fight that much, so I doubt you will see a fighter with 141 fights, let alone 141 knockouts!

In sports, the most difficult task that you could ask someone to do,
is to come up with the answer to "Who's Number 2"!
You can ask the kid from Jeopardy and he wouldn't have a clue!
Because most don't care they don't care to know,
which is exactly the reason they came up with the show!
So Who's Number 1?

[Yogi]

5. Henry Armstrong (Most World Titles Held at the Same Time):

*shares record with Barney Ross, who had accomplished the feat just previous to Armstrong.

[butterfly1964]

Who's Number 1?: "Greatest Records"

Hello, butterfly1964 here and welcome again to this edition of "Who's Number 1?". In this edition we are counting down the twenty greatest records of all time. Before we get to number 1, here's a recap.

20





Young Otto (Most First Round Knockouts - 42)





19





Mike Tyson (Most Consecutive Knockouts Starting From Professional Debut - 19)





18





Lamar Clark (Most Consecutive Knockouts - 44)





17





Tommy Burns (Most Consecutive Knockouts in Title Defenses - 8)





16





Bernard Hopkins (Won the Shortest Title Fight - 24 seconds)





15





Muhammad Ali (Most Appearences on "Fight of the Year" - 6)





14





Jack Dempsey (Most first Round Knockouts by a Champion - 25)





13





George Foreman (Longest Span of a Beltholder - 24 years, 10 months)





12





Rocky Marciano (Highest Knockout Percentage of an Undisputed Champion - 87%)





11





Wilfred Benitez (Youngest Champion - 17 years, 6 months)





10





Jimmy Wilde (Most Fights Without Suffering First Defeat - 101)





9





George Foreman (Oldest Heavyweight Champion - 45 years, 10 months)





8





Rocky Marciano (Most Undefeated and Untied Record - 49)





7





Joe Louis (Most Successful Title Defenses - 25)





6





Mike Tyson (Youngest Heavyweight Champion - 20 years, 5 months)





5





Henry Armstrong (Most World Titles Held at the Same Time - 3)





4





Harry Greb (Most Wins - 259)





3





Muhammad Ali (Longest Era - 15 years, 6 months)





2





Archie Moore (Most Knockouts - 141)

When it comes to records, for the most part, many people believe that they are made to be broken. but not this one...










1

1

1................................................. ....

1. Joe Louis (Longest Title Reign): Joe Louis won the heavyweight title from Jimmy Braddock on June 22, 1937. He defended a record twenty-five times before vacating the belt on March 1, 1949. That's a total of 11 years and 8 months that Louis held the title!

Even great fighters like Foreman, and Liston hold the title for a short amount of time, but Louis managed to keep it for almost twelve years, that longer than most boxer's careers!

One of the reasons why Louis was so successful was because he learned to figure out his opponents, so by the time he had a rematch, his foe would just have no chance!

Boxing is so competitive that it's hard to imagine someone dominating the sport for so long. Joe Louis did that and he did it better than any other boxer in history.

Being champion for so long proved to many people at the time that blacks could be successful in sports. Back then boxing was the sport to be in. Nobody wanted to be basketball players, or football players or baseball players. They wanted to be boxers. They wanted to be Joe Louis.

To black America he was everything. He was Superman, Batman, The Green Hornet, and **** Tracy rolled into one!

No one will match Joe Louis in terms of longevity. He was simply the best in boxing, period.

Many fighters won more fights than Louis like Carnera, some with higher knockout percentages, Marciano being one of them. But nobody in the history of boxing had a bigger hold on the sport of boxing, and captured the hearts and minds of fans for so many years than Joe Louis. Joe Louis was simply the best!

Some records are made to be broken, but it is true that some records will stand forever. But will my list stand forever? I'll let the resident second guesser decide, Kid Achilles.

Okay I have a few problems with the list.

First of all, and this is a pet peeve of mine (probably because so many people spread this misinformation as gospel), Tyson was not the youngest heavyweight champion in history. Floyd Patterson was and still is. Tyson was 20 when he knocked out Berbick, which makes him the youngest person to possess part of the heavyweight title, but he did not become the undisputed heavyweight champion until he knocked out Michael Spinks, by which point he was older than Patterson was when he beat Moore for the vacant title. Saying Tyson was champion when he beat Berbick would be like saying Roy Jones was THE heavyweight champion when he beat Ruiz, wouldn't it?

Another thing, I don't understand your criteria for "longest era" that you give to Ali and "longest span for a beltholder" that you give to Foreman.

To top it all off, I don't know how you could objectively compare these records, but I admit I do personally agree with putting Louis's longest title reign on top.

That will do it for this edition of "Who's Number 1". I'll return next week to countdown times, events and athletes that have shaped our world of boxing. Until then, I'm butterfly1964, let the debating begin!





























Special thanks to Kid Achilles.

Butterfly Productions Inc.
© 2006

[butterfly1964]

If you're including meaningless alphabet titles like the IBF belt, why not give credit to Daniel Jiminez' 19-second knockout of Harold Geier in a defense of his 122 pound WBO title?

Are you trying to make me look bad, Yogi?

[butterfly1964]

*shares record with Barney Ross, who had accomplished the feat just previous to Armstrong.

Jr. Welterweight titles back in the 1930s weren't worth anything.