Joe Louis is sickly overrated

[BluesMan]

I have only been here for a little bit,but.... this has to be the dumbest thread I have seen.

[damit305]

Joe Louis...

He was the best for his time. He was a legend. I respect him a lot and this should in no way be seen as any kind of hate against him.

But people put this guy in their top 10 lists of best boxers ever... It's absurd. He had a very weak resume and I really can't imagine him even going half the distance against guys like Ali, Tyson, Foreman, Klitschko, Lewis, Holyfield, etc. etc. etc. etc..... It's just not realistic and he gave us no reason to believe otherwise.

I got nothing but love for Louis, he was the best in his time, but boxing has evolved. When Deontay Wilder beats Stiverne, even he will have a better resume than Louis and that's being realistic (except if Wilder loses, of course).

Give Louis the props he deserves, but don't go into some kind of nostalgic worship. He has proven nothing to make him enter the top lists of best boxers ever. You're harming his legacy by disappointing people when they research his resume with too high expectations.

Must say Dwyer agrees 100%...

[boliodogs]

He held the world undisputed heavyweight title longer than anyone in history and defended it successfully a record 25 times and fought all worthy challengers. How is that a weak resume?

[boliodogs]

If you research his record you won't be disappointed. He only lost once in his prime and he avenged that loss with a first round KO. He lost to Charles and Marciano when he was way past prime. That's it. Three loses in his whole career and one debatable win over Walcott who he KOed in the rematch. If you watch films of his fights you won't be disappointed. He threw perfect punches with lightning speed and deadly accuracy. He threw beautiful flowing combinations. He had a left jab like a rattlesnake strike that was a very heavy blow. Very few fighters went the distance with Joe Louis.

[UpInThisYo]

Tell me Joe Louis' top 5 wins. Good luck. That's the problem with his resume, there are just no impressive wins.

[Marcov]

He is the only heavyweight in history that can contest with Muhammad Ali for the best of the heavies. Not any trolling will change that.

[JimEarl]

Louis was a great. He was always set to punch and he could but would have had trouble with a mover like Ali as he did with Conn.

The division might've been a little weak when Louis was coming up but today's heavyweight division is probably weaker.

They were smaller sized men then and that's the biggest disadvantage that I'd see in a dream fight with the more contemporary fighters. If you're going by how he'd do in a dream fight with Lewis for instance, he'd probably lose. If you're going by relative records he's arguably top ten.

[UpInThisYo]

But which were Louis' best wins? His top 5 wins? He had the title for a long time and as I said, he's a legend, but there were no good opponents available for him to fight.

[JimEarl]

I'd call Louis's five best as Walcott (Louis past prime), Arturo Godoy, Max Baer, Braddock and Shmelling. Louis pretty much cleaned his division mostly before winning a belt.

No ATGs in the heavyweights but he shares that distinction with a lot of fighters considered ATG who fought in arguably weak division. His domination and record in rematches would put him in good standing. And let's face it: Everybody fought everybody in the days of low risk paydays and it takes an act of congress to make fights today.....The records are going to usually be spottier back then throughout the divisions. Bob Foster (another ATG in a weak division) said it best when he said said "today's fighters are babied".

Both the lightheavies he fought, Conn & John Henry Lewis were very good and the weight differences weren't as big as they are in more contemporary times. Guys like Louis and Marciano would probably be aiming towards the cruiserweights nowadays.

[gamesworn]

It's hard to rank the era before by ring IQ/Skill alone, because today is more advance in using different skills and techniques.On my opinion, competitive Heavyweights in Ali's Era could probably kick Joe Louis ass.

If i were ranking the atg, I'll consider who is the 2 or 3 best in specific decade/era and rank them with their accoplishments.