Rank Your Top 10 All-Time Heavyweights and Why...

[MiDKnighT]

1. Joe Louis. Held the HW championship for 13 years with 25 successful title defenses. A record that will likely never be broken.

2. Muhammad Ali. Took on all comers (except a Foreman rematch). Much respect to anyone who fights all possible contenders. 3 time HW champ.

3. Lennox Lewis. Last unified champion and avenged both of his losses in spectacular fashion.

4. Rocky Marciano. Did he retire too early or just in time? Was unbeaten but his championship reign only lasted 3 years.

5. George Foreman. One of the heaviest punchers in the history of boxing. Came back in his 40s and gave some greats in their primes a lot of trouble in the 90s.

6. Evander Holyfield. A true warrior. Never ducked an opponent.

7. Larry Holmes. Long title reign.

8. Klitchko brothers. I'll lump them both together since they had a similar skillset. Very long title reigns.

9. Mike Tyson. Unified the title for the first time in nearly a decade. I'll put him slightly above Frazier because he had power in both hands.

10. Joe Frazier. Undisputed champ and had brutal battles with Ali.

There's several old time fighters that almost made the cut but I can't seem to rank them above these 10.

[N/A]

#1 - Muhammad Ali

#2 - Joe Louis

#3 - Ike Ibeabuchi

#4 - Floyd Patterson

#5 - Rocky Marciano

#6 - Larry Holmes

#7 - Evander Holyfield

#8 - Joe Frazier

#9 - Wladimir Klitschko

#10 - Mike Tyson

[Fangedgrowl]

#1. Muhammad Ali: Best ever. Took some losses but always came back very skilled. Longevity big here, Not a big heavyweight either.
#2. Joe Louis: Great Athlete , Puncher Longevity was huge here.
#3. Rocky Marciano: Recoord, undefeated. Had a shart career though.
#4. Evander Holyfield: Could fight against much bigger guys. Very skilled and tough. Took some losses as he got older.
#5. Lennox Lewis: Great boxer, used his strengths to his advantage. Felt he beat Holyfield later in Evanders career.
#6. Larry Holmes: Best Heavyweight jab probably ever. Very skilled. Robbed in decisions against Spinks.
#7. Wladmir Klitchko: Could fight inside and outside. Reigned for a long time and got old. However extremely talented.
#8. George Foreman: Could be great in different eras. Just was so strong and learned from first title reign how to relax.
#9. Mike Tyson: Explosive a puncher as you will see in this division. Had great handspeed. Head movement was unreal when he trained hard. Just his lifestyle and the hanger ons that started to build up hurt him.
#10. Jack Johnson: Bad dude and tough. First real fast and athletic puncher. If you ever see videos watch guy was special.

[Nash out]

1. Tyson Fury - outboxed the excellent Wlad at his own game, beating him at the battle of the jabs, and surprisingly to some, also having the better of it on the inside, also was robbed of a win against Wilder, but a draw is still a great result, ultimately, as it's a fact, Wilder could on his day beat any heavyweight in history, as agreed with by Breadman.

2. Lennox Lewis - A great boxer with excellent power and skills. Revenged both of his losses, got the better of Holyfield over two fights, had Chicken Bowe dump his belt, and beat a still decent Tyson and an excellent Vitali

3. Deontay Wilder - Not a great boxer, but with his power I'd take him to knock out anybody on the list 2/3 fights. Also has great self belief, speed and athleticism.

4. Evander Holyfield - Balls of steel. He was the man keeping the 90's HW era alive by fighting them all and multiple times. People wrongly state that the best fought the best then, they didn't, but Holyfield did, he kept it all going and the perception alive. Facts.

5. Muhammed Ali - Amazing boxer, and more importantly he brought personality to sports stars. He has a claim to number 1, but most of the top guys are very evenly matched and it's just a case of what you like. I don't see him outboxing Fury or surviving Wilder for example.

6. George Foreman

7. Joe Louis

8. Rocky Marciano

9. Wlad/Vitali (cheating a bit, but I can't split them)

10. Mike Tyson

There's Floyd Patterson, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Larry Holmes, Rid**** Bowe, Anthony Joshua and many more than could be considered, but those are my 10

[boliodogs]

That is a lot of work and I come here to relax and enjoy myself and make a few comments but not to work.

[just the facts]

#1 - Muhammad Ali

#2 - Joe Louis

#3 - Ike Ibeabuchi

#4 - Floyd Patterson

#5 - Rocky Marciano

#6 - Larry Holmes

#7 - Evander Holyfield

#8 - Joe Frazier

#9 - Wladimir Klitschko

#10 - Mike Tyson

Ike? Really? I guess it’s your list.........

[boliodogs]

Without rating the top 10 I will say Vitali might beat any heavyweight who ever lived. He could box and punch and had an iron jaw. He was a lot better than his brother who is on everyone's list. His brother was KOed by Saunders and Then Vitali destroyed Saunders with ease. Wlad was KOed I think 4 times. Vitali only lost twice in his career due to an eye cut and a shoulder injury. Without the cut or the shoulder injury I think he would have won both fights. He was beating Byrd without any trouble before the shoulder injury. Other than those two fights Vitali was never in a close fight. He won all the rest of over 50 fights by a wide margin and the vast majority by KO. He was a huge strong guy with height and reach and big power and good speed. His chin was granite and he was never knocked down in his long career. His KO percentage was one of the highest of all the heavyweight champions except for Wilder of course who is close to 100 percent.

[N/A]

Ike? Really? I guess it’s your list.........

i think he would have beaten holyfield and lewis if given the chance. i dont think anybody in the late 90s or early 2000s could have beaten him. he was the blueprint of the perfect heavyweight.

[ShaneMosleySr]

1. Joe Louis - Obvious choice. He had the most consecutive title defenses of all time and world war 2 prevented him from making the record even more unobtainable. He did it in an era where there was one title belt.

2. Muhammad Ali - Ended up being the best fighter of the best era of heavyweights, won the heavyweight title three times during a time before it was easy to win a title.

3. George Foreman - would be the greatest heavyweight of all time if he had beaten Ali. Was a killer heavyweight champion in the best era of heavyweights and then won the lineal heavyweight championship in what is arguably the second best era of heavyweights at an advanced age.

4. Jack Johnson - It’s easy to imagine what he could have done if he fought in an era that was so dictated by race.

5. Rocky Marciano - 49-0 as a heavyweight with an underrated resume.

6. Jack Dempsey - reigned as heavyweight champion for 7 years and his one loss early in his career might have been fixed.

7. Gene Tunney - 65-1-1 record, defeated the one fighter who beat him multiple times and beat Jack Dempsey. He would be ranked much higher if he didn’t retire so soon after his win over Dempsey.

8. Larry Holmes - started 48-0 so he basically matched Marciano and made 20 consecutive title defenses.

9. Lennox Lewis - This is where things get really difficult to separate. I’ll go with Lewis here because he did eventually prevail as the undisputed champion when all the dust from the 90s cleared, even though it technically happened after the 90s. He also beat everyone he faced in his career.

10. Joe Frazier - I’m not mad at anyone who puts Tyson, Holyfield, Liston, Klitschko or anyone of the other great names in this spot. I’m going with Frazier because he beat everyone he faced except for George Foreman. His four losses only came to two men, Foreman and Ali. He also had a decently long reign as champion.

[TheMyspaceDayz]

1. Joe Louis - Obvious choice. He had the most consecutive title defenses of all time and world war 2 prevented him from making the record even more unobtainable. He did it in an era where there was one title belt.

2. Muhammad Ali - Ended up being the best fighter of the best era of heavyweights, won the heavyweight title three times during a time before it was easy to win a title.

3. George Foreman - would be the greatest heavyweight of all time if he had beaten Ali. Was a killer heavyweight champion in the best era of heavyweights and then won the lineal heavyweight championship in what is arguably the second best era of heavyweights at an advanced age.

4. Jack Johnson - It’s easy to imagine what he could have done if he fought in an era that was so dictated by race.

5. Rocky Marciano - 49-0 as a heavyweight with an underrated resume.

6. Jack Dempsey - reigned as heavyweight champion for 7 years and his one loss early in his career might have been fixed.

7. Gene Tunney - 65-1-1 record, defeated the one fighter who beat him multiple times and beat Jack Dempsey. He would be ranked much higher if he didn’t retire so soon after his win over Dempsey.

8. Larry Holmes - started 48-0 so he basically matched Marciano and made 20 consecutive title defenses.

9. Lennox Lewis - This is where things get really difficult to separate. I’ll go with Lewis here because he did eventually prevail as the undisputed champion when all the dust from the 90s cleared, even though it technically happened after the 90s. He also beat everyone he faced in his career.

10. Joe Frazier - I’m not mad at anyone who puts Tyson, Holyfield, Liston, Klitschko or anyone of the other great names in this spot. I’m going with Frazier because he beat everyone he faced except for George Foreman. His four losses only came to two men, Foreman and Ali. He also had a decently long reign as champion.

I’m a glass is half full kind of guy which makes us opposites but our list is more less the same.