I'll go with 60s for bronze, though I'll rob 1959 for Liston vs Williams and Patterson vs Johansson 1:
Patterson's battles with Johansson
Liston's fights with Williams, Patterson and Ali
Clay's Olympic win through his prime to his ban
The Olympic win and near as dammit prime for Frazier
The Olympic win and solid pro start for George Foreman
Some solid contenders and excellent fights......Chuvalo, Quarry, Ellis, Bonavena etc
Because of the controversy of the likes of both Liston and Ali, boxing got alot of press and glamour in the decade, fight purses increased.....hell, even Rocky Marciano got his weight down for the 1969 computer fight. Boxing was buzzing at the time. I think the decade is a worthy bronze!
Although the 80s get a bad rap as a decade in heavyweight boxing, I don't think it was that bad.
For all that the alphabet boys were title swapping, there were some good fights and knockouts in there. Weaver, Tate, Witherspoon, Tubbs, Page, Tucker, Spinks, Thomas, Bruno and Buster Douglas were talented/entertaining (albeit inconsistent guys).
Larry Holmes provided a dominant first five years of the decade with plenty of entertaining fights.....Cooney, Smith, Weaver, Witherspoon. Both the Spinks fights were good too.
Then you has the emergence of Mike Tyson for the next five years. Tonnes of press, controversy, brutal knockouts, regular fights. Only a really solid prime ATG challenger eluded his reign in his prime.
To finish off the decade we had the comeback of George Foreman. Evander Holyfield coming up to heavyweight and making an impression. The Olympics of 1988 (Lewis/Bowe) and excellent pro starts for both men.
The 80s will end up being remembered more fondly than they are currently given credit for.
I'll go with 60s for bronze, though I'll rob 1959 for Liston vs Williams and Patterson vs Johansson 1:
Patterson's battles with Johansson
Liston's fights with Williams, Patterson and Ali
Clay's Olympic win through his prime to his ban
The Olympic win and near as dammit prime for Frazier
The Olympic win and solid pro start for George Foreman
Some solid contenders and excellent fights......Chuvalo, Quarry, Ellis, Bonavena etc
Because of the controversy of the likes of both Liston and Ali, boxing got alot of press and glamour in the decade, fight purses increased.....hell, even Rocky Marciano got his weight down for the 1969 computer fight. Boxing was buzzing at the time. I think the decade is a worthy bronze!
Although the 80s get a bad rap as a decade in heavyweight boxing, I don't think it was that bad.
For all that the alphabet boys were title swapping, there were some good fights and knockouts in there. Weaver, Tate, Witherspoon, Tubbs, Page, Tucker, Spinks, Thomas, Bruno and Buster Douglas were talented/entertaining (albeit inconsistent guys).
Larry Holmes provided a dominant first five years of the decade with plenty of entertaining fights.....Cooney, Smith, Weaver, Witherspoon. Both the Spinks fights were good too.
Then you has the emergence of Mike Tyson for the next five years. Tonnes of press, controversy, brutal knockouts, regular fights. Only a really solid prime ATG challenger eluded his reign in his prime.
To finish off the decade we had the comeback of George Foreman. Evander Holyfield coming up to heavyweight and making an impression. The Olympics of 1988 (Lewis/Bowe) and excellent pro starts for both men.
The 80s will end up being remembered more fondly than they are currently given credit for.
the actors of the sixties are so close to the ones of the seventies that I tend to melt the 2 decades in one, but your pick is still good
eighties was also an excellent decade in retrospect, though I believe it would be your fourth choice if I get it right
it probably gets a bad rep because of how great the seventies were and how slow the eighties started with the championship shattered and stuff
it's not easy to come after Ali
dominant and long reigning champions fighting good contenders are a lock to make a good era, and Holmes, more than Tyson, provided that
'90s for silver, then say 1905-1915 for bronze. There was a murderers row of black Heavies in that era and most of them fought each other several times.
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