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Since 686 BC there has been over 230 HW champions crowned. Of them 10 never lost a fight.
Of those 10 we only have one on film. Marciano would probably get favored by fans in most metrics because of that, but, if you are to measure them based on legacy alone would you rank Marciano as the highest?
I'll list the unbeaten HW champions then give a little bit about their legacies.
Glaukos, Theaganese, Kleitomachos, Melankomas, Lyons, Fearns, Brian, Pearce, Wormald, and Marciano.
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Glaukos of Karystos was not trained to be a boxer from a young age like most champions both then and now. His story is as familiar as it is ancient. He was a farm boy plowing a field. His plow broke, he fixed it without a hammer similarly to how Lomachenko drove a nail into wood recently for publicity Glaukos drove a spike into the plow to reaffix its plowshare. His father saw this and signed him up for boxing. At the Olympic in 520 BC Glaukos was being beaten badly when his father shouted " The plow touch son" and with that Glaukos threw a right that is so legendary I know about it in 2018. Of course he won by KO.
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Theagenes of Thasos was nine years old when he performed his first legendary feat. As he was on his way home from school he decided that the bronze statue of a local god would look good at his house so he brought it home and placed it in front of his house. The people of Thasos demanded the child be put to death. The Elders of Thasos did not believe young Theo could possibly carry a statue of the size and weight of the one in question and gave him an ultimatum. If Theagense could carry the statue back without any help he'd not be punished. Theo did just that.
As a man Thaganese won three Pythian boxing tournaments. Nine Namean crowns and ten Isthmian, some of these were for pankration as well as boxing, and of course the Olympic boxing crown. He defeated 2x Olympic boxing champion Euthymos and was punished for it because he spoke brashly before the fight. Then he went on to become one of the few "downing" or sometimes referred to as "heavy" champions meaning he won all three ancient hellenistic combat sports, Boxing, Wrestling, and Pankration. After becoming the Heavy Champion he retired from combat sports to focus on running so that he could rival his idol Achilles' feats. Of course Theo got that crown too.
Even in death Theaganese was able to capture a win. After he'd died the people of Thasos made a status of him. A boxer who lost to Theaganese would go to the statue at night and beat on it. One night the boxer was pounding on the statue when the statue fell on him killing him.
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Kleitomachos of Thebes is another Downing Champion like Theagenes and he is the last Downing Champion in history. He has three Pythian pankration crowns. Isthmian wrestling, boxing, and pankration crowns, a single in each sport. And he won both the boxing and pankration at the Olympiad in 216 BC.
He's also were we get abstaining from sex before a fight from.
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Melankomas of Caria is a first century, Roman era, boxing champion in 49 AD. His legend is simple but powerful. He went through the Olympic trials and subsequent tournament completely unpointed against. Forget did not lose, no one ever landed a punch on Melankomas. Melankomas himself refused to hit another human being. Instead he'd tire his opponents into admitting defeat or a KO by exhaustion with his impenetrable guard and unending patience.
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Tom Lyons hit very hard and could take an incredibly beating. He's similar to Glaukos in that he had little to no training before fighting for the HW crown. Lyons battered lesser competition in such an impressive manner he was put in with the champion early. Bill Darts wallops Lyons for 45 minutes but he just could force Lyons out and was KO'd in the end. Darts wanted an immediate rematch but Lyons retired instead. The same year he won the title; 1769.
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Jack Fearns had even less training and less fights leading up to his title fight than Lyons or Glaukos. Back then the champion took on all comers including "turn-ups". Jack, also called Duggan, Fearns was a turn up fight. He defeated the champion Harry Seller in a minute thirty in 1779 and was never heard of again.
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Ben Brian was a stout 200lbs in 1791 when he ended the four year reign of Tom Johnson. He was both quick and powerful and could KO any man with either hand. After he defeated Tom he was unable to continue fighting due to a struggle with illnesses. Prior to his championship match he had won an impressive 7 top rank fights and drawn only once. By today's standard that's not a very good record but for the bare knuckle era, especially the 1790s, that is a very good record. 7-0-1 with no defenses. The draw was over 3 hours and 180 rounds.
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Henry Pearce was a skilled, tough, and tactical champion of the bare knuckle era that was very highly respected and loved by his audience. Pearce was a defense first fighter but he did not allow that to stop him from engaging and creating exciting fights. He was also a bit of a hero saving babies from burning buildings and what not. Hen won three top ranked fights before claiming the HW crown. He defended it four times before he too became too ill to continue boxing. 7-0-0 with four defenses.
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Joe Wormald was a skillful boxer like Henry before him. He was fast and strong, moved around well and did well with combination to the body, the head, and mixing them up. He didn't have Hen's chin but he made up for it with elusive movement. His first fight came to a draw after 4 hours and 113 rounds. He then picked up an impressive victory and moved on to the title. Joe became champion in 1865. He scheduled a few defenses but they either never became more than talk or were shut down by the police. Wormald ends his career with a record of 2-0-1 with no defenses.
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Rocky Marciano became champion in 1952 when he KO'd Walcott in one of the most memorable sequences in boxing history. He ended the 60 fight win streak of Kid Mathews, bested the defensive pioneer Roland LaStarza. Rocky savagedly KO'd the former champion, the former champion before him, the European champion, the British champion, and the LHW champion who still owns the record for most KOs in boxing to this day and he beat Moore during one of Moore's longest win streaks in his career. 43 of his 49 victories are by KO. 25 men on his record retired within five fights or less from the point when they faced Marciano. 13 retired immediately after they faced Marciano.
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I got pretty tired and ran out of steam there at the end. I hope I didn't sell anyone short.
Let me know what y'all think. Who has the most impressive legacy?
Of those 10 we only have one on film. Marciano would probably get favored by fans in most metrics because of that, but, if you are to measure them based on legacy alone would you rank Marciano as the highest?
I'll list the unbeaten HW champions then give a little bit about their legacies.
Glaukos, Theaganese, Kleitomachos, Melankomas, Lyons, Fearns, Brian, Pearce, Wormald, and Marciano.
---
Glaukos of Karystos was not trained to be a boxer from a young age like most champions both then and now. His story is as familiar as it is ancient. He was a farm boy plowing a field. His plow broke, he fixed it without a hammer similarly to how Lomachenko drove a nail into wood recently for publicity Glaukos drove a spike into the plow to reaffix its plowshare. His father saw this and signed him up for boxing. At the Olympic in 520 BC Glaukos was being beaten badly when his father shouted " The plow touch son" and with that Glaukos threw a right that is so legendary I know about it in 2018. Of course he won by KO.
---
Theagenes of Thasos was nine years old when he performed his first legendary feat. As he was on his way home from school he decided that the bronze statue of a local god would look good at his house so he brought it home and placed it in front of his house. The people of Thasos demanded the child be put to death. The Elders of Thasos did not believe young Theo could possibly carry a statue of the size and weight of the one in question and gave him an ultimatum. If Theagense could carry the statue back without any help he'd not be punished. Theo did just that.
As a man Thaganese won three Pythian boxing tournaments. Nine Namean crowns and ten Isthmian, some of these were for pankration as well as boxing, and of course the Olympic boxing crown. He defeated 2x Olympic boxing champion Euthymos and was punished for it because he spoke brashly before the fight. Then he went on to become one of the few "downing" or sometimes referred to as "heavy" champions meaning he won all three ancient hellenistic combat sports, Boxing, Wrestling, and Pankration. After becoming the Heavy Champion he retired from combat sports to focus on running so that he could rival his idol Achilles' feats. Of course Theo got that crown too.
Even in death Theaganese was able to capture a win. After he'd died the people of Thasos made a status of him. A boxer who lost to Theaganese would go to the statue at night and beat on it. One night the boxer was pounding on the statue when the statue fell on him killing him.
---
Kleitomachos of Thebes is another Downing Champion like Theagenes and he is the last Downing Champion in history. He has three Pythian pankration crowns. Isthmian wrestling, boxing, and pankration crowns, a single in each sport. And he won both the boxing and pankration at the Olympiad in 216 BC.
He's also were we get abstaining from sex before a fight from.
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Melankomas of Caria is a first century, Roman era, boxing champion in 49 AD. His legend is simple but powerful. He went through the Olympic trials and subsequent tournament completely unpointed against. Forget did not lose, no one ever landed a punch on Melankomas. Melankomas himself refused to hit another human being. Instead he'd tire his opponents into admitting defeat or a KO by exhaustion with his impenetrable guard and unending patience.
---
Tom Lyons hit very hard and could take an incredibly beating. He's similar to Glaukos in that he had little to no training before fighting for the HW crown. Lyons battered lesser competition in such an impressive manner he was put in with the champion early. Bill Darts wallops Lyons for 45 minutes but he just could force Lyons out and was KO'd in the end. Darts wanted an immediate rematch but Lyons retired instead. The same year he won the title; 1769.
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Jack Fearns had even less training and less fights leading up to his title fight than Lyons or Glaukos. Back then the champion took on all comers including "turn-ups". Jack, also called Duggan, Fearns was a turn up fight. He defeated the champion Harry Seller in a minute thirty in 1779 and was never heard of again.
---
Ben Brian was a stout 200lbs in 1791 when he ended the four year reign of Tom Johnson. He was both quick and powerful and could KO any man with either hand. After he defeated Tom he was unable to continue fighting due to a struggle with illnesses. Prior to his championship match he had won an impressive 7 top rank fights and drawn only once. By today's standard that's not a very good record but for the bare knuckle era, especially the 1790s, that is a very good record. 7-0-1 with no defenses. The draw was over 3 hours and 180 rounds.
---
Henry Pearce was a skilled, tough, and tactical champion of the bare knuckle era that was very highly respected and loved by his audience. Pearce was a defense first fighter but he did not allow that to stop him from engaging and creating exciting fights. He was also a bit of a hero saving babies from burning buildings and what not. Hen won three top ranked fights before claiming the HW crown. He defended it four times before he too became too ill to continue boxing. 7-0-0 with four defenses.
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Joe Wormald was a skillful boxer like Henry before him. He was fast and strong, moved around well and did well with combination to the body, the head, and mixing them up. He didn't have Hen's chin but he made up for it with elusive movement. His first fight came to a draw after 4 hours and 113 rounds. He then picked up an impressive victory and moved on to the title. Joe became champion in 1865. He scheduled a few defenses but they either never became more than talk or were shut down by the police. Wormald ends his career with a record of 2-0-1 with no defenses.
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Rocky Marciano became champion in 1952 when he KO'd Walcott in one of the most memorable sequences in boxing history. He ended the 60 fight win streak of Kid Mathews, bested the defensive pioneer Roland LaStarza. Rocky savagedly KO'd the former champion, the former champion before him, the European champion, the British champion, and the LHW champion who still owns the record for most KOs in boxing to this day and he beat Moore during one of Moore's longest win streaks in his career. 43 of his 49 victories are by KO. 25 men on his record retired within five fights or less from the point when they faced Marciano. 13 retired immediately after they faced Marciano.
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I got pretty tired and ran out of steam there at the end. I hope I didn't sell anyone short.Let me know what y'all think. Who has the most impressive legacy?
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