nat fleischer..a credible writer ?

[The Surgeon]

my dad has always been a boxing fan ( since the 50`s ) and accumulated a great collection of the ring magazines of which he passed on to me ( and in time i will do the same for my son )...after reading through a couple of old issues i came across an article written by nat fleischer in 1971..it was his top 10 of heavyweights...heres his list

1. Jack Johnson, 2. Jim Jeffries, 3. Bob Fitzsimmons, 4. Jack Dempsey, 5. James J. Corbett, 6. Joe Louis, 7. Sam Langford, 8. Gene Tunney, 9. Max Schmeling, 10. Rocky Marciano.

no ali included...NO ALI..i was pretty amazed and have to admit slightly taken aback...ive always ranked him as #2 behind the great joe louis..but not in a top ten ?...what do you think ?

oh and having joe at #6...are you frikin kidding me

Sounds dubious dosent it I rate fighters my own way, people may know more about the history but I rate fighters on what Ive seen of them so A guy who lived way back then's veiws cant influnece me. Tho I do respect the old timers, luv hearing there tales of the fight game, always make it sound so cool!

[QueensburyRules]

my dad has always been a boxing fan ( since the 50`s ) and accumulated a great collection of the ring magazines of which he passed on to me ( and in time i will do the same for my son )...after reading through a couple of old issues i came across an article written by nat fleischer in 1971..it was his top 10 of heavyweights...heres his list

1. Jack Johnson, 2. Jim Jeffries, 3. Bob Fitzsimmons, 4. Jack Dempsey, 5. James J. Corbett, 6. Joe Louis, 7. Sam Langford, 8. Gene Tunney, 9. Max Schmeling, 10. Rocky Marciano.

no ali included...NO ALI..i was pretty amazed and have to admit slightly taken aback...ive always ranked him as #2 behind the great joe louis..but not in a top ten ?...what do you think ?

oh and having joe at #6...are you frikin kidding me

- -Ali too busy getting BTFO by Frazier in 1971.

Nice to see the historical precedent for boxing ever present dummy fans.

Proof of De-evolution...

[just the facts]

- -Ali too busy getting BTFO by Frazier in 1971.

Nice to see the historical precedent for boxing ever present dummy fans.

Proof of De-evolution...

Still digging up 10+ year old threads in order to make your opinions seem legit? Dumb, even for you.

[billeau2]

Still digging up 10+ year old threads in order to make your opinions seem legit? Dumb, even for you.

unfortunately...By Queen B standards this is a common practice.

[QueensburyRules]

Still digging up 10+ year old threads in order to make your opinions seem legit? Dumb, even for you.

- -Jus da fax, Missy.

Anything to make U squeal!

[smeck]

Told ya his writing style is annoying. lol!!!

RIP Nat.....you crusty old elitest.

Aww, he wasn't so bad from that piece. (Don't ask me to read Faulkner, though). Cosell was much more annoying, as any transcript of him calling a fight would prove.

And yet, I liked Howard over the more traditional guys, like Don Dunphy who had a lemony voice and spoke like he had just finished eating a salty pretzel.

Nat was a little uppity in defending himself against charges of being anti-Ali but did it well:

Neither animus nor bias, neither bigotry nor misjudgment, can be cited against me in my relations with Cassius Clay. After he had been found guilty of a felony by a Federal jury in Houston, and Judge Joe Ingraham had sentenced Ali to five years in a penitentiary and a fine of $10,000, there was a rush to take the title from the draft-refusing champion.
The Ring magazine refused to join in the campaign against Clay, a stand now thoroughly vindicated.

I think Nat wasn't TOO far off in not recognizing a current active champ as a Top 10.

ANIMUS. Jeez. But that was the style of the day, and a lot of writers got ponderous, especially in the less literary areas. Some of Stirling Silliphant's scripts and Rod Serling's could've had a character lecture that "neither bigotry nor misjudgment" caused their dilemmas. Everything from "Playhouse 90" to "Ben Casey" had actors trying to handle lines "submitted for their approval" by slightly overbaked writers. Who'd title something "Requiem for a Heavyweight?"

But their jeremiads, their threnodies, (call it what you will) were rarely atrabilious amphigories.

[Ben Bolt]

an article written by nat fleischer in 1971..it was his top 10 of heavyweights...heres his list

1. Jack Johnson, 2. Jim Jeffries, 3. Bob Fitzsimmons, 4. Jack Dempsey, 5. James J. Corbett, 6. Joe Louis, 7. Sam Langford, 8. Gene Tunney, 9. Max Schmeling, 10. Rocky Marciano.

no ali included...NO ALI...

Fleisher was a young guy when his top three were active.

As studies have shown, we stick to the athletes that were on top, and that we idolized, when we ourselves were young.

I was lucky to be a teenager when Ali, Foreman and Frazier were around in the 70s. And still young enough to worship Holmes and his golden days.
It wouldn’t be surprising if today’s teens – in the future – will claim that Fury, Joshua and Wilder were the greatest.

[louis54]

I liked his ratings of best of published in 72

[QueensburyRules]

Fleisher was a young guy when his top three were active.

As studies have shown, we stick to the athletes that were on top, and that we idolized, when we ourselves were young.

I was lucky to be a teenager when Ali, Foreman and Frazier were around in the 70s. And still young enough to worship Holmes and his golden days.
It wouldn’t be surprising if today’s teens – in the future – will claim that Fury, Joshua and Wilder were the greatest.

- -They already do.

And always will, the whole reason why history is ignored by every gen so they can replicate previous disasters.

[TonyGe]

My guess is Ali wasn't finished his career yet.