Who's the greatest heavyweight boxer?

[HardasNAILZ]

I’d have voted Hughie Fury if he was on the list.

 

[Alcibiades007]

Honourable Mentions: James Figg(allegedly 269-1 with the loss avenged in 18th century), Tommy Burns(shortest HW ever who draw no racial line and defended his title 11 consecutive times)

30.Jack Sharkey(pretty inconsistent for an ATG but has a bunch of great nimes to his CV)

29."Gentleman Jim" Corbett(Only dude who beat John L. Sullivan. Despite his short career, he fought the creme de la creme of his time and mostly lost in his last matches. Also revolutionized boxing with his style)

28.Bob Fitzsimmons(Lightest HW champs ever and first 3 weight class World Champ)

27. John L. Sullivan(greatest bare knuckle boxer ever)

26.Michael Spinks(mostly ranked for his p4p status)

25.Max Baer(one of the hardest punchers ever)

24.Max Schmelling(Greatest European Heavyweight of the 20th century and the only dude to beat Joe Louis prior to his first retirement)

23.Jersey Joe Walcott(Beat Ezzard Charles twice)

22.Harry Wills(could have been one of the ATGs if not for the "color line"

21.Ken Norton(legendary trilogy with Ali)

20.Floyd Patterson(ranks a bit low for being destroyed twice by Liston. World Champ at 21)

19.Riddick Bowe(One of the most talented HWs ever who could have been a top 10er if he didn't have shit for brains)

18.Sam Langford(much mich higher in a p4p ranking. This guy beat hall of famers from LW to HW)

17.James J. Jeffries(unbeatable in his prime. Allot of ATGs ranked him as the GOAT, including Dempsey)

16.Gene Tunney(higher in a p4p ranking. One of the most technically gifted HW ever)

15.Sonny Liston(looked invincible before his bouts with Ali, which are still controversial)

14.Ezzard Charles(HW champ with most wins ever)

13.Wladimir Klitchko(Top 5 ever on paper. But never fought an ATG)

12.Evander Holyfield(Schooled Mike Tyson twice and he was older then him. Has a shit load of wins over world champs)

11.Joe Frazier(The greatest rival of Ali, who btw called him the 2nd greatest boxer ever)

10.Jack Dempsey(Arguably the most vicious HW ever. Voted the greatest fighter of the past 50 years in 1950)

9.Jack Johnson(First black HW champ and arguably the greatest defensive boxer in HW history)

8.Vitaly Klitchko(Only 2 losses which came after injuries while he was ahead on the score cards in both fights. Not only has he never been knocked out, he's a Heavyweight world champ who was NEVER even knocked down. I'd a back a HW champ who never tasted the canvas against pretty much any in a prime for prime fight except maybe the top 2)

7.Mike Tyson(Needs no introduction. Fist was of his career portrays a nigh unbeatable boxing machine)

6.Lennox Lewis(Probably the greatest HW of modern era. George Foreman called him the GOAT)

5.George Foreman(In another Universe, this guy might have been the GOAT since he ended up a legit ATG even when sacrificing an entire decade of mostly his prime years)

4.Larry Holmes(Generally underrated cause he fought fresh off the golden age and most contenders looked sub-par but he's the closest thing to Ali the HW division ever had IMO)

3.Rocky Marciano(49-0)

2.Joe Louis(25 titles defenses, almost 12 years world champ, 23 KOs in 27 title fights, ranked as the greatest puncher ever, probably the HW GOAT)

1.Mohammad Ali(Defeated every contender in a time and division called the "Golden Age of Boxing". Pretty much the best, greatest, whatever HW boxer ever)

 

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

Valuev ticks a lot of those boxes - huge, enormous, big, terrible, immense, vast etc

So I guess Valuev is the greatest.

Whatever floats your boat.

 

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

Honourable Mentions: James Figg(allegedly 269-1 with the loss avenged in 18th century), Tommy Burns(shortest HW ever who draw no racial line and defended his title 11 consecutive times)

30.Jack Sharkey(pretty inconsistent for an ATG but has a bunch of great nimes to his CV)

29."Gentleman Jim" Corbett(Only dude who beat John L. Sullivan. Despite his short career, he fought the creme de la creme of his time and mostly lost in his last matches. Also revolutionized boxing with his style)

28.Bob Fitzsimmons(Lightest HW champs ever and first 3 weight class World Champ)

27. John L. Sullivan(greatest bare knuckle boxer ever)

26.Michael Spinks(mostly ranked for his p4p status)

25.Max Baer(one of the hardest punchers ever)

24.Max Schmelling(Greatest European Heavyweight of the 20th century and the only dude to beat Joe Louis prior to his first retirement)

23.Jersey Joe Walcott(Beat Ezzard Charles twice)

22.Harry Wills(could have been one of the ATGs if not for the "color line"

21.Ken Norton(legendary trilogy with Ali)

20.Floyd Patterson(ranks a bit low for being destroyed twice by Liston. World Champ at 21)

19.Riddick Bowe(One of the most talented HWs ever who could have been a top 10er if he didn't have shit for brains)

18.Sam Langford(much mich higher in a p4p ranking. This guy beat hall of famers from LW to HW)

17.James J. Jeffries(unbeatable in his prime. Allot of ATGs ranked him as the GOAT, including Dempsey)

16.Gene Tunney(higher in a p4p ranking. One of the most technically gifted HW ever)

15.Sonny Liston(looked invincible before his bouts with Ali, which are still controversial)

14.Ezzard Charles(HW champ with most wins ever)

13.Wladimir Klitchko(Top 5 ever on paper. But never fought an ATG)

12.Evander Holyfield(Schooled Mike Tyson twice and he was older then him. Has a shit load of wins over world champs)

11.Joe Frazier(The greatest rival of Ali, who btw called him the 2nd greatest boxer ever)

10.Jack Dempsey(Arguably the most vicious HW ever. Voted the greatest fighter of the past 50 years in 1950)

9.Jack Johnson(First black HW champ and arguably the greatest defensive boxer in HW history)

8.Vitaly Klitchko(Only 2 losses which came after injuries while he was ahead on the score cards in both fights. Not only has he never been knocked out, he's a Heavyweight world champ who was NEVER even knocked down. I'd a back a HW champ who never tasted the canvas against pretty much any in a prime for prime fight except maybe the top 2)

7.Mike Tyson(Needs no introduction. Fist was of his career portrays a nigh unbeatable boxing machine)

6.Lennox Lewis(Probably the greatest HW of modern era. George Foreman called him the GOAT)

5.George Foreman(In another Universe, this guy might have been the GOAT since he ended up a legit ATG even when sacrificing an entire decade of mostly his prime years)

4.Larry Holmes(Generally underrated cause he fought fresh off the golden age and most contenders looked sub-par but he's the closest thing to Ali the HW division ever had IMO)

3.Rocky Marciano(49-0)

2.Joe Louis(25 titles defenses, almost 12 years world champ, 23 KOs in 27 title fights, ranked as the greatest puncher ever, probably the HW GOAT)

1.Mohammad Ali(Defeated every contender in a time and division called the "Golden Age of Boxing". Pretty much the best, greatest, whatever HW boxer ever)

That's a really good list and explained very well.

 

[Monte Moku]

If you are going by their influence on the sport and how they helped shape Boxing, it goes to Muhammad Ali easily.

If you are measuring by who would win the most in a series of prime-for-prime one-off bouts, I would favor Lennox Lewis more than anyone else.

 

[Hagler]

Top tier : Ali - Louis
Tier 2 : Lewis - Holmes - Foreman
Tier 3 : Johnson - Marciano - Jeffries - Frazier
Tier 4 : Wlad - Tyson - Holyfield - Dempsey - Liston

 

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

If you are going by their influence on the sport and how they helped shape Boxing, it goes to Muhammad Ali easily.

If you are measuring by who would win the most in a series of prime-for-prime one-off bouts, I would favor Lennox Lewis more than anyone else.

Well said.

 

[Takes_Two_To_Tango]

Top tier : Ali - Louis
Tier 2 : Lewis - Holmes - Foreman
Tier 3 : Johnson - Marciano - Jeffries - Frazier
Tier 4 : Wlad - Tyson - Holyfield - Dempsey - Liston

I like that idea with Tiers. Nicely done.

 

[treelo]

Why does Bowe always end up on these discussions?

Big fat guy with talent who has a resume thinner than a Kardashian thong

 

[XThe GreatestX]

Top tier : Ali - Louis
Tier 2 : Lewis - Holmes - Foreman
Tier 3 : Johnson - Marciano - Jeffries - Frazier
Tier 4 : Wlad - Tyson - Holyfield - Dempsey - Liston

i like the idea. Resume wise its actually very sound. My only issue is I don't really know what to a make of a guy like holyfield

Great wins. Bizarre losses.

 

[ikite103]

Tyson Fury beats them all he is not just a 1-2 big man he is a slick boxer we have never seen someone his size with his skills before

 

[CodeBreaker]

Greatness includes resume so Ali easily

 

[djacobox372]

But head to head I think Lennox sparks Ali out.

Disagree, Lennox was slow as hell, Ali would be a terrible matchup for him. Heck Lennox ducked smaller faster heavyweights most of his career.

 

[ga_ninja]

Joe Louis i mean the guy had 21 title defenses /thread

 

[CastletonSnob]

Ali is the GOAT. He has the best resume of any HW ever. He beat a who's who of HW champions. Frazier, Foreman, Liston, and Patterson.

If he hadn't been exiled, he would have had a good chance at retiring undefeated.

 

[Flboycanscrap2]

Legend Larry Holmes JABS everyone out of the way to GOAT HW status.

 

[sportkillergreg]

Rocky Marciano - undefeated and undisputed. Plus he knocked Ali out in the computer fight

 

[FightGuyOpenMind]

So many great ones for different reasons. My favorite is Ali, followed by Gene Tunney then perhaps Dempsey. I like Foreman a lot too.

Current----Wilder, and Fury

 

[FighterTwister]

In my opinion Mike Tyson I grew up with him as he was starting his career and it was amazing to see bang, boom, bang in seconds very entertaining and he did what he said he would do.

His style and technique to this day is still awe inspiring.

If Mike Tyson wasn’t a name it would be Ali of course

 

[defjaam]

Top tier : Ali - Louis
Tier 2 : Lewis - Holmes - Foreman
Tier 3 : Johnson - Marciano - Jeffries - Frazier
Tier 4 : Wlad - Tyson - Holyfield - Dempsey - Liston

I could point out severel things wrong with this. But let me pick one: Marciano.

How is Marciano with 6 title defenses more accomplished than a guy with 24 title defenses? Or more accomplished than Holyfield or Tyson?
It's not like Marciano's overall resume (aside from title defenses) is better either.

It's again this romanticization of the old days, where a guy gets favored just because he's from an older era, hence looked at as a greater "legend". It's absolute unrealistic nonsense, but certain people are too ignorant to smarten up and let it go.