So, starting from 4/22/06, we had two fighters who were both champions at the same time. And the icing on the cake is that only one of them was active boxer. And one more thing is that you somehow decided that being Champion Emeritus somehow counts as being the real champion for Vitali, yet you were not so generous for Lennox. Did I miss something else?
First, let me say that I put these stats together a month or so ago. The OP swiped them from another thread and posted them here. The * signifies the champions reign was interrupted but not due to a loss in the ring. Example: Ali was stripped due to government bull**** and lost his championship. He was not defeated in the ring. Vitali retired, was the Champion Emertus (or whatever they called it) and came back to regain his title fully. He was also never defeated in the ring. All of the other champions reigns were interrupted by losses except Ali and Vitali. I didn't include Marciano in the list because I ran out of time. It took quite a while to gather all that info. :roll: This list only has stats to compare the 7 fighters I listed. I didn't include anyone else who didn't rate in all the categories. Marciano would be worth including in future lists, as would Dempsey and Johnson.. but I just ran out of time. I started gathering the information because I wanted to see how many consecutive defenses Wlad had versus Larry Holmes. I included the other fighters there that are typically talked about on ESB just because I thought it was interesting to compare the actual statistics instead of hypotheticals. The Champion Emeritus bit I answered above. I left him in the for the same reason I left Ali (whose reign was interrupted) because neither of their reigns were interrupted by a loss in the ring.
Actually, that's not true. I'm working on adding another item to the list to show notable wins. I've finished it for Lennox and Wlad only at this point, but I'll be doing all the others. I'll post the update here when I get it done. Agreed. Its WBC bull****. Like I said, I listed him that way because his reign wasn't interrupted by a loss, like everyone else (except Ali). Like I mentioned above, I'm working on something that shows notable wins for each fighter. By notable wins I'm counting former/current World, Regional, National champions faced. It looks like this for Wlad and Lennox. (I have not finished the others yet) Resume Strength: Wladimir Klitschko: 8 Former World Champions: Haye, Peter (twice), Chagaev, Rahman (who KO'ed Lennox), Ibragimov, Brewster (who beat Golota), Byrd (twice), Mercer 2 Intercontinental Champions: Thompson, Nicholson 10 Regional/National Champions: Brock, McCline, Chambers, Austin, Jefferson, Williamson, Barrett, Moli, Botha, Schultz Lennox Lewis 11 Former World Champions: Weaver, Briggs, Akinwande, Tucker, Rahman, Tyson, Bruno, McCall, Morrison, Mercer, Grant 0 Intercontinental Champions: 9 Regional/National Champions: Mavrovic, Chanet, Mason, Dascola, Botha, Tua, Williams, Dixon, Ruddock
what all time greats did joe louis beat? what about holmes? what about jack dempsey? what about jack johnson? how about patterson? liston? thats what I thought
Longevity is pretty much the only claim they have at ATGness. You won't find too many top 20 ATGs who have not beaten any ATGs themselves.
The problem with that is that most ATG's dominate for a period, then get old and a new kid takes over. Sure, that kid might beat the old, faded version of the previous champion, but not a prime version. Example: Marciano defeats Louis...but not a prime Louis, who would have destroyed Marciano. Example 2: Larry Holmes beat a tired, faded version of Ali...but prime Ali would have embarrassed him. Example 3: Lennox beat a washed up Tyson....but a prime Tyson beats any version of Lennox that ever existed. You can't complain about the fact that someone hasn't wanted to beat up on a faded former champ just to put a name on the resume even if the win was meaningless.
Vitali did have his shot at a faded version of Lewis and blew it, albeit in a courageous losing efford. Your examples are filled with bias and subjectivity. "Tyson beats any version of Lennox that ever existed"? Based on what? Ali would have "embarrased" Holmes? Louis would have "destroyed" Marciano? You klittards sure have a limited but sensationalist vocabulary. By the way, what's with Tyson beating Holmes who went on to be competitive in the early 90s? Why did "highest KO%"-Vitali go the distance with Briggs who got flattened by Lewis in his prime?
No. Also you seem to overrate Louis, he wasn't invincible, Schmeling knocked him out fair and square, though he did get destroyed in the rematch. Louis had also admitted to being weak against swarmers, styles make fights and Marciano had more than a chance.
1. I think Joe Louis is the greatest HW of all time. Followed by Ali. I'm not hugging, just reporting the numbers as they are. 2. Joe Louis, IMO and in the opinion of nearly every analyst and fighter I've ever heard speak on the matter, was the greatest HW who ever fought. 3. Marciano was great, aggressive and had tremendous conditioning. However, Louis was a technical wizard and was able to make adjustments and change his game plan mid-fight...much like Hopkins and Floyd do today...only better. I don't see how Marciano...who essentially used the same game plan in every match, could compete with that. 4. I agree, Tyson beating a fading Holmes wasn't a beating a prime version of a HOF fighter. I never mentioned it because the other examples are far worse. However, Holmes went on to fight for quite some time after the Tyson loss, and at a competitive level. Lewis/Tyson, Holmes/Ali, Marciano/Louis were all peak fighters fighting completely faded, shadows of their former selves, circus act fights that should never have been sanctioned. 5. Lewis wasn't nearly as washed up you make him out to be and the Lewis/Vitali fight was the two strongest HW's facing each other that I think I've seen. Tyson/Holyfield was probably the second.... Anyway, Lewis was still clearly dominating the division when he left. The only obstacle he had left to face was Vitali, who he could have stuck around and ducked if he wanted. I think he was just tired of fighting. Lennox could be lazy and overconfident. That's no secret.
Why do morons always talk about the Klitchko's as if they are one fighter? They throw up Byrd and TKO6 as if that somehow reflects on Wlad, and Sanders 2003 as if Vitali was knocked out on the same night also.
In fairness. You Klittards speak of them as 1 a lot more than the boxing fans on this site... a lot of the time the boxing fans refer to them as the same fighter in jest, taking the **** out of you lot for comments like. "Haye has already had his shot at Klitschko, he doesn't deserve another" As if losing to 1 means you don't deserve a shot at the lesser one. 6 of one half a dozen of the other