Very simple question/poll. No bells and whistles attached to this thread like the others I've made. What's the ESB consensus?
Very close, but I'd say he falls just short. The lack of wins against fellow ATGs is the biggest shortcoming.
Tough because Lennox Lewis and Wladimir took spots in the top 10 of most people. I mean, youngest HW champ of all time, 9 straight defenses, 2X champ, that's all hard to ignore. One thing is for sure, if you have him ranked in your top 10 then odds are he's #10, not much higher.
Yeah, for me, and I don't see anybody threatening to squeeze him out either. I think the last time I did a list, he was eight or nine. But, still holding there strongly. He went through a phase of most people gushing over him and expecting him to be in the realm of the Louis and Ali tier, then a weird backlash of underrating him is prevalent now, in my opinion. ESPN treated him atrociously when he got into the IBHOF, I felt.
In that ESPN one-on-one interview they pretty much asked him five questions, all of them about how grateful he felt in five different ways.
He's HOF, no doubt, top 10? Let me see if I can find 10 others before him. Louis Ali Lewis Foreman Frazier Marciano Holyfield (iffy, but 4X champ, former undisputed cruiser, hell of a resume, etc) I would add guys like Dempsey, Johnson, etc, but I don't know enough about them. I see them in a lot of top 10 lists though. Let's say I put them in, and my list is already at 9. Some would say Floyd Patterson as well. That be 10. Tough call.