worst heavyweight champion of the last 50 years?

Leon Spinks

If you had made it 50 years and 5 days, I would have added Floyd Patterson.

 

I presume starting on October 1, 1962

You could make an argument for Sonny Liston.

Jimmy Ellis, but it's not his fault that bouts with the following fell through
A) Henry Cooper
B) Robert Cleroux
C) Gregorio Peralta
D) Floyd Patterson (rematch)

 

Valuev.

 

Michael Bentt.

 

Seriously? Sonny Liston? He won the title by emphatically beating an all time great in his prime, won the rematch in the same fashion, then lost it to a future great when he ( sonny ) was past his best. Not sure that I agree with Jimmy Ellis being the worst either.

 

Sugar Nikolai Valuev: worst boxing skills of any champion in any era, saved from failure by enormous size and a lack of competition. I don't know why neither Klitschko took his belt, but perhaps he was avoiding them.

Leon Spinks who takes an old Ali's title and gives it right back in a rematch.

Ernie Terrell who gets Ali's title after it's stripped from him for fighting a rematch with Liston.

Herbie Hide who wins a paper title, then defends it against club level cruiserweights.

Siarhei Liakhovich won the belt from a lucky Lamon Brewster and gave it away to Shannon Briggs.

 

'Linear'- Briggs

'Title holder'- Well arguably Briggs too, unless we are going to dive deep into alphabet crap.

 

Bruce Seldon and Leon Spinks

 

Trevor Berbick

 

The thread stated the last 50-years -

That means the first bout with Floyd Patterson doesn't count, or his
previous October 1, 1962 bouts.

 

This!

 

I'm a Liston fan, but Patterson an all time great?

I didn't realize anyone thought of him as great.

Was it the Pete Rademacher fight ot the Brian London fight that propelled him into greatness?

 

Ali.

The one that lost to Leon Spinks.

 

Probably the wins over Chuvalo, Machen, Bonavena, Cooper, and Archie Moore.