Greatest/best light-heavyweights never to win the world title?

Here is a scary thought.

You might be able to find ten who never held the title, better than any ten who did!

 

Is this the only weight we could say that?

 

Not necessarily!

 

The Light Heavyweight title certainly had a bad history of weaker fighters holding the belt hostage. Makes one really question the worth of the lineal crown.

Look at the situation today with Stevenson. If the two never fight, Kovalev is likely going to be remembered as the greater fighter.

 

True!

 

Nat Fleischer rated Kid McCoy his Number 1 All-Time Light Heavyweight. McCoy never held the LHW title, although according to Boxrec, he did lose a 10-round fight to Jack Root that was billed for the American LHW title, although some recognized it as for the world title.

 

Reading the thread, Jorge Ahumada came to mind. Tough SOB with excellent skills who IMO would have given any LH hell in ANY era.

 

As Burns and O Brien were both under 175lbs when Burns won he could have justly claimed the lhvy crown.

I wouldn't have Scott there and probably not Kates either. Lopez was a great warrior but he had plenty of chances and fell short. One I think should be there is Harry Greb.

Depending on whether you recognise his claim.
Jimmy Slattery?

 

I believe so.

 

Kates and Lopez are good picks for fighters from more recent decades to round things out.obviously there will be a lot less from those with the proliferation of belts and lesser number of average fights meaning it's much tougher to build up a resume reflecting of excellent talent if you aren't holding a title of some sort.

The likes of getting an all-time great fighter that never won a title post-60s but can be seen to be so on record alone is slim,they just don't get the chance to accrue the kind of wins that would be needed.yet Lopez was definitelyan excellent fighter for a while, no worse than the recent Mexican greats tbh.Just in a rock hard division and had excellent\great fighters to overcome in title challenges.No easy options of jumping to other weightclasses for his prime either.

Kates was an excellent boxer held back by his lack of power in the same division.Short prime, but worth a mention too.

You can't just cut out entirely contenders from post-mid 60s(roughly) even if they aren't ever likely to be accomplished enough to threaten the top of lists\groups like this.A balanced reflection is needed...maybe even two categories to reflect the significant change in how boxing matchmaking was carried out from first half of the century to the second.

 

Choynski and Jeff Clark come to mind too.

 

Choynski has a pretty decent claim to being the first lhvy champ imo.

 

some others

Mauro Mina
Gregorio Peralta
Chris Finnegan
Pierre Fourie