I think Larry was a good champion but the rival championships really hurt the order that he got a challenger into the ring. The first thing that hurt him the most was not getting Gerrie Coetzee in 1979. In another era that would have been automatic since together Larry and Coetzee had the best wins that year. The public interest automatically should have forced that fight. But the WBA got in the way of it and their guy that beat Coetzee went ahead of Larry in a year where Holmes had better wins. Snipes, Weaver, Witherspoon and Bonecrusher all became higher rated after Larry beat them. So the order really effects him. I can’t help thinking without governing bodies getting in the way- the right fights would have happened in the right order. But Then of course, he still loses his title to an unranked guy. I think it probably should be. He skipped a division to do it. I think it came at a time in his career where he only had a couple of fights left in him. I am not sure Spinks really wanted to continue at heavyweight. Although I am suspicious of the methods he used to become a heavyweight I am coming to recognise the magnitude of this achievement.
1986 1 Michael Spinks - W Holmes Tangsted 2 Larry Holmes - L Spinks 3 Mike Tyson - W Zouski, Green, Tillis, Frazier, Ribalta, Ratliffe, Berbick & Others 4 Trevor Berbick - W Thomas Perkins L Tyson 5 Pinklon Thomas - W Maldanoa Hosea L Berbick 6 James Smith - W Weaver Ferguson Bey Witherspoon L Frazier (pre rank) 7 Tim Witherspoon - W Tubbs Bruno L Smith 8 Trevor Berbick W Bey Green 9 Joe Bugner - W Bey Tillis 10 David Bey - L Smith Bugner 11 Tony Tubbs - L Witherspoon 12 James Douglas- W Page Jaco Collier 13 Larry Alexander - W Trimm Ward Curry Wills 14 Mark Wills - W Page Hadley L Alexander Collier (pre rank) 15 Greg page - W Banjo Halstead L Douglas Wills 16 Marvis Frazier - W Tillis Ribalta 17 Horace Notice - Jones, Currie Jameson 18 Melvin Epps - W Castro Currie L Rodrigues Castro & others (Pre rank) 19 Hughroy Currie W McCrory L Notice Epps 20 Funso Banjo - L Page 21 Stefan Tangsted - W Evangelista Westgarth L Spinks 22 Patrick Lamumba - W Santemore Evangelista 23 Alfredo Evangelista - W Vega Miller L Tangsted Lamumba 24 Bobby Czsy - W Kacar Sears 25 Slobodan Kacar - L Czsyz 26 Ricky Parkey - w Hernandez Murphy 27 Carlos DeLeon - W Benton Greer 28 Bernard Benton - W L De Leon 29 Alfonzo Ratliffe - W Ross L Tyson 30 Tyrell Biggs - W Tillis Sims Snipes & Others 31 Renaldo Snipes - W Long L Biggs 32 Frank Bruno - W Coetzee L Witherspoon 33 Gerry Coetzee - L Bruno 34 Michael Dokes -No Fights 35 Donovan Ruddock - W Jones Westgarth Houck Weaver 36 Mike Weaver - W Williams L Smith Ruddock Mike Tyson's rise through the rank was quick and impressive. . I have to say they top 10 were active and in good form, it seems. Horrace Notice may be an underated one. Only in the top 20, but undefeated throughout his career. Melvin Epps lost most of his fights, but he did win the one that mattered most, putting him into the top 20. I am Pretty Sure Patrick Lamumba is the first Kenyan to enter the rankings. Despite what seems like a really solid group of heavyweights, it is interesting that the light heavys and cruisers are still forcing their way into the rankings.
Wow, Frank Bruno is still much lower than I imagined. These rankings show that the IBF vacant title fight of Tony Tucker and Buster Douglas must be between the lowest ranked pairing of heavyweights for an alphabet belt. How on Earth they selected those two to represent the best in the “world”.
What stuns me most about Bruno, is that when he fights Bugner, it is Bugner (the Comebacking "Aussie Joe" version) who actually had the higher ranking. I remember that Joe was angling for a Tyson title fight, and i remember not thinking it a realistic goal which it ultimately wasnt. But it also wasnt as unlikely (it seems) as i had thought at the time.
1987 1 Michael Spinks - W Cooney 2 Larry Holmes - No Fights 3 Mike Tyson - W Smith Thomas Tucker Biggs. 4 Trevor Berbick - W Terry Boyd Evans 5 Pinklon Thomas - W Sutton L Thomas 6 Adilson Rodriguez - W Rodriguez Boyd Jamieson Smith Gross Evangelista 7 James Smith - L Tyson Rodrigues 8 Tim Witherspoon - W Wills Williams 9 Frank Bruno - W Tillis Gardner Gross Bugner 10 Joe Bugner - W Page L Bruno 11 Tyrell Biggs - W Bey Boyd L Tyson 12 Mike Weaver - W Jaco Pritchard Du Plooy 13 Johnny Du Plooy - W Porter Bey Tillis Booze Knoetzee Parker L Weaver 14 David Bey - L Biggs DuPlooy 15 Tony Tubbs -W Jameson Halstead Gonzalez 16 Tony Tucker - W Douglas L Tyson 17 James Douglas- W Long L Tucker 18 Orlin Norris - W Alexander Barbier & Others 19 Larry Alexander - L Norris 20 Mike White - W Billups Bond Collier Holman 21 Dee Collier - w Wills L White 22 Mark Wills - L Collier Witherspoon 23 Greg page - W Broad L Bugner 24 Marvis Frazier - W Fischer Evans 25 Horace Notice - W Kilamanjarro Garside Liston Waters 26 Renaldo Snipes - W Epps Scott Anderson 27 Melvin Epps - L Snipes 28 Hughroy Currie W Jacobs Malcolm Quarless 29 James Broad - W Lamumba L (pre rank) Damiani Page 30 Patrick Lamumba - W Ratliffe L Broad Spinks defeated Holmes, of course, which was a great win, but I don’t think his record seems to stack up with other light heavy types (in the heavy division) such as Tunney, Braddock, Burns, Charles, Fitzsimmons, possibly even Moorer although that remains to be seen. Other non champions like Archie Moore may also have better records as well. Mike Tyson is only third, but his "pre lineal title" run is as good as anyone's. It really is astonishing to think that in between a multimillion dollar unification bout, he took a warm up against the no 5 ranked fighter. As a number 1 contender (or in this case technically no 2 contender although Larry had formally retired, this is one of a very few number of times, where you could legitimately consider someone other than the world champion as a the best fighter in the world. James Bonecrusher Smith certainly had a bad year. Followed his world title loss to Tyson with a loss to Rodrigues and a draw with Rouse. Rodrigues seems to have had a good year. I cant remember him being highly rated but his record looks decent. Interestingly when he fought Felipe Rodrigues, it was Rodrigues vs Rodrigues. Was this a sibling rivalry? Johnny Du Plooy was actually putting together a good run. It is a shame he slipped up against Mike Weaver, who was underated at the time.
Great work once again. Rodriguez beating Smith was a good win, though it didn’t do him much good. I’ve just noticed Berbick is listed twice. #4 and #9. Tucker beat #17 Douglas but doesn’t appear.
Bugner had an excellent run. He was a serious contender, these days he would not even be considered old.
Thanks, that should be fixed now. Tucker had dropped out of the rankings and returned. AS you said earlier his IBF (i think it was) belt really was a joke of belt with Douglas fighting Tucker. Both fighters would have struggled to be top 10 fighters at the time. Although ironically, both went on to prove themselves as pretty good fighters.
At the time, he looked so slow compared to Mike. And the year off (as it was with Larry, later on) was a big thing. Now it seems to be par for the course for fighters to fight only every year or two
1988 1 Mike Tyson - W holmes Tubbs Spinks 2 Michael Spinks - L Tyson 3 Larry Holmes - L Tyson 4 Carl Williams - W Berbick Frazie Rouse 5 Trevor Berbick - W Davis L Williams 6 Evander Holyfield - W DeLeon Tillis Thomas 7 Pinklon Thomas - L Holyfiedl 6 Adilson Rodriguez - W Scaff Lee Currie Garside Cambioso 7 James Smith - D Rouse 8 Tim Witherspoon - W Villegas 9 Frank Bruno - No Fights 10 Francesco Damiani - W Biggs Gaymon Emman Jassmen 11 Tyrell Biggs - L Damiani 12 Renaldo Snipes - w Armstrong Duplooy Washington L Norris (pre rank) 13 Johnny DuPlooy W Weaver Broad L Snipes D Pritchard 14 Mike Weaver - L Du Plooy 15 Tony Tubbs -L Tyson 16 Tony Tucker - No Fights 17 James Douglas- Wdavis Halstead Williams 18 Orlin Norris - W Clark Snipes Stokes Bond Ferguson 19 Donovan Ruddock - W Alexander Lacusta Gross Broad 20 Larry Alexander - L Ruddock Witherspoon 21 Levi Billups - Slaughter Holman Martin Stockton Hughes White 22 Mark Wills - W Rawls White 23 Mike White - W Collier Santemore Richardson L Billups Wills 24 Dee Collier - L White W Garcia 25 Greg page - No Fights 26 Marvis Frazier - W Brown 27 Horace Notice - W Currie 28 Arthel Lawhorn W Muhammed L Swindell (Pre rank) 29 Eddie Mustafa Muhammed - W Davidson Epps L Lawthorn 30 Melvin Epps - L Mustafa Muhammed 31 Hughroy Currie W Quarless L Notice Rodrigues 32 James Broad - L DuPlooy Ruddock 33 Patrick Lamumba - W Lampkin Tyson has wins over 7 of the top 10 and will KO the 8th in one round. He will also go on to face Evander Holyfield after his break. He reign is short but as dominant as anyones. From memory he beat more top 10 contenders than Dempsey, Marciano or any of the other champs with a short but dominant reign. Only the likes of Johnson, Ali and Louis really established the same level of dominance and all three were much longer reigns to do it. Tyson had also beaten 3 of the top 20 and would Soon KO a 4th in Razor Ruddock. Interestingly the 5th fighter he would fight, Buster Douglas would knock him out. Trevor Berbick has held his position surprisingly well. Spinks and Holmes should bow out at the end of this year, both in the top 10 which is always a good result. A little unusual that Bruno had the year off. From memory it just wasn’t worth the risk of a loss when you were in line for a big money title fight with Tyson. Its interesting that Witherspoon was always seen as the man tyson "ducked". Technically Rodrigues was rated higher at the current point in time. Eddie Mustapha Muhammed snuck into theto30 5 in his short comeback that would only last 3 fights for the year.
1989 1 Mike Tyson - W Bruno Williams 2 Carl Williams - L Tyson 3 James Douglas - W Berbick McCall 4 Trevor Berbick - L Douglas 5 Evander Holyfield - W Dokes Rodrigues Stewart 6 Pinklon Thomas - No fights 7 Adilson Rodriguez - W Tillis Rouse Masseroni L Holyfield 8 Donovan Ruddock - W SMith 9 James Smith - W Jones McGee Rouse L Ruddock 10 Tim Witherspoon - W Alexander Eklund 11 Frank Bruno - L Tyson 12 Francesco Damiani - W W Duplooy Neto 13 Gary Mason - Currie Armstrong Harding Biggs Wills 14 Tyrell Biggs - L Mason W Crabtree 15 Renaldo Snipes - w Almeida Epps Adams 16 Johnny DuPlooy W Rouse L Damiani 17 Mike Weaver - L Crabtree Washington Brown 18 Tony Tubbs -W Evans Richardson Mijangos ND Norris 19 Tony Tucker - W Homsey 20 Orlin Norris - W Page Collier ND Tubbs 21 Larry Alexander - L Witherspoon 22 Michael Dokes - W Crabtree Washington Watson L Holyfield 23 Lionel Washington - W Billups L Weaver Dokes 24 Levi Billups - L Washington 25 Mark Wills - W Williams L Mason 26 Pierre Coetzer - White Pritchard Greer Hitz 27 Mike White - L Coetzer 28 Dee Collier - W Crabtree Masters L Norris 29 Greg page - W Murney Terrell Woolard L Norris 30 Alex Stewart - W Jaco Lawhorn Johnson Montes Armstrong L Holyfield 31 Ray Mercer W Lawhorn Ocassio Richardson & Others 32 Arthel Lawhorn W Tillis L Mercer Stewart 33 Lennox Lewis W Malcolm Johnson Gerrard Gardner Epps 34 Melvin Epps - L Snipes Liwis 35 Derek Williams - W Quarless Evans Currie L Wills 36 Hughroy Currie L Mason Williams 37 James Broad - L DuPlooy Ruddock 38 Glen Mcrory - W Mormino Makathini Lamumba 39 Patrick Lamumba - W De Assa L McRory Tyson had still beaten 5 of the top 10 But number 3, 5 and 33 will eventually give him troubles. Spinks and Holmes retire as 2 and 3. James "Buster" Douglas clearly deserved a shot and wasn’t as big an upset as thought at the time. Interesting that Douglas had just beaten future Lennox Lewis Conquerer oliver McCall, on points. Imagine if results had gone another way and it had been McCall and not Douglas who got the shot at Tyson and beat him. Not a completely ridiculous possibility. I have to say the top 20 looks pretty accurate. Not sure what that shows. But for a generation many call the lost generation, most of the big guns seemed to be in the picture. The highly rated 90s era is about to start. It will be interesting to see if they are more successful over the 80s fighters than the 70s fighters were against the 60s fighters.
1990 1 Evander Holyfield - McDonagh Douglas 2 James Douglas - W Tyson L Holyfield 3 Mike Tyson - W Stewart Tillman L Douglas 4 Carl Williams - W Bowen 5 Trevor Berbick - Sims Crabtree 6 Pinklon Thomas - No fights 7 George Foreman - W Cooney Jameson Rodriques Lacusta Anderson 8 Adilson Rodriguez - L Foreman 9 Donovan Ruddock - W Dokes Odum Rouse 10 James Smith - W Almeida Weaver 11 Tim Witherspoon - W Sims Gorrell Ribalta 12 Frank Bruno - No Fights 13 Francesco Damiani - W Morrison Martin 14 Gary Mason - W Martin Pritchard 15 Tyrell Biggs -W Ocasio Kellar Marin 16 Renaldo Snipes - w Howe 17 Pierre Coetzer - W Martin Powell Duplooy Williamson Odum 17 Johnny DuPlooy W Murphy Tomashek L Coetzer 18 Mike Weaver -W Burgess L Smith 19 Tony Tubbs -W Cohen Carter 20 Tony Tucker - W Jones Evans Rouse 21 Ray Mercer - W Watson odum washington Cooper 22 Riddick Bowe - W Robinson Golay Gonzalez Tucker Thomas Cooper Morrison 23 Bert Cooper - W Norris L Mercer Bowe 24 Orlin Norris - W Wofford Gorrell Hearns McCall Willis L Cooper 25 Michael Dokes - W Dacola L Ruddock 26 Lionel Washington - Wdavis L Mercer 27 Levi Billups - W Johnson 28 Mark Wills - W Page 29 Mike White - No Fights 30 Greg page - W Fleming L Wills 31 Alex Stewart - W Young Howe L Tyson 32 Lennox Lewis W Quarless jones simuwelu Dascola Murphy Ocasio Acey Chanet 33 Ed Mack - W Rivers Taylor L Cole (pre rank) D Jackson 34 Leon Taylor W Collins Epps Cole L Mack 35 Melvin Epps - L Taylor 36 Jean Maurice Chanet - W Williams L Lewis 37 Derek Williams - L Chanet 38 Jeff Lampkin - W Mccrory Makathini 39 Glen Mcrory - L Lampkin 40 Bash Ali - Lamumba 41 Patrick Lamumba - L Bash Ali Evander Holyfield takes over as the champion, with his win over Douglas. It will be interesting to track and compare his progress with Riddick Bowe and Lennox Lewis who were coming through now. Trevor Berbick's high rating is surprising still, although obviously he hasn’t maintained a high level of competition. To be fair though he isnt the only one. Most of the top 10 simply do not fight others top 10s very often. This is a trend which I think will continue. Interesting that George Foreman made his way back into the top 10. I actually didn’t expect that at this stage of his career. It seems as if his Holyfield fight was more deserving than I really remembered. I am surprised he was technicall a top 10 fighter at this time. Frank Bruno is a strange one. He had just the one fight (Tyson) in 3 years. I am undecided about the depth and quality of this era. The top 25 still looks pretty good and strong but at the same time, the lower tier top 10 and the top 20 don’t really seem to fight each other anywhere near as much as other eras which means there is less chance for it to change. It does seem that the modern trend (or at least from here) will show itself up as a strong looking group on paper at the top but a lack of depth. One thing which might skew the lack of depth is the increased weight divisions. The cruisereweight division has emerged, and slowly we see less heavies competing from this division. Theoretically this is meaning the pool of heavys is decreasing.
1991 1 Evander Holyfield - W Foreman Cooper 2 Mike Tyson - W Ruddock 3 Tim Witherspoon - W Williams Tucker 4 Carl Williams - L Witherspoon NC Odum 5 Trevor Berbick - W Lane 6 Ray Mercer - W Damiani Morrison 7 Tommy Morrison - Tillis, Thomas Mijangos Vaulin L Mercer 8 Pinklon Thomas - L Morrisson 9 George Foreman - W Ellis L Holyfield 10 Adilson Rodriguez -W Gibaudo Garcia Tonacea Cea 11 Donovan Ruddock - L Tyson 12 Levi Billups - W Smith L Moorer (Pre rank) 13 James Smith - W Carter Armstrong Odum Martin Sims Tillman Crowder L Billups 14 Frank Bruno - W Emman 15 Francesco Damiani - L Mercer 16 Lennox Lewis W Mason Weaver McCrory Biggs 17 Gary Mason - L Lewis 18 Riddick Bowe - W Biggs Tubbs Marin Brown Seldon Tillery 19 Tyrell Biggs -L Lewis Bowe 20 Renaldo Snipes - No Fights 21 Pierre Coetzer - W Lakusta Ribalta Halstead Murphy 22 Corrie Sanders - W Gee Duplooy Rouse Card 23 Johnny DuPlooy W Brown L Sanders 24 Mike Weaver -L Lewis 25 Tony Tubbs -L Bower 26 Tony Tucker - W Washington Thomas Norris 27 Bert Cooper - W Ross Nelson Wade Hipp L Holyfield 28 Orlin Norris - W Howe Washington Shelby Pritchard L Tucker 29 Michael Dokes - W Morton Armstrong 30 Lionel Washington - L Tucker Norris 31 Mark Wills - No fights 32 Mike White - W Rouse Thomson Richardson Ryan 33 Greg page - W Young Whitaker Christjohn 34 Michael Moorer - W Davis Billups Stewart Crabtree 35 Alex Stewart - W Wofford L Moorer Evander's Title defences not looking too good so far. Mike Tyson, as expected, went to prison as the true no 1 contender to Evanders Title. Tim Witherspoon a real surprise, coming in as the main contender to Evander behind Tyson. Trevor Berbick is a pretty surprising one. Not only would he finish up (before making a comeback) as a solid number 5. But when you look back at his career, he was a solid top 10 for most of his fights. One has to wonder whether Muhammed Ali deserves a touch more credit than he usually gets for the final fight of his career. Based on these ratings, Berbick is an underated fighter. James Bonecrusher Smith Was surprisingly active this year with about 8 fights for the year. Surprising that Levi Billups was the guy who actually beat him. Michael Moorer was unlucky not to earn a higher ranking as he ahd already beaten Billups. Lennox Jumps ahead of Riddick Bowe and well into the top 20. The Ratings might not suggest it, but there really was nothing wrong with Tyrell Biggs' competition this year. A loss to Lennox Lewis and Riddick Bowe! Interesting to see Wlad's Future conquerer, Corrie Sanders make his way into the rankings so early. Tony Tucker is a funny one. On the face, I would have thought of his 26 ranking as far too low. Yet strangely enough, the guys he is fighting are all around the 25 -30 mark! So the rankings, again, are probably more accurate than thought.
1992 1 Riddick Bowe - W Nelson Martin Coetzere Holyfield 2 Evander Holyfield - W Holmes L Bowe 3 Tony Tucker - W Martin odum falkner Contreras mccall Poirer Swindell 4 Everett Martin - L Moorer Bowe (pre rank) Tucker W Witherspoon 5 Tim Witherspoon - W Smith Pritchard Martin Willis 6 Alex Garcia W Crabtree Gans Evans Weathers White Brooks Occasio Jones 7 Jerry Jones - W Fitch Williams L Garcia 8 Carl Williams - W Tillman Occassio Smith L Jones 9 Larry Holmes - W Mercer L Holyfield 10 Ray Mercer - W Dixon halstead L Holmes 11 Tommy Morrison - W Quarry Halstead Odum Tucker Hipp Tillman 12 Pinklon Thomas - W Jackson Sutton Miller Jones Smith Wofford Davis Beilfuss Heins Nesbitt Burgess Owens Payne 13 George Foreman - W Stewart 14 Adilson Rodriguez -W Diaz Racette Cambiaso Dascola 15 Lennox Lewis - W Billups Williams Dixon Ruddock 16 Donovan Ruddock - W Page Jackson L Lewis 17 Levi Billups - W Humm L Lewis 18 Francesco Damiani - W Swindell Greer page 19 Greg Page - W Smith Porter L Ruddock Damiani 20 James Smith - W Wills Wofford L Page 21 Frank Bruno - W Ribalta Coetzer 22 Tyrell Biggs -W Jameson Woolard Faulkner Jobe Jones Wilson 23 Renaldo Snipes - W Lane 24 Pierre Coetzer - W West L Bowe Bruno 25 Corrie Sanders - W Wade Dixon Evans Nielson 26 Johnny DuPlooy No Fights 27 Mike Weaver -W Gans 28 Lionel Butler - W Atkins Perez Dixon Tubbs Morton 29 Tony Tubbs -W Taylor Seldon Ferguson L Butler 30 Michael Moorer W White Martin Cooper Wright 31 Bert Cooper - W Coffee Jaco Papelli L Moorer 32 Orlin Norris - W Hembrick McMurray Sewell 33 Michael Dokes - Wstonewalker wofford Davis Sutton Ferguson Ribalta Forbes Riddick Bowe takes the world title. I could be mistaken, but with a ranking of number 18, this technically makes Riddick Bowes win over Evander as the second biggest upset in boxing era (outside Michael Spinks) and the era of needing to be a proven top 10 contender to get a title shot does seem to be finished, presumable with the Zero and eye candy/size test being the new measure. Although I guess we will see how things progress, maybe it is just Evanders early reign where he didn fight many top 10 fighters. George Foreman was the only top 10 fighter he faced. Mike Tyson starts his stint in jail. Will be interesting to see if his second career gets him any rankings. Maybe I am a little harsh on the Riddick defence. He does have a pre rankings win over Everett Martin who would go on to beat a top 10 fighter in Tim Witherspoon. Surprising that it is at this point, that Tony Tucker reaches a career high ranking (so far). Although he was very active. In hindsight I would have thought it was the mcCall win not the martin win that was the better win, but mcCall wasn’t even on the rankings. Michael Moorer was a little unluck his Everett Martin win wasn’t timed a little better. Trevor Berbick's 3 year retirement ends a really good and underated run as top 10 contender. Larry Holmes' return to the top 10 sees him as technically one of evanders better defences. Pinklon Thomas deserves serious credit. 12 fights in a year! Bit of a throwback with his level of activity. Tyrell Biggs certainly took on all comers. Last years Lewis Bowe fights were matched this year by fighting to unknown debutants! You cant get much opposite ends of the spectrum. Biggs really didn’t seem to care who he fought. It is quite clear and a little sad that the top contenders really seem to avoid each other, particularly in the top 10 to 30 range. The pattern seems to be get a win against lesser ranked opponents rather than fight somebody at the same level of development. I think it is a shame there are so many extra good fights that could have been made in this range that would have made things even more interesting than they were.
