Who were the top ten Heavyweights from 1970-1978? 1- Muhammad Ali 2- George Foreman 3- Joe Frazier 4- Larry Holmes 5- Ken Norton 6- Jerry Quarry 7- Jimmy Young 8- Ron Lyle 9- Earnie Shavers 10- Leon Spinks Under Construction Was going to go with No. 10 Oscar Bonavena, but he lost to Patterson who was done by 1972.
I actually think your list is right on. Having thrown Bonavena out, I think that leaves the #10 slot to one of the three: Ellis, Bugner, and Spinks. Ellis and Spinks only won one significant fight in the whole decade, but were overall more impressive than Bugner imo even though Bugner had several good wins throughout the decade. Tough choice. Idk.
YOU BRING UP SOME EXCELLANT POINTS, MAYBE SPINKS FOR 1978 TITLE. i LOVE jIMMY ELLIS BUT 70'S ONLTY HAD A Chuvalo victory, Bugner beat no one, so Spinks is looking good 1978.
I have always thought Spinks myself. I wouldn't say Bugner either for longevity. Other than Ellis and old Cooper, Bugner just beat a lot of decent guys. Corletti, Wepner, Lubbers, Garcia, Mac Foster-all okay, but obviously not great by any means. Overall, Ellis was better than Spinks imo, but since Spinks had a greater impact on boxing in the 70s, I think we should go with Spinks for #10.
That number 10 spot is hard to fill. There are a number of guys who could be there, but they all also fall short in some fundamental way. In scrolling through rankings for the decade, I've come up with the following possibilities: Duane Bobick, Oscar Bonavena, Joe Bugner, George Chuvalo, Henry Clark, Jimmy Ellis, and Floyd Patterson. All were top-5 by somebody for several months, and top-10 over the course of more than two years. And I'm not just going by Boxrec's "annual Ring rankings" here, but monthly rankings from the mags and organizations. Out of these, I'd pick Joe Bugner for his longevity and strong showings, win or lose, against other top-10 fighters.
VERY GOOD WILLIAM I agree, if you said 1979, i'd go with John Tate #10 Bobick, Knoetze, Coetzee victories.
I'm probably a lil hard on Bugner, his safety first style and lack of a wallop mustve botherd me too much, like Bobick as a pro, he beat some good, not great fighter's , and i'm thinking would have lost to Ellis in Jimmy's prime. Everyone I know seems to pick Bugmer over Bobick, I don't know about that, still make for a good fite maybe, non agressive boxer, vs straight on Body puncher, always seem to make for a good ten round scrap.
1979 I would agree with Tate. Tate like Spinks though, only had one good win in the entire decade, which was a slow-15 rounder over Coetzee, who was famous... because he beat Spinks. Tate was promising and a good boxer, but his best win (Coetzee) was less impressive and less significant than Spinks' best win (Ali); that's why I prefer Spinks. Ali was washed up, but Spinks really put up one of the most astonishing performances in history. Almost never have I seen a fighter that so clearly pushed himself to the limit in a fight.
I agree. Ellis would have beat Bugner for sure in his prime. So would Henry Cooper. I never cared much for Bugner either. He was as tough as they come, but he had a poor jab imo. He had decent handspeed and decent power. Aside from the chin, the guy is decent in every area. He looked hot against guys like Dunn, but failed to impress in the big name matches, although he was in a classic or two in his time. I do wish the Ellis fight had been filmed, it sounded like a dandy.