Who is the worst heavyweight champion in history?

Braddock, L. Spinks or Carnera

 

I think Ryan is somewhat underrated.

He seems to have a good reputation in the sparring matches for a while, and was a big strong guy at 6 feet plus. The only pictures I know of are him hog fat, but at the time of those fights he seems to have been lean and in good shape.

With his win over Goss I think he had as good a claim as anyone to being the best in the world, which also says a lot about the era, and I've seen him called World Champion in British papers, possibly due to the lack of a good British champion.

He certainly had a harder time with Goss, than say Dwyer did with Elliot, but it's hard to say how much is the result of Goss being better than Elliot. I think it's a real shame the fight between Dwyer and Ryan never materialised for various reasons.

 

Martin, by a country mile.

 

Alphabet champions don’t count, so it’s not Martin. Kinda sad to see how many posters in classic seem to not grasp this. I don’t blame any of you, I blame the belts.

Hart is a strong contender here as is Spinks.

 

The IBF is a major championship belt?

 

I think Jackson was the #1 contender when Patterson defended against him. Jackson did poorly in that fight and fell apart afterward, but Patterson should not be criticized for this defense. London was a tune-up for Ingo. McNeeley sort of a tune-up for Liston. I think the tax situation at the time made it necessary for the Liston defense to be put off until 1962 so both men polished off pushovers to build interest.

Patterson got a ton of deserved criticism for the Rademacher farce. It was a good financial but terrible legacy move. The 1958 avoidance of Eddie Machen also is hard to justify, although Roy Harris was a decent contender, undefeated with some good wins, and ranked #3.

 

Not a single belt matters except for the lineal title. It makes older fighters look less accomplished when they can’t be considered “champions,” if they didn’t have the lineal title.

That shouldn’t fly in the classic forum where cross-era comparisons are commonplace.

 

John Ruiz, Nikolai Valuev, or Bruce Seldon.

 

So if we're talking about middleweight champions, GGG can not be part of the discussion?

 

I have no clue bro, they ruined the sport.