By Class - I mean the classiest champions of all time. This would include - Humble, build up opponents, gracious in victory, upstanding in the community and a good all around role model. For me - The Klitschko brothers have to be up in the discussion. But lets hear your opinion.
Really most from Suulivan thru Foreman 1 treated the title before & after with the austere weight of Heavyweight Champion. 1 noted exception Ali 1st run.
You count the Ks. They fought timid. Being known for your class only matters when you can brutalitize someone. Guys you mention like Marciano or Louis were respectful to their opponents, but when the bell rang they came for their heart and soul and left their opponents on a bloody heap of misery. The Ks on the other hand we're almost as respectful in the ring as they were out of the ring
I can’t see Floyd Patterson on this list after the things he said about Muhammad Ali. Continued to call him Cassius Clay well past the times they fought, publicly stating his refusal to call him Ali. (By the way, his own son Tracy Harris, changed his name to Tracy Harris Patterson when Floyd adopted him and you’ll notice he didn’t refuse to call him by his new name.) He also talked about how Ali’s conversion to Islam was bad, how the Islamic faith is violent, how it was bad for the Civil Rights movement. He cast Ali as a foreigner, saying he was going to “bring the title back to America,” dismissing a man who had (like himself) won Olympic gold representing the USA. Now consider that Patterson is Catholic and look up a little history on the violent part of that religious movement (particularly against Muslims) and also consider that he’s standing up for an institution that, we all know, has been a haven for protecting pedophiles for decades on end. Also consider how Patterson disgraced and disrespected the heavyweight championship — defending against a man with no pro fights, fighting the likes of Tom McNeely, etc. He did more damage to the championship than any single undisputed heavyweight champion in all of history. Nope, Floyd may have been soft-spoken but he was not, in any way, classy.
