Which decade was the strongest for the heavyweight Divison?

50s
10) Machen
9) Folley
8) Harold Johnson
7) Ingo
6) Moore
5) Charles
4) Patterson
3) Walcott
2) Liston
1) Marciano

honorable mention: Satterfield, Baker, Layne, Valdez, Cooper, London, Lastarza, Jackson, Bivins Matthews,
now I watch in pleasure as heads explode

 

1970s, followed by the 1990s. Those are the Golden Era’s of heavyweight boxing.

I think the top four 70s guys (Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Holmes) all rank higher than the best of the 90s. Then the guys like Norton, Young, Quarry were better than the 90s heavies not named Holyfield, Bowe, Lewis.

Both great eras. It’s so hilarious you’ve got newbie fans of today, particularly Wilder fans, claiming today’s guys are better. Wilder wouldn’t be near the top 10 in either era.

 

I think Wilder might actually have made a good opponent for Holmes. Wilder has the kryptonite: the overhand right, while at the same time Larry's pretty good at dismantling taller opponents, including those with a great punch. Holmes TKO in 9, but it's quite possible he suffers a Shavers/Snipes level kd along the way.

 

I don't say it's the best, but 1930s is generally underrated. I also really like the 1890s:

10. Joe Choynski
9. Frank Slavin
8. Kid McCoy
7. Tom Sharkey
6. Joe Goddard
5. Peter Maher
4. Jim Corbett
3. Peter Jackson
2. Bob Fitzsimmons
1. Jim Jeffries

HM: Gus Ruhlin, Bob Armstrong

Good top 3 and a lot of depth. Certainly a candidate for top tier decade.

 

My favorite two were the 70s and the 90s. But that’s not to DEFINITELY say they were the strongest. All eras have strengths and weaknesses

 

I think the 70s heavyweights might have a hard time getting past the recent cruiserweights let alone heavyweights

 

Isn't it strange that a fighter from the seventies came back and won the heavyweight championship in the 90's as an old man. You didn't see old men fighting in the 70's .

 

Foreman was an all time great, who aged well.

What all time great heavyweights from the 50s or 60s could have competed in the 70s heavyweight division?
Dead Marciano? Dead Liston? Floyd Patterson, An arguable ATG, arguably beat 3 of the better fighters of the early 70s in Quarry, Bonavena and Ellis.

 

Like already mentioned, the 70s and the 90s were arguably the strongest decades.

At the end of the 90s the Klitschkos were already active. Vitali as WBO world champion (No.7: Ring Rating 1999) and Wladimir as a young prospect. They don't belong to a 90s top 10 list. I just wanted to mention them for the sake of completeness.

All in all, the 70s were probably stronger than the 90s, also because of the better bouts, due to less boxing associations and other reasons. Apart from Holyfield vs. Bowe, there were no big fights like: Lewis vs. Bowe, Tyson vs. Bowe in the 90s and Lewis vs Holyfield/Tyson (2002) were already too late. The 70s had the greater fights: Ali vs. Frazier vs. Foreman etc.

The 1910s were also a strong decade with: Jack Johnson, Sam Langford, Harry Wills, Jack Dempsey, Sam McVey, Joe Jeannette....

My personal favourite decade for the heavyweight division is the 1960s with a young, charismatic and breathtakingly fast Muhammad Ali. The intimidating and seemingly invincible Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson and guys like Ingemar Johansson, Eddie Machen, Zora Folley, Cleveland Williams who were already strong back in the 50s. Later in the 1960s they clashed with a new generation of great fighters like: Jerry Quarry, Oscar Bonavena and Jimmy Ellis. There was also the young Joe Frazier, heavyweight title eliminator matches after Ali was stripped of the world title, tremendous fighters like George Chuvalo and Henry Cooper etc...

For me the decade with the greatest charisma.

 

1990's by a country mile.

The 1970's don't even approach that sort of depth.

 

The 90s top dogs beat the 70s top dogs

 

Yea, but Foreman won it due to a fluke punch. Until he landed that, he was being dominated by Moorer

 

I do like the extent to which that lot all fought each other

 

Troll.