Ring's Heavyweight "Best I've Faced," compiled

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Fighters consulted:

Alfredo Evangelista
Joseph Parker (not done with career yet)
Oleg Maskaev
Al Cole
Riddick Bowe
Michael Moorer
Steve Cunningham
Ray Mercer
Lennox Lewis
Ossie Ocasio
Tony Tucker
Chris Byrd
Wladimir Klitschko
Razor Ruddock
Evander Holyfield
Michael Spinks
Mike Weaver
Oliver McCall
Bonecrusher Smith
Pierre Coetzer
John Ruiz
Nikolay Valuev
Tomasz Adamek
Frank Bruno
Tony Tubbs
Pinklon Thomas
Bob Foster
Chuck Wepner
Tim Witherspoon
Tyrell Biggs
Vassiliy Jirov
David Haye
George Chuvalo
Joe Bugner
James Toney
Bobby Czyz
Roy Jones Jr.

Coaches Consulted ("Best I've Trained")

Ulli Wegner
Ronnie Shields
Angelo Dundee
Pedro Diaz
Al Mitchell
Pepe Correa
Jesse Reid
Abel Sanchez
Teddy Atlas

PART 1 of 2

Best (Boxing) Skills:

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, Buster Douglas (nominated by: Tony Tucker), Maurice Harris (nominated by: Chris Byrd), David Haye (nominated by: Wladimir Klitschko), Tony Thompson (nominated by: Wladimir Klitschko), Sultan Ibragimov (nominated by: Wladimir Klitschko), Greg Page (nominated by: Razor Ruddock), Michael Moorer (nominated by: Evander Holyfield),

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, Alfredo Evangelista (nominated by: Pierre Coetzer), Roy Jones Jr. (nominated by: John Ruiz), Larry Donald (nominated by: Nikolay Valuev), Vitali Klitschko (nominated by: Tomasz Adamek),

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, Riddick Bowe (nominated by: Pinklon Thomas),

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, Tony Tubbs (nominated by: Tim Witherspoon), Lennox Lewis (nominated by: Tyrell Biggs), James Toney (nominated by: Vassiliy Jirov), Jean Marc Mormeck (nominated by: David Haye), Hasim Rahman (nominated by: Oleg Maskaev)

Best Jab: Pinklon Thomas (nominated by: Riddick Bowe), Buster Douglas (nominated by: Tony Tucker),

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,

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, Kubrat Pulev (nominated by: Wladimir Klitschko), Vassiliy Jirov (nominated by: Michael Moorer),

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,

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, Razor Ruddock (nominated by: Lennox Lewis),

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, Larry Donald (nominated by: Nikolay Valuev), Mike Weaver (nominated by: Pinklon Thomas), Carl Williams (nominated by: Tim Witherspoon), Tyrrell Biggs (nominated by: Tony Tucker), Sonny Liston (nominated by: Chuck Wepner), Evander Holyfield (nominated by: Ossie Ocasio), Anthony Joshua (nominated by: Joseph Parker),

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Best Defense:

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, Jimmy Young (nominated by: Tony Tucker),

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, Fres Oquendo (nominated by: Chris Byrd), Larry Holmes (nominated by: Mike Tyson), Tony Thompson (nominated by: Wladimir Klitschko),

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, Michael Dokes (nominated by: Razor Ruddock), Francesco Damiani (nominated by: Ray Mercer),

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, Joe Frazier (nominated by: George Chuvalo), Razor Ruddock (nominated by: Mike Weaver),

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, Ruslan Chagaev (nominated by: Nikolay Valuev),

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, Trevor Berbick (nominated by: Pinklon Thomas), Tony Tubbs (nominated by: Tim Witherspoon), Rodolfo Marin (nominated by: Tyrell Biggs), Mike Hunter (nominated by: Oliver McCall), Jean Marc Mormeck (nominated by: David Haye), Mike Tyson (nominated by: Bonecrusher Smith), Orlin Norris (nominated by: Abel Sanchez), Amateur Filip Hrgovic (nominated by: Joseph Parker), Sedreck Fields (nominated by: Oleg Maskaev)

Best Chin:

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, Jose Ribalta (nominated by: Mike Tyson), Samuel Peter (nominated by: Wladimir Klitschko), Frans Botha (nominated by: Michael Moorer), Bert Cooper (nominated by: Ray Mercer), George Foreman (nominated by: Evander Holyfield),

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,

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, Manoel de Olmeida (nominated by: Pierre Coetzer), Joe Frazier (nominated by: Joe Bugner),

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, John Ruiz (nominated by: Nikolay Valuev), Vitali Klitschko (nominated by: Tomasz Adamek), James "Bonecrusher" Smith (nominated by: Tim Witherspoon),

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, Marion Wilson (nominated by: Tyrell Biggs),

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, Nikolay Valuev (nominated by: David Haye), Andy Ruiz (nominated by: Joseph Parker), Tim Witherspoon (Al Cole)

 

EDIT: PART 2 of 2

Best Puncher: Herbie Hide (nominated by: Riddick Bowe),

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, Wladimir Klitschko (nominated by: Ray Mercer),

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, Shannon Briggs (nominated by: Lennox Lewis), Mike DeJohn (nominated by: George Chuvalo), Bernardo Mercado (nominated by: Mike Weaver), Riddick Bowe (nominated by: Pierre Coetzer), Ernie Shavers (nominated by: Joe Bugner), Travis Walker (nominated by: Tomasz Adamek), James "Bonecrusher" Smith (nominated by: Frank Bruno), Tommy Morrison (nominated by: Pinklon Thomas), Frank Bruno (nominated by: Tim Witherspoon), Sonny Liston (nominated by: Chuck Wepner), Jeff Sims (nominated by: Tyrell Biggs), James Toney (nominated by: Vassiliy Jirov), Monte Barrett (nominated by: David Haye), Michael Dokes (nominated by: Ossie Ocasio), Felix Savon (nominated by: Pedro Diaz), Lamon Brewster (nominated by: Jesse Reid), Andy Ruiz (nominated by: Joseph Parker), Renaldo Snipes (Evangelista).

Fastest Hands:

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, Maurice Harris (nominated by: Chris Byrd),

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, Eddie Chambers (nominated by: Wladimir Klitschko), Bert Cooper (nominated by: Michael Moorer),

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, Shannon Briggs (nominated by: Lennox Lewis),

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, Jose Ribalta (nominated by: Pierre Coetzer), Roy Jones Jr. (nominated by: John Ruiz), David Haye (nominated by: Nikolay Valuev), Buster Douglas (nominated by: Oliver McCall), Andy Ruiz (nominated by: Joseph Parker), Corrie Sanders (Al Cole), Derrick Jefferson (nominated by: Oleg Maskaev)

Fastest Feet: Evander Holyfield (nominated by: Riddick Bowe), Mitch Green (nominated by: Mike Tyson),

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, Leslie Stewart (nominated by: Michael Moorer), Chris Byrd (nominated by: Evander Holyfield), Zeljko Mavrovic (nominated by: Lennox Lewis), Hector Corletti (nominated by: George Chuvalo), Mike Tyson (nominated by: Michael Spinks),

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, Tony Tubbs (nominated by: Tim Witherspoon), Tyrell Biggs (nominated by: Tony Tubbs), Anthony Joshua (nominated by: Joseph Parker)

Best Footwork:

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, Maurice Harris (nominated by: Chris Byrd),

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, Michael Dokes (nominated by: Mike Weaver), Ossie Ocasio (nominated by: Pierre Coetzer), Larry Donald (nominated by: Nikolay Valuev), James Tillis (nominated by: Frank Bruno), Muhammad Ali

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, Bruce Seldon (nominated by: Oliver McCall), Wladimir Klitschko (nominated by: David Haye), Juan Carlos Gomez (Al Cole), Alex Stewart (nominated by: Oleg Maskaev)

Smartest:

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, Sultan Ibragimov (nominated by: Wladimir Klitschko), Mike Weaver (nominated by: Razor Ruddock),

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, Riddick Bowe (nominated by: Pierre Coetzer),

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, James Toney (nominated by: Vassiliy Jirov), Anthony Joshua (nominated by: Joseph Parker), Sinan Samil Sam (nominated by: Oleg Maskaev)

Strongest: Evander Holyfield (nominated by: Riddick Bowe),

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, Jose Ribalta (nominated by: Mike Tyson),

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, Bert Cooper (nominated by: Michael Moorer),

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, Hasim Rahman (nominated by: Lennox Lewis),

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, Ron Lyle (nominated by: Joe Bugner), Nikolay Valuev (nominated by: John Ruiz), Michael Grant (nominated by: Tomasz Adamek), Pierre Coetzer (nominated by: Frank Bruno), Trevor Berbick (nominated by: Pinklon Thomas), Joe Frazier (nominated by: Bob Foster), Andrew Golota (nominated by: Tim Witherspoon), Sonny Liston (nominated by: Chuck Wepner, though he picks him as stronger than

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"in his prime";

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), Jeff Sims (nominated by: Tyrell Biggs), Michael Moorer (nominated by: Vassiliy Jirov), Derek Chisora (nominated by: David Haye), Tyson Fury (nominated by: Steve Cunningham), Mike Weaver (nominated by: Bonecrusher Smith), Marco Huck (nominated by: Ulli Wegner),

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, Muhammad Ali (nominated by: Angelo Dundee), Ruslan Chagaev (nominated by: Pedro Diaz), DaVarryl Williamson (nominated by: Al Mitchell), Lamon Brewster (nominated by: Jesse Reid), Kallie Knoetze (nominated by: Teddy Atlas), Dillian Whyte (nominated by: Joseph Parker), Tim Witherspoon (Al Cole), Renaldo Snipes (Evangelista).

"Best Boxer": Tony Tucker (nominated by: Mike Tyson), Andy Ruiz (nominated by: Joseph Parker),

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Best Overall:

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, Vitali Klitschko (nominated by: Tomasz Adamek), Trevor Berbick (nominated by: Pinklon Thomas),

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, Nikolay Valuev (nominated by: David Haye), Anthony Joshua (nominated by: Joseph Parker), Hasim Rahman (nominated by: Oleg Maskaev)

 

Yep. Still a work in progress! It takes a long time to do this...

 

14 left to transfer. I'll get to them as time allows.

Also, putting these all together makes occasional funny connections apparent. Tyson and Valuev both believe that Holyfield was the best puncher they've faced, for example.

 

Another takeaway: This probably underscores how misguided all of the "Who was the hardest puncher EVER?" threads are, along with all of the other threads that ask about single abilities rather than the total package.

Look at some of the punchers listed by guys who got hit by experts. DaVarryl Williamson. Travis Walker. DeJohn. Mercado. Same goes for fast feet, jabs, whatever. When you isolate individual traits, there's not always as much of a gap between great and OK fighters as this forum sometimes treats it. It's when you put a whole package of abilities together that you get something special.

EDIT: At least so far.

 

If/when I ever get done, I'll probably compile a highest scorers list for each category, with the multiple vote-getters. Eventually.

 

Czyz is kind of curious. He nominates Holyfield as a tie for the best fighter he ever faced, but simultaneously accuses Evander of using ninja blinding powder on him.

 

I should probably clarify that I'm being sarcastic about the blinding powder. Czyz says Evander blinded him with something on his gloves, and that another of Holyfield's opponents allegedly said the same thing happened to him.

Just five left, BTW. Unless Ring makes more.

 

Three more to do.

This thing will probably be most useful for two purposes:

* Pointing out a couple fighters who REALLY stand out as being considered exceptional by their peers in a specific category. Rather like the forum did with all the Shavers power quotes. Holyfield's boxing skill is a real standout example here. It seems like that impressed everybody.

* As a quick reference chart to jump off from when comparing how common opponents rank people. Lewis, for example, is actually surprisingly underwhelming at times, in terms of when people are willing to mention him versus his best contemporaries.


Also, Witherspoon's comments on Golota were rather funny.