When I say contender I mean guys who were at the top for a long time but never became champ. Or did become champ but only managed to get one or two defences before being dethroned. An example of these sorts of people would be guys like Norton or Chisora. All guys were at the top for a long time but never managed to capture any meaningful portion of the HW crown for a long period of time.
Bruno was the great British hope ever since the early 80s. Got a shot at Witherspoon in 86 but got busted up an stopped. Was stopped twice more in title shots after that against Tyson an Lewis but just as even his brit fans were giving up on him finally nailed it against McCall in his fourth title shot almost 10 years after his 1st title shot. Promptly lost it in his 1st defence an was never seen in a boxing ring again Bruno’s career in a nutshell
Povetkin is who I came to mention. He was ranked almost continuously from 2007 (victory over Byrd) to 2021 (loss to Whyte) and spent roughly a decade of that in the top-5.
I don’t think Ruiz really fits. I mean for most of 2001-05 he held a championship belt — through no contests and draws and whatever, even when he lost to Roy Jr he was WBA interim right away and then WBA champ in his next fight after that. Another guy who doesn’t quite fit the criteria but would have if you threw out his time as champ is it seems like Floyd Patterson hung around as a contender forever after losing the belt to Sonny. But of course he was champion for a bit, traded it with Ingo and then lost to Sonny … but he for sure didn’t go away after that. Jimmy Ellis might also fit this as he was kind of the off-brand champ for a minute but was on the contender scene for quite a while.
Maher, Choynski, Jeannette, McVea, Langford, Wills, Loughran, Savold, Chuvalo, Folley, H.Cooper, Povetkin, Chisora, Bonavena, Ruddock...
A really good contender? Hmm. I like Eddie Machen he was around for years. Zora Folley. Same kind of thing. Just really professional full time contenders both of them. Trevor Berbick and Oliver Mcall both went on for years and you could put them in with anyone. Greg page had a really prolific career as well. for longevity Joe Bugner. He could relaunch himself and make the top ten whenever he felt like it.
Another vote for Jerry Quarry. He beat more ranked contenders than any of the others mentioned, and, was in the top ten for the better part of a decade.
Does Shannon Briggs count? He wasn't consistently ranked in the Top 10 but his championship tenure started with his bout with Foreman in 1997 all the way up to his bout with Vitali in 2010. A bit of a rollercoaster ride through contendership, wouldn't you say? He did win the WBO belt from Liakhovich and lost in his first defense to Ibragimov.
I've always thought Bugner was the biggest waste of potential in history. He could've really been something.