Awesome post. I’d have to rate both Ken Norton and Jimmy Ellis above Leon Spinks even though they weren’t linear champions.
Thank you! The main reason I rank Leon higher than those 2 here, is in that specific period between Jan 1, 1970 and Dec 31, 1979 - based on championship bout credentials alone - neither Norton nor Ellis won a championship bout during that time frame.
I realize the whole idea behind this thought experiment is a bit odd, but it's something I've wanted to try to do (while comparing championship ledgers as opposed to comparing overall careers). I'm already realizing that my personal rankings of Best Heavyweights wouldn't necessarily allign with the cavaet that we're exclusively comparing championship credentials. For instance, this would inherently put someone like Sonny Liston at a big disadvantage, because it effectively ignores everything he did when he was working his way up through the rankings - an example I specifically plan to use later). Ideally, I'm hoping to build this series up to conclude on a two-parter focusing on Joe Louis (one on Louis' championship reign, and another on the Top XX HW champions since Louis).
Same with me. Ken and Jimmy were definitely a level above Leon. Although if this thread is purely about lineage than Leon would deserve to be rated fifth.
