He defeated George Foreman, Ron Lyle twice, drew with Earnie Shavers in their rematch (most people thought he won), and arguably beat Ken Norton. He might have even beaten Ali if he hadn't leaned back onto the ropes. For me, he's a top 5 heavyweight of the 1970s. How do you rank him across HW all eras?
Just think what his scalps would have looked like had he gotten the Ali win !( should have) & Norton (too close to call) Anyway for me he had the skills but not the desire. Underacheaver IMO. Not a top 5 for me. Top 10 70's HW
I place Jimmy at number 6 in my 70s heavyweight list. A very good defensively oriented fighter. Clever albeit unspectacular.
Top 50 isn’t out of the question. But he had a lot of losses. And not a lot of depth in terms of good wins. He had Foreman, two wins against Lyle, Richard Dunn. And who else ? Jeff sims ? Gordon Racette ?
Impossible to look good against him, but as often as not didn’t show up with his A game and it cost him — going 0-for-Ocasio meant no shot at Larry Holmes and a trip to Palookaville as a sometimes difficult (and also sometimes compliant) opponent.
He was a very good pro fighter who started off sparring Joe Frazier… as a teenager from memory? that’d take a lot out of you, I assume it’s what gave birth to his style, RJJ commented that Jimmy himself told him that, that sparring is what ruined his health.
Young was a 'nearly man' who exemplified a negative style and how to play for a draw, i.e., not push the envelope. I personally found him difficult to watch and I rarely rerun his fights. He was talented enough to reveal and exploit weaknesses in his opponents on occasion and this earned him a few good wins in the process. Young is probably mid-table in terms of a Top-10 listing for the '70s. Against All-Time, he can likely make it inside a Top-50 - but he's nowhere near the Top-25.
Jose Roman is his other contender win. His best non contender win is probably Jose Luis Garcia. Young fought 16 HW title contenders and only went 5-10-1 but that was an incredibly tough 16 opponents. A big part of Youngs case is only getting stopped twice by Cooney and Shavers. Half those 10 losses came at the hands of younger opponents at the end of his career. Young wasn't that old but he didn't age well. Foreman Ali Norton Lylex2 Shaversx2 Ocasiox2 Cooney Tucker Tubbs Dokes Page Roman Dunn
In my opinion he was robbed against Ali. I’ve scored that fight several times and I always have Jimmy up. The outrage for sticking his head through the ropes usually comes from Ali fans and is overblown to most. He’s easily a top 50 heavyweight but not top 25. Too many losses early and late in his career but in his peak sweet spot during his prime he was as crafty as they came.