Teddy Atlas's 10 Greatest Heavyweights of All Time.

Making a Heavyweight Top 10 is always very dissatisfying. I always end up leaving several guys out that deserve a mention. Really got to do a Top 15/20 to do it right.

 

No no no

 

Old school guys like Teddy usually don't rank Wladimir because he's too "modern" (despite the fact he would beat most of the people on his list but that's a different story)

 

Certainly not the worst list, Frazier is missing, I think if you can make the argument for Foreman you can make it for Frazier, Holyfield is more questionable but can definitely see him ahead of Tyson, I could see the argument for Holyfield over Liston

 

Atlas is a wannabe hack, always has been. He talks tough but he isn't. He's talked about how he was going to kill Tyson, Donny Lalonde etc but of course never did it because.....well he's a wannabe. He thought he would be the next Cus Damato but many have delusions of grandeur. I don't know why anyone takes him seriously at all.

As for his list.....
1. Louis
2. Ali
3. Johnson
4. Marciano
5. Foreman
6. Tunney
7. Dempsey
8. Holmes
9. Lewis
10. Liston

Johnson is WAY too high, I don't have him in the top ten. Holmes is too low should be in the top 5. Tunney doesn't belong in the top 10, neither does Lewis or Liston.

 

He has Lewis and Holmes too low. Regarding Holmes I wonder if some of that is Cus rubbing off in him. Cus had a resentment against Holmes from the Ali fight. Cus was a friend of Ali.

 

Most likley historical significance and JJ was ahead of his time skillwise. Do you have Dempsey in your top 10?

 

1. Louis
2. Ali
3. Johnson
4. Marciano
5. Foreman
6. Tunney
7. Dempsey
8. Holmes
9. Lewis
10. Liston

That's a legitimately horrible list. Teddy's favorite heavyweight, Mike Tyson, easily has more credence on this list than Dempsey, Liston and most of all, Tunney (!). Marciano way too high but at least that is defendable on some level. If historic consideration is in play here I could see Johnson and Dempsey being included, but then again, Mike Tyson single-handedly revived the division and the sport in his meteoric rise.

 

Weird list.

At least he got 1 and 2 right.

 

Holmes is too low, Foreman too high. No Frazier or Wlad?

Iron Mike belongs there.

 

Foreman too high? He won the heavyweight championship 20 years apart. Not to mention his demolition of the undefeated heavyweight champion. He’s my number 3.

 

This is the list DMT posted as Teddy's. I'm not sitting through half an hour of that bumbling fool to hear it for myself.

1. Louis
2. Ali
3. Johnson
4. Marciano
5. Foreman
6. Tunney
7. Dempsey
8. Holmes
9. Lewis
10. Liston

 

Bingo.

People keep underrating just what an accomplishment that is. It will almost certainly never be seen again. Foreman is comfortably top 5, and I can’t believe it’s even contentious. I also have him at 3. And he’s not very far behind the two kings.