(Pre-1958) 1. Louis 2. Marciano 3. Dempsey 4. Johnson 5. Jeffries 6. Wills 7. Charles 8. Walcott 9. Langford 10. Tunney ... Sullivan was next in line. (1959 onwards) 1. Ali 2. Lewis 3. Holmes 4. Foreman 5. Liston 6. Tyson 7. Usyk 8. Holyfield 9. Frazier 10. Bowe ... Wlad was next in line.
List TOP... Bareknuckle Champions & Contenders Early Gloved Era Champions & Contenders - 1930 Classic Era Champions & Contenders - 1990 S-HW Era Champions & Contenders then Rate each group as you please Era - Era then Rate fighters per Era then Cross Fighters - Era's then compare with S-HW's to the Greats P4P then H2H.
Love the dynamic 1 Louis 2 Marciano 3 Johnson 4 Dempsey 5 Langford 6 Charles 7 Willis 8 Walcott 9 Patterson 10 Archie Moore 1) Ali 2 Lewis 3 Foreman 4 Frazier 5 Tyson 6 Wlad 7 Holmes 8 Liston 9 Holyfield 10 Usyk
1892 to 1958 1. Joe Louis 2. Rocky Marciano 3. Jack Johnson 4. Jack Dempsey 5. Sam Langford 6. Harry Wills 7. Ezzard Charles 8. Floyd Patterson 9. James J. Corbett 10. Max Schmeling 1959 to present... 1. Muhammad Ali 2. Larry Holmes 3. Lennox Lewis 4. George Foreman 5. Joe Frazier 6. Mike Tyson 7. Evander Holyfield 8. Sonny Liston 9. Wlad K 10. Ken Norton
1892 to 1958 don't know enough about the era I'll just do top 5 1. Joe Louis 2. Rocky Marciano 3. Jack Johnson 4. Ezzard Charles 5. Jack Dempsey 1959 to present 1. Muhammad Ali 2. Wladimir Klitschko 3. Lennox Lewis 4. Larry Holmes 5. Mike Tyson 6. Evander Holyfield 7. George Foreman 8. Joe Frazier 9. Oleksandr Usyk 10. Vitali Klitschko
1892-1958 1) Joe Louis 2) Jack Johnson 3) Jersey Joe Walcott 4) Ezzard Charles 5) Sam Langford 6) Jack Dempsey 7) Rocky Marciano 8) Floyd Patterson 9) Max Baer 10) Max Schmeling 1959-present 1) Muhammad Ali 2) Lennox Lewis 3) Larry Holmes 4) Sonny Liston. 5) Vitali Klitschko 6) George Foreman 7) Joe Frazier 9) Mike Tyson 10) Wladimir Klitschko I was very tempted to put Oleksandr Usyk in at no 10. I suspect that Usyk will eventually be in a lot of folks' top 10 heavyweight ATGS,including mine.
I think its more based on our perception of his ability. By all accounts, he was a massive puncher. Yes, majority of his opponents were smaller but guys like Foreman who sparred with him said he was amongst the hardest punchers they had ever shared a ring with. You have a guy like Liston who genuinely had close to 10/10 power. He had long arms. His reported reach of 84 inches is probably an overstatement but he had freakishly long arms. Probably around 81-82 inches. His jab was terrific. He had a devastating left hook and a good hard right. He could box well. He was nearly as powerful as a young George Foreman but with considerably better boxing skills. I think his power and skills would help him even more vs bigger slower heavyweights of the modern era.
louis marciano johnson dempsey jeffries langford wills sharkey charles patterson ali holmes lewis wlad usyk foreman frazier holyfield tyson liston
Mercer is a guy who lost to Ferguson and nearly lost to Ossi Occasio. He.was a flat-footed stalker with good power, a great chin, and nothing special.
He was also a dude who gave prime Lewis his toughest fight. Gave Holyfield a good fight too. Dude could fight but was prone to having off nights.