My greatest heavyweight champs list

I added where I rank those fighters but since I just have a Top20 and don't intend to go further the fighters who aren't on my list aren't ranked.

1. Rocky Marciano - Top 3-7
2. Jack Dempsey - Top 12-15
3. Jack Johnson - Top 3-7
4. Joe Louis - Top2
5. Muhammad Ali - Top2
6. Sonny Liston - Top 8-11
7. Larry Holmes - Top 3-7
8. George Foreman - Top 8-11
9. Mike Tyson - Top 12-15
10. Ezzard Charles - Top 16-19
11. Jersey Joe Walcott - Top 16-19
12. Lennox Lewis - Top 3-7
13. Evander Holyfield - Top 8-11
14. Riddick Bowe - not on my Top20
15. Gene Tunney - not on my Top20
16. Joe Frazier - Top 8-11
17. John L. Sullivan - not on my Top20
18. Floyd Patterson - Top 16-19
19. Michael Spinks - not on my Top20
20. Jim Corbett - not on my Top20
21. Jim Jeffries - Top 3-7
22. Max Baer - not on my Top20
23. Vitali Klitschko - not on my Top20
24. Bob Fitzsimmons - not on my Top20
25. Michael Moorer - not on my Top20
26. Hasim Rachman - not on my Top20
27. Max Schmeling - Top 16-19
28. Jack Sharkey - not on my Top20
29. Ingemar Johansson - not on my Top20
30. Jess Willard - not on my Top20
31. Buster Douglas - not on my Top20
32. Leon Spinks - not on my Top20
33. Primo Carnera - not on my Top20
34. Tommy Burns - not on my Top20
35. Jimmy Braddock - slightly too low
36. Marvin Hart - not on my Top20

Fighters I have in my Top20 but who are not on this list:
Sam Langford Top 12-15
Harry Wills Top 12-15
Wladimir Klitschko Top20

 

Well you seem like a nice guy.

I will sort out a list for you pal :good

 

Good work Reggie.

 

Bodee with the 'bo' explosively articulated with the lips together
and the 'dh' with the tip of the tongue against the back of the front teeth.:thumbsup

 

Its a pretty awful list but you seem reasonable and willing to accept criticism so thats fair enough. Im confused about a few things, like how Ali and Liston can be seperated by a single place. Dempsey didnt fight the best rival heavyweight of his era so doesnt deserve second spot. Lennox Lewis and Joe Frazier are both ridiculously low, they're top ten locks for me.

 

Very interesting list, there are no rights or wrongs to an individuals personal preference regarding their top fighters in weight divisions ..
I would comment on maybe you having a certain 'style' preference in your list having Marciano and Dempsey 1 and 2 .. You come across as 'maybe' having an Anti Ali tendency too considering you have Frazier at 16, that seems a little low for me, but its your list of favourite heavyweights and thats fair enough ..

In a list of say top 10 Heavyweight Champions of all time, it would be impossible to have Dempsey as high as 2, his inactivity as Champion compared with guys like Ali and Louis would kill him in a rating system like this. Joe Walcott ahead of Lennox Lewis and Holyfield is another question i'd make, but hey its your list ..

I'll give you my list, based on on overall career's, longevity, opposition strength etc ..

1. Ali
2. Louis
3. Johnson
4. Marciano
5. Holmes
6. Frazier
7. Holyfield
8. Foreman
9. Tyson
10. Lewis

I'll now give you a list based on who i think are the best overall fighters in Heavyweight history based on who i think had the best style to beat all the other top guys ....

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

No Dempsey in this one because, i think boxers/movers could beat him, yeah somewhat based on Tunney but also based on him never beating a 'mover', and Dempsey v Liston/Marciano/Frazier is a tossup really, anyone could win these, but i'd still go with the other 3 to beat Dempsey ..
95% of the time a great 'moving' boxer with some skills working off the jab will beat guys like Frazier, Marciano and Dempsey .. Larry Holmes at 1 isnt controversial for me, he's the most fluid boxer in heavyweight history, has the best jab in heavyweight history, he was ultra attacking which he'd need to think about against guys like Ali, Lewis and Louis but of all the past Heavyweight Champions, i see Holmes having more success against the other 'Top 10' guys than anyone else .. But again i'd like to see Larry adopt a certain caution in some of these fights, not just get up from being knocked down and start dangerously trading with his opponent, which he had a propensity for ..

Before anybody starts with the insults, remember these are simply my lists, im not saying they are 'Ultimate' lists, its simply how i see it with my natural bias to certain fighters (like we all have) coming through ....

 

Johnson at 4 on your H2H list, above Joe Louis is something I'm fairly sceptical about.

 

Based on what? That fight has been gone over again and again here and a tremendous amount of evidence has been reviewed. Unless something new pops up to give evidence to the contrary, it really seems as though it was legitimate.

I don't rate Holmes as highly as many, but I firmly believe he would beat Marciano. He had a combination of size, speed, skill and chin that Marciano never came close to dealing with. Holmes jab would cut Marciano's face to pieces and Holmes had the toughness and stamina to deal with Marciano's power punching down the stretch and the chin to handle any bombs Marciano might have been able to land.

Yeah, well Marciano went to war with a nobody in Wills Red Applegate, he arguably lost to Ted Lowry in their first fight and was badly hurt early on according to one newspaper report I read. He was also hurt by Carmine Vingo who had a grand total of 7 ko's in 17 fights at the time. Rocky's chin was not undentable, he was not unhurtable, though his chin probably was better than Frazier's, Frazier has him beat in other areas. Also, Jerry Quarry in his prime would have given Marciano all he could handle, as would Oscar Bonavena.

 

Marciano would've busted Quarry up if he fought in a phone booth like he did against Frazier in their first fight. Bonavena would get badly out-worked.

 

I had him winning the Mercer fight marginally but it was a close fight, I certainly wouldnt label it a gift it could have gone either way. Also I certainly didnt have Bruno winning every round of their fight, I remember it being pretty close until the knockout. The Tucker fight wasnt a split decision, it was unanimous and quite wide, Tucker was down twice, I havent seen it in a while but I dont remember Lewis having too much difficulty. I think its easy to say Golota as unstable, but simply he hadnt really lost up to that point (If you discount the bizzare Bowe fights which he was clearly dominating) and Lewis brutally stopped him in a round. I agree Lewis didnt always fight the best guys but he never ducked anybody, Riddick Bowe should have been his signature win but it was snatched away from him by no fault of his own which is a shame, its true Lewis was stopped twice but fired up and on top of his game, head to head I think he gives all of the great heavyweights a tough fight and probably beats most of them. Can I ask whether you consider the second Ali-Liston fight a dive? Its just you said none of your top ten were stopped suddenly, I do think it was a dive myself mind so your not wrong.