Top 10 yes http://cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/casey/MC_GTunney.htm http://cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/casey/MC_HolmesLewis.htm
Tunney may have had an abbreviated stint as hvywght champ and that may be used against him, but he was IMO, a near perfect fighter and a top ten great no matter what.
Greatness is based on accomplishment though, not h2h fantasy. At 175 and p4p he's up there based on these things. At heavyweight he just doesn't have the resume in my opinion.
As usual your links prove nothing. In YOUR opinion, why is he top 10? This should be good for a laugh!
the only thing good for a laugh is you... dismiss all evidence and links as per usual. it is only a matter of time before you come out and say Tunney would stand no chance against Tommy Morrison
Oh I get it, you have no opinion of your own that you feel you can defend, is that it? Must be the effects of getting thoroughly destroyed and demoralized in the Dempsey thread. Lets hear it. You claim to be an expert on boxing history so this really shouldn't be that difficult for you. Why, in YOUR opinion, is Tunney a top 10 heavyweight?
He made 2 successful defences of the heavyweight championship - that's better than Sonny Liston - and he never lost the championship. He beat at least 3 or 4 contenders for the heavyweight title, before he got his shot. And knocked out a couple who had never been stopped before.
People talk a lot about ranking "purely on accomplishment", but if that's the case then why is Tommy Burns, who made 11 successful defenses of the title, always ranked below the likes of Liston, who made 1 ?
Look at the competition he was facing compared to Sonny. Liston fought better fighters and cleaned out the top 10 of the guys who would fight him. Had D'Amato not prevented Patterson from fighting him for something like 3 years Liston would likely (conjecture) have had several title defenses before facing Ali. Hell,Liston beat as many top 10 contenders at heavyweight as Tunney had fights there. Like I said before, Tunney is an all time great fighter, but he just doesn't have the resume at heavy to make the top 10 in my opinion.
To be fair, he would have to have, since every single one of Tunneys fights was pretty much against top 10 opponents wasnt it?
I'll concede to Greb, Gibbons, Dempsey and Heeney. Thats a total of 5 top 10 fighters at heavyweight. Thats not very inpessive by "all time" standards in my opinion.
Prevented? Patterson would have fought Liston within the blink of an eye. He didn“t prevent him. I kinda imagine this was like the thing between Micky and Rocky in Rocky III.