In their primes, just to name a few: George Chuvalo Gerry Cooney Tyrell Biggs David Tua Razor Ruddock Earnie Shavers Jerry Quarry Andrew Golota I could go on but off the top of my head, these guys could make it imho.
If by "not Champions" you mean not Lineal Champions, then I'd put forth Ken Norton as a fighter, who could have matched Patterson's Lineal Championship run, all the way to the bitter end, with Sonny Liston.
Yep, I thought Kenny too - wasn’t sure if he technically made the cut. How long do we give Ken against Liston though? Better than 2:04 or 2:10? Ken needs to last longer than Floyd and then his mission will be truly complete. Whatever Norton conceives, it will likely be what he achieves. Projecting beyond the result, Ken may well buy an Ali mask to disguise himself when he leaves the stadium.
To be honest, if we take weight-advantages into account as well, this includes about 50+ boxers, if not even a hundred.
I agree. I love Patterson and he is my third favorite fighter ever, but his reign was absolutely nothing to write home about. I can numerous fighters off the top of my head to replicate his reign, without the knockdowns or loss to Ingo.
I feel his work to come right after Liston for so many years, especially with the back of his, is truly astonishing. Some think he deserved the WBA bout too.
Pattersons title reign finished at 38-2 with 23 bouts inside the <175 limit (22-1). Thats a HW resume of 15-1 plus the career below. I´d say that plenty of talented HWs should be able to accomplish this. Remember they can pick up two losses.
Bob Satterfield is the worst guy I'd pick. Bomber Bob might just kamikaze the whole line up including Liston if the stars aligned. Probably not but still he's a live dog to do the deed.