Wow didn't realise that popular opinion had anything to do with how fighters should actually be ranked but you've shown me the light. Nat Fleischer in the aftermath of FOTC believed that neither Ali or Frazier would ever be top ten heavyweights, the opinions of men like this should obviously be taken very seriously
See where you're coming from ricardo but like it or not Fleischer dedicated his working life to the sport. Doctors get it wrong from time to time but I still put my faith in their knowledge of medicine than faceless blokes behind keyboards. You can't just throw expertise out of the window.
I think the point is vaild that people tend to value that which is from their youth higher...however, they tend to value less what came before their birth. Its resonable that Louis and Ali and Marciano were better... I think one is really streaching it when you start arguing that Shavers and Foster destroys Dempsey however. I'm not sure how serious to tak Pachillis on those things.
Sorry, I just took it that half the posts were tongue-in-cheek wise-cracks. I agree that I probably over-rate Larry Holmes because he was the man when I was a kid. But I also know that the Roman Empire was great even though they didn't have coca-cola.
Pachillies...when Dempsey is "looking at the floor" as you say it is because he had his chin tucked. In fact I'm sure his eyes are looking up, and he can see tate just fine...which is born out by the fact that he is slipping tates punches. (Try doing what he is doing...and look up...you can see just fine) But ok, in your universe dempsey was so shitty that he didn't even have enough sense to look at his opponent.