I dont criticize lists too much as I dont know what his criteria was be it resume or head to head or a little of both i dont know how you can have Holmes and Wlad so far apart given they are mostly built on longevity unless he thinks theres a win that is so much better or the comeback weighs that heavily I dont dont know how guys who didnt hold a belt like Quarry are so high (and i do really like quarry) and how a guy who never won a title fight is so high in Norton though he arguably has 2 wins over Ali
Here's my list. 1, Joe Louis 2, Muhammad Ali 3, Rocky Marciano 4, Jack Dempsey 5, Larry Holmes 6, Jack Johnson 7, Lennox Lewis 8, Evander Holyfeild 9, George Foreman 10 Mike Tyson 11, Joe Frazier 12 Jim Jeffries 13, Max Baer 14, Max Schmeling 15 Sonny Liston 16, Floyd Patterson 17, Ezzard Charles 18, Jersey Joe Walcott 19, Ingo Johansson 20, primo Carnera 21, Buster Douglas 22, Gene Tunney 23, Rid**** Bowe 24, Jess Willard 25, Jack Sharkey 26, Hassim Rahman 27, Tommy Burns 28, micheal Moorer 29, Micheal Spinks 30, Jim Braddock 31 Leon Spinks 32 Shannon Briggs. If I were to include Vlad or Vitali I would place them at 13 and 14.
I think it's a pretty good list. The only real problems for me are Tunney being too high, and Wlad being too low.
I rank fighters mostly based on achievements, but head to head plays a part to. Louis and Ali at the top, one or two, whatever you prefer. After that I have the champions that dominated the division for a long time: Holmes, Lewis and Wlad. Holmes reign was the worst, he failed to meet a lot of the top contenders. On the other hand I think he might have been the best of them, and he had that good comeback. Wlad’s opposition gets criticized a lot, but he faced all comers and unified the division. But when you take into account the fact that he have some very embarrassing losses and never faced Vitali it brings him down below the other two. After that I have Holyfield. Hard to rank, his career was a lot of ups and downs. But he has some of best wins in the history of heavyweight boxing. Then comes two power punching monsters, Foreman and Tyson. Both with relatively short primes, but they looked devastating when it lasted. Foreman’s wins over Frazier and the comeback pushes him ahead. The last two spots on the list belongs to Frazier and Marciano. Both with dominant but rather short title reigns. Frazier has the better wins by far, but Marciano’s zero carries the day for me. So, my list goes like this: 1. Ali/Louis 2. Loius/Ali 3. Holmes/Lewis 4. Lewis/Homles 5. Wlad 6. Holyfield 7. Foreman 8. Tyson 9. Marciano 10. Frazier Then comes Johnson, Liston, Dempsey, Jeffries, but Im not sure in what order.
Louis Ali Marciano Lewis Foreman Johnson Frazier Holmes Holyfield Tyson Klitschko Liston Dempsey Jeffries Wills Langford Charles Patterson Schmelling Walcott Bowe Any comments are welcome, try and be civilised about it
1. Louis 2. Ali 3. Marciano 4. Lewis 5.Dempsey 6. Sullivan 7. Johnson 8. Vitali K 9. Foreman 10. Wlad K 11. Holmes 12. Tyson 13. Frazier 14. Tunney 15. Jeffries 16. Schmeling 17. Holyfield 18. Corbett 19. Charles 20. Walcott
I like the way you quantified you ratings, putting the actual criteria as to why you had them where you did. You make very strong points as to why and justified well why you had them where you did. So I like your list a great deal. Wlad is the only fighter in your top 10 who isn't in my own, but your reasoning for having him there is understandable
Primo at #20 huh? Or 22 I suppose if you slide in the Klitschko bros. So are you on the side that Many of DA Preems fights were on the level? I'm fascinated by the man personally..
Sullivan at #7!!!! This is another fighter I find myself fascinated with, I just wish we had some prime footage to really take a look. My grandpa who died at 96 years old hell 10+ years ago was telling me John L Sullivan stories as early as the 70's when I was a little guy spending Friday nights with him. I can hear him saying "he knocked the guy clear outa the damn right and then he (grandpa) would take a drink of his Stag beer and a puff on his cigar and then continue lol, good times.
I have him 21. I almost kept going through 25 because I think there is a clear top 25 and then a big gap. What the heck 22. Patterson 23 Bowe 24. Norton 25 Baer.