So you also count Moore the highest among Ali victims? He's by far the best name on his resume after all.
What sort of conspiracy theory is this? Louis lost to Schmeling mid 36. He fought him again mid 38. Louis won the title mid 37. So just 1 year after winning the title he put it on the line against Max. Louis was the sort of guy that took pride in rematching tough opponents. Max had not lost another fight since Louis 1.
The easiest way to assess the best win on any fighters resume is to note who the world, at that time, considered the best active fighter in the world. It’s not always a champion. At anyone time it is possible to work out who the best heavyweight is or who would be regarded as such. In terms of beating the best regarded heavyweight in the world... it’s probably was Max Baer. He knocked out Schmeling who has not really lost at world level since 1930. Sure Baer had just lost to Braddock when he fought Louis..but people still would of thought Of Max Baer as being the best heavyweight in the world at that time. He just happened to have dropped a decision to Braddock. That’s why Baer vs Louis was a million dollar gate. It was a huge fight. Status wise joe Louis became the best in the world (but with no title) when he beat Max Baer. Braddock was an inactive champion and I think he was one of the first heavyweight champions to win a title on points where as Joe Louis was knocking out former champions like Sharkey, Carnera and Baer. And then Louis lost that status to Max Schmeling who knocked him out. This made Schmeling the man. Even after beating Braddock, Joe Louis rightly said he didn’t consider himself a champion until he beats Schmeling. Unfortunately for Braddock, a guy who gave Louis a much better fight than Baer ever did, I just don’t think history can ever really recognise him as “the best” in the world. Champion yes. Best? no. And probably the same can be said for many champions. so this puts the Schmeling win very high but Schmeling don’t forget, had been first knocked out by Max Baer. So it really all leads back to Max Baer as a guy never knocked out himself...who was recognised not only as the best but also the worlds most dangerous puncher. in terms of establishing total world dominance the Schmeling win is absolutely key. But importantly it comes behind the Baer win chronologically and he had already kayoed Schmeling.
Famous great wins were: Schmeling II, Billy Conn I, Walcott II and Baer. Louis has written in his book, that his best fight was against Max Baer. People thought, that his prime performance was against Schmeling II. Though against Baer he was in such a great shape, he felt he could fight 3 days in a row. Another great fight was against Paolino Uzcudun. Uzcudun was tough as nails and was never knocked out before. Louis won in round 4 and I read, that he opened Uzcuduns defense with his steady, crisp jab. Afterwards he gave him one of his most vicious right hands of his career. There is also a film about this fight, though in low quality.
