Every heavyweight who ever ranked in the Ring top 5 from 1967 to 1975 is removed from professional heavyweight history for other employment. Ali never gets his bicycle stolen, Frazier takes up a singing career after the Olympics, Foreman becomes the American Teofilo Stevenson (but with a gold medal grill), Ken Norton pursues bodybuilding, Quarry finds success in some career that does not end with dementia, Ellis remains in lower weight classes, Floyd retires before the Tournament, and so on. What does the championship landscape look like up to 1975?
This is the way you ****ing do it boys! None of this "what if Jack Johnson died in the war" or "what if Ken Norton never turned pro", instead WHAT IF THERE WERE NO GOOD HEAVYWEIGHTS IN THE ****ING WORLD.
It would be an exciting time. So many possibilities and endless what ifs. The boxing mags would talked endlessly about, if, could, who, why, maybe?????
Ali never advises Conteh to drop back down to 175lbs and so he remains a heavyweight and out-smooths champion Henry Clark to become the last man to take advantage of the desert-of-the-real 67-75. A youthful Larry Holmes smashes him to pieces a year later and embarks on the greatest heavyweight reign in title history, almost universally seen as the greatest heavyweight to have lived, form Joe Louis, clear number two.
I'll give it a go. Everyone in the Ring Top five from 1967 to 1975 So no ... Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Jimmy Ellis, Thad Spencer, Jerry Quarry, Floyd Patterson, Manuel Ramos, Ernie Terrell Zora Folley, Karl Mildenberger, Oscar Bonavena, George Chuvalo, Sonny Liston, Leotis Martin, Mac Foster, Ron Lyle, Ken Norton, Joe Bugner or Jimmy Young. With so many of them having been top guys in the early 60s, like Patterson, Liston and Folley, I'll start backwards. Let's see, well, Archie Moore wins the vacant Heavyweight title with a win over Hurricane Jackson. But he loses the title the following year to Eddie Machen. In 1958, in his first defense, Machen is destroyed in one round by Ingemar Johansson. And Ingo goes on an extended five-year reign, defeating Willie Pastrano twice, Roy Harris, Bob Cleroux and Doug Jones ... stopping all but Pastrano in their first fight. Through most of his reign, Ingo is challenged by the ferocious American challenger Cleveland Williams. But Ingo seems too busy partying to pay any attention. His heavy drinking and partying would catch up to Ingo, though, and in late 1963 he loses via stoppage in the 11th round to Brian London. Cleveland Williams, who called out Ingo during his entire reign, now calls out London. But London is no dummy. Brian opts to start 1964 with a defense against countryman Henry Cooper. What results is what's considered one of the worst heavyweight title fights in memory, in which London loses a very boring 15-round decision and the title. Cleveland Williams has had enough and flies to England to challenge Cooper at every opportunity. But Cooper has no intention of avoiding him. It's agreed they will fight at Wembley in the fall of 1964. Williams, with an imposing 56-2-1 record and long considered the best in the division, the uncrowned champ, is the overwhelming favorite. At the start, Williams opens with hard jabs and powerful straight rights that shove Cooper back. But the stiff-legged American keeps his head pretty stationary. When a cut is opened over Henry's eye in the third, the crowd senses the end is near, and so does Williams. Then Cooper launches a left hook that catches Cleveland on the point of the chin. Williams' legs lock in place, and he tips over. He struggles vainly to his feet at the count of ten, but the fight is waived off. A one-punch knockout win for Cooper. He becomes an international star. Williams says he received a quick count and was up at 10, and wants a rematch in the U.S. Cooper, seeing a chance to conquer America, agrees. A rematch is discussed but Williams is shot by a police officer and talks are cancelled. Henry then goes on a tear, beating Jack Bodell, Golden Boy Billy Walker in title defenses. Former champ Ingemar Johnansson comes out of retirement and tries to duplicate his win a decade earlier over Cooper, but he is stopped in the first round. Cooper also tackles the rising star 31-1 Jose Urtain at Wembley in 1970 and beats him impressively. Seems like his reign will never end. In early 1971, Cooper defends against the greatest Argentinian heavyweight in history, Gregorio Peralta. They engage in a three-fight series for the ages. First 15-round fight ends in a draw. An immediate rematch is ordered for September 1971. In fight two, Peralta gets off the deck to stop Cooper on cuts. Peralta becomes Argenina's first World Heavyweight Champion. He dedicates the win to the Luis Firpo. In the summer of 1972 in Argentina, they fight for the third time and Cooper goes down for the count. In early 1973, Peralta returns to the U.S. for the first time since he was stopped on cuts by Willie Pastrano in 1964. Peralta accepts the challenge of the 1969 U.S. National AAU champion and takes on the 44-2 Earnie Shavers at Madison Square Garden. In a stunner, the fleet-footed Peralta is caught early and dropped three times in the second round. Earnie Shavers becomes the first champion from the United States since Eddie Machen lost to Ingo in 1958 ... nearly 15 years earlier. When Jeff Merritt knocks out Ernie Terrell in one round at Madison Square Garden three month later, Shavers agrees to defend the World heavyweight title against Merritt in March 1974. In a battle that rivaled Dempsey-Firpo, Shavers and Merritt score three knockdowns a piece before Shavers, completely out of gas, finally finishes off Merritt in the closing seconds of Round 2. A rematch is a foregone conclusion. But both need a break first. Merritt decides to take on longtime contender Henry Clark, whose quick rise up the ladder was stopped abruptly when he lost to Merritt via decision six years earlier. In their return, Clark turns the tables against a still recovering Merritt and stops him in one round. Shavers makes his second defense that fall against a rejuvenated Jose Urtain, who is coming off an impressive win over Richard Dunn. But in a battle of the two squat punchers, both seem hesitant to fire until Shavers catches the aging Urtain in the third and Jose goes down without much of a wimper for the 10 count. In early 1975, Shavers defends against Henry Clark. The fight goes the full 15. Shavers starts strong but never seems to catch Clark flush. He tires badly near the end. Clark is also tired and can't close the show. Shavers wins a 15-round decision. Howard Cosell, the ABC commentator at ringside, has Clark winning. There is enough of an outcry that a rematch is signed for September 1975. Shavers, full of **** and vinegar, takes out Clark in two. On the undercard, Earnie's sparring partner Larry Holmes stops rising contender Rodney Bobick, the brother of U.S. Olympian Duane Bobick. As 1975 turns to 1976, Earnie's top challengers are the unbeaten 1972 Olympian Duane Bobick (33-0), veteran Roy "Tiger" Williams and the undefeated Larry Holmes (19-0). Madison Square Garden is offering big money for a fight with the undefeated Bobick. So Shavers opts to defend against Bobick, while Holmes and Wiliams square off in a title eliminator on the undercard. I'll leave it there since we're in 1976.
Let’s make it even more interesting. We eliminate all those top fighters like a Thanos finger snap, BUT when they disappear to dust and others replace them … those guys ALSO disappear. Anyone who steps into a top 5 position is immediately zapped. In this scenario, no one ever fills the void (and survives) and there are forever more no heavyweights. Until Butterbean comes along and becomes the GOAT.
In your scenario, the Ring Magazine rankings are quickly confiscated and weaponized by the US government.
He was ranked in the top five during that period, so he's out. That's why I said Gregorio Peralta was the greatest Argentinian heavyweight in my "alternate history." In a decade as a heavyweight, he lost to Foreman twice, fought Lyle twice (drew and lost) and fought Bonavena twice (lost and drew). Those were basically half his nine losses in a career where he won 99 fights. If they don't exist, he's a very highly rated heavyweight. Jimmy Ellis was going to defend against him 1969, regardless. But the financing fell thru.
