1. Jack Johnson, 2. Jim Jeffries, 3. Bob Fitzsimmons, 4. Jack Dempsey, 5. James J. Corbett, 6. Joe Louis, 7. Sam Langford, 8. Gene Tunney, 9. Max Schmeling, 10. Rocky Marciano. That is far, far different from the usual Top 10s we see today. Fleischer died in 1972. He lived and breathed boxing and saw every one of of these people fight. Most of them from ringside. He saw Ali fight through the FOC against Frazier and wasn't impressed. He said he didn't have enough of a punch to get in the Top 10. We can only guess how his list would have changed had he seen the modern favorites like Holmes, Holyfield. Tyson and Lewis. I doubt it would change much.
He saw the whooping that Ali put on the great Sonny Liston and somehow he thinks that the slow crude Max Schmelling was better? Did he not watch Ali treat Cleveland WIlliams like a Pinata?
Schmeling put whooping on great Joe Louis. not that I saying Schmeling better than Ali but he beat great fighter
why is Corbett rated high like this. I do not see what is great. his victory was with John L Sullivan but just a washed old legend unfit for defend title any longer.
Very interesting is the placement of Bob Fitzsimmons. With just 2 films on him, one being Corbett and the other being when he was an old man vs Lang ( and he looks better in this one, more like a modern fighter ) he must have been something. Is there more film on Fitzsimmons? Obviously Nat never saw Ali beat Foremen, Frazier, Norton et al, Holmes, and Tyson. Nor did he dream of heavyweights with the size and skill of Bowe, Lewis, Klitschko, and what came after. But to place Fitzsimmons over Dempsey and Louis back in his day to those who saw him didn't get him ridiculed. But today Fitzsimmons or it was very hard to get. He, Jim Corbett, and Jim Jeffries are in the same boat today. Nearly gone from film. Thanks for posting this.
To be entirely frank about Nat Fleischer, he just loved to ride the meat (dick) of the old guard. He kissed the ass of the prizefighters of yesteryear, of his youth. I respect his career as a writer, and his recognition of Ali as champion during Ali's exile was tremendous. But I think it is hard to deny Fleischer wore blinders when it came to comparing contemporary talent with men who were long dead, I think he romanticized early boxing far too much, cause in all honesty that top 10 list is nonsensical and if you were to try and break it down... would struggle to explain how Jim Jeffries is rated better than the Joe Mother F******* Louis?! lol.
lol i have suspected that billyb71, Liston73, and Holmes77 were the same person but have no proof other than the usernames.
What if the only film of Joe Louis today was vs Rocky Marciano. Suddenly Fleischer's rating of him isn't so bad, right? When you have clear film of somebody its a powerful medium. Curiously enough I don't see any giving the old time love of Sullivan as there is no ring film on him besides him hitting a bag, badly I might add. Nor is the name Sonny Liston mentioned. I get the he threw at least one fight to Ali, but else wise he did enough to rate in Nat life.
I hate how Cleveland Williams has been demoted to the guy whose ass Ali whooped for 7 rounds. He was not a great fighter, but I can only think of a handful of heavyweights who were shot and continued their careers and they're all tough as hell, why can't we respect Cleveland was pieced out by a young Ali because he HAD BEEN SHOT IN THE HIP. Stylistically I can't think of a worse situation than to lose so much mobility and agility from BEING SHOT... against the most mobile and agile heavyweight in his prime. EDIT: 7 minutes not 7 rounds.
exactly, i don't want to be revisionist and spout the gospel of Cleveland Williams but he can at least be respected.
Yeah, quite a few of the new guys share a similar flavour of the same basic and boring sh1t you'd expect from a reddit reject or something.
I catch some heat for talking down on him, he was what he was. Alright contender, bit fragile punch a bunch and deserving of the admiration of a contender. My issue is with guys who turn a nobody in relative terms, greatness that is into this boogeyman because he has some nice pectoral muscles and a bit of a mystique.