Based purely on what they achieved, what would your Top 10 Heavyweights in 1972 be? I'm adding no H2H as I think it's impossible to not be guided by what happened after. My first attempt. 1. Joe Louis 2. Jack Johnson 3. Rocky Marciano 4. Jim Jeffries 5. Joe Frazier 6. Harry Wills 7. John L Sullivan 8. Jack Dempsey 9. Muhammad Ali 10. Max Schmeling It's quite hard to do. Time definitely changes perception of things, so a list made now by the same person thinking about back then, will never really look like a list made back then. I feel like after that would be something like. 11. Sam Langford 12. Gene Tunney 13. Ezzard Charles 14. Sonny Liston 15. Max Baer I'm even less sure about this. Cetainly 10-12 could easilly be swapped about. I think Liston has to lower due to the losses to Ali, and the nature of them, considering Ali hadn't yet had the big second career wins that really established him as such a great fighter.
good List although strongly disagree with your liston ranking when he cleaned out an entire heavyweight era in a 3 year span finishing with two first round knockouts over a prime hall of Famer. He ducked nobody. Walcott easily over max Baer as well. Not even close. My list 1. Joe Louis 2. Joe Frazier (no losses to Ali or foreman) 3. Sonny Liston 4. Rocky Marciano 5. Muhammad Ali 6. Jack Johnson 7. Jack Dempsey 8. James Jeffries 9. Harry Wills 10. Ezzard Charles 11. Max Schmeling 12. Sam Langford 13. Jersey Joe Walcott 14. Floyd Patterson 15. Gene Tunney
out of the heavyweight division, speaking of skill, and technical ability, who would you find in your top 3? I rate Patterson, Louis, and Charles in my top 3 pfp of the heavyweight division.
Those are good ones, I can’t argue against your three choices but I’d put Walcott right in there with those 3.
I'm a huge Walcott fan, cannot argue he had some wicked footwork for a heavyweight! So much power too.
1.Joe Louis 2.Rocky Marciano 3.Joe Frazier 4.Muhammad Ali 5.Jack Dempsey 6.Sonny Liston 7.Jack Johnson 8.Jim Jeffries 9.Floyd Patterson 10.Ezzard Charles
Which of Patterson's fights did you like? Rademacher? Tom McNeeley? Brian London? Liston? Patterson was a disgrace as champion.
Watch someone interject Tyson Fury or Uzyk , it always happens when talking about the heavyweights of the past and we are not talking about present day heavyweights. Lol.
let’s not go to far. He dismantled a really good archie Moore, twice brutalized ingemar Johansson, destroyed Hurricane Jackson then while past his prime he beat up on Eddie Machen, beat Chuvalo, bonavena, draw with QuArry, and was robbed vs Jimmy Ellis which should have made him a 3x champ Floyd had unique blend of handspeed and power and threw blistering combinations
This is how I would organise your guys: 1. Joe Louis 2. Joe Frazier 3. Rocky Marciano 4. Jack Johnson 5. Muhammad Ali 6. Sonny LIston 7. Jim Jeffries 8. Harry Wills 9. Jack Dempsey 10. Sam Langford 11. Floyd Patterson 12. Ezzard Charles 13.Max Schmeling 14. James J Corbett 15. Gene Tunney
Here's a list from Charlie Rose back in '68 1. Sam Langford 2. Jack Johnson 3. Jack Dempsey 4. Joe Louis 5. James J. Jeffries 6. Gene Tunney 7. Sam McVey 8. Rocky Marciano 9. James J. Corbett 10. Max Baer
Here's one back in '75 just before Manila by The Ring. 1. Joe Louis 2. Jack Dempsey 3. James J. Jeffries 4. Jack Johnson 5. Rocky Marciano 6. Gene Tunney 7. Bob Fitzsimmons 8. James J. Corbett 9. Muhammad Ali 10. Joe Frazier