Wladimir Klitschko is the longest reigning Heavyweight Champ - Not Joe Louis

Boxing is a global sport with huge guys and multiple belts today.

If you think beating Braddock is as meaningful as beating Byrd, Haye, and Ibragimov, you are fantasy driven.

Furthermore, Louis never actually won the Colored Championship so there is a great case for him not truly deserving lineage.

 

Boxing was a global sport in Louis's day.

There was a thriving heavyweight scene in Europe and South America.

The rankings and the nationalities of his opponents should be enough to tell you that.

Braddock isn't even one of Louis's best wins, he is just the guy who happened to hold the title when he got his shot.

That argument holds about as much merit as saying that Wlad was never truly lineal because he didn't hold the colored heavyweight title.

It is debatable whether you can even trace its lineage up to Louis's time anyway.

 

Stalin says otherwise.

I’m totally okay with neither Wlad nor Louis being called lineal as long as we aren’t pretending that beating Braddock is more meaningful than Wlad’s first 15 or so defenses.

 

This is interesting. Braddock was no monster ATG, but I'd have to go back and check over thse aforementioned defenses. Not sure all of them quite measure up.

Thanks for the homework.

 

I meant collectively. Braddock was better than Leapai.

 

To be honest with you there were probably far more professional boxers globally in Louis's day.

Personally I would insist that Wlad was lineal at some point, and don't see how it could be argued otherwise.

Now meaningful is a word that can be used in a number of ways.

Louis's win over Braddock was meaningful, in the sense that he got out of bed in the morning as a contender, and went to bed as the undisputed champion.

That is pretty meaningful.

Now if you are saying that Wlad beat men who were better then Braddock, then I am not going to contradict you.

 

I definitely agree then.

 

There were not more boxers who could realistically create a path to being world level, especially at heavyweight.

Arguments that Wlad’s title defenses start at Haye or Chagaev are biased and flat out stupid.

 

I lean towards the idea the the global talent pool back then was skewed towards the lower weight classes, but I am speaking purely hypothetically.

It became unarguable after the Povetkin fight, and it would also have been unarguable after the Pulev fight in any event.

 

I can only comment on this statement in one way - Wladimir Klitschko was never the undisputed champion.

 

Neither was Louis (Colored Championship)

 

Both Klitschkos are not in the same league as Louis.

And Competing against one world champion is much harder than with multiple belts.

Imagine today prime mike tyson for example who only holds one title and then you have bums like chagayev, for example, Who would the challengers compete against??
certainly not tyson

 

Neither, the GOAT Sullivan technically had over 30 defenses.

 

Joe Louis had seven siblings and he’d have whupped all their fannies if they tried to lay claim to his lineal title.

Wlad wouldn’t fight his brother.

Case closed.

 

Joe Louis retired as World Heavyweight Champion on March 1 1949 after having won it from James J. Braddock on June 22 1937.