Sonny Liston or Wladimir Klitschko who rates higher as a all time heavyweight?

I think Wlad hits harder than ol' Henry and that Ali would have had more than a few problems.

 

It was a response to the idea that Wlad would be scared by a relative 'shrimp'. He wouldn't be.

 

Can I suggest a fight? Manuel Medina vs Johnny Tapia. Thank you for that, I don’t think I add much here in terms of knowledge not at all LOL I DKSAB… you may be wrong at times… but have you ever been Bonavena was beating Ali on the score cards wrong? That was a joke thread but I did think Ali vs Bonavena was very close, proving the above I DKSAB. You are a great resource, nice guy and very knowledgeable your story about Eddie Futch (Eddie Futch ain’t ****) was awesome and so was your spar with a certain 80s HW… never forgotten any of it, you’re one of my favourite posters.

 

@Saintpat sorry I have to repost this for anyone who hasn’t seen it… so DAMN cool. You seen this @cross_trainer ?


I sparred one round with Pink in 1992 when he was on his run of 13 wins against "bring-your-own-opponent" backwoods fights on the club circuit after being stopped by Tommy Morrison.

I was about 180 pounds, give or take, and he stopped by our gym a couple of days before his fight to shake loose and offered to go a light round. I jumped at the chance.

He pretty much sat back and let me lead and I went in and out and did what I could. With about 30 seconds left I stuck out a southpaw jab (me being a lefty) and hit him square in the left eye while it was open. He started blinking and got a sour look on his face and I'm thinking "Oh sh--, I've done it now."

He spent the rest of the round mostly peppering me with the jab, probably not at full strength but they certainly stung. I needed to do something so I loaded up my best overhand left and ... he ducked right under it and dropped a right to the body that knocked every bit of air and willpower out of me, then stepped over and hit me with a right to the jaw.

I wouldn't have lasted any longer probably but the bell rang.

(And believe me, I know the score -- if he had wanted me out of there in the first 20 seconds he could have done it without breaking a sweat.)

He was a great guy afterward, said he hoped he didn't hurt me and said "You got me with that jab." He posed forpictures with everyone in the gym after he finished a light workout and we all went to the fight (I was going anywaybecause I knew a couple of guys on the card).

EDIT: I forgot to add, my ribs were a little sore for a day or two but my jaw after that felt like it was on a hinge. I could feel it pop or something all the time for like a week or 10 days after. I had decided that it must be broken and that I needed to go to a doctor, and just about that time it stopped. Didn't swell up but he did some damage for sure.

I still have two pictures from that day on my fridge, one of Pink with his arm around my shoulder and one that a friend snapped right when that right hand sunk about a foot deep into my body, haha.

It's something I fondly remember and a good story I get to tell from time to time. I always liked Pink and rooted for him before that, but I've of course been a bigger fan since that day. I hope he's doing well.

 

Wlad has Top 4 heavyweight jabs himself and even better left hook than Liston did.

 

Wlad's smallest opponent was Eddie Chambers who weighed 209 pounds. Average opponent for Wladimir was 233 pounds.

What's also obvious is the danger Wlad's power presents in every round of the fight despite having a relatively safety first style. Many or even most other big punchers lose there effectiveness the longer a fight goes but with Wlad that isn't the case.

 

I got Ali Louis Holmes Lewis over him but I am only really fairly sure on Ali so I could easily see it your way.

 

Haha. Sometimes at work (virtual) meetings we’ll have a group together where everyone doesn’t known each other so everyone has to offer a ‘fun fact.’ Sparring a round with Pinklon Thomas is mine. Most people aren’t boxing savvy enough to recognize the name but ‘former world heavyweight champion’ gets the point across.

I spit out my coffee when I saw you bring up my comment about Eddie Futch, lol.

Thanks for the kind words.

 

I apologize all, I should have mentioned on Friday; I hardly, if ever post over weekends. Usually it's family days. I have two daughters ... ... ... ... Bro, I pick flowers all weekend


That said, I'll have to be selective with responses. I'll try to get a feel as to where context is now and respond in a manner that makes sense for both the questions and the present context.

 

Klitschko reigned over absolute bums and these days we have boxing hipsters trying to tell us that those opponents were actually good when they weren't. Not enough time has passed for that argument to convince the same fans who oversaw the boring reign. Maybe in 200 years it'll work

 

I don't think anywhere near as many people are doing what you accuse them of here. Equally you have people saying Liston would KO Wlad in a few rounds so there isn't really a problem here.

 

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No worries Pat, I always picture Eddie Futch just sort of clearing his throat after you say it… what was his reaction? I think I remember you saying he didn’t mind and just sort of smiled… did you apologise to Yoda? - sparring a heavyweight champ is by far the best ice breaker story you could ask for.

 

And that was the news from the Dino News Network, folks.

 

Oh **** me

The short answer is I struggle to rank the champions during a time when the only men who could potentially be champion were white and from America or the British Empire as World champion.

So, Joe Louis starts the lineage.