He had 13 title defenses. Is there a reason for this or why he never seems to show up anywhere in a discussion for any type of all time ranking?
I think it's because he ruled over a "weak" heavyweight division. All the 1890's greats along with Jim Jeffries were retired. But he was the first "wold" champ in the sense that, he toured. He fought in the US, Canada, England, Ireland, France, Australia. He also deserves a massive props for letting Jack Johnson fight for the title. He needs to be talked about more, I agree. And 13 defences of the lineal title is the 2nd best consecutive streak in heavyweight history after Joe Louis. And he did that in 34 months! To compare: Holmes had 12, Wlad had 11. Ali of course had 19 overall but 10 consecutive. Hella underrated guy Burns is.
I think the lack of footage in that era combined with people seeing as weak and perhaps slipping under the radar which is bound to happen to multiple fighters when as well as people maybe seeing him as too small the compete today. Probably a combination of all these things.
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/in...s-adam-j-pollack/1105318019?ean=9780979982231 https://www.amazon.com/Ring-Tommy-B...x=in+the+ring+with+tommy+burns,aps,136&sr=8-1
Its mainly he couldn't shed a negative first impression as a MW also ran that got a title shot and won. There were 2 HW claimants during his reign with wins over him at MW. Then theres him basically retiring before 30.
What his successful defences had in quantity, they lacked in quality, from a purely HW perspective. Burns is rated just fine as a HW, but underrated p4p, imo.
I've always felt he was criminally underrated. He was a pioneer of the lead/sneak right hand. Unfortunately, it seems his loss to Johnson instantly overshadowed everything that came before in his career. I believe he still holds the record for most consecutive KOs (8) in Hw title defenses. This content is protected
Joe Louis holds the record if you count the DQ of Buddy Bear as a stoppage. But if not, yes, he holds it. Louis and Holmes are right behind him with 7.
I enjoy watching his style, always thought that Burns was, in a rough way, a bit of a proto-Tyson in his approach, how he stalked foes around the ring from a lower position, marauding from mid range to land blistering combinations.
Because a fair amount of those defenses were against guys with losing records and/or middleweights or guys with a dozen fights on record. He should get a lot of credit for accepting the fight with Johnson. Tough little SOB.
