Someone on here argued that Cooney was an ATG a few months ago. It was probably just to prop up Holmes, but still, he's highly regarded around here.
1. Poor or undersized competition What:? Jennings - 6-3, 227 lbs. 84" reach Pulev- 6-5, 247, 80" Povetkin 6-2, 225, the best boxer in the world at the time. Wach 6-8, 250, 82" Thompson 6-5, 245, 81" Peters 6-2, 250, 77" Rahman -6-2, 253, 82" Ibrabigimov, 6-2, 219, 77" (pretty close to Ali size) Brewster, 6-5, 230, 77" Austin, 6-6, 250, 80" Brock, 6-2, 225, 77" McCline 6-6, 260, 82" Poor? Povetkin, Chavaev, Pulev, Chambers, Haye, Byrd, Thompson and Ibragimov were stellar boxers. Mercer had never been stopped and tho old he was a known survivor.
Yes, but the quality guys are the guys he had significant size over...Povetkin, Haye, Chagaev, Byrd, Sultan. The big boys were awful and would not have been contenders in another era...Wach, Austin...maybe Thompson was decent. There was no Joshua in his era, and certainly no Lewis.
Trevor Berbick was a decent skilled boxer who is remembered today for his loss to Tyson and for the POS he became after , even supposedly raping a young girl. But as a boxer he was very good. Tommy Burns is never mentioned, he had like 6 successful title defenses before losing it to the terror of the day, Jack Johnson.
Yeah Berbick was no upstanding citizen. Believe I read that he was kicked out of Canada. Then later was murdered by his family over some dubious business.
Yes, Wład is unterrated but not much.. He has an outstanding resume, so in years to come he'll be rated higher, similar to Lennox Lewis. Perhaps he'll compete for a top-three heavyweight title. The less we remember his fights, the better for him. He has incredible longevity and was competitive even after 40. Think how close he came to beating AJ and how that would have been received!! In my opinion, he would destroy Fury in a rematch! However... His style was terrible. Wins over Haye, Ibragimov, and Povetkin look great, but they were terrible fights in which neither side took a risk; the Povo fight was very dirty. The losses to Sanders and Purritty look terrible. Wlad didn't take a risk with Fury; he has nothing in common with Frazier or Holyfield. He was always, or almost always, the A-side in negotiations. And he took full advantage of it, even when it came to choosing everything—the date, the gloves, the ring size, the referees. He always came out prepared. He probably knew how to avoid doping controls. He made the most of it. He avoided the toughest opponents. Many of them went to his brother. They both chose the best very carefully.
Harry Wills. Clearly, absolutely clearly defeated better heavyweights than Jack Dempsey , almost never rated above him.
I rank James Jeffries and Harry Wills higher than I've seen on the vast majority of lists, so I guess they're my answers.
Its because people tend to remember world champions better. Also, there is more footage of Dempsey. I heard he was the "Black Dempsey". It would have been a great fight, shame that the evil sentiments of some during the era did not allow it to happen.