Best fighters to never win a World title?

Xavier R.A. Schuler.

 

Just to name a few not mentioned

Jesus Pimental
Jose Medel
Bernardo Caraballo
Holman Williams
Cocoa Kid
Billy Graham
Gil Turner
Armando Muniz
Hector Thompson
Adolph Pruitt
Georgie Abrams
Georgie Benton
Joey Archer
Lloyd Marshall
Jimmy Bivins
Kenny Lane

 

Eddie Booker
Eddie Perkins
Clyde Gray
Ruben Castillo
Andrew Golota
Oba Carr
Herol Graham

 

Andre “ The Matrix “ Dirrell

 

David Tua. Think he beat like 5 or 6 guys that won a version of the HW title.

 

Graham had 3 chances, most Top fighters get NONE...

 

Hi Mike,
Kevin proved his skills in 3 fights with Minter (probably should have won the 2nd), beating Sibson and his showing in the 1st Hagler fight.

If we had footage of that fight chances are his name would have cropped up on this list from the get go.

Unfortunately for Kevin he kept having losses which ruined any hint of a title shot, didn´t have a fanatical following so no incentive for Monzon/Valdes to come to cold and bleak England for a routine title defence.

Probably deemed too troublesome for a home defence.

Had he beaten Gratien Tonna in their 1st fight then things may have been different. Tonna got a fight with Monzon straight after beating Kev, probably Tonna´s best performance.

Good fighter, his win against Bouttier in France is very underrated ( Stracey destroyed Roger Menetry for a classic British double for the EBU titles on the same card).

Glad he finished his career winning the Lonsdale belt beating a young Sibson, travelling back to France and beating Tonna in the rematch.

The Finnegans (Olympic Gold medallist Chris) were very good fighters, very unlucky that both had to run into fighters Hagler, Bob Foster, Alan Minter and John Conteh.

Goes without saying they would clean up in todays boxing world.

 

That is a fair point.

A stronger argument could be made for Kirkland Laing never having a title shot, had sublime skills but was never consistant enough.

Should have traded in his win over Duran with some wins in England instead of getting high for a year and facing Fred Hutchings (completedly wrong for him) and might have gotten a shot at welter or light-middle.

Laing was so talented....

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A lot of great answers here. To add two I haven't seen mentioned yet, Cleveland Williams and Henry Cooper (if only he wasn't such a bleeder).

 

Jack Blackburn was a great boxer in his time.

 

The greatest 6, p4p, who never won the lineal title, in order:

1. Sam Langford
2. Packey McFarland
3. Charley Burley
4. Jimmy Bivins
5. Holman Williams
6. Tommy Gibbons

Edit - technically RJJ never won a lineal world title and so belongs on the above list, probably at #3 or #4, but I excluded him on the basis that, unlike the others, he was generally recognised as the champion at SMW and LHW.

 

To be fair, he messed up his chance 3 times. Lost to the reigning champion Lewis and then lost to Byrd and drawed with Rahman in final eliminators.

 

Hi Fred.
Appreciate your quick and informative reply, I have spoken to Minter more than once, not least on a ship in the foyer of Caesars Palace three hours after he beat Antuofermo, he cut a rather handsome figure, and was cohesive and polite, sadly over his last years that would all change to his detriment, he acknowledged that Kevin had the better of him in their 2nd, and held Finnegan in the highest esteem, and despite agreeing to defend against him,after 11 hours of pleading on the plane home, he said that he wanted a more marque name, thus more revenue, as to the Bouttier win, I ventured into the much depleted borough of Hackney, to see the fight via satellite in a run down cinema which was also the habitat of feral cats, the odd tramp, seats riddled with chewing gum, and blocked toilets, the outside was the domain of ladies of the night, I digress, both our lads were given scant chances of winning, from memory Stracey was deemed to have the harder task, the muscled Frenchman had relieved Straceys stablemate Ralph Charles of his European title, in uncompromising fashion, he was seen as too strong and too experienced for our boy, in the event ( as we all know ) Stracey utilised the Lawless format of constant attack aligned with virtual non stop punching, think Gardner, Batten, Flint, Magri, Kaylor, et al, he won in a cantor, then it was Finnegans turn, he boxed like a dream up against the dour, tough, reputable Euro champ, my hands were sore at the finale, we spilled out onto the well urinated pavement, needless to say not a black cab in sight, plus I was due to start work 3 hours later, happy days.
stay safe buddy, chat soon.
Mike.

 

Eric Harding is a guy that rarely gets mentioned but if you look at his body of work, it's pretty impressive. He beat a prime Montell Griffin and a prime Antonio Tarver before losing his first title shot to Roy Jones Jr. Roy said after that Harding was his toughest fight at that point. I think Harding would have beaten a lot of 175 title holders had he fought in a different era. He also put Chad Dawson on his ass in round one of their fight before losing a decision.

Harding was a fundamentally sound, tough as nails Philly fighter that is somewhat forgotten these days.

 

I was very impressed with the skill level Dujaun Johnson demonstrated in a losing effort against A.Pryor .
But personal demons, bad management, and unfortunately getting murdered turned out to be his fate.
Another one was Tony Ayala jr. Who seemed to be on his way to stardom. But again, personal demons would derail his career, and he spent his prime years in prison ( Rightfully so, he was a bad man. A sadistic ****** at a time when most men, and especially professional athletes could get away with it, that he didn’t is a indication how bad his offenses were. )