15 best h2h heavyweights in chronological order

I think it is fair to say that your list is a blend of head to head and historical significance.

I can see six for Holmes. Some have him as high as three, and few have even claimed he is #1. I don't see how is is top five head to head when his acknowledged best win is a close one against a nearly 35 year old Norton, he failed to fight or openly ducked most of the best of his generation, he struggled against guys like Weaver and Snipes, and he ultimately lost to a LHW. He had good nights and bad and consistency matters.

Some goes for the Klit brothers and their resumes of tubby clubfighters, jail breaks and midgets. I think you have them about right. AK might get on there for one of them.

 

Douglas was a superb talent and while he matches beautifully vs someone like Tyson, i would remove him. He was way too inconsistent. Even more so than Bowe.

I am almost tempted to throw in Ike but i won't since he only had 2 big wins. He passes the eye test though.

My pick is Tim Witherspoon over Douglas. While i would have Witherspoon as an underdog vs most of your list, his tricky style is bound to cause some upsets. Douglas was more talented but only put it together once. Not enough for a top 15 spot.

 

The problem with Ike is that the two guys he beat, while extremely high quality, were both diminutive heavies. We have no data on how he would have handled a good heavy of even Usyk's size, much less a super-heavy. Not saying he wouldn't of, but we have no data.

 

I agree. I didn't pick Ike for exactly the reason you mentioned but i thought he was worth bringing into discussion as someone who just misses the mark but could cause problems for some of the top 15 guys. He does have way too many question marks though.

My pick is Witherspoon.

 

Third best heavy of the 80's!

 

Mine would be almost exactly the same; but I would swap out Buster Douglas, and start with Jack Johnson.

 

Love this list bro… i think holyfield is too high and mike tyson is too low but besides that its basically perfect. Joe louis at 1 is something i disagree with but am TOTALLY fine with people believing. Good stuff man.

 

Braddock is frankly much more deserving of being a top 15 HW H2H than Buster Douglas tbh. After beating Tyson he got destroyed by Holyfield at HW which isn't really something that happens. Buster Douglas ranks somewhat high in his weak era but he really doesn't belong in a discussion like this.

Heres my try. But I did a top 20


Fulton
Willis
Dempsey
Tunney
Schmeling
Max Baer
Louis
Braddock
Ezzard Charles
Liston
Ali
Frazier
Norton
Foreman
Jimmy Young
Holmes
Lennox Lewis
Bowe
Wladimir Klitschko
Usyk

 

Cool list but you are missing Marciano - after Louis but before Liston. You have no one for the year of 1952. A great year for the Rock

 

I don't agree with you on much but you're admittedly correct about Holmes. I've posted about it non-stop but it just gets really annoying seeing him picked to beat ATGs effortlessly when he struggled with the mediocre opposition he faced in his prime.

He had an ATG jab for sure, but it's not the be all end all weapon everyone makes it out to be. Guys like Weaver, Snipes(!), Shavers, Berbick, etc all got past this supposedly impenetrable jab to have their moments.

He simply wasn't like Ali, where could effortlessly outjab and run circles around his opponents. He had to get down in the mud, get his hands dirty, and wear his guy down.

Just a couple months ago, their was a thread asking how Holmes would do today, and virtually everyone's reply was that, with the exception of Fury, and Usyk he wouldn't even have a competitive fight. Yeah, he'll be just fine as long as their are no 19-8 Weavers around or ATGs like Snipes, who went on to draw with a legend like Scott Franks (no not the actor).

 

I suppose

1 Jack Johnson
2 Jack Dempsey
3 Joe Louis
4 Rocky Marciano
5 Sonny Liston
6 Muhammad Ali
7 Joe Frazier
8 George Foreman
9 Larry Holmes
10 Mike Tyson
11 Evander Holyfield
12 Lennox Lewis
13 Wladimir Klitschko
14 Tyson Fury
15 Oleksandr Usyk

There we go.