Look Magazine gathered a panel of experts, which included Nat Fleischer, Harry Grayson, George A. Barton (ref/Minnesota Tribune), Tom Laird (for S.F. news sports editor), Abe Attell, and Tim Cohane (Look Magazine's sports editor). The final tallies ended up with Louis surprisingly low and Marciano surprisingly high. And I guess Tom Sharkey may have been held in higher regard back then (consistent with Nat's 1949 list). 1. Jack Johnson 2. Jim Jeffries 3. Jack Dempsey 4. Bob Fitzsimmons 5.Rocky Marciano and Jim Corbett (tied) 6. Joe Louis 7. Sam Langford 8. John L. Sullivan 9. Tom Sharkey 10. Max Schmeling
Kind of surprising that someone as contemporary as Marciano ranked so highly compared to Louis who was a spot below. I feel like Louis’s last fight etched some kind of sentiment towards him as a fighter that may have been over dramatized in the heads of these list makers. It was the first time seeing a great champion get knocked out badly at the end of their career. And it’s almost as if they didn’t know how to handle it.
Of the rankings being different from how they are viewed now, how the **** is Rocky oddly high? Not Fitz, Corbett, or Jeffries? Jack Johnson also rated Tom Sharkey, he was well regarded.
Seems like Harry Grayson is likely one of the people most responsible for Louis' lower-than-expected ranking. Gil Smith, In the Sportlight, Leavenworth Times, Sept. 9, 1952 Writing in “The Heavyweight Division” for Packard Sports Library, Harry Grayson, veteran NEA Services sports editor, says “No more than eight modern heavyweight champions are worthy of ranking, and I would put them in this order:” 1. Jack Dempsey 2. Jack Johnson 3. James J. Jeffries 4. John L. Sullivan 5. Gene Tunney 6. Bob Fitzsimmons 7. James J. Corbett 8. Joe Louis
Interesting that Baer nor Wills broke the list, especially Baer, he was more highly regarded back then than he is now
What makes you say that about Baer? The members of the American boxing press had huge man-crushes on him but nobody ever thought he was some kind of ATG.
Just general reading, nothing standout comes to mind other than a newspaper article that asked "how would ali do against the past greats" which featured Marciano, Louis, Dempsey and Baer