Ali made this list of who he considers the best heavies of all time, not ranked in any order, just the ten he thought were the best and why. This was made a few years before he died when it became harder and harder for him to speak. Jack Johnson. "Defensive fighter.... Scientific boxer.... First black heavyweight." Jack Dempsey. "Strong.... Could take a punch.... He hit hard.... Good boxer." Gene Tunney. "Great left jab.... Accurate left jab and right cross.... Straight punches.... Good defensive fighter." Joe Louis. "Knockout punching.... Fast.... Fought a lot." Ezzard Charles. "Scientific boxer.... Fast." Jersey Joe Walcott. "Movement.... He would come in, then move out.... Fast shuffle.... He punched at the same time he was moving.... Hard to hit.... Good defensive fighter." Rocky Marciano. "Rugged.... Could take a punch and keep coming.... He beat up on opponents' arms so they could not hold them up to defend themselves." Joe Frazier. "Joe Frazier hit hard.... Brawler.... Just kept coming, moving foreword, no matter how hard you hit him.... Could take a punch." George Foreman. "Strong.... Hard hitter.... Knockout puncher.... Good left hook and right cross.... Dynamic" Larry Holmes. "Strong.... Hard hitter.... He beat me didn't he?" Pretty solid list. Never really considered Ezzard a great heavyweight, he was really better at light heavy and middleweight. Nice to see Frazier get a mention, pretty underrated fighter these days. Tunney too. (Taken from Bert Sugar and Teddy Atlas Big Book of Boxing Lists).
When was this list made? If it was mid 70s to early 80s its a pretty solid list Although I'd definitely argue against Tunney being there
Not surprised he didn’t mention Holmes as he was always kinda dismissive of him as being his former sparring partner but thought he might have included the big ugly bear and the Mummy as they were two of his most famous victories in which he was a big underdog in both.
It looks like he was listing all the guys he looked up to as a young amateur, with the inclusion of Frazier. I think he was Charles' neighbour and tried to befriend him a few times. (Holmes and Foreman made the list, my bad).
There seems to be only eight names on the list. I don’t suppose the two missing names on Ali’s list were the top two who just by coincidence were called Muhammad Ali and Cassius Clay?
