AllTime Heavyweight Rankings by Experts

Frazier being higher than Foreman.
Nice. Usually don't see that. :thumbsup

 

I've had a a couple conversations with people explaining my placement of Frazier over Foreman.

It usually boils down to Foremans destruction of him twice, and his comeback.
But I try to sway them anyway.

 

**** me solid

 

**** a ****ing duck

 

My top 10 heavyweights of all time this is a crazy list i know

1.ALI
2.Foreman= YES I SAY FOREMAN IS #2.
3.louis = 25 title defenses. enough said. could be #1 on many lists
4.dempsey=hardest puncher in heavyweight history IMO, my personal FAVorite.
5. marciano= undefeated and best conditioned heavyweight ever.
6. frazier= could easily be 5th but the rock had power in both hands.
7. tyson= second hardest puncher in heavyweight history IMO.
8. holmes= hard for me to place holmes, will be higher on some lists.
9. lewis= great fighter, but came across as arrogant and lazy to me.
10. The Real deal!= smart DIRTY fighter (headbutt expert) but had a ton of heart and boxing skill. i picked evander to beat Bowe in the rematch.haha

honorable mentions:

vitali klitcscko= could end up in top 10, 6 7" 260, iron jaw and great jab, could beat some guys on top 10 list IMO


ken norton= crab style Defense and he beat ali when ali was still good.

michael spinks. more of a light heavy BUT he beat holmes.

 

great list BUT how is joe louis #2 in the 40s when he held the title for the WHOLE decade?

 

Quarry was just a token thrown in to satisfy the '70s golden era' crowd.

Actually, I'll come clean : my whole list is a bit of a wind up.
Certainly after the top 15 I was just throwing in names in any order, just randomly. It is, as McGrain wrote "utter pish".

However, MOST of the names in that top 30 are very good or great fighters.
And the top 15 I believe are WORTHY, yet it was still a deliberate wind up because I deliberately favoured pre-1960s fighters, and many pre-film fighters.

In reality, I do believe many of those in my top 10 are worthy of top 10, and all should make my top 20, but I'd have to consider the modern post-50s fighters more too to come up with a real list. Or at least think more about ordering the ones I chose.

 

My actual attempt at a real list would have Joe Louis and Jack Dempsey at the top, for a start.

I'm always surprised by how many people seem to seriously rate Lennox Lewis in the top 3 or 4 all-time on this forum. (Unless it's some sort of 'in' joke that I missed. )
I think Wlad Klitschko is almost a carbon copy in terms of career and similar in style too, so we'll see how that develops. Will Klitschko be rated top 4 or 5 too, or will he be put in a lower bracket ? (Of course, a lot rests on his subsequent results and achievements too).

 

I think the biggest thing in Lennox's favour is the size argument and the fact that the behemoths really are dominating at the moment. So much so that it makes it hard to believe that anyone not this size can compete.

Even though i can remember that it wasnt that long ago that most thought a small fighter like Mike Tyson was invincible and couldnt be beaten. In fact i can remember when i was in the vast minority suggesting that Ali would beat Mike Tyson or that one day a huge behemoth would come along soak up his punishment and knock him out. That is what always happens to the big hitters. The same will and did happen to the behemoths and already has, although admittedly nowadays, they are trying to buck the system by using a method of not figthing any of the serious contenders adn disguising it by giving the chance to a 'promising' up and coming fighter. Well i think that is the disguise, actually they are not doing much of a job at disguising it.

Anyway back to Lennox, i think the fact that the behemoths are currently still the top dogs, and by quite away, it is forgotten that the reason the two massive guys are at the top is because that for one of the rare times in history (lennox was another) they also happen to be the best trainers and most physically gifted boxers around. I think they would both still be champions, even if they were 5 inches shorter and 30 lb lighter, and that is often forgotten today.

Add to this, that they the last sub 200 guy who became champion, was a massive trainer, and had it in his mind that he needed to bulk up to compete, so when he did, he really bulked up and people assumed that if he hadnt done so he wouldnt have still won. Although the fact is (at least i believe) that Evander Holyfield would have similar success if he had stayed at 190. Who knows, he may have had more.

If Roy Jones Jr had had a heavyweights chin, it would have pretty much decimated the current ranking of Lennox Lewis. If Adamek beats both Klitchskos and then decides to avenge his last loss and loses a to him again, it would make for some very very interesting rankings for a while.

Anyway, the point is that i think Lennox ranking is enhanced by his size and style which sees size and power in vogue because we can see that size and power dominates. Back when Ali and later Holmes were top dogs, people looked for footwork speed and jabs. And i dare say, someone like Tunney would have ranked an awful lot higher.

 

WTF

Ok so Jeffries is better than Corbett, yet struggling to beat an equally inactive Corbett is better than easily beating an inactive Jeffries himself? Langford/Wills over JJ is madness too

 

Yes someone who doesn't take on their number 1 contender and doesn't fight the best of their era must clearly be rated above someone who does, I see your thinking :nut

 

Maybe you're right, I don't know. Maybe there are a variety of reasons.
I certainly think he is being overrated, not only because I would happen to rank him much much lower, but also because many of those lists that have him at 3, 4 or 5 often have his leading 'contemporaries' (Tyson and Holyfield) several places below him, often outside the top 10 or 12.
And I've even seen Hasim Rahman get listed in all-time top 25, 30 or 40 heavyweights when really he was a very ordinary fighter even in his own era. Such is the over-valuation of Lewis, that Rahman sometimes benefits too.