"Back in my day, boxers were better."

I remember hearing that he claimed he was the inventor of the jab. Had no idea he claimed he invented the left hook as well but it doesn't surprise me.

 

Corbett also invented foot moment, before Corbett, boxers would just stand in front of each other hitting until one goes down. Other thing was he also invented the thong, back in Corbett's day it was manley to wear them, today the women stole them from real men.

 

Corbett’s thong is very much part of his legend.

He will never live it down.

About a century later, Jack A**es Chris Pontius channelled Corbett - Jim being the original, Gay Nineties version of the irrepressible Party Boy.

“Back in my day” indeed…….Corbett was the original Jack A**.

When Fitz KO’d Corbett - a woman in attendance reportedly fainted. Not due to the violence and outcome but for the fact that Jim popped a Jatz Cracker (gonad) from this thong whilst writhing on the canvas.

 

I can't imagine how painful it was to use as much footwork as Corbett did with that thing up his ass

 

So after all these years it wasn’t actually Fitz’s solar plexus punch that ultimately saw Corbett off? - ah well, he got his just deserts for being a slave to fashion.

 

Judging from Corbett's fashion taste, I'd rather not know what 'gets him off' lmao

 

Corbett actually invented the left hand.

The film from the era is grainy, but if you look closely you’ll see all fighters before his time only had right hands with the left cut off at the elbow.

 

Boxing was never the same when they started wearing shorts. Something seem to be missing seeing the likes of Dempsey, Louis or Tyson in shorts. The sport was no longer about a man showing off lol.

 

My 2023 List (with no active fighters):

01. MUHAMMAD ALI
02. JOE LOUIS
03. EVANDER HOLYFIELD
04. MIKE TYSON
05. LENNOX LEWIS
06. GEORGE FOREMAN
07. ROCKY MARCIANO
08. JACK DEMPSEY
09. JAMES J. JEFFRIES
10. JOE FRAZIER

 

Evander Holyfield is always ranked too low, I’m glad I’m not alone in having him so high. He was the HW James Toney in terms of attitude and he deserves his dues.

 

It’s almost mandatory that current fighters cannot be fully and properly recognised before a good number of years have elapsed since they quit fighting.

The march of time itself eventually puts them into the category of old era fighters - where a degree of impartiality and reverence may then be applied.

 

He liked the taste of a jab too much and lost to Moorer… he called it too close with Holmes IMO too. If Old Holmes had beaten Evander…. A lot like Toney there is a lot of things you could say but there is so much more to suggest he was nothing short of great.

 

Great list.

I'd probably have Foreman and Lewis ahead of Evander (who is underrated) and Tyson is too high for my liking. There's no universe where Tyson should be rated higher than Foreman but otherwise it's a great list.

 

At least as far as the open division that is the HWs is concerned, I think there is some rationale to suggest in general that previous contenders and champions were “better” in terms of skill.

A good part of that rationale being that with greater size, HWs follow the P4P trend of a decline in skills - and I can see that personally with my own eyes.

In terms of size and dimensions, yesteryears HWs progressively slide down the P4P totem pole which actually places them above their current day, larger counterparts in terms of skill.

Then the question re SHWs or any given SHW becomes “Does their greater size and dimensions equate to an advantage that eclipses their comparative deficiencies in skill?

And I’m talking reasonable and fair application of their greater size and dimensions in the true spirit of a boxing match as most of us might perceive or at least desire.

I’ve said before, all credit to Joshua for fighting a clean boxing match v Usyk to facilitate a reasonably pure boxing match that specifically framed greater skill vs greater size.