Best five wins from the best contenders

Are these on your list the only ones who we will evaluate, or could we keep going with others as well?

 

• Archie Moore
#1. Harold Johnson IV
#2. Nino Valdez I
#3. Jimmy Bivins II
#4. Bob Satterfield
#5. Bob Barker

• Chris Byrd
#1. Vitali Klitschko
#2. David Tua
#3. Evander Holyfield
#4. Jameel McCline
#5. Fres Oquendo

• Sam Langford (at HW?)
#1. Harry Wills V
#2. Harry Wills II
#3. Sam McVey
#4. Joe Jeanette V
#5. George Godfrey III

• Jerry Quarry
#1. Ron Lyle
#2. Floyd Patterson II
#3. Buster Mathis
#4. Mac Foster
#5. Earnie Shavers

• Alexander Povetkin
#1. Ruslan Chagaev
#2. Chris Byrd
#3. Mariusz Wach
#4. Marco Huck
#5. Eddie Chambers

 

Edited.

 

I am glad you started this as it is taking a long time to get through the champions, and old guys like me don't have that much time to wait.

I will stick to fights which are relevant to heavyweight status regardless of weight technicalities. However, I will not use fights clearly in a lower division against a great fighter who did nothing against heavyweights. So Harold Johnson counts for Moore, but Holman Williams doesn't.

I will only use any fighter once regardless of how many victories the subject has over him.

 

Archie Moore

1-----Harold Johnson
2-----Jimmy Bivins
3-----Bob Baker
4-----Nino Valdes
5-----Clarence Henry

Not making the cut. Joey Maxim--had been exclusively a tlight-heavyweight for several years, at least against name opponents. Could be on this list. Curtis Sheppard, Alejandro Lavorante, Bob Satterfield, etc. Moore has good depth at heavy for a contender.

Baker over Valdes? Baker outpointed Valdes twice.

What is missing from Moore is a win over a champion, but Johnson, Bivens, and Valdes have such wins. A lot depends on when one gets a fight against a champion to be or one who has been. Moore only fought champions at or near their peak.

 

some recommendations--Gunboat Smith, Frank Moran, Fred Fulton, Bill Brennan, Luis Angel Firpo, Ernie Schaaf, Tony Galento, Tommy Farr, Lee Savold, Joe Baksi, Paulino Uzcudun, Johnny Risko, Tommy Loughran

I apologize up front if you have any of these men on your list.

 

Satterfield is the type of guy who will be very interesting.

 

Gazelle, great subject matter. Regarding Moore's best heavyweight wins, I would lose Harold Johnson and Bob Satterfield whom I believe were both light heavies when Moore beat them and would not be relevant to the question (I'm doing this literal, as heavyweight only. I'm aware you mentioned best wins, but I'm trying to contain my picks for relevancy). Using my logic - for what it's worth - I would go with:

1) Baker
2) Valdez
3) Bivins
4) Clarence Henry
5) Jimmy Slade

Again, great subject matter.

 

this question of weights seems to really divide me from what I guess is the consensus.

My take is there is a solid issue with Satterfield. Moore fought him in 1948 and Satterfield was not yet a heavyweight and had not beaten any heavyweights.

Johnson though shows the problem with a hard and fast weight rule. He had beaten highly rated heavyweights before and would continue to do so. In the first two fights with Moore and his last two with Moore both men made 175. In the third fight, the only one Johnson won, Moore came in at 178. Does this mean that Johnson should get heavyweight credit for beating Moore, but Moore can't get such credit for beating Johnson?

To me that doesn't make a lot of sense. We will each make these lists on our own criteria. Even if Johnson is not viewed as a heavyweight scalp, he still beat Valdes, Bivins, Henry, and Slade, and lost to none of them.

 

Archie's top 5:

1. Harold Johnson
2. Jimmy Bivins
3. Nino Valdes
4. Bob Baker
5. Bob Satterfield

Moore doesn't have the win against very top tier heavyweight, but he has excellent depth. A shame that he never fought against Walcott, this fight would have been interesting.