Best five wins thread. Lineal / Ring Magazine heavyweight champions.

Must it?

Does it even matter if they were the best contenders?

 

Having given it some thought:

1. Dempsey
2. Gibbons
3. Greb
4. Heaney
5. Weinert

Spalla just missing the cut.

 

Wasn't Hart over 200 lbs when he fought Burns?

 

I don't particularly value a fighters resume, according to the size of their best opponents.

I am much more concerned about the records of those opponents, and their standing in the division, at the time of the fight.

If a champion has not defeated big opponents of quality, I treat it as a stylistic question mark, like if they haven't fought a southpaw.

 

Max Schmeling

1. Joe Louis
2. Stribling
3. Uzcudun
4. Hamas
5. Neusel

Max was a terrific boxer, and his win over Louis is one of the greatest wins ever.

The rest of his resume is weaker than I thought. Wins over Baer and a non controversial win over Sharkey would have greatly elevated his status.

If he had a chance to fight and beat Braddock, I am willing to bet Braddock would be top 5.

 

I'm going to include Sharkey anyway because he won second fight to me clearly:

1. Joe Louis - no need to explain.
2. Jack Sharkey - again, he won rematch to me and he got low-blowed in first fight.
3. Young Stribling - padded record but he actually fought very well against top contenders.
4. Paulino Uzcudun - he was at his best when he lost to Max for the first time.
5. Steve Hamas - I'm not convinced he should have been 5th but he was top contender during their fight and Max dominated him.

HM:
Johnny Risko - he was in his prime then and Max knocked him out as the only one in his long career.
Walter Neusel - very good fighter, I might have him 5th to be honest.

You can also add Walker, Dudas and Heuser. It's fantastic resume for a HW who started at LHW.

 

I think that it would be constructive to ask which wins meant the most at the time.

Outside of the obvious (Louis and Sharkey), the wins that meant the most in the division at the time, were Risko, Stribling, and Hamas II.

They were men seen as being at the top of the division when Schmeling beat them.

You could perhaps argue that Walker was as good as these three men or better.

 

Max Schmeling

1. Joe Louis
2. Paulino Uzcudun
3. Walter Neusel
4. Mickey Walker
5. Jack Sharkey- A DQ win is still a win, plus he got robbed in the rematch.

Other candidates are Stribling, Hamas, and Risko. It's a pretty good resume.

 

I find it odd that Neusel is on so many lists.

He was a good contender, but I don't think that he was ever top five.

I also see Uzcdun getting more respect than I anticipated.

I would also point out that however he won the first Sharkey fight, he still won it!

 

Schmeling resume was great. Definitely the second best in the best (at the time) HW era after Joe Louis' one.

 

Janitor, Your points on Uzcuden andNusel saved me some typing!
Louis
Sharkey
Hamas
Walker
Risko

 

Max

Joe Louis
Jack Sharkey
Young Stribling
Paulino Uzcudon
Mickey Walker

Sharkey is tricky because it was DQ win, but Schmeling was a slow starter and if we are going to count the rematch that most felt he won as a loss than I believe he deserves credit for his official win.

Stribling has very padded record but he does have some quality wins, looks good on film and is in the hof- Schmeling only man to KO him.

Uzcudon was on 6 fight win streak and already held Ko win over Wills and a win over Tunney title defense victim Heeney. Two years later he would beat a Young Baer. Very rugged contender.

Mickey Walker - kind of a mismatch in hindsight but at the time Walker was making real noise in the division


Honorable mention Risko - stopped the Cleveland rubber Man in the fight of the year. Risko was impossible to stop and fought EVERYONE of the 20s and 30s

Hamas and Neusal are a pair of solid wins. Hamas was number one contender when Max ko’d him having defeated max earlier on.

 

So far only Fitz and Jeffries had comparable top 5 wins to Schmeling in my honest opinion. I know that I'm biased Max fan, but isn't Schmeling underrated compared to other champions from earlier era? I think he's closer to guys like Dempsey or Johnson than people think.