Boxers to 'clean out' their division?

Carlos Monzon

 

No bull****.

11/70: Nino Benvenuti W-TKO12
05/71: Nino Benvenuti W-TKO3
09/71: Emile Griffith W-TKO14
03/72: Denny Moyer W-TKO5
06/72: Jean Claude Bouttier W-TKO13
11/72: Bennie Briscoe W-UD15
06/73: Emile Griffith W-UD15
09/73: Jean Claude Bouttier W-UD15
02/74: Jose Napoles W-RTD8
10/74: Tony Mundine W-KO7
06/75: Tony Licata W-TKO10
12/75: Grattien Tonna W-KO5
06/76: Rodrigo Valdez W-UD15
07/77: Rodrigo Valdez W-UD15

Who the **** wasn't in the Top 3? Bogs? Oh uh, ATG Jose Napoles?

 

Tyson in the late 80s, last guy to unify the heavyweight titles which is impressive since it hasn't been done since and there were more titles at his time than any time previous.

Ali pretty much cleaned house until he was title stripped.

Joe frazier almost did it until he lost to foreman.

Arguably Larry Holmes until he was robbed in spink fight.
Arguably Yurokis Gamboa, and I don't think there is anyone in his weight class who can beat him

 

I call bull**** on Holmes cleaning out the division!

He didn't fight Greg Page, Michael Dokes, Gerrie Coetzee, or Pinklon Thomas. The first three were all rated number 1 contenders at some point during Holmes' reign and I believe Thomas peaked at number 2. All four were in the top five (often top 2 or 3) for years at dfferant points in Holmes' reign yet Holmes never fought any of them.

I don't think Holmes was afraid of these guys necessarily but for one reason or another he managed to conviently avoid fighting four men who represented the most qualified threats to his reign while fighting guys like Marvis Frazier, Zannon, Evangelista, Zannon, Bey, etc.

I don't get why Holmes is worshipped like he is on this forum. Yes he's a great fighter and a top 5 heavyweight all time, but he get's a free pass from people and it always baffles me.

 

To answer the thread question:

Aaron Pryor

Rafael Marquez at bantam, except Hasagawa, who's reporters had no interest in the fight, unfortunately for Hasagawa, who would have made a fortunate and would have stood an excellent chance of winning.

Jose Napoles and Hagler both cleaned out their divisions so thoroughly they even handed out repeat ass whoopings to guys they'd dominated the first time around.

Holyfield at cruiser pretty much.

Michael Spinks-Lopez, Qawi, Eddie Davis, Johnson etc.

Ezzard Charles swept things up pretty thoroughly at heavyweight up to and through his title reign.

Winky Wright at 154

 

Gavilan was well on his way before the Johnny Saxton debacle, fighting nothing but the top rated fighters on the early-mid 1950s 147 scene: Bratton x2, Graham x2, Basilio, Turner, Davey, Dykes.

 

I think there's an obvious distincton between reigning for simply reigning for a long time compared to being a dominant champ cleaning out a division. Sammy Serrano reigned for a long time and so did Alfredo Escalera both held titles for a long time but neither cleaned out their division the way someone like Gavilan did before fighting Saxton.

Could you have considered Willie Pep a truly dominant champ if he had never fought Sandy Saddler?

What if Joe Louis had avoided fighting Lou Nova, Godoy, Schmeling (rematch), and Walcott?

Yes they both would have held the title for a long time and I think Holmes was great but I don't think he can be counted as truly dominant as Robinson, Spinks, Hagler, Holmes, Pep etc.

 

:deal

Long-reigning champion means **** all if you aren't fighting the top rated contenders in the division on a fairly consistent basis. Nobody fights top five opposition every single time out, contenders have to develop and what not, some are hype jobs with padded records, some lose the plot before they can get a shot, but the former holds true in the grand scheme. At least for me.

Someone like Monzon, who reigned for 7+ years and 14 title defenses was doing that over 90% of the time. Gavilan, his shorter run, every time out. As highly as I regard Duran all-time, there were some really nondescript defenses in that run, but he beat the guys he needed to and who mattered most.

 

Sorry, I wandered all over the map there.

Pep and Louis since you posed those examples. I'm contrasting them with Holmes. Louis and Pep never missed a date with any possible opponent who could have been rationally considered the number one contender.

Unfortunately Holmes' reign is marred because he fought some pretty woeful guys when better options were available. Does that mean he's not a great fighter? No, I'm saying that Holmes doesn't belong in the same category as others who have been mentioned in terms of 'cleaning out' their division. If Holmes had fought Page, Thomas, Dokes, Coetzee (throw in Tony Tubbs if you like) then he would have the same case as Louis or Pep that he truly cleaned out his division.

 

Benny Leonard. He cleaned out the division two and three times over. Perhaps the most thorough "clean out" in history.