who you think would be pretty normal and average today if they were active? I would certainly say Primo Carnera for starters.
I doubt someone like Henry Cooper would be nearly as big a name, though he would arguably have at least as much success in the ring if he fought at cruiserweight.
I tell you something Cooper vs Haye would have been a lot more inetersting than the last all English heavyweight showdown.
I think you might be underestimating the devious skills of modern promoters, all of whom are so shameless that they could make PT Barnum blush. If modern hype-mongers can make Butterbean a star, what might they be able to do with Carnera, who was bigger, more imposing and had more skill?
If Cooper landed the same kind of left on Haye that he caught Clay with, the ref could have counted to 200.
I have to disagree with both of the picks so far. Primo Carnera and Henry Cooper are exactly the kind of fighters who would be able to exploit the range of title belts and weight divisions around today. A better question might be: Name the fighters were "nearly were's" in their own time, who would have been c hampions today.
He wouldn't be as big a name, because boxing is nowhere near as big as it used to be. He might be as big a name as David Haye though.
Look at the interest that Haye Harrison generated in the U. K. Now imagine that it was Haye vs a charismatic British fighter who had a good chance against him.
In 1953 Cooper was 175lb, in 1968 he was 186lb and that was at a pre fight weigh in. Cooper could have made Light heavy thoughout his whole career, I think he would blow away the likes of Cloud, Pascal and Braehmer, he would skip cruiser and probably get hammered by the Klits at heavy. But being British and European heavyweight champion was worth much more in the 1950's than being a contender in the 'light heavy' division.
