Hmmm tough ask. Based on your criteria I'd probably say Louis Johnson Marciano Holyfield Frazier Langford Dempsey Tunney Charles Walcott Although personally I wouldn't consider Louis, Johnson nor Frazier as cruiserweights because I reckon in todays climate all 3 would be heavyweights whereas the rest would likely be career cruisers or below.
Is this about head-to-head ability? You have most of the right names. I'd take out Fitzsimmons and Johnson and add Patterson and Moore. Holyfield up, Dempsey down. Marciano above Langford. Unsure where to rate the more modern cruiserweights.
Patterson and Moore while being two very great men, were best in the lhw division. Patterson at 37 was still just 188 lbs against Ali, it's amazing how such a small fighter could have had his succes in the hw division. p4p truly one of the greatest heavyweights.
Of course. But I believe Moore's (and Patterson's) credentials at least rival Dempsey's; a win over Baker, two over Valdes, then you've got Dunlop twice, Henry, Slade, Bivins, Payne, Muscato, Sheppard, Maxim, Satterfield and probably a couple I missed, all top ten rated at heavyweight.
i really respect you mcvey but there is no criteria, no list i could think of where dempsey ranks above louis
Then Holyfield wouldn't be a cruiser either, and neither would Haye. If I remember correctly Louis fought most fights as sub 200 or so close to 200 (5 lbs range) that he was a cruiser for most of his career.(By modern standards)
the way I see it, I look at the guys and I ask "what division would they fight in today" and for Louis the answer is definitely HW.
Fitzimmons record against cruiserweight fighters is actually astounding. In fact, he never lost a fight until age and the heat got him against Lang. And in Corbett, Sharkey, Maher, Ruhlin, Dooley and Slavin his resume stacks up to virtually anyones.
appreciate the answer and the reasoning :good i may not agree but you provided your own criteria and justification i think dempsey COULD take him out inside 2...styles and all. even if he did though, that's h2h and in terms of ranking, that is only part of my own criteria
But a man can be an atg heavy and an atg cruiser at the same time. And Louis deserves to be in a top 10 atg cruiser list just as much as he deserves to be in the top 10 greatest heavyweights.