Comparing the decade of heavyweight boxing.

For the past while I have being compiling my own ratings of the top 50 heavyweights in each decade, 1880 up to 2019. I only included fights from the decade when rating the boxers, the purpose was to ascertain which decade was the strongest. To carry on from that I present a comparison of the number ten rated fighter from, the 1880’s. 1890’s, 1900’s and 1910’s. Nobody would agree completely with my rankings but I trust that in general, they are reasonable and not biased in any way.

It would be crazy to try and compare Frank Slavin from the 1880’s with Pulev from the 2010's’s. Rules, referees, rounds, gloves, training, the number of fights, globalization, equal opportunity, PEDs, video analysis and many more factors are at play. However, when you take adjacent decade it becomes much more plausible. The first four I will look at are Slavin, 1880’s. McCoy, 1890’s, McVea, 1900’s and Jim Flynn, 1910’s. All of these fighters straddled more than one decade but primarily we will look at how they compare, using only the fights from their particular decade but we will keep an eye on their other fights, too. The brackets below indicate an opponent’s rating in that same decade.

Frank Slavin.1880-89

Beat Dooley, twice(29) Farnan(17) Laing(18) Burke(4) and Costello(50).

Drew Burke(4) Costello(50)

Lost Costello(50). (Failed to stop)

Kid McCoy. 1890-99

Beat Burley(twice)(44) McCormick(43) Ruhlin(7) Goddard(8) Choynski(9) Creedon(18) Bonner(27)and O’Donnell(20).

Drew Choynski(9)

Lost Sharkey(6) McCormick(43)

Sam McVea.1900-09

Beat Barry(18) Jennette(6) Martin, twice(14) Carter(32) and Russell(36)

Drew Jennette(6)

Lost Jennette(6) Martin(14) and Jack Johnson, twice (1)

Fireman Jim Flynn.1910-19

Beat Langford(1) Morris(22) Miller(45) and Dempsey(6)

Drew Coffey(20) Dillon(18)

Lost Langford, Jack Johnson(4) McCarty,twice(9) Gunboat,twice(23) Coffey,twice(20) Rodel(40) Morris,twice(22) Levinsky, three times(19) Ross(26) Dempsey(6) Dillon, three times(18) Fulton(8) and Miske(13)

Four decades but I think there is not a lot to separate them. All had decent performances in other decades, McVea was 5th, 1910’s, Slavin 11th in the 1890’s, McCoy was 12th in the 1900’s and Flynn, 19th in the 1910’s.

 

In the previous decade he fought Sam, Kaufman, Root, Gardner, Twin Sullivan, Ross, Johnson, Barry, O'Brien, Papke and then there is the Dempsey win!

 

He also beat Maher on the first day of the next decade. He had other losses in the 1890's but before he started tackling heavyweights, and a draw with Tommy Ryan. I think the fact that the all were competitive in another decade shows that they were pretty even.

 

The next four are below and remember we are comparing the no.10 fighter from four different decades, just using their performances for their own decade;
Tommy Loughran,1920-29
Beat Carpentier,(20) Risko, twice(12) Stribling(5), Petersen(48), Braddock, Schaaf(33), McTigue(30), Greb(7),
Drew Greb(7)
Lost Sharkey,(3) Greb(7)

James Braddock, 1930-39
Beat M.Baer(5) Lewis(22), Lasky(23)Farr(19)
Lost Schaaf(7)Retzlaff(25)Lewis(22)Ettore(40) louis(1)

Turkey Thompson, 1940-49
Beat Ray(12), Dorazio, twice(25) Godoy(19), Murray(7), Valentino(36) Riviera(49) Hart(17)
Drew Simon(14)
Lost Bivins(4) Pastor,twice(6) Valentino,twice(36) Murray(7) Hart(17) Fitzpatrick(48)

Tommy Jackson, 1950-59
Beat Layne, twice(13) Henry(14) Bucceroni(32) Norkus(44) Charles, twice(3) Slade,(17) Baker(12) Mederos(30)
Lost Slade, twice(17) Valdes(15) Patterson, twice(6) Machen(8)

Interesting comparisons there and Loughran actually beat Braddock in 1929.

 

Tommy Loughran,1920-29
Beat Carpentier,(20) Risko, twice(12) Stribling(5), Petersen(48), Braddock, Schaaf(33), McTigue(30), Greb(7),
Drew Greb(7)
Lost Sharkey,(3) Greb(7)
You are correct as regards Loughran. I threw in the Braddock fight, more for information than anything, as James was up next. The lines between light heavy and heavy were very blurred in the '20's, Greb, Stribling and Carpentier regularly fought at the higher division, with good success and Loughran, too did the same. The Risko, Schaaf, and Petersen wins were at full heavy but I omitted the Walker win as Mickey had not yet tackled the heavies.
I agree that Loughran was some fighter, one of the best ever not to win the heavy crown, though you don't often see his name bandied about in that discussion. Tommy Jackson has a surprisingly good resume, too.

 

I think that looking at it objectively, there is little to choose between their resumes. Loughran was at least as good as Braddock in the 30's and Thompson not far behind Braddock. Jackson beat the likes of Layne and Henry who caught up to Thompson in his waning years but he also posted other good wins. The point I'm making is that the number 10 from all four decades were fairly even. Next up, Cleveland Williams(60's) Shavers(70's) Ruddock(80's) and old Foreman(90's). All big bangers! But who was the best?

 

Williams, 1960-69
Beat Terrell(7) Al.Johnson(24) Bethea(29)Daniels(37) Rischer(31)
Drew Terrell(7) Machen(9)
Lost M.Foster,twice(33)A.Jones(15)Ali(1)Terrell(7)Liston(2)
Shavers, 1970-79
Beat Young(6) Ellis(16)Clark, twice(28)Smith
Drew Young(6)Norton(4)
Lost Quarry(7)Lyle(8)Ali(1)Holmes, twice(5)

 

Ruddock, 1980-89
Beat Weaver(6) Smith(11) Broad(33)

Foreman, 1990-99
Beat Moorer(5) Schulz(35) Savarese (33)
Lost Holyfield(2) Briggs(36)Morrison(17)

Interesting to see all four are massive punchers, early Ruddock should defeat Old George but styles makes fights and if Razor goes to KO Foreman...Williams could outpoint Shavers or George but they could spark him too, very even bunch I think. Interesting to note that less quality fights are getting fighters into the number ten slot. Looking back would Cleveland beat Tommy Jackson, who probably hadn't the sturdiest chin but was an awkward spoiler, what about Turkey Thompson and Ernie Shavers, both big punchers, both a little chinny?. Or could Loughran with his superior ringcraft outbox these bigger foes? He beat 6-6 Campolo and 6-7 Ray Impelletiere but they werent very good, Carnera proved too big but Max Baer and Braddock were decent 6-3 fighters... in over 170 fights, Loughran was stopped only three times, once on the 3 knockdown rule, once with a broken rib and once by Jack Sharkey in one of Jacks best performances.

 

The final two;
John Ruiz
beat Holyfield(12) Rahman(6) Golota(33) Kirk Johnson(28) Oquendo (21) McCline(31)
drew Holyfield(12)
lost Holyfield(12) Jones(18) Valuev, twice(8) Chagaev(5) Haye(17)

Pulev
beat Thompson(33) Ustinov(50) Chisora(13) H.Fury(36)
Lost Wlad(2),

Pulev's record in the decade is surprisingly thin while the much maligned Ruiz has a packed resume.
How would these guys do against Foreman of the 80's or Williams of the '60's?
Imagine a fight between Shavers and Cleveland Williams-WOW and then think of a Tommy Jackson-John Ruiz "fight"...ZZZZZ
ANYWAY, HERE IS THE TIMELINE OF THE NUMBER 10 BY DECADE;
Slavin McCoy McVea Jim Flynn Loughran Braddock T.Thompson Jackson Cl.Williams Shavers Ruddock Foreman J.Ruiz Pulev

 

I'll be posting this list in the General forum but i think it has some relevance here too. The usual applies, only fights in the decade count, previous performances, potential, H2H opinions don't count. Obviously this is a work in progress as the decade is only 60% through but I would also love to hear of omisions, different opinions etc, I'm sure the General forum wont dissapoint!
Top 50-2020-to date;
1 Usyk
2 T.Fury
3 Dubois
4 Kabayel
5 Hrgovic
6 Joyce
7 Parker
8 Joshua
9 Chisora
10 Wardley
11 Sanchez
12 Zhang
13 Bakole
14 Itauma
15 Ajagba
16 Whyte
17 Wilder
18 Ruiz
19 Miller
20 Wallin
21 Gassiev
22 Pulev
23 Huni
24 Torrez
25 Anderson
26 Hunter
27 Ortiz
28 Povetkin
29 Franklin
30 Yoka
31 Makhmudov
32 Okolie
33 H.Fury
34 Charr
35 Browne
36 Salamov
37 Jalolov
38 Vianello
39 Hysa
40 Camkiran
For comparison the top 30 from 1970-79;
Ali
Foreman
Frazier
Norton
Holmes
Young
Quarry
Lyle
Tate
Shavers
11-20
Coetzee
Bonavena
Bugner
Weaver
L.Spinks
Ellis
Patterson
H.Smith
Bobick
Ward
21-30
Ocasio
L.Jones
Garcia
Le Doux
Cooney
Neumann
Middleton
Knoetze
Clark
Evangelestia