How do you rank these 4 men in terms of greatness using your own criteria. Who had the greater resume? Who was the more dominant in the ring? Who left the greatest legacy? Who would beat who iyo? [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cX_gVsWsYM[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONFKgforsX0[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOln9pniDHc[/ame] [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHwlJzm7uyo[/ame] records against contenders who have been ranked in the top 10 at some point in their career. This content is protected This content is protected This content is protected Dempsey 21-5-3 (13) J. Flynn (x2), Meehan (x5), Smith (x2), Morris (x3), Brennan (x2), Miske (x3), Pelkey, D. Flynn (x2), Fulton, Levinski, Willard, Carpentier, Gibbons, Firpo, Tunney (x2), Sharkey (16) Do you believe these 4 are in the same category are are some clearly levels apart?
Frazier 7 - 10 Liston 8 - 12 Holyfield 8 - 12 Dempsey 17 - 22 Frazier - points win over Holyfield, KO loss to Liston, KO win over Dempsey Liston - KO win over Frazier, points loss to Holyfield, KO win over Dempsey Holyfield - points loss to Frazier, points win over Liston, KO win over Dempsey Dempsey - 3 KO losses Frazier, Liston and Holyfield are all really close and would make for some awesome fights to watch. Hard to call too, im not sure who'd win. But if i had to pick, the above is what i'd go with Dempsey isn't in their class resume-wise or skillwise
for me, placing dempsey here is like placing dempsey anywhere: difficult. resume? not terribly strong. for whatever the reason he has many unanswered questions and there are several top contenders that he didn't face dominance? dominance in the ring but he didn't fight often enough once he reached the top to score highly here greatest legacy? great legacy based almost soley in two fights and being a product of the golden era of sports in the 20s, a decade which produced numerous mythical level athletes. I firmly believe his legacy benefits greatly as a result of the culture and era in which he competed who would beat who? i pick liston and frazier to take dempsey and holyfield is 50/50. again, not scoring highly here
Great thread. I admittedly have a soft spot for Joe as he represents all that is great about Boxing and sport in general. With that said... Resume Frazier Holyfield Liston Dempsey Dominance Dempsey Frazier Liston Holyfield Legacy Frazier Dempsey Holyfield Liston H2H '67-'71 Frazier beats them all.
some good views here. I do think holyfield has the best argument for ranking highest due to his stacked resume and longevity. I struggle placing dempsey and liston and usually put them next to each other with dempsey getting the slight edge. Then usually I have Frazier bottom of the 4 (btw these are all next to each other in my HW list). from 68-73 he was the best HW in the world and the argument about it being only because Ali wasn't active is kinda moot because he beat Ali in the middle of this time frame. resume wise I think he's the weakest of the 4 but he has the best individual victory. H2H wise I also think he's the weakest of the 4.
to be honest, I question his ability to take a shot. so i see him twice losing by ko to prime dempsey and prime liston, both who can throw the accurate hooks required to take him out imo. to holyfield, i see him losing on points. much like the holyfield - tyson fight in 96, but without frazier gassing (conditioned for 15 round wars the man was)
