Fighters Who Were Boxing Stars But Never Won Title

Sam Langford and Harry Wills are possibilities, though I believe both held the “ colored “ world heavyweight title in their day. Not sure if that counts. Earnie Shavers has become popular over time or at least well known.

 

I was just watching some butterbean highlights, a fat ******* yeah but the guy could really hit.

 

who wouldn't pack a punch at 334 lbs?

 

Ace Hudkins
Billy Walker
Mike Gibbons
George KO Chaney
Lew Tendler
George Benton

 

Maybe David Tua, though he certainly wasn't on the same level of stardom as Jerry Quarry or Gerry Cooney.

The list would be a lot longer if there weren't so many organizational belts these days.

 

I keep trying to think of all the underrated fighters of the 40s thru 80s who only fought once or twice for a title, or maybe not at all, but I'm just not thinking of too many.

 

I don't think Jimmy Young has been mentioned, either. Someone mentioned Andrew Golota. That's a good call.

 

Those two were not popular every where they went though.

 

I'd argue that they were boxing stars, in that they were very well known in the game whether people liked them or not. But you're right. They certainly weren't mainstream public stars. Not like a Gerry Cooney, with his Time magazine cover and HBO contract.

 

I personally really liked Young, and I liked his style, and I would say his fights with Foreman and Norton were classics in fact. They were both great fights. I remember him getting booed quite a bit though.

 

I liked Golota, I just didn't like Golota.

 

Quarry for sure

 

Ughh! I was distracted. I meant to say I liked Golota's fights, but not him. I would have liked to see him up against a prime Foreman. No fighter have I ever wanted to see get demolished so bad. But he was in several great fights with Bowe, Sanders, and Grant. His fights with Byrd, Norris, Witherspoon, and Ferguson are even underrated fights that were pretty good.