Four Of The Greatest LHV's Never Won ,Or Even Fought For That Title

I agree with you on the latter 3 but i think Choynski is among greater company than he should be here. I wouldnt put him among the greatest light heavyweights.

 

For most (or all?) of Choinsky´s career there was no lhw division. Anyway, IMO he doesn´t quite belong there, given what he did at hw and his standing in his own time, he should be rated highly but not that high.

Langford, okay, colourbar.
Tunney I don´t get why he never got a shot. But then he as US champ and since the world title then was pretty much an American title I don´t think there is much difference. Would count that as a belt nowadays.
Charles was just too good for his own good.

 

is this really true? I was thinking of the simile of Cambridge University posh chaps deludedly thinking they were the best runners in the World in movies such as 'Chariots of fire', though they would have got iced into last place if they'd faced even some semi-decent runners of african heritage.

Or the way world class rugby players of the 90s who loved themselves a bit too much used to 'think' they were the best in the world when they are in reality a very small pool and they'd get trashed by the best NFL players of the 90s (and would probably cry all the way back to England lol it would be funny watching posh lad england rugger captain Will Carling trying to force his way past William Perry, like an ant trying to push an elephant).

America is obviously bigger than Oxbridge universities (LOL) or the public schools' rugger pools of the 80s. But surely prizefighting took place worldwide in LOTS of different cultures and countries. Its very broad to say a US title is a world title. The US is big in landmass, but it was fairly small compared to the whole world in population terms.

 

Well, with some exceptions like Carpentier and Battling Siki, all fighters around that time were American. Given boxing is an Anglo-American sport but there was still a boxing scene in Britain, France, Australia and other countries that only very rarely met their American counterparts. So, a worldtitle back then was mostly contested by American fighters while ignoring the outside world.

 

I like that.

I dont usually say that about your opinions.

But i like it.

 

Dito! :thumbsup

 

There really was no comparison. I remember in the 90's there was a couple of matches between the top two Rugby League/Union teams in England. Wigan and Bath at both disciplines. Wigan slaughtered them in the League game and nearly beat them in the Union rules match.
They've got a lot better since then though. Turning professional was a start.

 

There is a lhw lineage that traces back to choynski but it wasn't an official division yet.

Greb and tunney fought for the american belt and were held in much higher regard than whoever had the world belt.

Charles is an interesting one. A few years I think he was the best lhw in the world at he never got chance to prove it.

Langford is strange because o'brien let the belt stagnate and I think him v burns was at the lhw limit anyways when burns beat him. Langford was a great force at the weight but he doesn't have a great resume there.

 

Charles, Tunney and Langford are givens. Dont' know about Choynski.

 

I'm genuinely not sure if i'd call langford a great lightheavyweight. I certainly wouldn't rank him above say jones jr.

 

...and you would loose it.

 

pains me to admit, so would i