From 1936-1940, how many of Joe Louis' oppoents would be in the top ten today?

What?

 

Here are some:

https://news.google.com/newspapers?...AIBAJ&sjid=begDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6491,1093435&hl=en


National Boxing Association Ratings
For the period ending April 1, 1936

Heavyweights
1. James J. Braddock (champion)
2. Joe Louis
3. Max Schmeling
4. Abe Feldman
5. Al Ettore
6. LeRoy Haynes
7. Primo Carnera
8. Ray Impellitiere
9. Buddy Baer
10. Phil Brubaker

National Boxing Association Ratings
For the period ending Dec. 20, 1936

Heavyweights
Champion - James J. Braddock
1. Max Schmeling
2. Joe Louis
3. Jack Trammell
4. Al Ettore
5. Leroy Haynes
6. Bob Pastor
7. Arturo Godoy
8. Sonny Walker
9. Al McCoy
10. Tony Galento

National Boxing Association Ratings
For the period ending July 24, 1937

Champion - Joe Louis
1. Max Schmeling
2. James J. Braddock
3. Bob Pastor
4. Alberto Lovell
5. Tommy Farr
6. Al McCoy
7. Al Ettore
8. Arturo Godoy
9. Bob Nestell

National Boxing Association Ratings
For the period ending September 14, 1937

Champion - Joe Louis
1. Max Schmeling
2. Tommy Farr
3. Bob Pastor
4. Albert Lovell
5. James J. Braddock
6. Tony Galento
7. Nathan Mann
8. Al McCoy
9. Arturo Godoy
10. Roscoe Toles

https://news.google.com/newspapers?...AAIBAJ&sjid=4ocFAAAAIBAJ&pg=2405,770006&hl=en

National Boxing Association Ratings
For the period ending July 5, 1938

Heavyweights
Champion - Joe Louis
1. Tony Galento
2. Max Baer
3. Tommy Farr
4. Bob Pastor
5. Max Schmeling
6. Gunnar Baarland
7. Roscoe Toles
8. Clarence (Red) Burman
9. Al McCoy
10. Nathan Mann

https://news.google.com/newspapers?...AIBAJ&sjid=1tsFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6580,6299772&hl=en

National Boxing Association Ratings
For the period ending Sept. 14, 1938

Heavyweights
Champion – Joe Louis
1. Tony Galento
2. Gunnar Baarlund
3. Max Baer
4. Bob Pastor
5. Clarence (Red) Burman
6. Alberto Lovell
7. Roscoe Toles
8. Tommy Farr
9. Lou Nova
10. Buddy Knox


National Boxing Association Ratings
For the period ending Dec. 19, 1938

Heavyweights
Champion – Joe Louis
1. Tony Galento
2. Lou Nova
3. Max Baer
4. Willie Reddish
5. Roscoe Toles
6. Arturo Lovell
7. Clarence (Red) Burman
8. Buddy Knox
9. Gus Dorazio
10. Tony Musto


https://news.google.com/newspapers?...AIBAJ&sjid=RYMFAAAAIBAJ&pg=6114,3091180&hl=en


National Boxing Association Ratings
For the period ending March 1, 1939

Heavyweights
Champion – Joe Louis
1. Tony Galento
2. Bob Pastor
3. Lou Nova
4. Max Baer
5. Clarence (Red) Burman
6. Maurice Strickland
7. Nathan Mann
8. Roscoe Toles
9. Johnny Paycheck
10. Tony Musto


https://news.google.com/newspapers?...AIBAJ&sjid=guEFAAAAIBAJ&pg=3369,3174331&hl=en

National Boxing Association Ratings
For the period ending March 20, 1940

Heavyweights
Champion – Joe Louis
1. Arturo Godoy
2. Tony Galento
3. Bob Pastor
4. Lou Nova
5. Tommy Farr
6. Max Baer
7. Red Burman
8. Johnny Paycheck

 

The Ring annual rankings.

 

You can find ratings everywhere.

 

Right off the bat you can find differences.

The National Boxing Association, in early 1936, included Abe Feldman, Primo Carnera, Buddy Baer and Phil Brubaker, while RING didn't. Four out of 10 contenders were different.

The RING, in early 1936, included Sonny Boy Walker, Maxie Rosenbloom, Gunnar Barlund and Jack Trammell ... who didn't appear in the NBA's official ratings in April 1936.

And the NBA was an actual sanctioning body. So you can't just go by RING ratings. They meant nothing in how the sport was actually controlled, just like they mean nothing in who gets title shots now.

Long story short, Vitali fought more than SIX rated fighters.

 

Ring Ratings are more of a guage of perception, for better or worse, and really cant be took literal to begin with. I view them as "okay, this guy was regarded as a contender"

The NBA ratings and I stress understanding their system which went beyond you must fight #1 is key to knowing why which fights were made. They published top 10s but also did tiers and usually named as many as three contenders for the Champion to choose from, a check system to keep purse negotitations fair in theory.

 

Regarding the topic, what does this board have against common sense?

There were more contenders in the 30s because more fighters...fighting more frequently means more rating shake ups, means more contenders. Duh.

Now days, you have guys sitting on ratings for years at a time. Overall less fighters are going to be rated. Therefore there are less so called top 10 contenders to fight.

This is why you can only judge a fighter by his sucess in contrast to his peers. However, what Louis did by any measure is extraordinary.

 

If a guy entered the top 10 and was knocked off a few months later they're not worth talking about.

If you add Kirk , it would make the count 7.

 

I don't know but at least the old timers didn't stick to the good records.
Lots of heavyweight record looks too good nowadays (lots of coward modern heavyweight fighter around)

 

That' the dumbest thing I've ever heard. Particularly from a guy who looks at one rating a year (from a magazine) because he's too lazy to do anything else.

Also, how was Herbie Hide not a contender? Did you even follow boxing when Vitali Klitschko came up? Honestly?

 

Herbie Hide beat nobody since he had his undefeated record torn off him by Riddick Bowe.. He wasn't a top ten ranked contender.

 

Where's your source that says Chisora , Solis and Johnson were ranked in the top 10?

 

I'm aware Chisora was robbed against Helenius. That isn't the issue. The issue is where he was ranked.

I looked up the top 10 table for the years Vitali fought those guys and their names were not featured.