Greatest Contenders - Light heavyweights

Think Harry Matthews deserves a shout.

 

Len Harvey was a good fighter, not sure he really belongs in that company.

I'd definitely rate Tommy Gibbons higher for example.
Billy Miske and Kid Norfolk are also very good contenders from the same time.

I'm not sure if Langford should count, since there wasn't much of an active division when he was at that weight. He was a middleweight when O'Brien beat Fitz, and a heavyweight when Dillon claimed the title. I know Langford actually claimed the title though.

Kid McCoy is another weird one. He beat Choynski twice, and Choynski had atleast some claim to the Light Heavyweight title going back to a win over Jim Hall, then he fought Root for what's traditionally considered the inaugural title. But Choynski was still called the Light Heavyweight champion after those losses. I have no idea what was going on with Choynski and that claim. On ability and achievement I think he belongs.

 

Trying to find new names.
Peralta ranked for 7 years.
Lopez ranked for7 years.
Pompey ranked for 6 years.
Hutchins ranked for 5 years.
Al Gainer ranked for 10 consecutive years!
Nate Bolden
Stribling

 

- Floyd Patterson
- James Toney
- Mauro Mina
- Kid Norfolk
- Yvon Durelle
- Tami Mauriello
- Pierre Fourie
- Doug Jones
- Murray Sutherland
- Harry Matthews
- Eddie Cotton
- Tommy Gibbons
- Lee Anderson
- Yolande Pompey
- Eddie Davis

 

Ezzard Charles
Harry Greb
Gene Tunney
Jimmy Bivins
Lloyd Marshall
Tommy Gibbons
Young Stribling
Kid Norfolk
Tiger Jack Fox
Mickey Walker
Oakland Billy Smith
Joe Knight
Al Gainer
Yaqui Lopez
Leonard Morrow

I'd have Dillon up there, too. But I don't know if his claim to the title (which I tend to think was a load of crap, and not really anything substantial) disqualifies him here.

 

Harry Greb
Sam Langford
Ezzard Charles
Gene Tunney
Tommy Gibbons
Jimmy Bivins
Billy Miske
Kid Norfolk
Mauro Mina
Leonard Morrow
Oakland Billy Smith
Young Stribling
Jorge Ahumada
Pierre Fourie
Richie Kates

 

Yeah, I agree. Even though his claim seems a little baseless, it's still a title. No more baseless than someone holding the WBO in the '90s, IMO. And thanks, I didn't know about the NBA and Anton, I'll amend my list now.

Scar, where do you stand on the Duration Titles during World War Two?

 

I think it`s a great topic to learn and understand more about boxing history. Till now, I have studied much more the heavier divisions. Maybe in the future, I can learn also more about lower weightclasses.

 

I think that Chris Finnegan was a real good contender, he took peak Bob Foster into round 14, until the champion stopped him in Sept 1972. Jorge Ahumada was an underrated contender, gave champion Bob Foster all he could handle in June 1974, some experts believe the draw was an early Christmas gift to Bob. Ahumada would lose to John Conteh on Oct 1 1974 in London, England on points for the vacant WBC title. Ahumada did have a victory over Victor Galindez before Victor became champion. Ray Anderson was another good contender, went 15 with Foster in 1971. Alvaro Yaqui Lopez went 15 with Conteh in Oct 1976, losing on points. Lopez also went 15 with Galindez in Nov 1977 in Italy. But the fights against Matthew Saad Muhammad were classics.