If you were to create a tournament of all time greats:

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by mr. magoo, Mar 4, 2008.


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  1. mr. magoo

    mr. magoo VIP Member Full Member

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    Let's say that we were to create a tournament of every all time great that ever lived in most of the more popular divisions, in an effort to determine who was the best ever, what would it look like?

    I don't expect a full detailed list of every fighter in every division, but lets start with a few.

    Heavyweight:

    Lightheavyweight:

    Middleweight:

    Welterweight:

    Jr. Welterweight

    Lightweight:

    Featherweight:

    Bantamweight:

    Flyweight:

    I omitted some weight classes like Cruiserweight, Jr feather, Jr Middle, Straweight, etc. There are obviously far more divisions than I even care to look at, and not all of them had the best fighters p4p anyway. You can add whatever weight classes and fighters that you feel relevant though.
     
    mr. magoo, Mar 4, 2008
    mr. magoo, Mar 4, 2008
    #1
  2. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    McGrain, Mar 4, 2008
    McGrain, Mar 4, 2008
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  3. mr. magoo

    mr. magoo VIP Member Full Member

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    Great list. I agree that Robinson should be the favoured man here. Nice selection. Henry Armstrong is a bit lower than I expected, but I agree with most of it.
     
    mr. magoo, Mar 4, 2008
    mr. magoo, Mar 4, 2008
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  4. Mendoza

    Mendoza Hrgovic = Next Heavyweight champion of the world. banned Full Member

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    I'll go with Flyweight. Here are my 16. Picking a winner here would not be easy.


    Jimmy Wilde
    Ricardo Lopez
    Junk Koo Chang
    Micheal Carjabl
    Humberto Gonzalez
    Pancho Villa
    Fighting Harda
    Pone Kingpetch
    Peter Kane
    Yuri Abragimov
    Hilario Zapata
    Pascual Perez
    Benny Lynch
    Midget Wolfgast
    Jim Barry
    Migel Canto
     
    Mendoza, Mar 4, 2008
    Mendoza, Mar 4, 2008
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  5. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    My sixteen would be:

    Muhammad Ali
    Joe Louis
    Sonny Liston
    Lennox Lewis
    Joe Frazier
    Jack Johnson
    Jim Jeffries
    Mike Tyson
    Larry Holmes
    Rocky Marciano
    Jack Dempsey
    George Foreman
    Peter Jackson
    Harry Wills
    Riddick Bowe
    Max Schmeling

    I'd expect Ali to win this tournie unless he was unfortunate enough to draw Louis, who I would probably make second favourite. Ali could also be derailed by Frazier or Lewis. If Ali did get battered any one of these guys could win the tournament, I feel it's wide open withot him. Louis could be eliminated by Johnson, Jeffries, Schmeling, Lewis, or Liston, who would be the wild card here.
     
    McGrain, Mar 4, 2008
    McGrain, Mar 4, 2008
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  6. mr. magoo

    mr. magoo VIP Member Full Member

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    This is a great list Mcgrain, but I have to ask you why you left out Evander Holyfield. Wouldn't you say that he was at least as good as Max Schmeling and maybe a few others? Also, its difficult to give Jackson and Wills placements with such little footage available in my opinion. Still a great list though.
     
    mr. magoo, Mar 4, 2008
    mr. magoo, Mar 4, 2008
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  7. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    Yeah, you are right, Hollyfield should be in there.

    I think i'll take out Schmeling. I probably have him to high on the back of the Louis win in terms of legacy anyway, he may not be as good as I make out head to head.

    Baer and Tunney could have an argment for being in there ahead of him, for example.
     
    McGrain, Mar 4, 2008
    McGrain, Mar 4, 2008
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  8. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    I like that he gets a mention.
     
    McGrain, Mar 4, 2008
    McGrain, Mar 4, 2008
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  9. mr. magoo

    mr. magoo VIP Member Full Member

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    Still a great list.

    Evander Holyfield would not win this tournament, but I could see him as being one of the last 4 guys standing. He had the heart and tools to give any all time great a good fight, and even beat a few of them.
     
    mr. magoo, Mar 4, 2008
    mr. magoo, Mar 4, 2008
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  10. dpw417

    dpw417 Boxing Junkie Full Member

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    Middleweights.
    Ray Robinson
    Carlos Monzon
    Harry Greb
    Marvin Hagler
    Jake LaMotta
    Dick Tiger
    Stanley Ketchel
    Bernard Hopkins
    Roy Jones
    Mickey Walker
    Charley Burley
    Billy Conn
    Gene Fullmer
    Emile Griffith
    Holman Williams
    Sam Langford
    Those are my sixteen...as to who would be the favorite? You guys decide!
    Alternates: Rodrigo Valdez, Joey Giardello, Tony Zale, and Tiger Flowers
     
    dpw417, Mar 4, 2008
    dpw417, Mar 4, 2008
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  11. McGrain

    McGrain Diamond Dog Staff Member

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    It's a very open field, that's for sure. If it were mine, i'd remove LaMotta and add Flowers.

    I guess i'd make Langford the favourite, though he could be undone for sure.
     
    McGrain, Mar 4, 2008
    McGrain, Mar 4, 2008
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  12. Quick Cash

    Quick Cash Well-Known Member Full Member

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    For sheer entertainment-value, I'd pick:

    Muhammad Ali
    Joe Frazier
    Evander Holyfield
    Larry Holmes
    George Foreman
    Mike Tyson
    Sonny Liston
    Floyd Patterson
    Joe Louis
    Wladimir Klitschko
    Lennox Lewis
    Rocky Marciano
    Jack Dempsey
    Riddick Bowe
    Max Baer
    Ken Norton

    For me, Ali is the runaway favorite, but his conditioning would greatly deteriorate should he have to face Rocky or Frazier early in the tournament. Those two will affect the outcome of the tournament no matter how the individual outcomes of their matches pan out.

    Inconsistent performers like Holyfield, Lewis, Baer, and Bowe have little to no chance even though they were mostly magnificent when they were on queue.

    Theoretically, anybody could win it depending on the fight schedule, but some should be favored above others.
     
    Quick Cash, Mar 4, 2008
    Quick Cash, Mar 4, 2008
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  13. mr. magoo

    mr. magoo VIP Member Full Member

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    If George Foreman took out most of the swarmers early, it might make the rest of the tournament easier on everybody else.
     
    mr. magoo, Mar 4, 2008
    mr. magoo, Mar 4, 2008
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  14. Quick Cash

    Quick Cash Well-Known Member Full Member

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    Well, of the 'swarmers' I mentioned, I see Foreman beating only Frazier and Marciano-- Marciano he'd beat with much more difficulty. I think it is not unfair to hypothesize a possible win for Tyson and Dempsey. Although, Tyson's mentality regarding a Foreman scuffle might prove detrimental and Dempsey's lack of size might do him in.
     
    Quick Cash, Mar 4, 2008
    Quick Cash, Mar 4, 2008
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  15. mr. magoo

    mr. magoo VIP Member Full Member

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    I don't see Marciano lasting too much longer than Frazier. His upper body movement and handspeed were unlike Joe's, and shear toughness is only going to last so long when you're getting a relentless **** beating. Dempsey as you say is a bit too small for Foreman. Tyson is the only one that I'd give a real chance to beat Foreman, but I'm not sure I'd bet money on it. In either case, such a fight would leave both men pretty well messed up.
     
    mr. magoo, Mar 4, 2008
    mr. magoo, Mar 4, 2008
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