Lee Savold was a paper heavyweight because of his being considered champion by the BBBC after stopping Bruce Woodcock. Is he the worst of them all? Any opinions? *Mine would be no. He is certainly close to the bottom, but I would favor him over Leon Spinks and perhaps Mike Weaver.
I don't think so. He beat some pretty ****ing good fighters Joe Baksi, Lee Oma, Lem Franklin, Gus Dorazio, Bruce Woodcock, Eddie Blunt, Lou Nova. In fact his resume is terrible underrated. Also beat Johnny Whiters, Buddy Knox, Johnny Flynn, and Lou Brooks. That's a solid resume. Very solid. Savold is underrated because of the Marciano and Louis beatings . Savold was a pretty good boxer, but he could also punch too. He was no gooftrooper. Was he a deserving champion? No way. But he was a solid heavyweight contender in a deep era.
Marvin Hart. The fact that he had a good run up to the title only speaks of the paucity of heavyweight talent in that era.
I seriousely think if Hart faced the 210lb Jack Johnson he would have gotten toyed with and destroyed
Precisely, people have an unclear veiw of the 1940s HW's because of Joe Louis' dominance, the New York reporters wiseguy patter "bum of the month club" and the War. they were very good and great fighters and Savold, as SuzieQ points out was a good boxer, who beat some other good fighters. So too the question about Savold NO!
Maybe. I seriously think if he rematched Johnson at any time, the same would happen. But realistically, he didnt, he actually beat Johnson, so we are both probably wrong.
No savold is not the worst. I dont think micheal bentt or tony tubbs were very strong champions. Joe bugner beating bones smith for some kind of title was utter bonkers, way thinner than savolds claim.
SQ right you are. I saw Lee Savold in his prime fight against Lee Oma, Joe Baksi and Tami Mauriello. A good left-hook artist who kod 71 fighters out of 96 wins. He was a good attraction at MSG, but fought too long, and is sadly remembered by his two ko losses to Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano, when Savold was 36 and 37 years old and finished. Lee sure wasn't the worst HW champion....
Lee Savold's rise to near the top positions around 1949/'50 was cited at the time as evidence of the severity of the post-war dip in the HW ranks. And if it wasn't that, then the rankings were just bull****. Savold was considered well past his prime, and not an especially outstanding contender even when he was younger. There have been far worse contenders, and even far worse 'paper champs' at HW though.