I Would rate joe louis as possibly the best heavyweight of all time.. but i appreciate that men are bigger now so how do you think louis would do against modern heavyweight kings???????.... Lennox Lewis Evander Holyfield Mike Tyson Klitchko brothers Valuev ??????????????????????????????????????
Louis was a brilliant fighter. Amazing to watch. It's so difficult to say how he would go against modern giants. Though he did destroy 6"7 Buddy Baer (or was it 6"6?), and 6"6 Primo Carnera. Both weren't as good as Lewis and the Klits, but he had NO trouble whatsoever with them, so I can't see the size being an issue. I've always thought he would be one of the very few who would stop Tyson.
This is tricky. Joe's skills are incredible, but his size does seem to be a disadvantage. I see him beating Valuev rather easily, however. It appears that Valuev has height but not much else. Joe would befuddle him. He could decision Evander. Nothing fancy, maybe even close, but he could decision the man. The rest - very tough picks. I'm not sure he'd have the size to properly defend against Tyson or any of the others if they went into "search and destroy" mode.
Indeed. Not sure what I was thinking. Nonetheless, one of Louis' best performances. EDIT: And the second fight was even more impressive.
I rate him higher as an ATG then everyone you mentioned, but he would lose to all of them except Valuev.
Joe Louis wasn't exceptionally small... 6'1 1/2 and ~200lbs at his peak, right? At least he has decent height (and reach). We aren't talking about Rocky "T-Rex" Marciano here He's taller than Tyson, albeit not as stocky. He's not that much smaller than Holyfield, especially young Holyfield (late 80s/early 90s). VK/WK/Lewis are a good deal bigger than him...not sure how he'd fair against them. I'd bet on him to KO Wladimir though, because Louis is pretty much guaranteed to land sometime in the fight, and most likely more than once...and we all know how much Wladimir likes getting punched in the head. VK might very well stop him - he's made of much sterner stuff than his brother (at least, in the chin department, though he has been TKO'd numerous times by training camps!) Lewis would be an interesting matchup, not sure how that one would go. I don't think Lennox could KO Louis, but it's not out of the question. Valuev...to tell you the truth, I'm not sure about this guy yet. He's huge, but I really don't know how good he is. I thought Ruiz got robbed in their fight, but then again I thought Valuev might've deserved the nod vs Chagaev. I don't think we have a good idea of how good he is at this time, he needs more fights. He sure has physical potential, that's for sure.
