Lineal Rankings System

1981
1 Larry Holmes -W Berbick Spinks Snipes
2 Trevor Berbick - W Ali, Gardner Nelson L Holmes
3 Muhammed Ali No fights
4 Mike Weaver - W Tillis
5 John Tate - L Steichen Parker Others
6 Renaldo Snipes - Boone Cummins Mustafa Muhammed Coetzee L Holmes
7 Gerry Coetzee W Chaplin Caldwell L Snipes
8 Leon Spinks L Holmes
9 Randall Cobb - L Dokes (pre rank) W Mercado Terrell
10 Berrnard Marcado - W Acuna L Cobb
11 Gerry Cooney W Ken Norton
12 Ken Norton L Gerry Cooney
13 Earnie Shavers - W Mims Rogers sims
14 Michael Dokes - W Chaplin Terrel Gardner cobb
15 John L Gardner - W Occassio L Dokes
16 Ossie Occassio - L Gardner
17 Jimmy Young - W Sims & others
18 Rochelle Norris - no fights
19 Floyd Cummins - W Jones L Snipes D Frazier
20 Marvin Frazier W Epps Pulu Casale Zouski
21 Steve Zouski - W Parker Hailey L Frazier
22 John Dino Denis - Warr Halpin Porter Green
23 Johnny Warr - D Tucker L Denis W Dunbarr
24 Larry Frazier - W Echolls Rice Schmidt
25 Fossie Schmidt - W Steichen Ezza L Frazier
26 Anthony Davis - W Muhammed Ellis & others
27 Ellis - W Waddud Steichen Williams L Davis Ward (pre rank)
28 Tony Tucker - W Steichen Jones & others
29 Jimmy Abott - Steichen Mosondo L Williams (pre rank)
30 Harvey Steichen - W Alexander Sam & Others L Schmitt Ellis Tucker Abott Tate
31 Joe Alexander - L Harvey Steichen
32 Leroy Jones - No fights
33 Carlos De Leon - W Payne
34 Marvin Camel - W Draper Muhammed Shannon Ali

Ken Norton finally retired after his loss to Cooney, just outside the top 10. I must say that his opposition was surpisingly poor overall, compared to what I would have thought.

Dokes unlucky not to make the top 10 with a good win over cobb happening before Cobbs win over Mercado

Smoking Joe failed to make it back into the top 20 with his draw with Cummins. Like norton, I got to say his results were a little disappointing.
Astonishingly, though in contrast, Marvis Frazier, Joes son actually rose to 21st place, just one place behind Cummins. We could have had a high profile revenge match right there and then. Looking at Marvin, he took a year off after this. Anyone know why this is?

Tony tucker has already moved into the top 30 on a win streak that will ultimately lead him to a mike tyson unification fight.

 

1982
1 Larry Holmes -W Cooney Cobb
2 Renaldo Snipes - W Berbick L Witherspoon (pre rank)
3 Trevor Berbick - W Racette Page L Snipes
4 Michael Dokes - W Ball, Thomas, Weaver
5 Mike Weaver - L Dokes
6 John Tate - L Steichen Parker Others
7 Tim Witherspoon - W Acosta Snipes
8 Gerry Coetzee W Scmidt Leduax Ward
9 Leon Spinks W Burnett Brown
10 Randall Cobb - W shellburg L Holmes
11 Berrnard Marcado - No fights
12 Gerry Cooney L Holmes
13 Pinklin Thomas - W Warr Acosta Williams Tillis
14 Greg Page - W Young Tillis L Berbick
15 James Tillis - W Williams Shavers L Page
16 Santemore - W shavers Cuilo L Green (pre rank)
17 Earnie Shavers - W Bugner Gardner & Others L Tillis Santemore
18 Michael Dokes - W Ball Thomas Weaver
19 John L Gardner - No Fights
20 Ossie Occassio - W Williams Taylor
21 Pat Cuillo - W Mims Kate Young Housia L Zouski (pre rank) Santemore
22 Phillipp Brown - Rodriguez Young & Others
23 Jimmy Young - L Page Cuillo Brown
24 Rochelle Norris - D Diggs
25 Jeff Sims - Epps Cummins Porter
26 Larry Frazier - Cummings Robbins
27 Floyd Cummins - L Sims Frazier
28 Marvis Frazier No Fights
29 Tony Tubbs - zousky hill parker tinsley
30 Steve Zouski - W Warr L Cuilo Tubbs
31 John Dino Denis - W Dixon Schmidt Long
32 Johnny Warr - L Thomas Zouski
33 Fossie Schmidt - L Coetzee
34 Anthony Davis - W podgursky Houck Caldwell

Leon Spinks remained in the top 10. I have to say, I think his career was a lot better than I had always thought. He had a lot of losses, but the guys who beat him never really lost to anyone other than the best fighters.

Jimmy Young had an absolute shocker of a year.

 

thanks choklab, i will try to fix that all when i get a chance. It is very easy to make mistakes so i appreciate any corrections. Hopefully i havent made too many errors along the way. (Twin Sullivan has become a bit of a tag team effort in these rankings). It doesn really seem to matter too much because the rankings do seem to correct each oher quite quickly. Which year did i make the Gardner mistake?

It really is obvious just how much damage the sanctioning bodies damaged the sport. It is about now, late 70s and early 80s, that we start to see contenders relying on the zero a lot more. AT least that is the impression i am getting.

I always thought Leon Spinks just completely lost it after the Ali fight, and obviously he did a bit, but it interesting that every fighter he lost to seemed to keep winning and holding their rankings. I think his career (outside of Ali) was nowhere near as bad as i had previously thought.

 

I fixed up the Page double ranking as well as another i found with Michael Dokes.

I think that Gardner is okay. John L (what a historically great name) came into the rankings in 81 with a win over Occassio and then lost to Michael Dokes. The next year in 1982 he had no fights so no one jumped him. Chuck Gardner had losses to Tucker Berbick Tate and others but i dont think it effected any of tehir rankings. Chuck Gardner is an interesting one. He fought Michael Tyson on debut in 1986, but it was a different Mike Tyson!

 

I really do think it is ridiculous. when i eventually do get to today, i really hope that someone picks up the ball and runs with it, and maintains proper rankings for the heavyweight division. I think it would be a great thing.

 

1983

1 Larry Holmes -W W rodriguez Withersppon Frank Frazier
2 Greg page - W L Frazier Snipes Kellar
3 Alfredo Evangelista - W Ware Snipes
4 Renaldo Snipes - L Page Evangelista
5 DeLeon W Spinks Gordon Lopez
6 ST Gordon W Burnett Berbick
7 Trevor Berbick - W ST Gordon LaCusta
8 Gerry Coetzee - D Thomas W Dokes
9 Michael Dokes - D Weaver L Coetzee
10 Mike Weaver - D Dokes W Ward
11 John Tate - W long Capasso
12 Tim Witherspoon - W Tillis Cummings L Holmes
13 Carlos De Leon - w Spinks St Gordon
14 Leon Spinks L De Leon
15 Randall Cobb - W Jameson
16 Berrnard Marcado - W montes
17 Gerry Cooney No Fights
18 Pinklin Thomas - W Ratcliffe Greer Boone D Coetzee
19 James Tillis - W Boone Daniels Givens Jones L Witherspoon
20 Marvis Frazier - W Broad Bugner L Holmes
21 James Broad - W Santemore Pulu Diggs Alexander L Frazier
22 Eddie Gregg - W Funches Rice Albritton Santemore Sutton
23 Smith - Santemore Boone & others
24 Frank Bruno - LeDoux Funches Cummings Santemore & Others
25 Walter Santemore - W Clarence Hill L Broad Gregg Smith Bruno
26 Noel Quarless - Fallon Eklund Gardner L Banjo (pre Rank)
27 John L Gardner - W James Benson L Quarless
28 Ossie Occasio W Stephens
29 Pat Cuillo - Wwilliams McDonald Edmonds
30 Phillipp Brown - No Fights
31 Tony Tubbs W Givens Young Racette
32 Jimmy Young - L Tubbs
33 Jeff Sims - W Greer
34 Larry Frazier - W hussein L Page
35 Mitch Green - W Cummings Dixon
36 Floyd Cummings - L Green Witherspoon Bruno
37 Marvis Frazier No Fights

John Tate finishes up inside the top 10, although he will later launch a comeback.

Holmes has faced just two of the top 10, by my count. Nowhere near as dominant as most of his ATG predecessors. His best defences were Witherspoon at 10 and Frazier at 18.

Carlos De leon Moves to 11th spot, as Cruiserweight Alphabet holder

Pinklon Thomas was a little unlucky not to move into the top 10, drawing with Coetzee and having several other wins.

Michael Dokes Going from 18 to 7 was probably the biggest move.

It is interesting that Gerry Cooney is always considered the Great White hope, because if there was white heavyweight champion, it would probably be Gerry Coetzee.

The undefeated Phillipp Brown sits on his ranking for a year.

 

1984

1 Larry Holmes -W Smith
2 Pinklon Thomas - W Grandham Witherspoon
3 Tim Witherspoon - W Page L Thomas
4 David Bey - W Caldwell Page
5 Greg page - W Coetzee L Witherspoon Bey
6 Marvis Frazier - Starkey Benton Banjo
7 Funso Banjo - w Thomas Currie L Frazier
8 Hughroy Currie W Evangelista La flamme Robertson L
9 Alfredo Evangelista - W Peurgo L currie
10 Ricky Parkey - w Cuillo Wilson Snipes Mason L Benton (pre rank)
11 Renaldo Snipes - L Parkey
12 DeLeon W Lopez Davis Ali
13 Trevor Berbick - W Cohen Lee Barr Santemore
14 Gerry Coetzee - L Greg Page
15 Michael Dokes -W jameson
16 Mike Weaver - W anthony
17 Tim Witherspoon - W Page L Thomas
18 Carlos De Leon - W Davis Ali
19 Leon Spinks No Fights
20 James Douglas W Cobb NC Starkey
21 Randall Cobb - W Williams Smith Lee L Douglas
22 Gerry Cooney W Brown Chaplin
23 Carl Williams - W Benson Mims Tillis
24 James Tillis - W bennett Waddud L Williams
25 James Broad - W Thomas Gregg Benjamin
26 Eddie Gregg - W Trimm Evans Louis L Broad
27 James Smith - W Bruno Muhammed L Holmes
28 Frank Bruno - W Figuoa Lakusta JordanBrown L Smith
29 Tony Tucker - W Santemore Lopez & Others
30 Walter Santemore - L Tucker Berbick
31 Jeff Sims W Benson Jones, Nelson Sutton
32 Conroy Nelson W Quarless Hollis L Sims
33 Proud Kilimanjaro - W Malpass Power Lee Tiger
34 Mark Lee W Quarless Butler Katoa L Berbick Cobb Kilimanjaro
35 Noel Quarless - W Joseph L Nelson Lee

Larry's only defence was against the 21st ranked (who dropped to 26th) James Bonecrusher Smith.
Pinklon Thomas makes an interesting no2. He was on a very good win streak at the time.
David Bey is another who probably looked a lot better at the time than he is remembered.
Evangelista's lost to local spanish fighter Hughroy Currie has the potential to reak havoc with the lower top 10.
A year off for Leon Spinks. His high ranking (still top 20) is actually quite amazing.
Interesting to see James Buster Douglas make his way into the top 20
Good to see James Broad at 24 fighting (and beating) Eddie Gregg at 25.
Kilimanjaro was ranked 32 and about to win a fight against none other than Captain Marvel. Some of his opponents throughout his career included Black tiger, Ringo Starr, King Motsi, Flash Chisanko, Jukebox Timebomb, Sam Sithole and the less colourfully named George Foreman. Certainly some promotable fights there.

 

1985
1 Michael Spinks - W Sears MacDonald Holmes
2 Larry Holmes -W Bey Williams L Spinks
3 Pinklon Thomas - W Weaveer
4 Tim Witherspoon - W Wills Broad Smith & others
5 Trevor Berbick W Bey Green
6 David Bey - L Holmes Berbick
7 Tony Tubbs - W Miller Smith Page
8 Greg page - L Tubbs
8 Marvis Frazier - W Tillis Ribalta
9 Hughroy Currie W W Banjo Killimanjaro
10 Funso Banjo - w Ellis L Currie
11 Alfredo Evangelista - W Velasto pergaut & others
12 Slobodan Kacar - W Muhammed Osby & Others
13 Eddie Mustaffa Muhammed - W Booze Holman myers parkey parkes L Kacar
14 Ricky Parkey - w Crabtree Arms L Muhammed
15 Renaldo Snipes - No Fights
16 Alfonzo Ratliffe - W DeLeon L Benton
17 Carlos De Leon - W Gaymon L Ratliffe
18 Gerry Coetzee - W Tillis
19 Michael Dokes -W Louis Cobb
20 Mike Weaver - L Pinklon Thomas
21 Bernard Benton - W Ross Benron L Pultz (Pre rank)
22 Leon Spinks W Fischer Kellar Kane & Others
23 Carl Williams W Ferguson L Holmes
24 Jessie Ferguson W Scott Douglas Anthony L Williams
25 James Douglas W Simpson L Ferguson
26 Eddie Gregg - W Hernandez Cobb Perkins
27 Dee Collier W Cobb L Ali, Jameson (pre rank)
28 Randall Cobb - L Dokes Gregg Collier
29 Gerry Cooney No fights
30 James Tillis - L Coetzee, Frazier
31 James Broad - L Witherspoon
32 James Smith - W Ribalta L Tubbs Witherspoon
33 Frank Bruno - W Rodriguez Eklund Frazier
34 Tony Tucker - W Crabtree Jaco
35 Walter Falconi - W Agio Figuero Rodrigues
36 Adilson Rodrigues - W Santmore Robinson & Others L Falconi
37 Francesco Damiani - W Santemore Keller Rodrigues & Others
38 Walter Santemore - L Rodrigues Damiani
39 Jeff Sims W Sutton
40 Mike Tyson - W
41 Conroy Nelson L Tyson
42 Proud Kilimanjaro - W Timebomb Marvel & others L Currie

Michael Spinks picks up he World Championship. When you look at his lineal ranking at the time and the lack of wins against other top ranked fighters, this really does have to rank up there as one of the greatest World Heavyweight title Upset wins. Maybe it is the biggest upset.

Witherspoon was very active.

It is interesting, 7th and 8th ranked fighters fight each other. Hughroy Currie earns the win over Funso Banjo.

Another strange thing. The same year Michael Spinks becomes world champ straight from the light heavy division, ibf (the lesser of the 3 belts) light heavy champ Kacar moves into the top 11 lineal rankings.

Very interesting to see iron mike tyson make the top 40 in his debut year.

 

To be honest, there doesnt seem to be anywhere near the depth of competition that there was in the 60s and earlier. It seems that young contenders have started to get sold on the idea of long undefeated streaks as opposed to fighting tough compeition as a way to getting better. It is harder to break into the top 10 because the top 10 rarely lose any fights, but on the flip side, a lot of their competition is actually untested.

What did you think of Larry's reign. It surprised me a little just how poor it was in comparison to Ali, Louis and Johnson, although obviously the alpha organisations are the main cause of this. It will be intersting to see how Tyson, Lewis, Holyfield and Klitchsko appear. Pretty soon, i think i will but together a few tables of things like years spent in rankings, no of contenders beaten etc. This should give some emotionless all time rankings which i think would be interesting.

And another record which i was thinking about. Based on these rankings, is Michael Spinks's win the greatest upset in boxing history? I cant remember a champion losing the title to someone who was unranked at the time of challenging. Ali, Braddock, Leon Spinks, Tunney etc were all ranked from what i remember. it is strange that this is never listed as one of the great upsets. An undefeated champion going for the record vs an unranked figher debuting in the division.