Louis destroying Schmeling in 1 round and Ali, koing Cleveland Williams in 3 one sided rounds. These to me are those legends peak fights. Both at their greatest. Which are these legends peak fights iyo? Jack Johnson Jack Dempsey Rocky Marciano George Forearm Larry Holmes Mike Tyson Lennox Lewis ??
Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling II / Max Baer (Louis said, he was so fit that he could have fought for hours.) Jack Johnson vs. Tommy Burns (not sure) Jack Dempsey vs. Jess Willard tough to say maybe Rocky Marciano vs. Jersey Joe Walcott II (just a bit more experienced after his championship win) George Foreman vs. Joe Frazier I tough to say maybe Larry Holmes vs. Leon Spinks (I liked Shavers I too) Mike Tyson vs. Michael Spinks early Lennox Lewis vs. Razor Ruddock late Lennox Lewis vs. Hasim Rahman II
Those are two incredible performances. I don't think I'd have Williams as Ali's best performance. I'm more partial to the Quarry rematch, personally. Louis was every bit as scintillating in the Buddy Baer rematch. Those are the two choices I'd have for those two. As for my other picks: Jack Johnson: James J. Jeffries (?) Jack Dempsey: Jess Willard Rocky Marciano: Jersey Joe Walcott I George Foreman: Joe Frazier I Larry Holmes: Muhammad Ali Mike Tyson: Pinklon Thomas Lennox Lewis: Andrew Golota
Louis: Baer. Ali: Liston 2. (but he held that peak for quite a while.) Johnson: Probably about the time he fought Fitzsimmons. Dempsey: Willard. Marciano: Walcott 2. Foreman: Frazier 1. Holmes: About the time he fought Leon Spinks. Mike Tyson: Holmes. Lennox Lewis: Probably about the time he fought the Rahman rematch. (Many will probably disagree. There are other reasonable fights to point at.) All IMHO, of course.
Louis v Baer and Ali v Williams are somewhat analogous for me. Certainly not the greatest opposition engaged but opposition that lasted the perfect number of of rounds to allow them to display all their wares to best advantage at the peak of their powers. Such performances are often described as representing a fighter at their unbeatable best but what happens when all the unbeatable versions get together to contest in a round robin? LOL. It's the old styles/accented abilities makes fights and Mr Baer and Mr Williams played perfect dance partners to the very best versions of Ali and Louis. Put it this way, '35 Louis v '66 Ali isn't going to see either man enjoy the same dominance they enjoyed over the aforementioned opponents but you would likely see a much greater fight and perhaps be left with an even greater impression of them as they perform under the constraints of one another's abilities.
I don't know but he was already 30 against Tommy Burns. He was motivated and an experienced fighter (46-5-8, World Colored Heavyweight Champion with 17 defenses). He was 32 against James J Jeffries. I tend to prefer the younger man who wasn't a young fighter anymore. He dominated Burns with ease. Thus, it shouldn’t be too wrong.
He was in his best physical shape and additional mass helped him to fight on even terms with Jeffries in clinches. I don't think younger version of Johnson would be able to do that. On top of that, he didn't lose much speed if any and his defense was as sound as ever.
Maybe he was better prepared for Jeffries. That doesn't mean he was better in general. If I think about a prime version of a fighter, I like to take the version which I would take for many fantasy fights (also against modern fighters). So, I prefer the younger version who was maybe a tad fresher and faster. He won easily against the current world champion Burns. So, there is nothing to criticize. @djanders preferred his fight against Bob Fitzsimmons, which was even earlier.
Good picks. I like the early Lewis, late Lewis choices. Shows how good he was having great fights so far apart. I was going to put Holmes Ko Marvis Frazier as his peak. Maybe??
Some people have Spinks as their Tyson pick but I'm with you George on Pinklon Thomas. Pinky was still a excellent fighter at that point. He wasn't blown away by Tyson fast, he made him work for it. A great performance by young Tyson.
Tyson beating Berbeck was the best Tyson performance. It was a record breaking historical occasion becoming the youngest heavyweight champ ever and 20 year old Tyson's performance matched the occasion. Everyone thought that Tyson would win but Berbeck would strong and durable enough as well as experienced enough to cause the still raw Tyson's some problems but Tyson just crushed Berbeck and instantly become the biggest current sporting name in the world.
