Louis vs Ali top 10 wins

Muhammad Ali:

1. Foreman
2. Liston-1
3. Frazier-2
4. Frazier-3
5. Liston-2
6. Norton-2
7. Norton-3
8. Quarry-2
9. Lyle
10. Patterson-1

Honorable mentions: Quarry-1, Young, Shavers, Bonavena, Patterson-2, Terrell, Ellis, Williams, Mathis, Moore, Jones, Spinks, Bugner-1,2, Chuvalo-1,2, Folley, Cooper-1,2, Foster. Wow, Ali's resume is REALLY deep


Joe Louis:

1. Max Baer
2. Schmeling-2
3. Walcott-2
4. Walcott-1
5. Conn-1
6. Bivins
7. Braddock
8. Carnera
9. Sharkey
10. Lewis
Honorable mentions: Conn-2, Mann, Uzcudun, Pastor, Farr, B. Baer, Simon, Nova

Evander Holyfield:

1. Bowe-2
2. Tyson-1
3. Tyson-2
4. Moorer
5. Douglas
6. Foreman
7. Holmes
8. Mercer
9. Dokes
10. Rahman
Honorable mentions: Ruiz-1, Thomas, Oquendo, Stewart, Cooper. I didn't include his great wins (Qawi, De Leon) since he beat them at cruiserweight

Lennox Lewis:

1. Holyfield (Lennox was badly robbed in the first fight, the second was much closer. And we are taking into account oficial results only anyway)
2. Vitali
3. Mercer
4. Golota
5. Tua
6. Ruddock
7. Rahman-2
8. Tyson (purely on name though)
9. Bruno
10. Briggs
Honorable mentions: Tucker, McCall (could have been higher if McCall wasn't on the crack), Mason, Mavrovic, Morrison, Grant


Larry Holmes:

1. Norton
2. Witherspoon
3. Mercer
4. Cooney
5. Shavers-1
6. Shavers-2
7. Berbick
8. Smith-1
9. Weaver-1
10. Ali (pure on name)
Honorable mentions: Leon Spinks, Carl Williams, Snipes, Jones, Evangelista, Ocasio, Tiger Williams

For me, Ali's resume is the best by a HUGE MARGIN. Others are close. And yes, Holmes resume is very underrated

 

Ali's opposition>Louis opposition. I'd go with Lennox Lewis opposition too, compare the wins (I've tried to put fighters at similar primes/styles where possible)

Most physically imposing: Foreman-------Vitali--------M Baer
Old but Gold: Liston..........Holyfield.........Walcott
The 3rd or 2nd best win: Frazier........Tyson.............Schmelling (not that much in common I know)
I Almost Lost: Young.......Mercer.........Conn
A hard night:...... Patterson......Rahman.....Godoy
Skilled but fragile: Norton.........Golota..........Sharkey
Lights Out Puncher: Shavers.......Tua.........B Baer
Lights Out 2: Lyle.......Rudduck........Abe Simon
Lights Out 3: Bonavena....Morrison.....Galento
Lights Out 4: C Williams....Bruno......Bivins
The Limited Giant: Terrell.........Grant.........Carnera

Other notable and arguably top 10 wins for each fighter:

Louis: Farr, Braddock (both should be higher but I was trying to keep styles as being similar), Nova, Pastor, Brion
Ali: Ellis, Quarry, Cooper, Chuvalo, Bugner
Lennox: Briggs (maybe should be over Morrison), Tucker, Mason, Akinwande

 

Tyson shouldn't be considered among Lewis' top 3 or even top 5 wins. He had only name and punch by the time he fought Lennox. Mercer and Tua were MUCH better when Lennox fought them

 

Ali
1. Foreman
2. Frazier 2-3
4. Liston 1-2
6. Patterson 1
7. Norton 2
8. Young
9. Quarry
10. Lyle

Louis
1. Walcott 1/2
3. Schmeling 2
4. Baer
5. Conn 1
6. Braddock
7. Carnera
8. Sharkey
9. Galento/Farr

Holyfield has a shout here too.

 

I'm no expert in that era. I just know him and Farr are often mentioned. How about Godoy? Could he be as high as 10?

I do know, that Bivins was as shot as Louis was when they fought, it's a win which is pretty irrelevant imo. Both men were so far past it that it should be written off. It's like Weaver/Holmes rematch.

 

Surprised people are picking Lyle over Bonavena for Ali’s best wins. Bonavena > Lyle

 

Liston was past his prime but noway he was old. He was destroying everybody around except Ali by 1964

 

No. Lyle was better

 

Was he ever not on crack though

 

Joe Louis

1. Schmeling 2 - Enormous pressure bout and facing an opponent that mostly dominated him first time around
2. Baer - Big strong hard punching ex champion
3. Walcott 1 Controversial
4. Walcott 2- Redemption ko's dangerous opponent that had many big wins ahead of him
5. Conn- p4p peaking fighter comes from behind stops him late
6. Braddock- lower level champion
7. Bob Pastor 1- Top level contender
8. Arturo Godoy- Rugged top level contender pride of Chile
9. Lou Nova- Top contender trained by Ray Arcel wins over Baer and Tommy Farr
10. Tommy Farr- Rugged top contender

Notable omissions. 1. If you take Primo Carnera's wins on face value and where he was in his career he deserves to be on the list. However, too many of his bouts are questionable in terms of being legit.
2. John Henry Lewis, great fighter but was suffering vision problems when Louis fought him in final bout of career.
3. Jack Sharkey past prime came out of retirement
4. Bivins past prime but so was Louis
5. Uzcudun final fight of his career
6. Charlie Retzlaff big puncher with questionable chin case can be made for making the list
7. Buddy Baer- Max's brother bigman and big puncher but light on resume

 

Galento beat Mann and Nova. Although I suppose both Baer brothers beat him and Nova beat Max