Mount Rushmore HW 70s

Ali, Foreman & Frazier are shoo-ins. It’s tougher to pick the fourth, whether it should be Norton or Holmes. I lean towards Norton.

 

Ali, Foreman, Frazier, Norton. Holmes would be on the 80's Mt. Rushmore.

 

That would be a very sickly Rushmore if done for the 1980’s

 

Holmes, Tyson, Spinks, Whiterspoon?

 

The fact Berbick would also be in the discussion shows what a dire era it was Holmes ruled over.

 

Bunch of very talented underachievers. Cocaine is a hell of a drug.

 

I’ll go with moderately-talented, taking them as a whole. Witherspoon, Thomas, Page are the only ones you’d feed based on potential.

 

I see no reason he also wouldn't be in the top 4 in the 70s as well.

 

I went with Ali, Foreman, Frazier, and Holmes . I realize however that Ken Norton could take the 4th spot. I can’t see anyone else making it though

 

Head-to-head Holmes makes the top four, sure (though he’s arguably an underdog to all of the top three on their best day during the 1970’s). I took a Rushmore monument to be based on achievements, though. Holmes is hard-pressed on that front though a case could be made I suppose.

 

The fourth was either Norton or Quarry for me

 

Buster Douglas should get spot 4 maybe? I have Tucker, Witherspoon and Pinklon higher but he became lineal champ.

 

Yeah, but he became the lineal champ in the 90s.

 

Good and challenging thread question.

1) Ali obviously.

2) Holmes. Went 32-0 during the 1970's, the last six being Shavers I, then Norton, followed by four successful Championship defenses.

3) Frazier. Unified all HW Title claims, had five successful defenses during the decade, never quit, always gave it his all, FOTC and Manila, gallant in defeat, an excellent bookend with Holmes for the 1970's. "Only" went 8-4 for the decade, but all four defeats were after the FOTC.

4) Jerry Quarry. This is by far the hardest, but a real case can be made for JQ deserving a shot at Foreman after a spectacular 5-0 1973 campaign. Soundly defeated two other listed names that year in Lyle and Shavers. 18 (11) - 4 (4) - 0 from 1970 to 1977. In addition to Lyle and Shavers, came back from way behind to stop another future title challenger in Zanon. Mac Foster is a giant win. Mac's forgotten today because of what Jerry did to him. JQ's the reason Bob became the other Foster to challenge Frazier in late 1970. During his prime, only Ali and Frazier were able to beat him. Took 64 seconds to ruin peak Bodell's career. Came from behind and came off the deck to win during the decade. Beat all styles of opponents. JQ's absolute peak may have been during the 1960's, but any contender would be very well remembered and respected with his resume today.


So who on that list did not make my top four cut?

1) Foreman. Big George did win the title, but it was over an unmotivated and post FOTC Frazier who was very openly only competing for the money until after Jamaica. The second time they squared off, Frazier was coming off Manila with an arthritis and high blood pressure ravaged and over 20 pounds heavier than his peak weight. So while Frazier 2X looks impressive on resume, we need to read between the lines. Norton never proved he could handle a top shelf puncher like Mac Foster or Ron Lyle. George never proved his stamina against top flight natural heavyweights. Too many question marks, and he did not have a great reign at HW. More potential than achievement. However, he's the only one who did not make my cut who became Champion, so he's a solid fifth for me. Had to have beaten Jerry Quarry though to reach my 1970's Mount Rushmore.

2) Jimmy Young. May well have been robbed against Norton, and some have suggested the same with a 230 pound Ali. Did send Foreman into a decade long hiatus and owned Lyle 2X, but only went 22-9-2 for the decade.

3) Joe Bugner. More potential than achievement, but went 35-2-1 during the decade and was not stopped in the 1970's. Ali genuinely believed Bugner could be a successor to himself, unfortunately we only saw his best in his war with Frazier and when he ruthlessly crushed Dunn. Who knows what he might've achieved with fire in his belly.

4) Earnie Shavers. The hardest puncher in boxing history, he ruined Ali's career and life with a legendary title challenge nobody expected him to be capable of over the Championship Distance. The only man to ever drop Jimmy Young, did it twice with his left hook. Nobody else ever put Ellis down for the count, and he did it with a single shot. 53 (51) - 7 (4) - 1 during the decade. His two decisions were over former LHW title pretender Rondon (in his first major bout), and when he had a bruised right hand against rugged Henry Clark, where he displayed unexpected skills. Of his seven defeats, two were against peak Holmes, one against Ali, three against other HW Title challengers, and the draw against a fourth HW Title challenger. Biggest win was obviously Norton, but nobody else ever did to Henry Clark what Earnie did in their rematch, and nobody else ever dropped and stopped Tiger Williams. Proved his late round power by stopping three opponents in the tenth and final round, and won round 14 on all cards over Ali, who praised him very highly in retirement. Widely avoided, diluting his resume, hardly his fault. As highly as I regard him, Earnie was dominated by Jerry and Larry 2X.

5) Ron Lyle. Fine wins and legendary defeats. Did get owned by Young 2X, Jerry Quarry, and Lynn Ball was obviously a very bad result. 37 (25) - 6 (2) - 1 during the decade. I have very high regard for Ron, who did defeat all styles, came off the floor to win, and beat eight other titlists or challengers during the decade.

6) Ken Norton. Never proved he could beat a top shelf puncher. Young may have deserved the decision in their bout. Foreman and Shavers blew him out. I believe Lyle would've done the same, and in 1970, Mac Foster and Bob Foster might've resulted in three stoppage losses for that first year of the decade. His peak performance came after five months of training and competitive activity against an utterly shot Jerry Quarry. Three bad stoppage defeats however, one at age 26 to Garcia to open the decade, one in the middle to Foreman, and one at the end of the decade to Shavers. Ken was dominated over the first several round of Ali II and Holmes, getting badly outboxed. He also didn't do as well against LeDoux as Lyle had just done in Scott's previous match.