My top 20 heavyweights of all time

Hate on! but that was my old list I added, I edited it awhile back after a few Q and A's.

 

I don't think Frazier would walk through Baer and Schmeling.
I think Max Baer had a lot more punching power than anyone Frazier beat.
Schmeling v Frazier would be an interesting fight. I don't know how their styles would mesh.

Frazier would probably find Godoy very awkward and durable at least. Godoy would probably smother Frazier's attack and nullify him a bit, like Bonavena did.

 

I agree with this to a large extent.

 

"Getda****outtahere !"

atsch

 

In comparison to how Patterson did against Liston, I would say that Schmeling was quite competitive versus Baer.

I think 1936 Joe Louis was better than Liston.
That's the comparison I'd make.

Obviously Schmeling loses a lot of that shine due to the Louis rematch.
On the other hand, Patterson went LKO1 in his rematch with Liston too !

Patterson's post-title run included a lot of close fights. Guys like Chuvalo, Quarry, Ellis, Bonavena ... those were razor close fights, all of them. imo.
For me that's not enough to bump him ahead of Max Schmeling.

I'd guess that Schmeling is a bit underrated.

 

Wlad never ducked Valuev.

Holyfield beat a post-prison Tyson that was no way near the prime Tyson of 1988. Mike's post-prison career was a joke.

Beating Riddick Bowe adds a lot to Holyfield's legacy. That's true. He lost the trilogy, but won that fight. However, considering that Evander was inconsistant in his whole heavyweight campaign, and that Wlad has been one of the most dominant champions ever, I prefer ranking Wlad above.

 

Yes, it could be argued that Walcott is a Top15 heavyweight of all time. I'm considering it. But I would rank him just below Charles.

 

I like that he lists the "DRAW" with Lewis as an accomplishment.

:nut

 

He might be. I think you make a good case for Schemling. But while Patterson clearly lost to Liston, Ali, and Ingo he never clearly dropped a decision against as sub-par of opposition. That might just be a small part of the picture, though. You don't think those razor close fights for Patterson past his prime and in his 30's isn't impressive. I guess it may not be enough to write off his biggest and most devastating losses although to be fair it was a against an absolute physical force that was stylistically problematic to say the least.

The one thing I like about Patterson is he was the first to win back the HW championship. In 60+ years no HW champion had done that. It did come against Ingo, but Patterson was still the first to do it and also is still considered by many to be the youngest HW champ ever (At the worst, he's 2nd). So Patterson has achievements in spades.

 

He won every fight by stoppage within the 5th round except 1 and only lost to Holyfieldx2 and Lewis within a 6 year period. Doesn't sound like that much of a joke to me.

 

His second careeer, imo, clearly shows that Tyson was involved in boxing only to afford lifestyle and pay debts. The pattern is clear: beat fringe contenders and then a mega payday against Holyfield; beat more fringe contenders and then a mega payday against Lewis. This was a past prime Tyson very different to the Iron Mike that was actually making a great career in the late 80s.

Mike didn't fight Mercer, didn't fight Bowe, didn't fight Morrison, didn't fight Tua, etc.

 

Funny thing is Post-Prison, post-earbite Tyson was actually better than Wlad Klitschko 1999-2003.

They both fought Botha around the same time. Tyson hit Wayyy harder.

 

My top 10 for what it's worth...........


1. Ali
2. Louis
3. Lewis
4. Tyson
5. Holmes
6. Liston
7. Marciano
8. Foreman
9. Frazier
10. Holyfield

Most will say Tyson is too high but grew up watching him, awesome creature, maybe im biased.

 

You can't really seem to defend your statement.
Haye is an atg cruiser no doubt.

He is a very strong puncher and slick.
His 3 worst performances (one which wasn't even bad) were because against Thompson he still didn't know about his stamina issues (H2H prime v prime he would know), he broke his hand against SNV, and Wlad was perfectly styled against Haye and fought like Lennox Lewis would have done it.

He is a good boxer.

 

Perhaps...Perhaps not....either way that is a debate for another thread....Haye does not warrant top 50 HW discussion, let alone top 20...His position requires no defending!~