my top ten...

heavyweights

1. ali...speed, the era(s) he succeded in, level of competiton, wins over frazier, foreman, liston etc...and his inate ability to find a way to triumph against adversity puts him all time number one for me

2. louis...stalking, powerful boxer/puncher...hard night head to head for many

3. holmes..controversial??...head to head astylistic nightmare for many, even in his comeback his win over mercer and perofrmance against evander show him to be a much better boxer than foreman in my opinion, long title reign, great jab, great chin

4. liston...just cos he is liston i guess....looks to give most top twenty fighters nightmares, ramrod jab with pulversing power, can box or brawl, aura

5. johnston...defensive genuis, great power and accuracy, and big and athletic....

6. frazier...i just think that joes victory over a great version of ali shades foremans victory over him but loss to ali ..in general, i find frazier underrated and although i love big george, he sdeems overrated by many

7. foreman...huge power, great chin, pulverising wins over frazier twice and norton, both fighters who gave ali fits, but the loss to ali and young,and even the give and take brawl with lyle relegate him in my atg list

8. marciano, superb conditioning, will to win, remorseless attack, finishing instinct and THAT record place him above dempsey for me

9. dempsey..ferocity, power to weight, the cruhsing victory over willard and fearsome brawl with firpo put him top ten but innactivity and failure to fight the best black fighters mark him down

10. holyfield...i rank him higher than lewis, who i have 12, and tyson who i have 11 because in my opinion, he is a head to head headache for so many of the top ten..supremely conditioned, can box, or more likely brawl, fantastic workrate, superb chin, could beat fighters he shouldnt on will and heart


now il go hide as y'all shoot me down in flames

 

lewis biggest wins come over faded, or in the case of tyson, shot ex champs....discount thos three victorys and where are his biggest wins..over two decent hw who had previously ko';ed him...over the big, powerful but limited bruno..give and take war with mercer....shootouts with briggs, ruddock, golotta...??

had lewis fought what id class a s aprime, peak version of tyson, holyfield or bowe, we would be able to gauge his ability easier, and thats not too take anything away from a tremendous career where he beat every man who faced him

in actual fact, his defining fight may have been when he was older and lazy and beat the young, hungry vitali klitshko..THAT counted in my eyes for much more than many of his ore clebrated victorys....dont get me wrong, none of this is lewis fault..he fought everyone put in front of him, it just the victorys that could have moved him too top ten, even higher, are tainted by the decline of the vanguished losers

 

cheers, i had thought my ranking of holmes so highly, inclusion of the real deal at all, and putting frazier above foreman and ranking rocky and dempsey low would have caused outrage on here haha

 

^what i said..but more succinct..great boxer but just cant crack the top ten for above reasons