Quest for heavyweight data

here's a list i made a while back for a website.

Recognized heavyweight world champions through 1920

During this time "The National Police Gazette" usually named these fighters as their champion. Fighters are listed with the year they were recognized by the majority of fans and media as champion.

John L. Sullivan - 1885
James J. Corbett - 1892
Bob Fitzsimmons - 1897
James J. Jeffries - 1899
Marvin Hart - 1905
Tommy Burns - 1906
Jack Johnson - 1908
Jess Willard - 1915
Jack Dempsey - 1919

"The Ring" Magazine heavyweight world champions

"The Ring" was first published in 1922 and awarded a heavyweight world title along with ranking top 10 challengers. Fighters are listed with the year they were recognized by "The Ring" as champion. (1989-2001, "The Ring" did not award a title.)

Jack Dempsey - 1922
Gene Tunney - 1926
Max Schmeling - 1930
Jack Sharkey - 1932
Primo Carnera - 1933
Max Baer - 1934
James J. Braddock - 1935
Joe Louis - 1937
Ezzard Charles - 1950
Jersey Joe Walcott - 1951
Rocky Marciano - 1952
Floyd Patterson - 1956
Ingemar Johansson - 1959
Floyd Patterson (2) - 1960
Sonny Liston - 1962
Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) - 1964
Joe Frazier - 1970
George Foreman - 1973
Muhammad Ali (2) - 1974
Leon Spinks - 1978
Muhammad Ali (3) - 1978
Larry Holmes - 1980
Michael Spinks - 1985
Mike Tyson - 1988
Lennox Lewis - 2002
Vitali Klitschko - 2004
Wladimir Klitschko - 2009

WBC, IBF & WBA heavyweight title holders.

Boxers are listed with the year they were recognized as champion by the WBC, IBF & WBA. Boxers defeated the title holder above them on the list (unless noted in parenthesis). Titles won but later stripped because of a failed post-fight drug test are not listed.

WBC - World Boxing Council (formed in 1963)

Sonny Liston (def. Floyd Patterson, this was the first bout sanctioned by the WBC) - 1963
Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) - 1964
Joe Frazier (def. Jimmy Ellis) - 1970
George Foreman - 1973
Muhammad Ali (2) - 1974
Leon Spinks - 1978
Ken Norton (awarded title after def. Jimmy Young) - 1978
Larry Holmes - 1978
Tim Witherspoon (def. Greg Page) - 1984
Pinklon Thomas - 1984
Trevor Berbick - 1986
Mike Tyson - 1986
James "Buster" Douglas - 1990
Evander Holyfield - 1990
Riddick Bowe - 1992
Lennox Lewis (awarded title after def. Donovan "Razor" Ruddock) - 1992
Oliver McCall - 1994
Frank Bruno - 1995
Mike Tyson (2) - 1996
Lennox Lewis (2) (def. Oliver McCall) - 1997
Hasim Rahman - 2001
Lennox Lewis (3) - 2001
Vitali Klitschko (def. Corrie Sanders) - 2004
Hasim Rahman (2) (def. Monte Barrett for interim title, eventually awarded full title) - 2005
Oleg Maskaev - 2006
Samuel Peter (def. Jameel McCline for interim title in 2007, then won full title from Maskaev) - 2008
Vitali Klitschko (2) - 2008

IBF - International Boxing Federation (formed in 1983)

Larry Holmes (awarded title) - 1983
Michael Spinks - 1985
Tony Tucker (def. James "Buster" Douglas) - 1987
Mike Tyson - 1987
James "Buster" Douglas - 1990
Evander Holyfield - 1990
Riddick Bowe - 1992
Evander Holyfield (2) - 1993
Michael Moorer - 1994
George Foreman - 1994
Michael Moorer (2) (def. Axel Schultz) - 1996
Evander Holyfield (3) - 1997
Lennox Lewis - 1999
Hasim Rahman - 2001
Lennox Lewis (2) - 2001
Chris Byrd (def. Evander Holyfield) - 2002
Wladimir Klitschko - 2006

WBA - World Boxing Association (formed in 1921 as the National Boxing Association, changed name in 1962)

Jack Dempsey (def. Georges Carpentier, this was the first bout sanctioned by the NBA) - 1921
Gene Tunney - 1926
Max Schmeling (def. Jack Sharkey) - 1930
Jack Sharkey - 1932
Max Baer (def. Primo Carnera) - 1934
James J. Braddock - 1935
Joe Louis - 1937
Ezzard Charles (def. Jersey Joe Walcott) - 1949
Jersey Joe Walcott - 1951
Rocky Marciano - 1952
Floyd Patterson (def. Archie Moore) - 1956
Ingemar Johansson - 1959
Floyd Patterson (2) - 1960
Sonny Liston - 1962
Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) - 1964
Ernie Terrell (def. Eddie Machen) - 1965
Muhammad Ali (2) - 1967
Jimmy Ellis (def. Jerry Quarry) - 1968
Joe Frazier - 1970
George Foreman - 1973
Muhammad Ali (3) - 1974
Leon Spinks - 1978
Muhammad Ali (4) - 1978
John Tate (def. Gerrie Coetzee) - 1979
Mike Weaver - 1980
Michael Dokes - 1982
Gerrie Coetzee - 1983
Greg Page - 1984
Tony Tubbs - 1985
Tim Witherspoon - 1986
James "Bonecrusher" Smith - 1986
Mike Tyson - 1987
James "Buster" Douglas - 1990
Evander Holyfield - 1990
Riddick Bowe - 1992
Evander Holyfield (2) - 1993
Michael Moorer - 1994
George Foreman (2) - 1994
Bruce Seldon (def. Tony Tucker) - 1995
Mike Tyson (2) - 1996
Evander Holyfield (3) - 1996
Lennox Lewis - 1999
Evander Holyfield (4) (def. John Ruiz) - 2000
John Ruiz - 2001
Roy Jones, Jr. - 2003
John Ruiz (2) (def. Hasim Rahman for interim title in 2003, eventually awarded full title) - 2004
Nikolay Valuev - 2005
Ruslan Chagaev - 2007 (stripped of title due to injury and named "champion in recess")
Nikolay Valuev (2) (def. John Ruiz) - 2008
David Haye - 2009

 

Good luck with this, it sounds pretty interesting.

 

no problem. the ring magazine yearly almanac has a good list of world champs/title holders for every weight class but i don't think they did one this year. at least i have not seen one.

here's another website that has some good info.
http://www.heavyweights.co.uk/history.html

 

also, if you want to look at top 10 fighters that a fighter beat, you also need to consider Matt Donnelens rankings which are on another recent thread I think it is the top 20 heavyweights one, as they are the best available prior to the rings introduction of rankings.

 

Mongoose has a lot of information on stuff like wins over top 10 ranked opposition. I'm sure he could help you out.

 

Sonny Liston:

1955:

Marty Marshall- TKO 6- Ranked at Light-Heavyweight top 10

1958:

Wayne Bethea: TKO 1

1959

Mike DeJohn: TKO 6

1960:

Cleveland Williams TKO 2- Williams slipped in a number 10 spot in monthly ratings
Roy Harris: TKO 1
Zora Folley KO 3
Eddie Machen: W 12

1962

Floyd Patterson KO 1

1963:

Floyd Patterson KO 1

1968:

Henry Clark TKO 7- Clark slipped into the top 10 in monthly ratings


Final Tally: Liston beat 10 Ring Magazine rated contenders

 

Rocky Marciano:

1950

Roland Lastarza W 10

1951

Rex Layne KO 6
Joe Louis KO 8

1952

Harry Kid Matthews KO 2
Jersey Joe Walcott KO 13

1953

Jersey Joe Walcott KO 1
Roland Lastarza TKO 11

1954

Ezzard Charles W 15
Ezzard Charles KO 8

1955

Don Cockell TKO 9
Archie Moore KO 9

Final Tally: Marciano beat 11 Ring Magazine rated contenders

 

Joe Frazier:

1966:

Oscar Bonavena W 10

1967:

George Chuvalo TKO 4

1968

Manuel Ramos TKO 2
Oscar Bonavena W 15

1969:

Jerry Quarry TKO 7

1970:

Jimmy Ellis TKO 5
Bob Foster KO 2

1971:

Muhammad Ali W 15

1973:

Joe Bugner W 12

1974

Jerry Quarry TKO 5


Final Tally: Joe Frazier beat 10 Ring Magazine rated contenders

 

Substitute for Ring Year-end Ratings.
A few points.
1)
I have no agenda, so they should be unbiased.
2) It is year-end, not year accomplishments.
3) I tried to keep retrospective knowledge out of the equation-difficult!
4) The methodology used was to go through all the years and fights chronologically using guides like the late Mike Paul's excellent computer ratings, using 1892 as starting point.
5) The ratings are the best I can do, and I will explain the rationale behind any decision but, as the current Pope is not a boxing fan, they are fallible!

1892

Champion Corbett
2. Jackson
3. Goddard
4. Slavin
5. Choynski
6. Fitzsimmons
7. Hall
8. Godfrey
9. McAuliffe
10. Kilrain


1893

Champion Corbett
2. Jackson
3. Fitzsimmons
4. Denver Smith
5. Hall
6. Goddard
7. Slavin
8. Choynski
9. McAuliffe
10. Godfrey

1894

Champion Corbett
2. Jackson
3. Fitzsimmons
4. Smith
5. Choynski
6. Maher
7. Goddard
8. Hall
9. Slavin
10. Godfrey

1895

Champion Maher
2. Fitzsimmons
3. Jackson
4. Slavin
5. Smith
6. Choynski
7. Felix
8. Hall
9. Creedon
10. O’Donnell

1896

Champion Corbett
2. Fitzsimmons
3 Maher
4. Choynski
5. Sharkey
6. Armstrong
7. Creedon
8. Goddard
9. Ruhlin
10. O’Donnell


1897

Champion Fitzsimmons
2. Maher
3. Sharkey
4. Choynski
5. Childs
6. Corbett
7. Ruhlin
8. Jeffries
9. O’Donnell
10. Armstrong

1898

Champion Fitzsimmons
2. Jeffries
3. Sharkey
4. Maher
5. Corbett
6. McCoy
7. Ruhlin
8. Childs
9. Armstrong
10. Choynski

1899-1919 on the above mentioned thread.


1920

Champion Dempsey
2 Wills
3 Fulton
4 Greb
5 Gibbons
6 Carpentier
7 Miske
8 Norfolk
9 Tunney
10 Weinert

1921

Champion Dempsey
2 Wills
3 Fulton
4 Gibbons
5 Tunney
6 Carpentier
7 Miske
8 Greb
9 Beckett
10 Brennan

1922

Champion Dempsey
2 Wills
3 Greb
4 Gibbons
5 Miske
6 Tunney
7 F.Johnson
8 Brennan
9 Beckett
10 Carpentier

1923

Champion Dempsey
2 Wills
3 Firpo
4 Tunney
5 Carpentier
6 Miske
7 Gibbons
8 Greb
9 Renault
10 F.Johnson

 

The top boxer record site has the Ring ratings from 1924 on but again be aware that they are year-end only.