Rank all or pick the top 5-10 guys who came up from lighter weights to win heavyweight championships

Of the retired fighters, from a p4p perspective, bases on their entire careers:

1. Langford
2. Charles
3. Fitzsimmons
4. Moore
5. Tunney
6. Spinks
7. RJJ
8. Bivins
9. Holyfield
10. Toney

Edit - with Bivins added to the options he enters my list at #8

 

Chrono Order

Langford
Schreck
Jack Twin Sullivan
Tommy Burns
Gene Tunney
Stribling
Braddock
Duration Title Bivins
Ezzard Charles
Archie Moore
Moorer
RJJ

Theres a few guys who didn't win HW titles like Loughran, Miske and Gibbons who are better than most of this list.

 

Stribling won the NBA HW title in December 1930 but it has been retconned by the WBA because Schmeling beat him in his next fight and its not integral to the lineage.

Schreck and Sullivan were claimants from early in Tommy Burns reign. Sullivan beat Tommy Burns for the MW title in the fight before Tommy Burns won the HW title. Schrecks claim has more historical support than Sullivans. They were both double claimants at LHW/HW.

 

Yup. Thats the one. Both Sullivan and Schreck lose their claims to Kaufman who runs around as the "nearly HW champion"(funniest title in boxing history) until he loses to Johnson.

 

With Bivins added to the options, he's entered my list, under the same criteria, and Patterson has dropped out of the 10.

 

Some of these title claims are debatable to say the least. Although the president of the NBA did say ahead of the Stribling-Griffiths fight that he thought Schmeling should be stripped of the title and the winner recognised as champion, the organisation never actually voted to make it happen. The United Press jumped the gun and described the fight as being for the title, but in reality the NBA continued to recognise Schmeling, with Stribling as #1 contender.

Also, although Jack Kearns went round telling people that the Archie Moore - Nino Valdes fight was for the Nevada heavyweight title, the state commission never went along with the idea.

https://ibb.co/8LJN0MYM
https://ibb.co/RDPkbG2

 

Even though he never actually won the HW crown Mickey Walkers run at HW has to be noted here because he drew with Sharkey who went on to be lineal HW champ.. no other former WW (Ring era) has managed to do what Walker did at HW.

 

Walker's exploits at HW are insane for a 5ft 7ins pressure fighter who won his first World title at WW.

For what it's worth, if he were added to the names in the OP, I'd rank him 4th on a p4p list, behind Langford, Charles and Fitzsimmons.