Ring magazine is officially lost it

Like Jeffries before him and Dempsey afterward, Johnson was the best white heavyweight of his era. So to speak. Johnson's legitimacy partly depends on how much we think that should mean.

 

No they weren't.

You need to do more research.

 

I have repeatedly disproved them in other threads.

Johnson fought more elite fighters over 200lbs, than any heavyweight before Ali, with the possible exception of Louis.

I don't see how this could even be disputed.

 

I have never seen any evidence that Johnson ducked Smith.

If anything Smith missed the boat, because he was waiting for Johnson to get old, and Willard got there first.

 

From the article: "There was an inclination on the part of the panelists to make pound-for-pound comparisons, thereby elevating fighters like Dempsey and Marciano above today’s much larger champions."

 

Why am I getting Boxed Ears vibes from you

 

You don't seem to be very aware of the politics on the ground in this era.

Smith worked as Johnson's sparring partner, and he has been quoted as saying, that he did not want to fight Johnson, because he was waiting for him to get old.

I would also say that while Johnson was under a lot of pressure to fight Sam Langford, there doesn't seem to have been that much media interest in him fighting Smith.

I am sure that there would have been, if the public had seen Smith as having significantly more chance then the other white contenders.

Johnson had an enormous number of fights against men over 200lbs, as a quick scan over his Boxrec profile would have shown you.

However I will name some of the more notable ones.

Denver Ed Martin was a highly regarded contender, who had a significant advantage over Johnson, in height reach and power. Jeffries was under a lot or pressure to give him a title shot, until Johnson beat him twice.

Sandy Ferguson was another big man who was being touted as a challenger for Jeffries, until his financial problems forced him to fight Johnson. He had a significant height and weight advantage over Johnson, who defeated him five times.

Sam McVea was a heavily touted contender, who Jeffries was also under a lot of pressure to defend his title against, and he had a significant weight advantage over Johnson. Johnson defeated him three times.

So Johnson was not only fighting the best big men of his day, and giving up weight to them, but beating them multiple times.

The fact that he also fought some smaller me, does not detract from this in any way.

Also, while I would be the first to admit that Jeffries was not in his prime when Johnson beat him, that does not mean that he was not a legitimate test of Johnson's ability to deal with bigger men.

 

Sonny Liston ahead of Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield oO
Tunney ahead of Wlad Klitschko, good lord

When you thought you´ve seen it all

 

Unlike Boxed Ears, my idiocy is unfeigned.

 

If you haven't looked into his pretitle run, you can't evaluate him.

His title run was bad, but up to winning the title him and Burns cleared out the division (him having the better wins), then he beat Burns emphatically.

As for his opponents all being small or green.
klomdike was much more experienced and significantly heavier
Denver Ed Martin had had more fights and was significantly taller.
Joe Kennedy was taller, probably heavier, and more experienced
Sam McVea was heavier and nearly as experienced when they first fought
Sandy Ferguson was heavier, taller and more experienced

In terms of title defenses, James J Jeffries, Al Kaufman, Jim Flynn and Frank Moran, all had atleast 19 wins, and were 190Ibs+

 

I think they've done a good job of having the right 12 names. I'd change the order a bit but the overall top 12 ignoring order are superb choices.

 

I too think it's better to form your opinion based off the commentary and media than actually watching the fight