Should Gene Tunney be in the all-time pound-for-pound top 10?

I think top-15 is very credible.

The whole "didn't fight a black fighter" argument can be turned on its head... i.e. Wills didn't fight the cream of the crop of white fighters (and the best of which he fought he lost to) so I don't think we can go to far in that line of questioning. Wills and Langford and others were still excellent fighters, much as Tunney was. It was an unfortunate circumstance of history. I certainly do think that Tunney, Marine, WWI vet, defeater of Dempsey, was scared of any man.

In the end, top-15 is a hell of a ranking and he probably deserves it.

 

I exclude him based on what has already been said. His resume, though as consistent as can be, is not as stacked as it could've been. Though he did prove himself against the ones he did face. He ranks around #21 or so on my list.

 

He could scrape into my top 20.

 

Gene Tunney had a superb record on paper, implying that he may be worthy of a top spot in theory. The problem however, is that his comp at heavyweight was somewhat slim. The Dempsey fights need to be taken with a grain of sult, as Jack was inactive and passed his best. Difficult placement to make...

 

Tunney did beat Greb, Gibbions and Carp, and thats a good list of fighters right there. Tunney may not have face a black fighter, but Greb and Carp did. So I think if Tunney can deal with the likes of Greb, he can deal with the likes of the top black fighters of his era.

Just my thought on that.

 

I thought something was fishy...

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Thats my shortcut for George the Frenchman. That name is pretty uncommon in the USA. I also dont want to look up his last name to spell it right evey time lol.

 

He's always somewhere between 20 and 25 on my list. I don't think just getting into the bottom top 20 is a stretch, but He doesn't deserve top 10 IMO.

 

Wills did not want Tunney in the mid to late 1920's. Yes, Tunney can be a 10 p4p fighter.

 

Well, I don´t have him in my Top25 but mostly because I´m not sure where to slip him in and who to throw out instead. Personally, I can´t see him in the Top10 but it´s reasonable to have him somewhere between 15 and 25 imo.

 

I don't see how he can be higher than top25; his resume is pretty thin, he didn't fight the blackies and didn't rematch Loughran. There's so many great fighters in history with more accomplishments.