The greatest title defense of all time?

If greatness in the weight divison of the beaten challenger, who has to be prime, is the sole criteria, it's probably Frank Erne's defence vs Joe Gans.

Gans is my #13 all time p4p fighter and I can't think of a prime version of any of the top 12 failing in a title challenge, during their prime, at their best weight.

Walker is my #12 and he failed in his challenge for Greb's MW, but arguably WW was Walker's best divison. If we are factoring in the manor of victory, then this defence is probably my answer, as Gans quit from a cut vs Erne, where as Greb dominated Walker.

Armstrong is my #4, but whilst he has all those defences at WW, it wasn't his best divison, and he was probably passed prime when Zivic defended his title in their rematch.

Langford is my #3 and BJW successfully defended his WW crown by drawing with a young Sam. Langford probably wasn't prime, though, and a draw most reporters considered he was lucky to get, doesn't cut it as the "greatest" defence, imo.

SRL over Hearns and SRR over Gavilan are decent HM's, imo.

 

Joe Louis vs Max Schmeling II