It seems to be underway. But fair play. That's the fun of these kind of things. EDIT - There are some mighty spirited objections about what I thought was a damn fine list!
Everyone in the ten is in their range. Bowe and Vitali are way too high I think; Wills and Langford too low. But it's as good as you'll see I think in terms of a group effort.
Better than expected to be honest. I was expecting the amalgamated list to produce a monstrosity. My only major quibbles are Johnson in the top 10 when Wlad isn't, Marciano above Foreman, and Tyson above Holyfield. Those don't really make sense to me. My list was: #1. Muhammad Ali #2. Joe Louis #3. Larry Holmes #4. Lennox Lewis #5. George Foreman #6. Wladimir Klitschko #7. Evander Holyfield #8. Joe Frazier #9. Rocky Marciano #10. Sonny Liston
Don't you know? Patterson > Tyson. In seriousness, I'd hold Patterson, Machen and Williams above anyone Tyson beat.
What Liston achieved past the age of 40 is nothing short of legendary, but there's no way he's greater than Tyson imo. Spinks is better than Patterson Tucker is better than Machen Bruno is better than Williams And then you have the likes of Ferguson, Berbick, Smith, Thomas, Biggs, Tubbs, Williams, Stewart, Ruddock, Seldon, Botha, Norris, Golota. Tyson has better top victories, better depth of victories, was a better champion, a better contender, is unquestionably better on film, has better longevity. Granted, he doesn't have the victoriea past the age of 40 Liston does, but everything else is more than enough to make up for it imo.
I can't find much fault with the top 10 either in terms of the names or the order. Lewis at #4 I'm personally ambivalent about but I know from these boards that I'm in a minority. Dempsey not finding a place in the top 10 is something that I don't think would have happened 20-30 years ago but doesn't seem as odd now. Yeah, this list is about as close to a good consensus as you'll find.
The first four spots are exactly as my own, so can't say I disagree with much here. One person didn't have Louis on their list? That's just trolling, the list can't be taken seriously.
Wlad definitely over Holy. But that aside, when the top seven is identical to my top seven with only one switch of places in the order, it points to a wise and informed consensus.
I have Wlad at 10 and Vitali at 20 (Bowe at 21) so I think one of the Klitchkos got underrated by a small bit and the other, overrated by a bigger bit. I was expecting more posters to participate, and I think the lack of familiarity with the little fellas was a factor in some not submitting a list. But all in all, a decent compilation with a fair degree of consensus. The final reveal will be very interesting !
