Top 5 H2H LHWs?

Conn and Calzaghe hard to beat with their hand speed

 

Charles
Moore
Spinks
Foster
Conn

 

I think Archie being 'old' when he'd be champion for another 5 years is a bit of a weak argument. Maybe not the best version of Archie ever but he was a late bloomer and when Patterson could dominate every second of their fight it doesn't matter. Patterson would beat any version of Archie 100 times out of 100 because the victory was so comprehensive.

As for Jones I don't think Foster, Spinks or Moore can catch up to him in his prime because no one did.

 

Roy jones was a great at 168 but he is a bit fragile at 175. He would be destroyed by foster,spinks, michael moorer,archie moore ..

 

Moorer is a total monster h2h at 175. The guy had a huge frame for the weight class and was a huge puncher

 

1. Ezzard Charles,the toughest out in light heavy history
2. Bob Foster, probably the hardest hitter at this weight
3. Michael Spinks
4. Archie Moore
5 Billy Conn

There are so many tough guys left out, Tunney, Greb, Loughran, Jones, and don't think the guys left out couldn't get wins over my top five ,they could. But overall I think these are the guys, Roy Jones is a conundrum , I just cant see him surviving against some great Light heavyweights though he's incredibly talented

 

Charles

Moore
Conn
RJJ
Spinks

 

In fact, that is the exact reason why I picked him, because I have him out-boxing both. You mentioned a lot of attributes but I think his power gets undersold some as well. He made people respect his power. Technically he's right there with Loughran and Tunney when it comes to out-boxing people, but he's also faster than both, especially Loughran. He's just as tough as Tunney, with a solid chin, so when two good boxers meet that are both almost equally as skilled, I'll generally pick the faster guy of hand and foot unless there's a big power difference. There isn't here.

Question to you, so you see Tunney and Loughran out-boxing Conn? Just curious how you see those fights going?

 

I think the top 4 pick themselves - Charles, Moore, Spinks and Foster. The 5th spot I chose Conn. His resume isn't stacked - some decent wins in there but its what he showed in his loss to a prime Joe Louis. Regardless of what Joe did in prep - the bloke was prime as hell. Conn was winning the fight by a couple of rounds in my book and just needed to stay away. KO'd by the greatest natural puncher the world has seen.

Nothing against Tunney, great light heavy and maybe he is more deserving of Conn to be on this list. Moved up and beat a very past prime Dempsey. He was also beaten soundly by a MW - no shame in that, it was Grebb after all (later avenged to be fair). Similarly, Loughran was too and was behind both Grebb and Tunney in my opinion.

Neither Loughran or Tunney see the 13th round against Louis, let alone would be ahead on the cards. That's why I included Conn. Maybe my logic is flawed and I should have gone with RJJ. But again, I don't see him lasting 13 rounds against a prime Louis at HW either.

 

I think this sums up my feelings exactly mate. So many greats that could and maybe should be included on a top 5 LHWs list.

 

Great thread @George Crowcroft - looking forward to the podcast!