Who are the ten best heavy weight contenders?

going through them, these men beat lineal heavyweight champion. * really big win at or close to prime

Chris Byrd-
Vitali Klitschko* (but an odd retirement victory)
Evander Holyfield (aging)

Gunboat Smith-
Jess Willard* (could be viewed as green)

Jerry Quarry-
Floyd Patterson* (aging and five years past title)

Jimmy Bivins-
Ezzard Charles (at light-heavy with a big weight pull and with Charles possibly not trained because of military duty)

Ken Norton-
Muhammad Ali* (matchless win)

Harold Johnson-
Ezzard Charles* (still a top contender)

David Tua-
Hasim Rahman*

Nino Valdes-
Ezzard Charles*

Tommy Morrison-
George Foreman (hard to rate this win, as Foreman did become champion again but was very aged)

Corrie Sanders
Wladimir Klitschko* (one of the best of all contender wins)

Jimmy Ellis-
Floyd Patterson* (aging and six years past title)

Lou Nova-
Max Baer (still had something left, but well past best, I think)

Elmer Ray-
Jersey Joe Walcott* (prime)
Ezzard Charles* (prime but still a light-heavy with Ray having a big weight pull)

Jimmy Young-
George Foreman* (one of the outstanding contender wins)

Rex Layne-
Jersey Joe Walcott* (half a year from winning championship)
Ezzard Charles* (coming off very tight loss to Walcott in title fight many thought Charles won)

Lamon Brewster-
Wladimir Klitschko* (one of the top wins)

Ernie Schaaf-
Max Baer (green)
Jimmy Braddock (losing to everyone at this time)

Oliver McCall-
Lennox Lewis* (close to biggest win of any contender)
Larry Holmes (old and well past championship reign, but could still fight)

Tommy Loughran-
Max Baer (green)
Jack Sharkey* (coming off two losses, but had been champion just a few months earlier)
Jimmy Braddock (at light-heavy. Braddock had such a spotty record who knows what to make of this)

Norton gets my vote for the single biggest contender win.

Oliver McCall has the two biggest names and the Lewis win is right near the top of any contender win, and was a stoppage.

Rex Layne and Elmer Ray--both managed wins over prime or near prime Walcott and Charles. Ray beat them when they were younger and Layne when they were about to or had just been heavyweight champions. Only two to have two * wins.

Tommy Loughran--only contender to beat three champions, but I don't think any were really prime, although I gave Sharkey credit for being prime as he had just been champion.

 

Jackson not helped by two draws with other top opponents, Goddard and Corbett. Wins over Lees, Smith, were also worthwhile. These 5 wins were all over men who at the time were top5 fighters. Easily top ten for me.

 

A contender to me is a combatant who never won a title

 

So far my conclusions:

Top single win:

Tier one-
Ken Norton
Oliver McCall
Jimmy Young

Tier two-
Corrie Sanders
Lamon Brewster (Wlad getting stopped three times by contenders somewhat devalues these wins)

Top two wins:

Rex Layne
Elmer Ray
Oliver McCall (Holmes being so far past championship status puts him in third place but McCall has the top two ATG names)
Gunboat Smith (Langford & Willard)

So these seven men are running ahead for me so far.

 

I am not done. I will be moving down the list. I started with those who beat champions. I must say though that beating a top man is very important to me. I think that is what will separate an outstanding contender from an average one.

*one point about Norton. Was this the first fight in which Ali visited women before the fight, or did critics notice it this time because he lost?

 

One might argue it's almost as generous as having Terrell at 2.... I don't think Byrd belongs below Norton, who I don't think belongs below Witherspoon or Langford.

Which essentially makes my top five how it is. If things were different, and Young was given the countless decisions he deserved, he might have been my number one.

 

aside (because of their unique records, I will post separately on Langford, Wills, Jeannette, and McVea)

I have come up with a new criteria. Many of these men have names on their list with whom they split or even lost the series. I am going to devalue those, unless it was a champion. I think a contender deserves total credit for defeating a champion regardless.

Rating the #2 to #4 fighters on each list. Ratings from A to F with occasional comments. #1 man in parenthesis:
A or A-
Archie Moore--Valdes, Bivins, Baker (Johnson)--three prime top contenders and decisive wins.
Jimmy Ellis--Quarry, Bonavena, Martin (Patterson)--three prime contenders with a champ at #1. A strong contender so far for the top ten.
Tommy Loughran--Baer, Schaaf, Braddock (Sharkey)--three champions here. But he only split with Schaaf, which debits him a bit. So A-
Rex Layne--Charles, Satterfield, Thompson (Walcott)--a champion & 2 top contenders. Another strong contender for top ten.
Gunboat Smith--Willard, Levinsky, Flynn (Langford)--a champion, a LH champ, and a guy who beat Langford & Dempsey. Gunboat is being the biggest positive surprise for me.

B or B-
Ken Norton--Young, Quarry, Middleton (Ali)--a weak #4 drops him out of A list, but Ali win keeps him in the hunt.
Bob Pastor--Thompson, Franklin, Toles (Bivins)--a strong trio of contenders.
Elmer Ray--Walcott, Savold, Walker (Charles)--a strong B list, but Walker pulls it down a bit. Still in hunt for top 10 placement.
Bob Satterfield--Baker, Valdes, Oma (Johnson)--three good contenders, on top of strong LH champ Johnson. In top ten hunt.
Oliver McCall--Holmes, Akinwande, Damiani (Lewis)--still in hunt because with top two, but weak 3 & 4 drop him to B-
Chris Byrd--Tua, Holyfield, McCline (Vitali)--McCline drops him into B list. Still a top ten contender.

To be continued

 

C or C-
Jerry Quarry--Lyle, Shavers, Mac Foster (Patterson)--two good contenders, but how good was Foster who did nothing much but blow out washed out old men. I know my view here is controversial.
Jimmy Bivins--Charles, Murray, Moore (Pastor)--lost series badly to Moore & Charles. Has a ton of depth, but his top wins so far have been one of the bigger disappointments.
Eddie Machen--Quarry, Jackson, Jones (Valdes)--underwhelming. Quarry was greenish. A steady gatekeeper, but never rose above that for a win over a top man in his prime.
Ron Lyle--Ellis, Shavers, Bugner (Bonavena)--average
Razor Ruddock--Dokes, Smith, Page (Weaver)
Bob Baker--Layne, Bivins, Chuvalo (Valdes)--two past their best contenders, and a green Chuvalo. C- and that might be generous.
Earnie Shavers--Ellis, Bugner, Young (Norton)--would be much higher if Young were near prime.
Alexander Povetkin--Chambers, Whyte, Byrd (Chagaev)
Ernie Schaaf--Loughran, Braddock, Stribling (Baer)--split series with Loughran. Braddock was losing to everyone at this time.
Ruslan Chagaev--Ruiz, Meehan, Oquendo (Valuev)
Tim Witherspoon--Tubbs, Page, Carl Williams (Bruno)

To be continued