I am with you Fergie its Jack Johnson, still have him in my top 5 atg heavyweight list much as most people disagree
Dempsey. He set attendance and earnings records and elevated the sport above all others including baseball, football and all other spectator sports. He was bigger than Ruth.
I've noticed he tends to move in and out of people s favour, Noel. But there's still quite a few that I know really rate him. I try to look at him for his time not how he matches up to those that followed him. And for his time, when he had his best head on and was sorted he was bloody hard to beat. Nice to see someone else appreciate him, mate.
Sam Langford. Just look at what he accomplished across many weight classes, Lightweight through Heavyweight.. If life was fair, imagine how many different weight classes that man could have been Lineal Champion in! Then imagine how many he could have picked up, in a just world, if there had been as many different weight classes as there are today. If your knowledge of him is limited, start by looking at his professional record. Then try to imagine what's probably missing. After that, watch whatever film clips you can find, as well as write ups about him. Believe me, it will be worth the effort.
Joe Gans, Mike Gibbons, Barbados Joe Walcott are among my early (and all-time) favorites. It's hard for me to pick among them, but if cornered I'd go with Gibbons.
He's in my top 5 heavyweights of all time too Noel. I put him at number 1 in chronological order because he was the best of his time. My Top is. Jack Johnson Joe Louis Cassius Clay/Ali Larry Holmes Lennox Lewis
Larry Holmes, actually followed him a bit: read his biography, learned that he made a ton of money from the town of Easton. He had an atg jab. Looked flabby at times lol, with his notorious glasses lol. And the epic fight between him and Gerry Cooney on legendaynights. He was in there with Tyson and Evander (correct me if I'm wrong) and pulled a stud move fighting butterbean at a really old age on ppv.
I'm a big Larry Holmes fan too. His fight with Ray Mercer is one of my all time favourites. I know he desperately wanted to fight comeback George Foreman and he can be a bit bolshy occasionally about not receiving the acknowledgement and recognition for his career but I rate him highly and he seems to be a personable guy. Muhammad and Larry is also an excellent documentary.
Probably Joe Louis. A technical marvel . My opinion the best offensive heavyweight in history when one looks at how intuitive he was with his combination punching, how much speed and power he could get on any punch in the dictionary, he was truly a savant the offensive side a boxing at heavyweight. If a fighter like Wilder had half of Louis's technical ability, he'd still be undeafeated , easily dispatching everyone he's faced so far.
