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Top 10 Heavyweights of All Time

1299 Views 19 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  Sonny Liston
I wanna know everyones personal list.. very curious.. what people think

Don't put two boxers at the same number.

ie. #1 Ali/Louis

Just force yourself to go from 1 to 10!
1 - 20 of 20 Posts
#1 ali
#2 louis
#3 dempsey
#4 lewis
#5 foreman
#6 tyson
#7 marciano
#8 frazier
#9 holmes
#10 liston
  1. Muhammad Ali
  2. Joe Louis
  3. Larry Holmes
  4. Rocky Marciano
  5. Sonny Liston (a bit of a controversial one here but he was almost as good a brawler as Rocky Marciano... only he was black... and those 2 losses to Muhammad Ali would go down as the only black dots on his career)
  6. Mike Tyson (what he did in his prime was more than good enough for me... BACK IN THE 1980s)
  7. Jack Johnson
  8. George Foreman
  9. Joe Frazier
  10. Jersey Joe Walcott

Honourable mentions go out to Ezzard Charles and Gene Tunney (who only ever had one defeat... and beat Jack Dempsey twice... but everybody... including yours truly... talk more about Dempsey than Tunney). Also... I'll mention Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield just for the hell of it... BUT I SAY AGAIN... TYSON IN HIS PRIME WOULD HAVE KILLED THEM!!! Other honourable mentions include Max Baer, James J. Braddock, James J. Jeffries, James J. Corbett, John L. Sullivan, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, Jerry Quarry and my personal favourite Heavyweight Boxer of all time RONALD DAVID "RON" LYLE! CHEERIO!

NOTE: This Top 10 isn't my perfect defined Heavyweight List... I expect criticism... and I may change it here and there but it'll stay put for now... I'm sorry Gerry Cooney fans!
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thats still a good list, lennox lewis in my book should be there but all those guys i conidered for mine.
tommygunn said:
thats still a good list, lennox lewis in my book should be there but all those guys i conidered for mine.
THANKS... YOU LIKE MY LIST!!! Do you think that I ranked anyone too high or low? Should the order be different?:cool:
these guys are solid top 10 top 20 guys so you cant realy argue with it dude, maybe liston id swap for lewis.
tommygunn said:
these guys are solid top 10 top 20 guys so you cant realy argue with it dude, maybe liston id swap for lewis.
Now I remember... in the "YOU HAVE TO PICK ONE" Boxing Forum... you said that Lewis would beat Liston... I respect that!:cool:
i wouldn't diss anyones list unless thet had marciano on top of it, i just dont think the rock would have coped with the bigger guys of the 70's, 80's, 90's and now we have valuev who rocky standing at 5ft9 would have stood no chance against.
I am struggling with Ali/Louis at #1. I know you almost have to put Ali there, but, well, I don't know.
Ali of 1966-You cant hit what you cant see.Big George Forman of 1973-He could lift you off your feet with one punch.Larry Holmes of 1978-Nobody got past Larry's piston like jab.Jack Dempsey-the 20's a fast starter if he got that first solid punch on you, he could take out any heavyweight.A true killer.Tyson of the early eighties,dynamite in both hands a peek a boo defense and like his favorite fighter Dempsey,A true killer.Charles(Sonny)Liston of 1962- nobody got past Sonnies jab and he was one mean motha as long as the fight was going his way.Joe Louis of the 40's- a fighting machine.The rock of the 50's- Supreme conditioning always in shape for every fight.You dont go 49-0 doing nothing.Jack johnson the smiling one,the master of defense.Number 10 throw them all in a pot and pick you one.( John L sullivan, Jess Willard,Joe Frazier,Evander Holyfield,Lennox Lewis,Gene Tunney, take your pick????.
1. Joe Louis
2. Muhammad Ali
3. Rocky Marciano
4. Larry Holmes
Top 4, any could be #1
5. Jack Dempsey
6. Jack Johnson
7. George Foreman
8. Sonny Liston
9. Joe Frazier
10. Gene Tunney
11. Lennox Lewis
12. Evander Holyfield
13. Ezzard Charles
14. Mike Tyson
15. Floyd Patterson
16. Jim Jeffries
17. Max Baer
18. Max Schmelling
19. Bob Fitzsimmons
20. Michael Spinks
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bill1234 said:
1. Joe Louis
2. Muhammad Ali
3. Rocky Marciano
4. Larry Holmes
Top 4, any could be #1
5. Jack Dempsey
6. Jack Johnson
7. George Foreman
8. Sonny Liston
9. Joe Frazier
10. Gene Tunney
11. Lennox Lewis
12. Evander Holyfield
13. Ezzard Charles
14. Mike Tyson
15. Floyd Patterson
16. Jim Jeffries
17. Max Baer
18. Max Schmelling
19. Bob Fitzsimmons
20. Michael Spinks
:) This is what hurts Joe Louis,The Rock,&Larry Holmes.When you hld a title that long in the case of Louis & Holmes(12 years,7 years,Undefeated)It makes you question.Strength of competition.If you got some competition, your not going to hold no title 12 years.Your not going to go undefeated.I dont care what sport it is.Maybe once every blue moon.Marciano 49-0 1972 Dolphins 17-0.It happens but not often.When I look at Joe Louis record or the Rocks,they were great fighters dont get me wrong.Look at the fighters.Strength of competion.Look at Joe Louis,The Rock,even Larry Holmes how good would they have been in the 70's.Ali,Forman,Frazier,Quarry,Norton,Shavers.Bonavena.Liston was still hanging until his death.Strength of competition.Ali wasnt that dam good unless he was superior over the competition.If your superior over the competition it aint much competition.To be superior it takes excepitional skills.I dont see that in those 3.
lazabrien9 said:
:) This is what hurts Joe Louis,The Rock,&Larry Holmes.When you hld a title that long in the case of Louis & Holmes(12 years,7 years,Undefeated)It makes you question.Strength of competition.If you got some competition, your not going to hold no title 12 years.Your not going to go undefeated.I dont care what sport it is.Maybe once every blue moon.Marciano 49-0 1972 Dolphins 17-0.It happens but not often.When I look at Joe Louis record or the Rocks,they were great fighters dont get me wrong.Look at the fighters.Strength of competion.Look at Joe Louis,The Rock,even Larry Holmes how good would they have been in the 70's.Ali,Forman,Frazier,Quarry,Norton,Shavers.Bonavena.Liston was still hanging until his death.Strength of competition.Ali wasnt that dam good unless he was superior over the competition.If your superior over the competition it aint much competition.To be superior it takes excepitional skills.I dont see that in those 3.
So you don't see skills in Louis, Holmes, or Marciano? They all were great fighters in bad era's. They all were the top dog in their era for years. Louis had the title for 11 years, that is a really long time. He defended his title 25 times in the time he was the champ. Holmes was champion 7.5 years until he lost a controversial and disputed decision to Michael Spinks, and was flat out robbed in the rematch. Holmes was past his prime for those fights, and he still won, the judges were just bribed or drinking. You seem to be blaming Louis, Marciano, and Holmes for being in a bad era, when really they had no control over it. Both Holmes and Marciano started their pro career at age 23, and peaked at around 29, then their ended peak around 32. They both had limited amerature fights, and didn't start boxing until they were around 19-20 years old. Look at how long Holmes lasted. He started his career in 1973, at age 23 going on 24. Holmes was born in 1949, and didn't start his pro debut until 1973, that is a long time. Holmes retired in 2002, at age 52, damn near 53. Holmes retired in 86, then came back completely ill trained and rusty to fight a peak Tyson with no warm ups, and got TKO'd in the 4th with 6 seconds left to go in the round. Then Holmes came back in 1991, and gave Ray Mercer a boxing lesson at age 42. Then in 1992, he fought a peak Evander Holyfield at age 43, and went the distance winning about 4-5 out of 12 rounds. After that in 1995, at age 46, he fought Olivar McCall, and lost by 1 point on 2 score cards, that was his 2nd title shot in his come back of the 90's. After the McCall fight, Holmes threw up after he got out of the ring. Then, in 1997, at age 48, Holmes lost yet ANOTHER controversial/disputed decision to Dane Brian Neilson. IN 1999 he fought and beat Mike Weaver (one of his title shot victims in the 80's) for the 2nd time. Then in 2000 at age 50, almost 51 he beat Bonecrusher Smith for the 2nd time (another one of his title victims in the 80's). Then in 2002, at age 52, very close to 53, Holmes fought and beat Butterbean very easily.
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Larry Holmes is the man. He doesn't get the credit he deserves and it drives me crazy. I enjoyed that post Bill and I didn't realize he fought that LONG! That's amazing.
PrettyBoyFloyd said:
Larry Holmes is the man. He doesn't get the credit he deserves and it drives me crazy. I enjoyed that post Bill and I didn't realize he fought that LONG! That's amazing.
Thank you. Yep, he's been boxing over 30 years now.
tommygunn said:
#1 ali
#2 louis
#3 dempsey
#4 lewis
#5 foreman
#6 tyson
#7 marciano
#8 frazier
#9 holmes
#10 liston
Lewis, Tyson, and Dempsey that high? And Frazier and Foreman above Holmes?
bill1234 said:
Lewis, Tyson, and Dempsey that high? And Frazier and Foreman above Holmes?
if it wasn't for the rahman ko lewis would havew been my GOAT although he won the rematch emphaticly. jack dempsey was brutal and IMO is the most underated fighter in HW history, especialy with this genaration of fans. mike tyson is where he is and deserves to be there. nobody bulldozed there way through the ranks, contenders and champs the way mike did and if he stayed with bill clayton and kevin rooney would have been the greatest by a mile.
tommygunn said:
if it wasn't for the rahman ko lewis would havew been my GOAT although he won the rematch emphaticly. jack dempsey was brutal and IMO is the most underated fighter in HW history, especialy with this genaration of fans. mike tyson is where he is and deserves to be there. nobody bulldozed there way through the ranks, contenders and champs the way mike did and if he stayed with bill clayton and kevin rooney would have been the greatest by a mile.
If Lewis wasn't KO'd by Rahman and McCall, he would be a top 8 for me, but not top 5. If Tyson stayed with Bill Cayton and Rooney, he would probably be a top 7, but not top 5.
I'VE GOT MY TOP 10!

  1. Muhammad Ali
  2. Joe Louis
  3. Rocky Marciano
  4. Larry Holmes
  5. Jack Dempsey
  6. Jack Johnson
  7. Sonny Liston
  8. George Foreman
  9. Joe Frazier
  10. Mike Tyson

I think that's it... with Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Ken Norton, Jerry Quarry, James J. Braddock, Max Baer, Gene Tunney, Jersey Joe Walcott, Ezzard Charles, James J. Jeffries, "Gentleman" Jim Corbett, and so on and so forth following not too far behind (they probably round out to 20... with The Bellflower Bomber "Irish" Jerry Quarry at 21! :)

NOTE: I know I had a thread about Mike Tyson being overrated... and he is... but like I said... he'll make my Top 10 and probably would've been way too much for even Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis if all 3 were taking on each other in their prime! :cool:
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