1. Joe Louis
2. Sonny Liston
3. George Foreman
4. Joe Frazier
5.Jack Dempsey
6.Jack Johnson
7.Rocky Marciano
8.Ezzard Charles
9.Mike Tyson
10.Gene Tunney
who beats who (prime 4 prime)
before i start i must let you know that my opinion of mike tyson may be controversal but i beleive a prime mike is more dangerous against a wider range of opponents than any heavyweight in history.he may not have had the amazing career but a prime mike has a brilliant chance against everyone except ali
Liston
i have liston beating everyone on this list except i think a prime tyson may have to much to offer and he would overwhelm liston.i also can't choose a winner for liston vs frazier and liston vs johnson.i don't know how his and johnsons scrappy oldschool style would gel and i'm not sure if liston would be as effective as foreman was against frazier.my thinking is listons booming punches may not be as effective against frazier as he isn't as tall as foreman and frazier may suprize us.
Foreman
foreman beats everone except liston and johnson.liston pulls through an explosive fight with a ko and johnsons stamina,raw strength and scrappy punches get foreman out of there.i also struggle to choose a winner between he and tyson but i will give george the benefit of the doubt.
Frazier
frazier loses to tyson and foreman outright in the early rounds.though if somehow he survived mikes early onslaught he would take mike into the trenches and pound him into submission.i also think he has very close fights with marciano and dempsey.
-great question.i come back and finish my answer later
Greatest Heavyweights (Accomplishments and Skill)(Excluding Ali and Holmes)
These are in random order:
Foreman - Only knocked out once (by Ali) and Foreman beat a lot of the greats. 76-5 Record.
Frazier - Beat Ali (even though Ali wasn't in his prime) and had the heart to die in the ring if needed.
Sonny Liston - Beat some good fighters and had an 84 inch reach and one of the hardest hitters.
Jack Johnson - This is a no brainer for his era
Jack Dempsy - Another no brainer
Riddick Bowe - under rated fighter who would have been great if he never took a break from boxing
Evander Holyfield - Heart of a Lion and good fights against Tyson, Bowe, and Lennox Lewis
Lennox Lewis - Smart Fighter, tall, strong, beat some good fighters in his era
Joe Louis - great in his era
Wlad Klitschko - good for his era
Marciano dont make my list because he only fought for 7 years, and he only fought 40 year old, washed up, ex-greats. And he never hardly fought anybody over 200 pounds.
And I don't consider guys like Ezzard Charles, Jersey Joe Walcott, and Archie Moore as heavyweights.. they were better as middle weights.
Tyson can make my list on skill, even though it wasn't intuitive skill. But Tyson never fought anybody good at all.. until the 90s when he was getting beat like a rag doll. But I'm sure Tyson could beat some of the all time greats when he was in his prime.
But also, the 1960s and 1970s had many great fighters... there's guys in the 70s that would beat the crap out of today's fighters. I would like to see guys like Ken Norton fight today's fighters.
Here are my selections:
For List 1 (Accomplishments):
1) Joe Louis [11 years as champ; first black athlete in any sport to become a mainstream star; fight against Schmeling in '38 made him an American symbol of U.S. democracy vs. Nazism]
2) Jack Johnson [the "Jackie Robinson" of heavyweight boxing in the U.S.]
2) Jack Dempsey [produced the first $1 and $2 million gates; along with Babe Ruth he established the culture of sports celebrityhood that is still with us today; iconic symbol of the Roaring Twenties]
3) Evander Holyfield [4-time heavyweight champion; derailed Tyson's legacy]
4) Rocky Marciano [retired undefeated]
5) Mike Tyson [youngest heavyweight champ ever; regenerated interest in the heavyweight division in the 1980s; most feared puncher in boxing history]
List 2 (Skill):
1) Evander Holyfield
2) Joe Louis
3) Lennox Lewis
4) Vladamir Klitshko
5) Mike Tyson
1. Lennox Louis
2. Tyson
I am looking for a consensus here starting with Heavyweights. Id like to see peoples opinions on two separate lists who make up their greatest heavyweights of all time EXCLUDING Muhammad Ali and Larry Holmes, list 1. Accomplishments & Skill 2. Who beats Who
