2. Lennox lewis
3. George formeman
4.Joe frazier
5.Rocky marciano
5. Rocky Marciano
4. Joe Louis
3. Jack Johnson/Jack Dempsey
2. Bob Fitzsimmons
1. Jim Jeffries
* Close to Nat Fleischer's Top Five
1. Muhammed Ali
2. Larry Holmes
3. Lenny Lewis
4. Joe Louis
5. George Foreman
For the past 10 years or more, I have always maintained the same Top 5.
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1. ALI
2. Louis
3. Holmes
4. Lewis
5. Foreman
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Naturally, things change. It's very possible that, once his career is over, Wladimir Klitschko may break the Top 5, as might Vitali. It's hard to imagine many beating either of them.
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I rank fighters by their "In The Ring" accomplishments and abilities. I believe that "Quality of Opposition" is the Most, of many criteria to grade boxers. This is the one category that places ALI clearly over Joe Louis. Basically, ALI has faced more "Louis-like" opponents than Louis has faced ALI-like opponents.
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I base my rankings on the belief that NO fighter would ever win over another each time out, if they fight often enough. Naturally, it might take Ten fights to prove this so we must go on the realistic. That said, I believe that Frazier could beat Foreman at least 1 out of 10 times, both starting fresh. I know it sounds crazy but use your imagination.
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I believe ...
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ALI beats Louis 3/4 times
Louis beats Holmes 3/5 times
Holmes beats Lewis 3/5 times
Louis is even with Lewis after 10 tries but is ahead of him because of Holmes.
Lewis beats Foreman 3/5 times.
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Excluding the Klitschko brothers, I believe these five would beat the rest of the Top 12 more than they would lose to them.
Holyfield, Tyson, Liston, Marciano, Johnson, Frazier, Dempsey. In no certain order, these are the fighters who appear in the rest of my Top 12 list. If I am to rank Wladimir, I'd say he ranks at or near the top of this list. Vitali ranks favorably among them as well.
1. Joe Louis
2. Muhammad Ali
3. Larry Holmes
4. Wladimir Klitschko
5. Jim Jeffries or Rocky Marciano
Agree with Olukayode but in a different order
Louis
Ali
Holmes
Foreman
Lewis
1.Muhammad Ali
2.Rocky Marciano
3.Joe Louis
4.Lenox Lewis
5.Joe Frazier
1.Ali
2.Louis
3.Holmes
4.Lewis
5.Foreman
You can argue records until the cows come home, and there will always be those who consider skill level to be more important than records, but in my opinion the historical circumstances, political impact and general over all public recognition of a heavyweight champion during his reign are as important to a fighters legacy as his record. The level of opposition a champion faced is also vital to over all status, and it is a combination of these criteria that must be taken into account to accurately determine a former heavyweight champion's historical status. With that in mind, my list of the top five greatest heavyweight champions reads like this.
#5, Rocky Marciano, undefeated at 49-0 with a freakishly small body that sported a 68 inch reach in a division where most heavyweights have 80-84 inch reach's, Rock's walk around weight was around 170 lbs in a division that usually weighs between 200 to 250 or more, Marciano qualifies as one of the greatest of all time. There have probably been over a dozen more talented heavyweight champions over the years, but none with a toughness and will to win that equaled Rocky Marciano, Rock was relentless and as hard as they come.
#4. George Foreman, two time heavyweight champion and one of the games most fearsome punchers, Big George edges the rest of Ali's opponents and his KO of Michael Moorer at the age of 45 made George the oldest to ever hold the heavyweight championship in history. A record of 76-5 with 68 KO's elevated George to a status only a very select few in boxing can claim.
#3. Jack Johnson's historical impact and social status as a one man civil rights movement that caused race riots preceding his fights in the early 1900's (Jack held the championship from 1908 to 19150) is the first example of why I consider social impact and political circumstances just as important to a fighters legacy as his ring accomplishments. Johnson's controversy and political climate provided him with the opportunity to transcend boxing, and the Jim Crow southern climate of turn of the century America created an environment whereby the first Black heavyweight champion in boxing history also has been elevated in my eyes above all but a couple of boxing's heavyweight greats.
#2. Joe Louis was perhaps one of the greatest pure punchers the sport of boxing has ever seen, and held and defended the heavyweight championship longer than any other heavyweight champion in history, but it is the political climate of a pre World War II environment, that saw a Black American Sargent facing a White Nazi Paratrooper on the eve of WWII that elevated Joe Louis far above the status of mere boxing champion. The political impact of the second Louis/Schmeling fight made it perhaps not just the biggest single boxing match in the history of the sport, but perhaps the single biggest sporting event of any kind in the history of sport. This coupled with Joe's great skill put him in a class by himself, and only one heavyweight champion in history is Joe's equal.
#1. My pick for the greats heavyweight champion in history is Muhammad Ali. Ali's list of opponents reads like a wall at the boxing hall of fame, during the golden age of heavyweight talent, Ali fought and beat at least a dozen of boxing's greatest and most respected heavyweights. Liston, Frazier, Foreman and Holmes easily make most top ten all time great heavyweight lists, and at least ten other Ali opponents would easily dominate today's heavyweight division. But again, Ail's social and political impact outside the ring and the political climate of his era allowed him to transcend the sport of boxing. Circumstances during the civil rights era an the Vietnam War's political impact gave Ali the opportunity to use the heavyweight championship as a political platform, and no heavyweight or fighter before or since ever has impacted greater. A pair of Ali's gloves hang in the Smithsonian Institute in Washington D.C. as a testimony to both a great champion and a Great American.
