Greatest heavyweight boxer of all time (read the OP for the "conditions")

_John_
_John_ Posts: 8,646 Member
edited November 2024 in Chit-Chat
And for consideration you have to pick a 5 year window for your man, and it's the guy you think would win a 3 fight series against any other challenger.





Replies

  • kinkyslinky16
    kinkyslinky16 Posts: 1,469 Member
    Stone cold Steve austin
  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,646 Member
    here we go again with the stone cold was the greatest...the Rock was clearly better during his (short) prime and you could argue that Undertaker was as well. Even Mick Foley has a higher career WAR.

    I just don't agree. It's like trying to argue that Tyson is the best boxer. He made bums look bad and got beat by every good boxer he ever faced. That is unless you want to argue that Trevor Berbick is better than Muhammad Ali...
  • accidentalpancake
    accidentalpancake Posts: 484 Member
    Tyson in his first five years.

    He got sloppy later on, obviously, but I'd contend nobody could beat that version two out of three. To me, he had the greatest boxing talent but clearly not the greatest boxing career.
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    _John_ wrote: »
    here we go again with the stone cold was the greatest...the Rock was clearly better during his (short) prime and you could argue that Undertaker was as well. Even Mick Foley has a higher career WAR.

    I just don't agree. It's like trying to argue that Tyson is the best boxer. He made bums look bad and got beat by every good boxer he ever faced. That is unless you want to argue that Trevor Berbick is better than Muhammad Ali...

    What are you basing this off of? Record? Championship? Who the fans love?
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  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,646 Member
    ThomasW13 wrote: »
    Rocky Marciano

    An early 70's foreman doesn't even need 6 total rounds to beat this chump...or if you want to paint the ring red execution style, match him up with a late 60'e Ali.

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  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,646 Member
    ThomasW13 wrote: »
    He beat Joe Louis' *kitten*.

    meh, still, if you just plucked him outta of his time and into a fight, he gives up 20-40 pounds on guys at the top of best heavyweight lists.
  • accidentalpancake
    accidentalpancake Posts: 484 Member
    ThomasW13 wrote: »
    He beat Joe Louis' *kitten*.

    Oh, there they go. There they go, every time I start talkin' 'bout boxing, a white man got to pull Rocky Marciano out they *kitten*. That's their one, that's their one. Rocky Marciano! Rocky Marciano!
  • jaxass
    jaxass Posts: 2,128 Member
    Joe Louis

    He defeated more Ring ranked contenders than any heavyweight in history. He won a ludicrous twenty-six world heavyweight title fights. He was King for one-hundred and forty consecutive months. He defeated an unprecedented six lineal heavyweight Champions. Every single one of those heavyweight Champions was destroyed.
  • jaxass
    jaxass Posts: 2,128 Member
    Rocky Marciano did beat down Joe Louis in 1951, but let's not forget the facts:

    Marciano was 28 at the time
    Louis was 37.

    That is a HUGE difference. But here's a more interesting fact:

    His numbers are astonishing. He was undefeated, the proud owner of one of an “0” tested by the best available competition; as a Champion, he only met his #1 or, on one occasion, his #2 contender.

    Basically...he was never battle tested until Joe Louis was out of his prime. We'll never know just how good the guy really was, even though he retired undefeated.
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,788 Member
    Joe Frazier. I know he got spanked by Foreman, but he was still one of the greatest.

    Ali. Without a doubt one of the biggest mouths ever, but he changed Boxing.
  • jaxass
    jaxass Posts: 2,128 Member
    Yes he did Dog. Sugar Ray Leonard, albeit not a heavyweight, was a great boxer as well. Those were the good years of boxing.
  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,646 Member
    jaxass wrote: »
    Rocky Marciano did beat down Joe Louis in 1951, but let's not forget the facts:

    Marciano was 28 at the time
    Louis was 37.

    That is a HUGE difference. But here's a more interesting fact:

    His numbers are astonishing. He was undefeated, the proud owner of one of an “0” tested by the best available competition; as a Champion, he only met his #1 or, on one occasion, his #2 contender.

    Basically...he was never battle tested until Joe Louis was out of his prime. We'll never know just how good the guy really was, even though he retired undefeated.

    It's funny how age is to some fighters though...the Klitscho's and Lennox Lewis's are still going strong at that age while that's a "done" Louis and Ali.

    Holmes (VERY similar career to Marciano after 48 fights) also done as a top contender at that age.
  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,646 Member
    TheRoadDog wrote: »
    Joe Frazier. I know he got spanked by Foreman, but he was still one of the greatest.

    Ali. Without a doubt one of the biggest mouths ever, but he changed Boxing.

    Great era for heavyweight boxing...all the big fighters actually fought each other during that era...Though Ali giving Foreman a rematch might have changed how we view that period, but I don't think we get "comeback" George in that scenario, and that was great stuff.
  • geraldaltman
    geraldaltman Posts: 1,729 Member
    edited July 2015
    Muhammad Ali. No brainer. Mouthy, but more often than not backed everything up in the ring. Entertaining, he thoroughly made some of the best TV with Howard Cosell on Sat. Wide World of Sports during my boyhood and youth. Controversial, but through thick and thin stood consistently behind his beliefs. Stoic, in his later years enduring the horrible effects of Parkinson's. Simply "The Greatest."
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,788 Member
    Watched the first Spinks / Ali fight. Couldn't believe the outcome, Had to see the rematch, but I was in Rome at the time. On vacation. With Diane and Maria (but that's another story). Anyway, I looked all over for a place to see the Fight. Ended up watching it in a Hotel Restaurant Kitchen with the Cook. On a tiny TV. Bad reception. Black and White. In Italian. Couldn't understand a word that was said, but at least I didn't have to listen to Cosell.
  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,646 Member
    geraldaltman wrote: »
    Muhammad Ali. No brainer. Mouthy, but more often than not backed everything up in the ring. Entertaining, he thoroughly made some of the best TV with Howard Cosell on Sat. Wide World of Sports during my boyhood and youth. Controversial, but through thick and thin stood consistently behind his beliefs. Stoic, in his later years enduring the horrible effects of Parkinson's. Simply "The Greatest."

    What 5 year period you picking for him though?
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  • _John_
    _John_ Posts: 8,646 Member
    TheRoadDog wrote: »
    Watched the first Spinks / Ali fight. Couldn't believe the outcome, Had to see the rematch, but I was in Rome at the time. On vacation. With Diane and Maria (but that's another story). Anyway, I looked all over for a place to see the Fight. Ended up watching it in a Hotel Restaurant Kitchen with the Cook. On a tiny TV. Bad reception. Black and White. In Italian. Couldn't understand a word that was said, but at least I didn't have to listen to Cosell.

    Cosell was horrible, I can't believe so many people liked him.

    I like Randal Cobb's quote about Cosell after his bout with Holmes.
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,788 Member
    _John_ wrote: »
    geraldaltman wrote: »
    Muhammad Ali. No brainer. Mouthy, but more often than not backed everything up in the ring. Entertaining, he thoroughly made some of the best TV with Howard Cosell on Sat. Wide World of Sports during my boyhood and youth. Controversial, but through thick and thin stood consistently behind his beliefs. Stoic, in his later years enduring the horrible effects of Parkinson's. Simply "The Greatest."

    What 5 year period you picking for him though?

    1970 to 1975, I would think. Although there were a couple of fights that did not fall into that time period that I really liked. Beating Sonny Liston early in his career and the last time he fought Norton were great fights.

    I would rank "the Thrilla in Manila" fight in the top five fights. The first Leonard / Duran fight was also one of the greatest.

    And, does anyone remember Alexis Arguello? I thought he was a boxer with great integrity. I always looked forward to his fights. Hated what Aaron Pryor did to him.

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