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re: Who’s your top 10 heavyweight boxers of all time?

Posted on 2/24/25 at 5:17 pm to
Posted by TigerintheNO
New Orleans
Member since Jan 2004
44181 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 5:17 pm to
you have Tyson in your top 10 but not Holyfield who beat him both times they fought

The champions between Spinks and the Russians were:
Tyson/Douglas/Holyfield/Moore/Foreman/Bowe/Lewis

Tyson went 0-4 against that list.
Holyfield fought every one of them, had a few losses but had six victories and a draw.
This post was edited on 2/24/25 at 5:31 pm
Posted by InkStainedWretch
Member since Dec 2018
4914 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 5:51 pm to
I said up front in my OP that my personal rankings are not based on head to head competition. Otherwise I wouldn’t have Marciano so high.

Holyfield and Dempsey are my 11 and 12 and I think when you get to the end of the top 10 and the beginning of the second 10 it’s all pretty close.

Prime young Foreman would be a difficult assignment for Holyfield. As would Tyson 10 years earlier.
This post was edited on 2/24/25 at 5:54 pm
Posted by tccdc
Washington, DC
Member since Sep 2007
3975 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 6:17 pm to
Not the best all time....but I loved Larry "The Easton Assassin" Holmes...his left jab was a jackhammer on folks..

Ken Norton would have been a great champ in any other era than in the 70s..


Posted by InkStainedWretch
Member since Dec 2018
4914 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 6:24 pm to
I wasn’t a Holmes fan in real time but I have grown to appreciate him more with the passage of time.
Posted by Bestbank Tiger
Premium Member
Member since Jan 2005
79283 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:01 pm to
quote:

There are a lot of people on this list who would crush Marciano, but I said up front that I don’t base by rankings on head to head.


Marciano was tough. He might be the GOAT at taking a punch. You could hit him and hit him and hit him and he wouldn't go down.
Posted by Clark14
Earth
Member since Dec 2014
26243 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:30 pm to
quote:

Prime young Foreman would be a difficult assignment for Holyfield. As would Tyson 10 years earlier.


That’s the problem with Tyson when judging his career. He was devastating in his prime under cus but lost alot mentally when cus died and the riff raff moved in. I’d put him up against anyone in his early career.

Joe Frazier was another of my favorites.
Posted by gumbo2176
Member since May 2018
19427 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:42 pm to
No particular order:

Joe Louis
Jack Dempsey
Rocky Marciano
Muhamad Ali
Lennox Lewis
Evander Holyfield
Mike Tyson
George Foreman
Joe Frazier
Ken Norton
Ernie Shavers
Posted by dukke v
PLUTO
Member since Jul 2006
216143 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:50 pm to
Prime Frazier vs prime Tyson would have been one for the ages…. Btw. Tyson went sideways when he got rid of Rooney. Buster beat him and the invincibility was gone.
Posted by Zephyrius
Wharton, La.
Member since Dec 2004
9405 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:57 pm to
quote:

I wasn’t a Holmes fan in real time but I have grown to appreciate him more with the passage of time.

Yeah, I was not a fan of Holmes but the dude dominated and was an undefeated champion from 1978 to 1985 losing to Spinks. He was 48-0 up to the Spinks fight. I think this board is kind of underrating how dominant Holmes was during his run.
Posted by FightinTigersDammit
Louisiana North
Member since Mar 2006
46425 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 7:57 pm to
No Klitschko? I'm a little surprised.
Posted by InkStainedWretch
Member since Dec 2018
4914 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 8:11 pm to
I will say this … peak young Tyson with Rooney in his corner had the chops to beat anyone who ever lived on a given night. Like you said he didn’t sustain it.
Posted by InkStainedWretch
Member since Dec 2018
4914 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 8:14 pm to
And Fight of the Century Frazier also could have beaten anyone who ever lived IMO. The problem is Joe was never the same after that fight. He beat Ali, but Ali also beat the living s**t out of him that night.
Posted by dukke v
PLUTO
Member since Jul 2006
216143 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 8:14 pm to
I won’t disagree here.
Posted by InkStainedWretch
Member since Dec 2018
4914 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 8:18 pm to
Marciano was absolutely tough as teak and he’d have waded right into some of the all-time greats and left everything he had in the ring trying. But Sonny Liston for example didn’t just outweigh him by 30 pounds, he had a 17-inch reach advantage. At some point the physical realities outweigh heart and toughness.
Posted by InkStainedWretch
Member since Dec 2018
4914 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 8:33 pm to
A lot of boxing fans don’t like Larry because as great as he was, he had a bit of the mercenary in him, he fought because it was his profession, not because he was driven and compelled to, and folks gravitate to warriors who “would have fought for free.”

But the man got out of boxing with his brain and his bank account intact, and still married to the same woman for 46 years. He did all right for himself.
Posted by dukke v
PLUTO
Member since Jul 2006
216143 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 8:36 pm to
Never had a problem with Holmes…. Legendary left jab….
This post was edited on 2/24/25 at 8:37 pm
Posted by Obi-Wan Tiger
Fulshear TX
Member since Jan 2004
8123 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 8:40 pm to
Holmes Norton was one of the great fights of all time and rarely gets talked about.
Posted by InkStainedWretch
Member since Dec 2018
4914 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 8:47 pm to
It was like a piston ... him facing prime Ali would have been heaven for left jab fans.
Posted by dukke v
PLUTO
Member since Jul 2006
216143 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 9:02 pm to
No doubt…..
Posted by FightinTigersDammit
Louisiana North
Member since Mar 2006
46425 posts
Posted on 2/24/25 at 9:04 pm to
The Thrilla in Manila took a toll on both fighters
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