Heavyweight champions – Ranks 20 – 11 – Boxing
October 31st, 2009
By Dennis Broadhurst: This article was requested in one or two comments so here it is. Again these are fighters who in there prime are ranked in the positions I give.
20) At number twenty comes James J. Jeffries AKA The Boilermaker. Jeffries was a superb fighter, he could take a solid punch and also a lot of punishment. In fights he would take opponents best punches until his face was deeply cut and then launch his power punches which often knocked his opponents out cold.
18) Gene Tunney and Jack Dempsey share this spot so there will be no number 17 .Gene Tunney was an expert of the game, he had a good jab and could also stand toe to toe. He would prefer to make a fight into a game of chess and this was good to take advantage of his opponents often primitive, swarming styles. He beat Dempsey twice.
Dempsey however was the opposite of Tunney, he was a knockout puncher and a great swarmer who had an iron chin. He fell short against Tunney because his style was easy to read and of course the is the case of the Long Count….
16) This spot goes to Vitali Klitschko, he is the one of the Klitschkos who would fare the best against the best fighters in history as he has an iron chin. Vitali is 6ft8 and always comes into a fight in good shape. He has an iron chin and a solid punch but because of his sometimes boring style he is sometimes looked down on. Whereas I think Wladimir would lose to men such as Dempsey because of his chin, Vitali can take a solid punch and so I think would win. He also has underrated ring movement and is actually a very smart fighter.
15) Ezzard Charles comes in at 15. He was arguably the greatest light heavyweight of all time and came up in the heavyweight ranks well. He beat Joe Louis to win the title in 1950 and also put up two good fights against Marciano when he was past his best.
14) At fourteen comes Jersey Joe Walcott. Despite winning the title late on in his career and losing lots of his early career fights he gets this position. Walcott fought some of the best in Marciano, Charles and Louis.
13) At 13 comes “The Jaw Breaker” Kenny Norton. Norton had trouble with power punchers such as Foreman, Shavers and Cooney but was a good fighter against fast and faster moving fighters such as Ali who he beat once and lost to twice and also gave Larry Holmes a good fight. He beat Duane Bobick and Jerry Quarry in good fights.
12) At twelve comes Evander Holyfield. Despite in a comment saying that I would put Holyfield 11th I have changed my mind. Holyfield, the one that fought Tyson was a great boxer, he could take a punch and throw one but he was also very dirty and used headbutts a lot. Holyfield lost to Lewis and also many average fighters in his later career.
11) At 11 comes Lennox Lewis. Lewis was a good fighter and moved well but was knocked out by two average fighters. He was sometimes predictable in his simple jab, right hand style. Some have criticized Lewis for being boring but he only did what he had to to win fights. Despite this Lewis beat a lot of good fighters of his time in Tyson (late on in his career), Biggs, Ruddock, Bruno, Klitschko, Morrison and Holyfield.
15 Responses to “Heavyweight champions – Ranks 20 – 11 – Boxing”
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Ali, Foreman and most non-American Boxing critics admit that Lennox was a top 5 heavyweight of all time. Tyson said that he knew he could never have beaten Lewis, in any era. This is all fact.
Lewis comfortably beat Bowe in the 88 Olympics but didn’t get his shots at the title because he was British. This is true of all British fighters. America runs the sport. We all know that.
I have met some smart yanks who give Lennox the respect he deserves, but they’re few and far between and it’s a real shame. The man beat so many tough heavyweights. David Tua was a really good heavyweight, young and in his prime who got made to look very average by Lennox. But this is often conveniently forgotten by the American public.
I could go on and on about Lennox. He obviously only lost to McCall and Rahman through complacency, as was evidenced by the one-sided revenge exacted in both rematches. He was simplythe closest thing we’ve seen to Ali, although he didn’t have Ali’s chin, but be sure he took a lot of good shots from a lot of big punchers without going doing. Rahman’s and McCall’s shots would have put most heavyweights down.
good point scottsman—sam langford deserves a place in top 20. at least we wont exclude him historically, even if he didnt get the chances he deserved. i got a question…was it sam langford who broke dempsey’s ribs and handed him a defeat before he was champion, i know it was one of the black contenders, probably wills. tunney seems like he belongs on a higher level than dempsey, he lost only once, to an all time great middleweight, harry greb, via a rough, foul-ridden decision, and avenged it 3 times.
think Jack Dempsey should rank further in the list… the man is legendary
i know he was never a champion, but i believe the great sam langford should gain a mention. a victim of his own talent. often only bein paid for bouts if he carried his opponents to certain round.
in the words of jack dempsey
“The Hell I feared no man. There was one man, he was even smaller than I, and I wouldn’t fight because I knew he would flatten me. I was afraid of Sam Langford”
I must say that i feel its an injustice that so many people have forgotten about this fighter.Def would have beaten jack johnson if he had kept his promise to fight Sam again. one of the best to step through the ropes ……mayb even the best. We shall never know
They should fire the writer of this article and hire that Jackson guy. It seems he is well versed in boxing history. I agree with him that wherever you put Lewis you must also put Vital and neither one of them should be in the top 20.
Ali, Tyson, Foreman, Frazier, Liston, Joe Louis, no argument about top ten, but these two men, although they were great should be outside the top 30.
lewis should NOT be in the top 20 period…he came to alot of his fights out of shape , and got beat by several average fighters…i think he got beat convicingly by ray mercer for example and others and got the decision…nice to be an hbo contract boy…to me when you are champion lead by example and stay in shape and fight every one not just fighters that make you look good such as lewis did…
Dempsey and Tunney at 17 — you are a fool who really tells why you have no knowledge and why you cannot compare eras. Read the Arc of Boxing and the decline of the Sweet Science by a guy named Mike Silver. Klitscho? Get a clue. This is an insult to not Dempsey or Tunney, but to Primo Carnera . . . I am not going to read your ridiculous articles anymore.
johnanson rated too high/holyfield a cheater, too many steroids to break top 20. it gave him a bigger jaw, more speed, more strength, greater recup power–did you ever look at his deformed chin and huge head???—-and a dirty fighter…maybe balco company should get his slot? top 10 were pretty good though.
Lewis is overrated at 11..he fought the best fighters of his era after their prime. got gift decisions and was knocked out by two average fighters. he also was fought to a standstill by a still green vitali…then ducked a rematch after an inconclusive fight. wherever you rate vitali i would put lewis on the same level. if he really thought he could beat vitali in a rematch he would have done it. his own trainer admits that quite boxing to avoid a rematch with a moderately talented vitali. for that reason alone i would put him outside the top twenty, along with vitali. would ali or frazier or foreman or holmes have ducked vitali. would they have felt like they had to. think about it…
Lennox Lewis was a good champion but not a great champion. Lewis does not belong in number 11 and not in the top twenty. Number 35 or 40 would be more appropriate. Andrew must be Polish.
Excuse me bud. Tyson was not a dirty fighter. He was so talented that he did not have to fight dirty.
Holyfield became well known for intentional headbutting during his career. Tyson just gave back what he got, and in my opinion thats fair ball.
Klitshchkos are the best for ever and ever
i really wish i could have seen a jack dempsey fight. back when they fought till one man was DONE!
I wont even bother , arguing for other boxers but putting Lennox Lewis at 11 – WTF !!!!!!!
He lost to 2 average boxers , yes but in the rematches he made one of them cry to his mommy , and the other one hit the deck with one of the greatest highlight knockouts of all time.
The biggest criticism I can make of Lennox Lewis is that he knew he was so good that he underestimated some opponents.
johansson should never be in anyones top 20 list , in front of the great james j jeffries , no way . belongs in the 40- 50 ranked champions with hart , carnera , berbick , micheal spinks . gunna be interesting when this writer gets to tyson if hes calling the mighty conquerer evander holyfield a dirty fighter , tyson took dirty fighing to a new level.