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The Ten Best Heavyweights of All Time






Jerry Glick reporting: I know that there will be a torrent of fans who will voice their disagreement but I am tossing caution to the wind and staking my claim with my picks of the best heavyweight fighters of all time.

Below are the top ten fighters, plus ten others who deserve honorable mention as being great fighters too. With all the great fighters in boxing’s rich history I know that there are those who will say I left out this one or that one, but I think that I have chosen the definitive best ten heavyweights:

1-Muhammad Ali: He could box, move, cover up, slug, out fight, out think his opponents, jab, and throw power punches. Is there anything else that he needed to be about to do? Oh yes, he could absorb punishment and come back and win if he had to. He was boxing’s greatest showman, ticket seller, and his life went beyond the ring into the social conscience of not just the US, but the planet. He was truly the greatest.

2-Jack Johnson: In his day he was very much what Ali was in his day. He was big, fast, and highly skilled. He possessed power, skill, a great jab, and supreme confidence. He laughed in the face of racism in his way by dating and marrying white women. He too touched the soul of the nation, transcending his sport.

3-Joe Louis: Joe’s personality was different than Ali’s and Johnson, but who knows how he would have carried himself if he were not advised to be the opposite of Johnson. Louis had a special dignity to go with his powerful jab, short punches that carried KO power, speed of hand, and he was the greatest finisher of all time. He held the title for ten years, made 25 defenses, and donated his time and money to the war effort during WWII. That was something that he was thank by the government by them demanding taxes for money that he never saw. They hounded him for decades before he was “forgiven” the debt. He will forever be remembered for crushing Max Schmeling as Hitler was saying the Germans were superior to everyone else. He coined the phrase, “We’ll win because we’re on God’s Side.”

4-Larry Holmes: He was one of those unlucky champs who followed a great and highly visible champion in his case it was Ali (Ezzard Charles followed Louis, Patterson followed Marciano, and Tunney came after Dempsey). Make no mistake, he fought his career trying get out from under Ali’s long shadow, but Ali’s former sparring partner earned his place as one of the best. He beat the shell of Ali, but he also defeated Gerry Cooney, Earnie Shavers, and everyone else in his era among heavyweights. He too had great lateral movement, hand speed, a long, hard jab, and a powerful right.

5-Sonny Liston: If there was no Ali, there would have been a Sonny Liston. He would have dominated for years to come. He would have lasted until age beat him. Maybe the hardest puncher ever, he KOd Floyd Patterson in one round twice, Zora Folley, Cleveland Williams two times, Roy Harris, he outpointed Eddie Machen, and was feared by everyone. He was a bully who worked for bad guys but he was a killer in the ring.

6-George Foreman: George had two careers. His first started after winning Olympic gold in 1968. He was a brute slugger and power puncher like Liston, and like Liston he has a mean demeanor that frightened other heavyweights. In his second he reinvented himself in and out of the ring. He wore the cloak of jovial clown out of the ring and was suddenly a fine boxer in it. He became the oldest man to win the title proving, finally, that he was a great fighter.

7-Joe Frazier; Again it was Ali who stopped a fighter from controlling an era. Frazier was a destructive pincher who pressured his opponents into defeat. Only Foreman had the style to beat him. Joe was the best pressure heavyweight since Dempsey.

8-Jim Jeffries: A bull of a man who had an enormous punch. In his day he was thought of as unbeatable. When he fought Johnson he was six years out of the ring and 300 pounds when he began to train. He probably would not have ever beaten Johnson, but it was more because of styles than talent. Jeffries beat everyone else including ex champs Bob Fitzsimmons, and Jim Corbett.

9-Rocky Marciano: The “Hard Rock from Brockton” was the only retired undefeated heavyweight champion. He was small but hit like a Mack truck. He beat Ezzard Charles, Jersey Joe Walcott, Joe Louis, and Roland La Starza.

10-Jack Dempsey: Fast and powerful, he was one of the best pressure punchers ever. He crushed Jess Willard, Luis Firpo, and Georges Carpentier. He too got into the consciousness of the people. First liked, then hated for allegedly being a draft dodger, then beloved after becoming an actor, marrying a movie star and putting up a gallant effort to beat his nemeses, Gene Tunney.

HONORABLE MENTION

Ezzard Charles. Harry Wills, Sam Langford, Sam McVea, Joe Jeanette, Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, Gene Tunney, Evander Holyfield, Floyd Patterson.