Back in 2008, one of the featured articles in The Ring magazine was a division-by-division analysis of “The Best Eras in Boxing History,” by British writer Gavin Evans. Evans’s pick for the heavyweights is best of times is the 1970s. Given that this was the era of Hall-of-Famers Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Larry Holmes and a strong supporting cast, that’s not surprising. According to Evans, no other era “involved that unique combination of great champions, outstanding contenders and great fights.”
I couldn’t agree more. The only eras that come close are the 1990s, with Lennox Lewis, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson and Riddick Bowe; and the 1910s, with the “Four Black Aces”: Jack Johnson, Sam Langford, Joe Jeannette and Sam McVey. The ’90s fall short because Tyson was declining and Bowe did not live up to expectations. And the game in the 1910s was so different that comparisons are problematic. They were still fighting “no-decision” 20-rounders back then. Today, no fight lasts longer than 12 rounds, and bouts that are declared “no-decision” are anomalies.
Presumably because he had to cover every division and was thus limited in space, Evans did not include Top 10 rankings for the eras he picked. What follows is my take on the 10 best heavyweights of the 1970s.
1. Muhammad Ali. Can there be any question? “The Greatest” was world champion from 1974 to 1978, and WBA title-holder from 1978 to 1979. He took on the best fighters of the best era, and won two out of three each against Frazier and Norton. He also scored a shocker when he upset Foreman in the “Rumble in the Jungle.” What’s really amazing about Ali’s dominance of the ’70s is that he was, at best, only about 75 per cent of what he had been during the 1960s, before a three-year layoff forced by his draft problems. Some people say Ali was given “gift decisions” while he was champion. But that only happened twice, when his skills had eroded. Norton was robbed in his 1976 title loss to Ali. Jimmy Young was a victim of a bad decision against Ali that year, too, but Young did himself no favors when he ducked between the ropes every time Ali got ineffectively aggressive. Nonetheless, the ’70s were the best of times – and Ali’s time.
2. George Foreman. If Foreman hadn’t fallen victim to Ali’s “rope-a-dope” strategy in 1974, he would have been the Number One heavyweight of the decade, and would have been compared with Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis and Rocky Marciano. As it is, Foreman deserves the Number Two spot because of his demolitions of Frazier and Norton – the two fighters who gave Ali more hell than all the rest of Ali’s opponents combined. But Foreman wiped the floor with them, which is why his loss to Ali was so shocking. What really cements Foreman’s greatness, though, is that he came back to win a heavyweight title 20 years after the Ali debacle. Imagine, if you can, one of the standouts of the 1950s coming back to win a title in the ’70s.
3. Joe Frazier. On March 8, 1971, Frazier, not Ali, was “The Greatest.” That was the night Frazier pounded out a 15-round decision over Ali in one of the most significant fights of the 20th century. “Smokin’ Joe” punctuated his victory by dropping Ali with a left hook in the 15th round. Frazier was at his peak then – but never again did he reach that level. His losses to Ali in their two subsequent encounters, and the two drubbings he suffered at the hands of Foreman, are the reasons Frazier comes third in this ranking. He almost beat Ali in their epic third encounter, the 1975 “Thrilla in Manila.” But Ali prevailed, and Frazier only had two fights after that – a KO loss to Foreman, and a draw against Jumbo Cummings. Frazier was only 5’11” and 205-to-210 pounds during his peak. But does anyone doubt he would have run a lot of today’s super-sized heavies right out of the ring?
4. Larry Holmes. The “Easton Assassin” was one of the two dominant heavyweights of the 1980s. The other was Mike Tyson. Holmes is on this list because the ’70s was the time he built the foundation for his future greatness. Two wins over power-punching Earnie Shavers and a close, hard-fought decision over Norton are Holmes’s primary ’70s credentials. Holmes never fought Frazier or Foreman, and his 1980 win over a badly faded Ali was a bittersweet triumph. But Holmes learned his craft in the training camps of Ali, Frazier and other top heavyweights of the time. Instead of acquiring a passive, sparring-partner’s mindset, Holmes developed the mentality of a champion. Holmes made a Foreman-like comeback in the 1990s, holding his own against the likes of Ray Mercer, Evander Holyfield and Oliver McCall.
5. Ken Norton. When Leon Spinks failed to honor a commitment to fight Norton after Spinks won the title from Ali, the WBC gave Norton its title as a reward for beating Jimmy Young in an elimination bout. Norton then lost to Holmes. Norton is best-remembered for his trilogy with Ali. Although Ken won only one of those fights, they were so close that he can make a good case for having won all three. His other big win of the decade was a knockout of Jerry Quarry. Knockout losses to Foreman and Shavers keep Norton from ranking higher on this list.
6. Jimmy Young. If Young were just a little more aggressive, and had a bit more pop in his punch, he would have been a champion. But his safety-first tactics cost him a win when he challenged Ali, and he couldn’t keep Norton away from him for 15 rounds. Young did score an upset decision over Foreman, but George didn’t have the title at the time. Young also beat fellow contender Ron Lyle twice, and held Shavers to a draw after getting knocked out in a previous bout with the power puncher. Young was basically a Chris Byrd prototype: good field, no hit. After the Norton disappointment, he apparently lost his desire and became a trial horse.
7. Jerry Quarry. Had the cruiserweight division begun 10 or 15 years earlier, Quarry would have ruled. He was on the downside in the ’70s, but he was still a top contender during the first half of the decade. He scored major wins over Lyle, Shavers and Mac Foster. But Quarry lost twice each to Frazier and Ali, and once to Norton – all by knockout. Those losses are what keep Quarry from ranking higher on this list.
8. Ron Lyle. This slugger is best remembered for his all-out war with Foreman in 1976. Both men hit the canvas, but Foreman ultimately prevailed in the fifth round. Lyle scored a kayo over Shavers and won a decision over Joe Bugner, but most of his victories came over Grade B opposition like Buster Mathis and Larry Middleton. Losses to Young, Quarry and Ali made Lyle an also-ran.
9. Earnie Shavers. So, why does the man acknowledged as the hardest single-shot hitter of all time rank only ninth on this list? Mainly because his chin and defense were several levels below his punching power. That power led him to him spectacular one-round victories over Norton and Jimmy Ellis, and a three-round blowout of Young. But his flaws led to losses to Holmes, Ali, Lyle and Quarry. If Shavers and Foreman had ever met, it would have been Armageddon in a boxing ring.
10. John Tate. At first glance, this might seem an odd pick. The most persistent image of Tate is of him lying face-down on the canvas after absorbing a “Hail-Mary” left hook from Mike Weaver in a 1980 WBA title bout. But in 1979, many experts considered Tate the future of the division. He was young, undefeated, and had beaten two South African threats: Kallie Knoetze and Gerrie Coetzee. He was even considered to stand a good chance of beating Holmes in a proposed unification bout. Then along came Weaver.
HONORABLE MENTION
Some of the ’70s fighters who didn’t make the Top-10 cut, but still deserve recognition include:
Leon Spinks, because of his 1978 upset of Ali, and the roller-coaster ride of his short time in the limelight.
Joe Bugner, who was the only fighter to go the distance against both Ali and Frazier, albeit in losing causes.
Jimmy Ellis, a former WBA champ who fought in the shadow of Ali and Frazier, but acted as something of a gatekeeper in the ’70s.
Floyd Patterson, an aging ex-champion who was still a ranked contender when his career ended in 1972.
Gerrie Coetzee, because of his one-round annihilation of Spinks and subsequent close decision loss to Weaver. Coetzee would go on to win the WBA title in 1983.
Mike Weaver, a journeyman who stepped up to nearly beat Holmes for the WBC title in 1979 before taking the WBA crown from Tate a year later.
Chuck Wepner, whose losing effort against Ali in 1975 inspired Sylvester Stallone to write the script for the frist “Rocky” movie.
