SONAHR: HALIFAX, Nova Scotia – February 1, 2015 – The middle of the second decade of the 21st century marks a time of transition in heavyweight boxing. The long dual reign of Ukrainian brothers Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko is coming to an end ? Vitali retired late in 2013, and by the end of this year, Wladimir may either be retired, or will have lost his title in the ring. The former is more likely than the latter.
So, it?s not too soon to re-evaluate the rankings of the heavyweight champions of the world from the present time to the advent of the Marquess of Queensberry Rules of the ring, dating back to around 1890. Of course, that?s way before my time, but my mother?s father celebrated his first birthday that year.
In compiling this all-time Top 10 list, I took three factors into consideration: the champion?s overall skill set, quality of his championship reign(s), and his social/historical significance. Social/historical significance can be either good or bad; it?s the fighter?s impact that counts. It?s hard to imagine now, but there was a time when heavyweight title bouts routinely made the front page of newspapers.
You will notice there are 12 people on this Top 10 list. The reason for that anomaly will become apparent as you read on.
1 Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis Other than the fact that both men are African American, it would be difficult to find two individuals who contrasted more. Yet I found it impossible to rank either over the other. Louis was humble, soft-spoken and a lethal, strictly orthodox, puncher. Ali was bombastic and overbearing, and his dancing, hands-down style was about as unorthodox in the ring as a heavyweight could get. Louis was one of the most beloved sports figures ever, and helped to unite white and black Americans at a time (the 1930s) when racism ran rampant. Ali was one of the most divisive personages, in or out of sports, of the 1960s, primarily because of his membership in the so-called Black Muslims, and his refusal to be drafted into the army during the Vietnam War. Thus, Ali was both loved and loathed. Both Louis and Ali deserve prominent places in the history books. I can?t choose between them. Maybe you can.
2 Jack Johnson It?s tempting to say that Johnson, who was the first black fighter to win the world heavyweight championship back in 1908, was just as divisive a figure as Ali. But that?s not so. Because of his ego (which was just as big as Ali?s) and his refusal to adhere to early 20th-century rules of racial decorum (he beat up white men and bedded white women), he was despised not only by most whites, but also more than a few of his fellow African Americans. But there was no denying his outstanding abilities, especially his near-impenetrable defense, which he developed to compensate for a somewhat shaky chin. He was a hedonist and an individualist ? a man before his time whose impact reverberated long after he lost his title in 1915.
3 Jack Dempsey With his aggressive, nearly-savage style in the ring and his hail-fellow-good-met personality outside the ropes, Dempsey perfectly symbolized his time ? the 1920s, an era of excess both socially and economically. Even though he made only five successful defenses of his title during a six-year reign, and was totally inactive during three of those years, he initiated the ?million-dollar gate? for some of those fights, and crowds flocked to see him perform his brand of mayhem. During his reign, he experienced mixed public esteem, primarily because of the impression that he avoided military service during World War I. After he lost his title to Gene Tunney in 1926, Dempsey?s popularity increased, and he will continue to be included on heavyweight all-time Top 10 list as this century continues.
4 Rocky Marciano As the only heavyweight champion to sport an undefeated record (49-0), Marciano was the greatest in the eyes of his supporters. His detractors counter that his best opponents (Joe Louis, Jersey Joe Walcott, and Ezzard Charles) were ?old men? who were way past their prime by the time he got to them during the early 1950s. But if Marciano hadn?t been around, Walcott and Charles might have continued to trade the title between them for several more years, and the over-the-hill Louis would have continued his unfortunate comeback, which ended when Marciano knocked him out. In terms of style, Marciano was little more than a pressure fighter with a powerful right-hand punch. But no one has ever squeezed more out of their ability than he did, and his record remains unbroken by fighters with far better skill sets.
5 Wladimir and Vitali Klitschko In this age of multiple alphabet ?world? titles, the Klitschko brothers have dominated the heavyweight division through the second half of the 2000s and the first half of the 2010s. Because they will not fight each other, they have to be considered as a tandem. Together, they redefined the style of ?fighting tall.? At 6?7? and 6?8? respectively, Wladimir and Vitali might seem more suited to basketball than to boxing. But they went into boxing at a young age, and developed skills that complemented their size and punching power. both To their credit, both brothers overcame early setbacks in their careers, and they cannot be accused of ducking deserving challengers. Still, ?boring? is the typical description their styles. But who would you rather be ?bored? by ? the Klitschkos or the likes of Tony Thompson, Sultan Ibragimov, John Ruiz and Nikolay Valuev? Time will add luster to the Klitschkos? legacy.
6 Larry Holmes As the successor to Muhammad Ali, Holmes had a hard row to hoe. In terms of style and personality, Holmes was no match for his predecessor. Add to that the fact that Holmes served his apprenticeship as Ali?s main sparring partner, it?s no wonder Larry?s seven-year reign over a divided division proved more bitter than sweet. Yet in terms of ability, Holmes brought a lot to the table. He possessed one of the best left jabs ever, and his right hand was almost as effective. Add that to the savvy he picked up during his time in the training camps of Ali and other top heavyweights on the 1970s, and you?ve got a fighter who would have been formidable in any era. A knock against Holmes was that he never unified the alphabet titles. But he did defeat fighters (Mike Weaver and Trevor Berbick) who went on to capture other versions of the crown and defeat some of the contenders and champions Holmes never fought, such as Greg Page, Gerrie Coetzee and Pinklon Thomas ? which suggests that Holmes could have also beaten those men.
7 Jim Jeffries As recently as the 1970s, Jeffries, whose reign lasted from 1899 to 1905, was routinely placed at or near the top of the all-time heavyweight rankings. With the passage of time, however, his legend has faded. If he?s remembered at all today, it is for his ill-fated comeback bout against Jack Johnson in 1910, after a five-year retirement ? a bout in which Jeffries suffered a humiliating defeat, the only one in his career. But in his time, he was considered an invincible giant, though at 6?2? and 210 to 220 lbs, he would be undersized by today?s heavyweight standards. The best men he fought during his prime ? Jim Corbett, Bob Fitzsimmons, Joe Choynski and Tom Sharkey ? were considerably smaller than he was. Like the Klitschkos, however, Jeffries was able to capitalize on his size advantage, which is why his reputation has endured from the 1890s to the 2010s.
8 Lennox Lewis A decade after his retirement as champion, Lewis is appreciated more today than he was in his heyday, which spanned most of the 1990s and the first few years of the 2000s. Slightly shorter (6?5?) than the Klitschkos, Lewis was their precursor in terms of big-man dominance. With a strong jab and a lethal right hand, Lewis was a bit reminiscent of Holmes, although he was a more powerful puncher than Larry ever was. Lewis?s weakness was his chin ? a flaw exposed in a pair of knockout defeats at the hands of Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman. But Lewis avenged both those losses, and you can?t ask for better than that.
9 Evander Holyfield Were it not for his two defeats of Mike Tyson in 1996 and 1997, chances are Holyfield would not be on this list. As an underdog in their first fight, which he won by knockout, Holyfield finished the dismantling of the myth of Tyson?s invincibility that was first punctured by Buster Douglas in 1990. In the rematch a desperate Tyson got himself disqualified by biting Holyfield?s ears. But in his other important title fights, Holyfield went 0-1-1 against Lewis, and 1-2 against Riddick Bowe. It can be argued that Evander fought on way too long, continuing until he was nearly 50 and losing to opponents he would have dominated during his prime. But as a relatively small heavyweight going up against modern giants (including the 7-foot, 300-pound Nikolay Valuev), he was as gutsy as they come.
10 Gene Tunney Like Holyfield, Tunney owes his reputation to a pair of victories over a more popular predecessor. In Tunney?s case, the foil was Jack Dempsey, whom Tunney outpointed twice in 10-round bouts in 1926 and 1927 (Yes, there were occasionally 10-round title bouts in those days, as well as 12-,15-, and 20-rounders). Yet other than the Dempsey bouts, Tunney?s heavyweight credentials are skimpy, as he simply did not fight very many contests above the light-heavyweight limit. After winning the heavyweight title from Dempsey, he defended it only twice, against Dempsey in a rematch and a New Zealander named Tom Heeney. But by beating a legend, Tunney became a legend in his own right. He retired as champion with only one defeat on his record ? a decision loss to Harry Greb at light-heavy.
Several outstanding heavyweight champions just missed making my list. Here they are, in alphabetical order, with the reasons why they didn?t make the cut:
Jim Corbett Corbett?s historical significance is considerable, as his defeat of John L. Sullivan in 1892 helped to solidify the transition from bareknuckle to gloved boxing. But Corbett?s record against other champs is 1-3, with all three losses coming by knockout. Not the greatest credentials to be the greatest.
George Foreman In the 1970s, the young Foreman was an awesome puncher who plowed over opponents like a tank crushing a bunch of pickup trucks. Twenty years later, at the age of 45, he remarkably regained the title he lost to Ali in 1974. But both of Foreman?s championship reigns were brief and undistinguished, which is why he didn?t make my Top 10.
Joe Frazier Smokin? Joe?s career highlight was his hard-fought 1971 victory over Ali in their first fight. On that night, Frazier was indeed one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. But two subsequent losses to Ali, and a pair of one-sided knockout defeats at the hands of Foreman, dimmed Frazier?s glow.
Sonny Liston Liston?s legacy will forever be tainted by his two strange stoppage losses to the young Ali. But from 1957 through his initial loss to Ali (then Cassius Clay) in February 1964, Sonny was the most dreaded ringman of his time. Back-to-back one-round knockouts of an intimidated Floyd Patterson in championship bouts in 1962 and 1963 cemented that fearsome reputation. If Ali never existed, Liston might have been considered ?The Greatest.?
Mike Tyson Probably the most tortured soul ever to have held the heavyweight title, Tyson possessed the potential to be at or near the top of the all-time rankings. At the tender age of 20, he won the WBC title with a combination of speed and power not seen since the days of Dempsey. But after unifying the fractured titles during the late 1980s, Tyson squandered his skills, and ended up losing to Douglas, Holyfield, and Lewis, as well as pair of non-entities in his last two bouts. But during his all-too-short prime, ?Iron Mike? Tyson was a marvel to behold.
Those are my picks. What are yours?
Charles R. Saunders is the author of several books including Sweat and Soul: The Saga of Black Boxers in the Maritimes from the Halifax Forum to Caesars Palace, as well as the Imaro series of fantasy/adventure novels. Considered by many to be one of the leading authorities on boxing in Canada, he is the current Vice-President of Boxing for the Society of North American Sports Historians and Researchers. His latest novel, Abengoni: First Calling, is available at Amazon.com.
