Article on Greatest Heavyweight Champs

http://sports.espn.go.com/boxing/columns/kellerman_max/1380512.html


I can't say that I agree with all the conclusions, but this has to be the most thoroughly analyzed list of this type I've ever read.


FWIW[realizing that heavyweights are impossible to rate btwn era's due to size differences, etc.] here's my list:


1. Ali

1a. Holmes

2. Louis

3. Johnson


Underrated: Charles[perhaps the most underrated ATHLETE, let alone fighter, of all time]


Overrated: Marciano[taking nothing away from Rocky's unsurpassed stamina, will, & courage]


Note how Lennox Lewis[or Riddick Bowe] would likely kill[literally] a Joe Louis he has 6" & 70lb advantages over, yet can't hold a candle to him, pound-for-pound.

I think Louis would still beat Bowe and Lewis despite being shorter and lighter. Not only that, I also believe that he would be able to out jab either one.

How in the name of God could Joe Louis outjab an athletic[non-Primo Carnera] opponent who is six inches taller and has a 10-15 inch reach advantage?


Louis weighed sixty pounds of solid muscle less than Hasim Rahman, and had a much smaller bone structure. The punch that KO'd Rahman would've shattered the whole side of Louis' face, at least. Joe Frazier was shorter and only 25 pounds heavier than Bob Foster and look what happened there. I don't believe Foster ever lost to a light-heavyweight, but he lost to every heavyweight he ever fought, although he rocked both Frazier & Ali.


Plus, Foster, Frazier, & Ali were all from the same era. Jim Brown & Wilt Chamberlin would still dominate in the NFL & NBA today, but Louis v Lewis is a different story. What would Shaq & Kobe do to George Mikan & Bob Pettit? Doesn't take anything away at all from Mikan & Pettit's accomplishments. And Louis would eviscerate today's cruiserweights.


PLUS, Louis was a far superior overall fighter to Lewis & Bowe, to say nothing of the skill gap btwn Roy Jones & Buster Douglas. Remember how Jones' father reacted to that proposed matchup?

Lewis and Bowe really aren't that skillful. Louis's skill advantage would, somehow, still be enough to counteract the size and weight difference. He, afterall, killed a bull with his right straight punch which travelled less than a foot. I doubt Lewis and Bowe can do the same.


But unlike Louis, the skills of Marciano and Dempsey would not, however, be enough to overcome the weight and size disadvantages that they would have to face against Bowe and Lewis. Both boxers were cruiserweights. Pound for pound, well, that's a different story.

"Overrated: Marciano[taking nothing away from Rocky's unsurpassed stamina, will, & courage]"


One way of looking at Marciano is that he was the greatest cruiserweight ever. He fought in an era when few heavies were over 200lbs. He would be uncompetitive at that weightclass today but could rule the cruisers.