The Correct Answer
We're talking primes, right? By "prime", I assume the fighter's peak period.
1) The Ali who beat Cleveland Williams, Zora Foley, and Sonny Liston was the Greatest Ever. He would have beaten anybody in history.
2) The Joe Louis who beat Schmelling could have beaten anyone but Ali.
3) The Larry Holmes who beat Ken Norton and Shavers was a master boxer who could have outpointed any heavyweight other than the above two.
4) The George Foreman who beat Norton and Frazier in two rounds a piece. The most devastating puncher ever. He would have destroyed both Patterson and Johanson in one night.
5) The Liston who ko'd Patterson in the first round back to back was scary. Just a hair short of Foreman.
6) The Jack Johnson who toyed around with Burns, Jeffries, and Ketchel like they were his sparring partners. If he were more modern, he probably would rank higher. But he used a bare-knuckle stance that would not be appropriate against the more modern styles.
7) The Rocky Marciano who beat up Walcott, Charles, and Archie Moore. I would rank him much higher if he weren't so small. Definitely the greatest cruiserweight ever.
8) The Jack Dempsey that beat up Firpo could take any punch.
9) The Mike Tyson that united the heavyweight championship in the mid to late 80s against Berbick, Spinks, Pinklon Thomas, and Bonecrusher Smith.
10) The Chris Byrd who shutout Evander Holyfield 12 rounds out of 12 rounds was scientific boxing in action.
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