5. Actually, considering his height and reach disadvantage compared to his opponents (he was5ft1012tall, and has the shortest reach in the heavyweight history only68), that was the best style for him. Sonny Liston: In the late 50s and early 60s Liston devastated the division with knockouts over Cleveland Williams, Nino Valdes, Roy Harris, Zora Folley and Eddie Machen, before taking the title from Floyd Patterson in 1962. Greatest of all time, Rocky Marciano. Holmes 8. I like him more now that he is HONEST about his career, his shortcomings. Holmes defeated famous boxers including Trevor Berbick, Tim Witherspoon, Leon Spinks, Ken Norton, Gerry Cooney, and even the legendary Muhammad Ali. Thats very similar to what Mike Tyson did when he was close to his opponents. The Rock from Brockton (his nickname) was one of the first boxers who developed this style of boxing. Tyson was a thicker, harder-hitting Joe Frazier. 10 Best Undefeated Boxers in the History Ranked. Top 12 All-Time Greatest Welterweight Fights, Top 12 All-Time Greatest Muhammad Ali Performances, Top 12 All-Time Greatest Heavyweight Punchers, Top 12 Reasons Why Muhammad Ali Is Forever The Greatest. (explanation), Can you Headlock in Boxing? Also, this is a ranking of the greatest boxers and not of the best ones. Top 50 fighters of 21st century named 50-31 50: Andy Ruiz 49: Ray Mercer 48: Frank Bruno 47: Jack Sharkey 46: Paddy Ryan 45: David Tua 44: Ron Lyle 43: Gerry Cooney 42: Michael Spinks 41: Roy. All a fighter can do is dominate their own era and prove their greatness in their own time. Tyson Furys second title defence a sixth-round knockout of Dillian Whyte followed his October trilogy rematch victory over Deontay Wilder and kicked off more discussion as to where he stands among the greatest heavyweights of all time. Harry Wills: Vastly underrated today, its easy to forget that for a time in the 1920s The Black Panther was the best heavyweight in the world, and there was great demand for a showdown with official world champ Jack Dempsey, but it never came to be. In 2005, Joe Louis was named the greatest heavyweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization. Ketchel had no business at heavyweight. Zurcher vs. Evans full card results. Cant overlook Holmes place in heavyweight history. Peak Big George demolished unbeaten Frazier inside two rounds, then did the same to tough Ken Norton. And as we know, the sport never stops toevolves so Joshua has an unfair advantage over Ali. Unarguably the divisions greatest comeback. Top 15 All-Time Greatest Heavyweight Boxers (Style Breakdown) - ShortBoxing Top 15 All-Time Greatest Heavyweight Boxers (Style Breakdown) Written by Dimitar Ivanov in Boxing facts Approx Reading Time: 23 minutes There are many different ways to define who is the greatest boxer. Both Louis and Ali have stated in their primes, Rocky probably would have beaten them. 5. The cartoon? Primo Carnera (1928-1946, 89-14-0): 111.2, 48. Power, toughness, and unsurpassed conditioning were Rockys calling-cards, along with a brutal relentlessness which no one in his era could withstand. Another thing: Joe Frazier and Rocky Marciano would be light heavyweights today. With respect you talk rubbish when you assert that a peak Tyson would obliterate a peak Lennox Lewis!!! The old man must have been a wild old rooster! He was poorly managed and handled. Haha he was falling all over the place, shaking his head like the little bitch that he was!! The technique was simple he leaned all his weight on his front foot before throwing the punch. He was the mad experiment of one of the greatest, if not the greatest, boxing minds ever in Cus Damato. DAZN uses cookies to help us deliver our services and improve your user experience. Antoni Nogueira is one of the most accomplished fighters in the history of the heavyweight division. They plant their feet so they can generate as much power as they possibly can. If only Cus would have lived ten more years I think Tyson would be top 5. Top 10 Greatest Heavyweight Boxers Of All Time 10 Mike Tyson 9 Lennox Lewis 8 Rocky Marciano 7 Joe Frazier 6 Evander Holyfield 5 Larry Holmes 4 George Foreman 3 Jack Dempsey 2 Joe Louis 1 Muhammad Ali Top 10 Greatest Heavyweight Boxers Of All Time 10 Mike Tyson Image Credit- ABC News Another boxings greatest robberies. Rocky Marciano (1947-1955, 49-0-0): 692.2, 2. If a new fan asked me what Johnsons best win was and why, Id have a hard time convincing them. Plus, hes the only heavyweight world champion to have finished his career undefeated. Larry Holmes: An awesome jab, a dangerous right hand, tremendous heart, and astonishing recuperative powers were among the attributes The Easton Assassin brought to the ring. Jon Jones doesn't believe Conor McGregor is one of the greatest UFC fighters of all time. Nikolay Valuev (1993-2009, 50-2-0): 233.4, 18. Tyson better than Holmes? The style he developed required goodhead movement and timing. Your email address will not be published. Holyfield, for example, beat Tyson twice. Your email address will not be published. Im Dimitar Ivanov. Tyson was not even the best of his era - Lost to Douglas, Holyfield TWICE, Lennox Lewis,Danny Williams and McBride.. Tyson NEVER beat anyone who beat him and Never came back when he was down in a fight . You can see that in his fights with Mike Tyson and his fight with Evander Holyfield where he was just pushing them back or pushing their heads down every time they closed the gap. And its hard to say that someone that has the highest knock out percentage and never lost isnt at least top two, or more likely number one. Sorry, if Holmes is on they should both be in the top 5. Click Agree to accept our use of cookies or you can choose to opt out of our use of cookies by following the instructions in our Privacy Policy and Cookie Notice. Lets set the record straight. Ken Norton. So he was a thought matchup for everyone. 17 Reasons why Jordan is greater than Lebron. Muhammad Ali is the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time according to major Sports publications like Sports Illustrated, NBCSports, BBC, and ESPN SportsCentury. Brawlers arent the most technical boxers, thats why they rely mostly on their power and their chin. There will be many famous names and some iconic fights, knockouts, and upsets. Jason Silva-USA TODAY Sports. Antonio Cervantes 69. Go back and watch the Norton fight, even just round 15 if you dont have the time. And he was able to use it really effectively. Johnson never granted a title shot to another African-American boxer - maintaining the odious colour bar during his six-year reign - but he was ahead of his time in the ring. This technique is risky and requires good speed. Liston 13. Rocky Marciano A staggering 49-0 record 43 of which by knockout and counting wins over the likes of Joe Louis, Ezzard Charles and Archie Moore, Marciano was among the most feared heavyweights of all time. He was 61 tall, but his reach was really impressive (84 in). Signature technique:Exit the clinch with an explosive lead hook. Signature technique:Lazy Jab -> Powerful cross to the head. 9. 11. His numbers speak for themselves: he got to 48-0 and 20 title defences before finally tasting defeat - controversially - to Michael Spinks when Holmes was closing in on his 36th birthday. Lennox has to be top five easy! His strategy basically was to jab his opponents from a distance where they cant reach him andoccasionally land some powerful straight rights. Usually, he did this when his opponents were pressed against the ropes. Langford was tiny when he fought Johnson. The Fight of the Century in March 1971, when he handed Muhammad Ali his first loss, was proof of that. Does tag team boxing have a future in the sport? After that, he finished the combo with a powerful lead hook to the head. Whether it was avenging his loss against Joe Frazier with two victories over his rival,taking the steam out of George Foreman at The Rumble in the Jungle or earning hard-fought wins over the rugged likes of Floyd Patterson and Ken Norton, Alis GOAT legacy resides on the heavyweight throne as the best. However, what really puts Ali number one all time is his quality of opposition. More, and better, accomplishments. 6. 'Bones' hasn't fought since picking up a controversial decision win over Dominick Reyes in . As did fights from the greatest of the greats, from Rocky Marciano and Muhammad Ali to Larry Holmes . Roy Jones Jr. Roy Jones Jr. is also one of the larger fighters on this list. In more recent times, Deontay Wilder and his 10 consecutive title defenses demonstrated his own feared punching power and greatness that shouldn't be overlooked, either. Didnt he get beaten by a fat man? Twenty-five consecutive title defenses more than imprinted Louis as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time. Ranking Explanation . 31 Ezzard Charles. 4. That way it was really hard for them to catch him. Apollo is hands down the greatest boxer in . 6. Signature technique: Jab->Left hook to the body->Left hook to the head. Boxing legends Rocky Marciano and Sonny Liston finished third and fourth respectively, with Lewis rounding off the top five. He ducked Shavers, Lyle and even an old Sonny Liston. He was constantly changing levels, bobbing and weaving, feinting and throwing body shots. On his first night as a . Except that he was a fighter who occasionally, frustratingly, came in unprepared and fought below his level. Henry Akinwande (1989-2008, 50-4-1): 126.7, 37. And they are similar in age so how can you talk about their primes? George Foreman: One of the hardest punchers in boxing history is revered both for his amazing power and his incredible comeback in the 1990s which culminated in his regaining the world title two decades after he lost it in the famous Rumble in the Jungle. His terrifying demolitions of Joe Frazier and Ken Norton, plus his legendary slugfest with Ron Lyle, will never be forgotten. Following in Alis footsteps, Holmes could be as cold as Ali was charismatic but he could fight. A former champion in PRIDE and the UFC, he had an extremely impressive run from 1996 to 2006, where he went 28-3-1. Rocky Marciano: With the highest knockout percentage of all heavyweight champions and boasting wins over such greats as Archie Moore, Jersey Joe Walcott, Joe Louis and Ezzard Charles, the undefeated Brockton Blockbuster proved himself a remarkable warrior. 1. After beating Wilder, Fury is widely regarded as the lineal heavyweight champion. And Archie Moore and Ezzard Charles. Even after his decisive stoppage defeats to Muhammad Ali, he remained a force in the division thanks to his brute strength, devastating jab, and KO power in either fist. Thats why many of his wins are on points (which wasnt highly appreciated by the fans, who want to see knockouts). 33 Ted (Kid) Lewis. Lennox was feinting a right cross to make his opponents lower their head to dodge the shot. Hence, Ali is considered the greatest. Any ranking also shouldnt be about which boxer beats which in some fantasy fight. Final record: 66-3, with 52 knockouts. Holmes was well old by then and took the fight with only a few weeks to train after a long lay off. Ali finished his career with a 56-5 record with 37 KOs.