Prior to the bout, Vitali Klitschko said of his brother, “If Wladimir wins, it’s a huge celebration. If Wladimir loses, it’s the time to think about stopping and not fighting anymore.”
Let’s hope that Joshua-Klitschko was a retirement party for Wladimir with a multimillion-dollar payday instead of a gold watch as the sendoff.
Meanwhile, boxing is flourishing in England.
“British boxing is booming at the minute,” Joshua said shortly before Joshua-Klitschko. “People said, ‘You have to go to America to be respected.’ Not anymore. You come here. You come and fight us. It’s amazing how the tables have turned.”
Further to that point; Joshua-Klitschko served as a reminder of how important venue and crowd can be in energizing the sweet science. The much-publicized fact that ninety thousand fans attended the fight contributed enormously to spreading the buzz far beyond London.
The boxing world is just starting to know Anthony Joshua. He’s a talented, immensely likable young man who has been a winner throughout his time in the spotlight and would be an excellent standard-bearer for the sweet science.
Gareth A. Davies recently wrote, “There is no more watchable, marketable, or important heavyweight in the world right now.”
And that was before Joshua beat Klitschko.
Ranking Boxing’s Greatest Heavyweight Champions
Lennox Lewis once told me, “When I was boxing, I stayed away from thinking about fighters from other eras. But I’d have to say—if I could have fought all the great heavyweights—the greatest challenges for me as I see it would have been Muhammad Ali, George Foreman, Jack Johnson, and Larry Holmes.”
In the past, I’ve overseen fantasy round-robin tournaments in various weight divisions that matched great fighters from different eras against each other with the results of each fight being predicted by a panel of boxing-industry experts.
The heavyweight division doesn’t lend itself to this format. The size differential between fighters from different eras is too great. To draw an analogy to another sport, some of pro football’s greatest linemen from the past weighed 240 pounds. They’d be thrown around like rag dolls today. But they were great.
Also, previous polls in this series were limited to fighters from boxing’s modern age (roughly 1940 to date). That’s because there isn’t enough film footage of fighters from earlier eras to properly evaluate how they’d perform against one another and also because boxing technique has evolved considerably since the days of Joe Gans.
To offer another analogy: Babe Ruth is widely regarded as the greatest baseball player who ever lived and, with the possible exception of Ted Williams, baseball’s greatest hitter. But if Ruth had been forced to contend with sliders, cutters, screwballs, forkballs, two-seam fastballs, four-seam fastballs, and the like, he might have been less dominant.
This heavyweight poll has different criteria from previous exercises. Rather than match champions against each other in a round-robin tournament, the electors were asked to rank them in order of greatness. This is more than who would have beaten whom. Other considerations are involved.
The poll evaluated twenty champions dating back to the dawn of gloved heavyweight championship fights. The fighters, listed chronologically, are John L. Sullivan, James Corbett, Bob Fitzsimmons, James Jeffries, Jack Johnson, Jack Dempsey, Gene Tunney, Joe Louis, Rocky Marciano, Sonny Liston, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Larry Holmes, Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield, Riddick Bowe, Lennox Lewis, Vitali Klitschko, and Wladimir Klitschko.
“Great” is a hard word to define, and “greatness” is subjective. It was up to each panelist to quantify greatness.
A fighter’s skill level is important. But so, too, is that fighter’s skill level within the context of his times.
How great was each fighter within his era? Was he the best of his era? Dominant in his era? How many other great heavyweights fought in his era? Great rivalries make great fighters. Did he fight the other great heavyweights of his time? Which elite fighters who were in their prime did he beat? One fight can go a long way toward defining a fighter’s legacy.
A great fighter needs great competition. That doesn’t necessarily translate into a pristine record.
There was an inclination on the part of the panelists to make pound-for-pound comparisons, thereby elevating fighters like Jack Dempsey and Rocky Marciano above today’s much larger champions.
Some fighters were more feared than others. Opponents went into the ring against Joe Louis, Sonny Liston, and Mike Tyson in their prime fearing for their lives.
And the panelists factored in toughness. Some of the fighters on this list had a bit of quit in them. In the eyes of several electors, that was where Mike Tyson came up short.
And then there are fighters like Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Larry Holmes, Evander Holyfield, and Rocky Marciano. “You could have shot those guys ten times with a gun,” posits one panelist, “and they still wouldn’t have quit.”
In weighing greatness, the electors also considered intangibles and how important the heavyweight championship of the world was once upon a time.
Heavyweight champions have resonated in the culture. In that regard, Lennox Lewis (one of the panelists and also one of the champions being evaluated) observes, “A champion’s contribution to the sport is more than how great a fighter he was. It’s also about what he did outside the ring and what we’re left remembering about him.”
Each generation wants its own great heavyweight champion. Some generations have him. Some don’t. How important was a fighter in his era? What impact did he have on his time?
To what extent does the mythology that enshrouds a fighter factor into his greatness?
Mike Tyson foreshadowed today’s social media world, where fame often counts for more than character. Thirty years after Tyson ascended to the heavyweight throne, a Google search for “Mike Tyson” reveals 9,760,000 results. A similar search for Joe Louis turns up 426,000. For some electors, the magnitude of a fighter’s fame was worthy of consideration. For others, it wasn’t.
For some, character mattered. But one panelist opined, “For what we’re doing now, I don’t care that Joe Louis was a better citizen than Sonny Liston.”
In sum, the criteria diverged significantly from elector to elector. But lurking in the back of many minds was the question: “Which of these fighters took boxing to a new level in terms of skills, societal importance, or both?”
There were thirty panelists.
Trainers: Teddy Atlas, Pat Burns, Virgil Hunter, and Don Turner
Matchmakers: Eric Bottjer, Don Chargin, Don Elbaum, Bobby Goodman, Ron Katz, Mike Marchionte, Russell Peltz, and Bruce Trampler
Media: Al Bernstein, Ron Borges, Gareth A. Davies, Norm Frauenheim, Jerry Izenberg, Harold Lederman, Paulie Malignaggi, Dan Rafael, and Michael Rosenthal
Historians: Craig Hamilton, Steve Lott, Don McRae, Bob Mee, Clay Moyle, Adam Pollack, and Randy Roberts
Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson also participated in the poll. Neither fighter ranked himself. Instead, a weighted average from the other panelists was assigned to their respective slots on their ballots.
Several electors didn’t feel comfortable rating John L. Sullivan, James Corbett, Bob Fitzsimmons, James Jeffries, or Jack Johnson because there’s virtually no film footage of Johnson in action and none of the other four. Once again, a weighted average of the rankings from the other electors was used to fill the void.
One elector stated a preference for replacing Vitali Klitschko and Bob Fitzsimmons on his list with Max Schmeling and Sam Langford. Klitschko and Fitzsimmons were assigned a position behind the other eighteen fighters on his ballot.
A weighted average was also employed for Steve Lott with regard to Mike Tyson because of their friendship and close working relationship during the glory years of Tyson’s career.
In previous polls (which used the who-beats-whom formula), most electors were confident in the choices. This time, a repeated refrain was, “I co
uld do this again tomorrow and, except for the top few guys on my list, I might have a different order.”
But in the end, a consensus emerged.
If one of the fighters had been ranked first on all thirty ballots, he would have had a perfect score of thirty. If a fighter was ranked number twenty on each ballot, his score would have been six hundred. Muhammad Ali’s score was forty-six, which, when divided by the thirty electors, equaled a 1.53 “power ranking.” That put Ali in first place.
The final rankings are:
Some of the finishes were by a razor-thin margin. In one instance, there was no margin at all. Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield tied for eleventh place with 328 points each.
Jack Dempsey (#6) barely edged out George Foreman (#7) by four points.
Joe Frazier (#8), Mike Tyson (#9), and Sonny Liston (#10) finished in that order separated by a total of twelve points. If the electors were asked to vote again, the order of these three might be different.
The same is true of Wladimir Klitschko (#16), Vitali Klitschko (#17), and James Corbett (#18), who were also separated by twelve points.
Nineteen of the thirty electors ranked Ali first. Nine chose Joe Louis. Two voted for Jack Johnson. Fourteen of the nineteen electors who ranked Ali first ranked Louis second. Seven of the nine electors who ranked Louis first ranked Ali second.
One elector ranked Ali as low as fourth. One ranked Louis fifth.
As illustrated by the chart below, Ali and Joe Louis tied for first place in the ranking by trainers. Ali finished alone in first place in the rankings by media, matchmakers, and historians. Louis finished second in these latter three categories. Johnson finished in third place in the minds of the media and historians. Marciano finished third among the trainers. Foreman finished third among the matchmakers.
In some instances, the panelists offered commentary with regard to their rankings. We’ll come back to Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis later. A composite of comments with regard to the other fighters follows.
#3. Jack Johnson
Jack Johnson was ahead of his time in so many ways. He had advanced skills for his era. Impeccable defense. Underrated offense (he carried many opponents). He was the first heavyweight in history to truly master boxing.
Despite being black, Johnson refused to meet the best black contenders while he was champion. There was no interest from the American public in two black men fighting for the heavyweight title. But he’d already beaten most of these men on his rise to the championship.
What fighter today would get in the ring in front of tens of thousands of people who hated his guts and literally wanted to kill him and talk trash to the guy he was fighting and beat him?
Jack Johnson was the father. He was black America’s first black hero.
#4. Rocky Marciano
Nobody ever got more out of what he had as a fighter than Marciano. No one came into a fight in better shape than Marciano. He could punch. He could take a punch. He learned some rudimentary techniques to accentuate his physical gifts and compensate for his limitations. He was relentless and had a will of iron.
Consider the competition that Marciano beat. Walcott and Charles are derided now as old men when he fought them. But watch the film. They were great fighters who were nowhere near shot. Charles was thirty-two years old in the first Marciano fight. Walcott was thirty-seven, but he out-boxed Marciano for most of their first match. Carmine Vingo, Rex Layne, Roland LaStarza; Marciano beat real fighters on his way up. He did lose (Ted Lowry was robbed in their first match). But when his character was tested, nobody was better. I loved his response when someone asked him what he was thinking when Walcott knocked him down in their first fight: “Gee, this fellow hits hard. I might have to get up a couple of times before I knock him out.”
Marciano wouldn’t be rated as high as he is without his “O.” But he has the “O,” and none of the other fighters on this list do. He’d be too small for guys like Ali and Foreman. But he took a better punch and was tougher than all of them.
#5. Larry Holmes
Holmes did what he had to do to win. Getting off the floor the way he did against Earnie Shavers and Renaldo Snipes, coming back and knocking those guys out; that showed a special kind of greatness.
What a jab! Larry Holmes could knock you out with his jab.
#6. Jack Dempsey
The Dempsey who fought Jess Willard was a stone-cold killer. He learned his craft and perfected his style over years of fighting. He wanted to end fights as quickly as possible. And his power was no myth. He changed the way guys fought.
Dempsey and Babe Ruth were America’s two most important sports figures in the “Roaring Twenties” when sports became an integral part of the culture. He was wildly popular. He brought a whole new audience to boxing. In a golden age of sports, he made boxing popular and respectable.
#7. George Foreman
A lot of people who are serious about boxing think George Foreman is one of the most underrated fighters ever. He fought his share of soft opponents. But he’s also one of the toughest men to ever box (watch the Lyle and Moorer fights). He’s one of the hardest hitters ever. And after being heavyweight champion, he came back more than a decade later to do it again.
Foreman was a much better boxer the second time around. He was older and slower, but he’d learned to study his opponents and take advantage of what he saw.
Ali fought Joe Frazier three times and Ken Norton three times. He didn’t mess with Foreman again after he beat him.
#8. Joe Frazier
On March 8, 1971, Joe Frazier could have competed with anybody.
Frazier, like Marciano, was pure fighter. But he lost some of his desire before he retired. And when your biggest asset is desire, that’s not good.
Did some of Ali’s greatness rub off on Joe? Absolutely. And some of Joe’s greatness rubbed off on Ali.
#9. Mike Tyson
Tyson was the legitimate heavyweight champion of the world for more than three years. That’s a long time in boxing. And he has captivated the public’s imagination for three decades.
Mike Tyson is looked at now as a bully who folded when things got tough. But Tyson in his prime would have been competitive against anyone.
Tyson was the greatest six-round heavyweight of all time. But if he couldn’t take an opponent out in six rounds, he started to fall apart.
When Mike Tyson got discouraged, he wasn’t the same fighter. Joe Louis would have discouraged Tyson real fast. A lot of guys on this list would have discouraged Tyson real fast.
#10. Sonny Liston
Sonny Liston was the best heavyweight in the world for five years. His left hand—jab and hook—was beyond frightening. If he’d been allowed to fight for the championship when he deserved it, all those fights against Cleveland Williams, Eddie Machen, and Zora Folley would have been successful title defenses.
If Cassius Clay hadn’t come along, Liston would have had more time at the top.
Sonny Liston was the baddest man on the planet. Compared to Liston, Mike Tyson was a choirboy.
#11. (tie) Lennox Lewis
Olympic champion. A giant who fought with finesse. He beat every available contender. He came back to beat the only two fighters who beat him in the pros. And this myth that Lennox had no chin. He got up from that bomb McCall hit him with, and I still think the fight was stopped prematurely. The punch Rahman hit him with in South Africa would have KO’d anyone, and there was the issue of altitude in South Africa. Lewis corrected things with Rahman in the rematch.
Lennox carried himself with dignity and grace for his entire career. That should count for something.
#11. (tie) Evander Holyfield
Holyfield, like Ali, fought everyone. He beat four other guys on this list: Tyson, Bowe, Holmes, and Foreman. Except for Bowe, they weren’t in their prime when Evander beat them, but that’s still an impressive accomplishment.
Holyfield was bigger than Dempsey and Marciano, but he couldn’t punch like them. And when
you’re fighting, punching means a whole lot.
#13. Gene Tunney
Tunney is another fighter who learned his craft well over years. A better version of Corbett. But Tunney never fought a black man. He was the only heavyweight champion after Sullivan without a man of color on his record.
Tunney caught Dempsey at the end of Dempsey’s career and after Dempsey had been out of the ring for three years. He was able to play the matador to an aging Jack Dempsey’s bull. I doubt that he could have done that against Marciano. Marciano would have beaten Tunney down. In fact, a young Dempsey might have beaten Tunney down.
#14. John L. Sullivan
Sullivan was America’s first mass-culture hero and the most idolized athlete who had lived up until his time. He stood out as a fighter the way Joe Louis did in his era.
Sullivan fought for thirteen years, the last ten of which he was a full-blown alcoholic. Drinking nearly killed him in 1888, yet he whipped the next-best (white) man a year later in a bare-knuckle match that lasted more than two hours. It took Corbett twenty-one modern rounds to stop Sullivan when Sullivan was thirty-four years old, had been inactive for three years, and was drinking constantly. This to me is mind-boggling and tells me that Sullivan, in his prime, would have whipped Corbett.
#15. James Jeffries
Jeffries was a superior athlete who won the heavyweight championship as a virtual novice. That’s quite an accomplishment.
Forget about Johnson-Jeffries as a measure of Jeffries as a fighter. It was enormously important as a social event. But as a fight, it was like Ali–Holmes. One guy was a once-great fighter who was shot. The other guy was a great fighter in his prime.
#16. Wladimir Klitschko
We can’t be too American-centric. Boxing is a world sport.
The Klitschkos are two big, well-conditioned guys fighting in an era when the best big guys are going into sports other than boxing.
Give Wladimir credit for staying the course.
Wladimir never seemed to have his heart in it.
Protect Yourself at All Times Page 7