My list of the top five heavyweight boxers of all time

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The discussion centers on a ranking of the top five heavyweight boxers of all time, emphasizing career consistency against top opponents rather than peak performance. The list includes Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, Tyson Fury, Rocky Marciano, and Larry Holmes, with a focus on their records and title defenses. The author values boxers' performance in their primes, defining prime as under 30 years old, and expresses skepticism about Jack Johnson's ranking in historical lists due to his losses and the era he fought in. The conversation also touches on the merits of other boxers like Oleksandr Usyk and critiques the rankings from The Ring magazine. Overall, the thread invites feedback on the rankings and the criteria used for selection.
  • #31
Head to head, today's boxers would have the advantage of better training, diet, and size. Tyson Fury is a good boxer, but I don't think his resume earns him a top 5 spot.
 
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  • #32
woopydalan said:
I don't know I don't have a strong enough understanding of the history of the sport to say. But I believe Tyson Fury would probably beat Ali given that heavyweights are way larger today than they were back in the day.

First you wrote that Tyson Fury is overrated because he faced mediocre opponents, and you imply that Usyk is superior to Fury. Then you say that you think Tyson Fury would probably beat Muhammud Ali because heavyweights are way larger today than they were in Muhammad Ali's day. So I suppose you think that Usyk would probably beat Muhammad Ali as well; right?

You can just look at my top 5 list to see that I disagree with you. Muhammad Ali knocked out George Foreman in the 8th round of their bout in 1974. I think that 1974 George Foreman (25 years old and 6'4" and 220 pounds) was superior to anyone that Fury beat.
 
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  • #33
Mondayman said:
Head to head, today's boxers would have the advantage of better training, diet, and size. Tyson Fury is a good boxer, but I don't think his resume earns him a top 5 spot.

Yes. But on the other hand, there was a deeper pool of talent during Joe Louis' prime in the 1930s and 1940s because there was more competition back then.

Who would you put on the top 5 list instead of Tyson Fury?
 
  • #34
sevensages said:
First you wrote that Tyson Fury is overrated because he faced mediocre opponents, and you imply that Usyk is superior to Fury. Then you say that you think Tyson Fury would probably beat Muhammud Ali because heavyweights are way larger today than they were in Muhammad Ali's day. So I suppose you think that Usyk would probably beat Muhammad Ali as well; right?
That type of logic does not always apply in boxing since styles are a determinate: Just because Usyk beats Fury, And Fury beats Ali. Usyk does not necessarily beat Ali. There are examples of A beats B , B beats C . And C beats A
 
  • #35
morrobay said:
That type of logic does not always apply in boxing since styles are a determinate: Just because Usyk beats Fury, And Fury beats Ali. Usyk does not necessarily beat Ali. There are examples of A beats B , B beats C . And C beats A
Joe Frazier beat Muhammad Ali in their first match. Then George Foreman beat Joe Frazier. So a lot of people expected George Foreman to beat Muhammad Ali, but Muhammad Ali beat George Foreman.
 
  • #36
woopydalan said:
How can you say that Fury has had a more successful career than Usyk in terms of competitive accomplishments? He became lineal champion by defeating a 40 year old over-the-hill Wladimir Klitschko, who Anthony Joshua subsequently knocked out in Wlad's next fight and retired. Then Fury held lineal champion for all those years fighting WHO? Derek Chisora? He had a trilogy against Deontay Wilder who was considered a boogeyman at the time, but in retrospect had a padded record beating lesser competition. Joseph Parker and Zhilei Zhang exposed Deontay Wilder and diminishes the value of the wins by Tyson Fury. Fury ducked fighting Usyk and Anthony Joshua for YEARS to hold his WBC title. He STILL hasn't fought Anthony Joshua even though that is one of the biggest money fights to be made. He probably will now take that fight since AJ is shot psychologically as was seen last weekend against DuBois.

The TLDR to me about Tyson Fury is that he has carefully maneuvered his career to make it look better than it actually is.

Usyk became undisputed champion in both the cruiserweight division and heavyweight division. That alone cements him as a Hall of Famer. He's fighting guys while having major physical disadvantages because he is a smaller heavyweight, yet still winning.

My revised list of the top 5 heavyweight boxers of all time is the following:

1# Joe Louis

2# Muhammad Ali

3# Rocky Marciano

4# Larry Holmes

5# Lennox Lewis

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I predict that Mike Tyson will knock out Jake Paul in either the first or second round on Friday night.
 

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