Top 5 Light-Heavyweights of all time

[Grimm]

Top 5 welterweight listing was easy most people had the same 3 or 4 people on their list.

Out of curiosity I wanted to see what everyone's list would look like for this one.

Here's mine and I know I'll catch some heat for it but go ahead.

1. Michael Spinks
2. Ezzard Charles
3. Archie Moore
4. Gene Tunney
5. Harold Johnson

[SaadOffTheDeck]

1. Charles
2. Moore
3. Rosenbloom
4. Loughran
5. Tunney

The top 2 are the only ones that wouldn't change every couple of minutes. Lewis or Spinks could make their way into it at any given time.

[dempseyfire]

1) Ezzard Charles

2) Sam Langford

3) Archie Moore

4) Gene Tunney

5) Tommy Loughran

[Collins2000]

1) Ezzard Charles

2) Sam Langford

3) Archie Moore

4) Gene Tunney

5) Tommy Loughran

First off I though "No place for Michael Spinks?" but then you look at those blokes and you realise the depth at that weight.

[Ezzard]

1) Ezzard Charles
2) Archie Moore
3) Gene Tunney
4) Michael Spinks
5) Bob Foster

[BO Selecta]

Bob Foster hasn't got many mentions.

I've always rated him very highly, but maybe I overrate him; but on the other hand, there are no right or wrong answers in this situation.

[JC]

1) Ezzard Charles
2) Archie Moore
3) Gene Tunney
4) Michael Spinks
5) Bob Foster

I like this list

[Ezzard]

1. Charles
2. Moore
3. Rosenbloom
4. Loughran
5. Tunney

The top 2 are the only ones that wouldn't change every couple of minutes. Lewis or Spinks could make their way into it at any given time.

Saad

Considering your 3, 4 and 5 is Greb your number 6?

[Goodnight, Irene]

As I see it...

1. Tunney
2. Charles
3. Moore
4. Conn
5. Foster

[Crease]

I predicted the usual suspects for the top 5 Light Heavyweights...

You would expect this "elite" set of boxers to be included in this discussion:

Michael Spinks, Ezzard Charles, Archie Moore, Gene Tunney, Harold Johnson,
Sam Langford, Tommy Loughran, Bob Foster, Billy Conn, Harry Greb,

To me, the top 5 will vary from person-to-person...
But the important thing is that these names are the ones brought up.
Each has a good case at being up there... And these lads are the elite

Here is my top 10:
1. Archie Moore
2. Ezzard Charles
3. Gene Tunney
4. Michael Spinks
5. Harry Greb
6. Billy Conn
7. Sam Langford
8. Tommy Loughran
9. Bob Foster
10. Harold Johnson

[dempseyfire]

1) Ezzard Charles

2) Sam Langford

3) Archie Moore

4) Gene Tunney

5) Tommy Loughran

First off I though "No place for Michael Spinks?" but then you look at those blokes and you realise the depth at that weight.

Spinks would be either 6 or 7 for me.

Curious to see so many are rating Greb at 175 . . sure he had tons of fights at around 165ish and beat a slew of great 175lbers but to me it makes more sense to rank him as a middleweight, as that was the title he held and defended and the fact that he fought a slew of welters as well . . .

[Mr E]

In my humble opinion:

1-Gene Tunney
2-Ezzard Charles
3-Sam Langford
4-Michael Spinks
5-Archie Moore
6-Bob Fitzsimmons
7-Tommy Gibbons
8-Harry Greb
9-Tommy Loughran
10-Billy Conn
11-Jimmy Bivins
12-Harold Johnson
13-Kid Norfolk
14-Bob Foster
15-Dwight Muhammad Qawi

[Grimm]

I predicted the usual suspects for the top 5 Light Heavyweights...

You would expect this "elite" set of boxers to be included in this discussion:

Michael Spinks, Ezzard Charles, Archie Moore, Gene Tunney, Harold Johnson,
Sam Langford, Tommy Loughran, Bob Foster, Billy Conn, Harry Greb,

I agree with all of these except for Billy Conn.

I just do not see the greatness that everyone else does with Conn.

The reason Langford didn't make my list because I don't know what weight class to put him at he accomplished lot's in many weight classes .

The reason Greb didn't make it is because I rank him at middleweight.

[SFW]

1) Ezzard Charles
2) Archie Moore
3) Gene Tunney
4) Michael Spinks
5) Bob Foster

I like this list too, big Foster fan... Number one and two could easily switch though, It's the hardest decision not to say Moore isn't the top one.

[Sweet P]

Moore
Charles
Langford
Fitzsimmons
Tunney

The list is hard at this weight, with only Moore and Charles being a definent in my list, I could swap the other 3 with any number of fighters

[elmersalsa]

This is my list of the 5 top greatest light heavyweights of all-time:

1. Ezzard Charles
2. Archie Moore
3. Tommy Loughran
4. Michael Spinks
5. Bob Foster

[Adamj1987]

1 charles
2 moore
3 greb
4 langford
5 spinks

[BoxBuzz]

Hard to imagine a top 10 list without Rosenbloom. Read over his record. Only seen his name mentioned once.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Hard to imagine a top 10 list without Rosenbloom. Read over his record. Only seen his name mentioned once.

Under-rated. Cat fought absolutely anyone, anywhere, anytime 8)

[Ambling Alp]

1) Ezzard Charles
2) Archie Moore
3) Gene Tunney
4) Michael Spinks
5) Bob Foster

I like this list

I like this list as well. You could change the order, but those five are all very close.

[Grimm]

Hard to imagine a top 10 list without Rosenbloom. Read over his record. Only seen his name mentioned once.

Is he in your top 5?

[BoxBuzz]

Grimm, I haven't seen him fight, so I can only rate the fighters I've seen so no. But when I look at his record I'm impressed. Still based on records you'd think someone would. I guess he has one of the top ten records in the sport. But without seeing a single round of his work I can't commit. But many of us here compile there lists based on records. I just don't do it that way anymore. I've been persuaded by a some threads here to only weigh in on fighters I've seen.

[Grimm]

Grimm, I haven't seen him fight, so I can only rate the fighters I've seen so no. But when I look at his record I'm impressed. Still based on records you'd think someone would. I guess he has one of the top ten records in the sport. But without seeing a single round of his work I can't commit. But many of us here compile there lists based on records. I just don't do it that way anymore. I've been persuaded by a some threads here to only weigh in on fighters I've seen.

Just saying that's probably why you only see him mentioned one time.

Most people don't think he's top 5 material.

[Klee Gluckman]

Think Spinks makes the top 5. He was unbeaten at this weight and made several defenses in a quality light weight division in the 80's. I can't overlook the fact he was unbeated and was a big man for a light heavyweight. Without the Tyson fight in peoples mind he would make the top 5. Spinks was a winner. He was awkward did not always look good but he was a winner.

[granberry]

Spinks lost to Eddie Davis.

Davis bloodied Spinks up and beat the hell out of him.

It took crooked Larry Hazzard, this time as a 'judge,' to save Spinks' neck in that one.

That 'decision' stunk to high heavens.

And of course there was the Larry Hazzard special where Hazzard came up behind Vonzell Johnson and touched him and then shot away, so that Johnson who was safe in close quarters, thought the ref was breaking them

and stepped back right into Spinks' comfortable punching range where Spinks hit him and knocked him down

and Hazzard came running in with a grin on his face and stopped the fight.

Right on TV in the corner between rounds, Vonzell Johnson's cornerman Angelo Dundee said to Johnson, "If he hits you with another elbow, kick him."

Spinks specialized in following up a left hook with by snapping his elbow into your chin. He did the same with an uppercut.
His sparring partners showed me how he practiced that.
He landed a perfect elbow on Marvin Johnson.

Spinks could weigh 173 1/2 so his manager Butch Lewis had the scales set a pound and half heavy. Eddie Gregory then weighed well over the limit when he actually did weigh 175. He spent the day of their fight in a steam room. Notice that Gregory beat Spinks clearly in the first part of the fight and then ran out of gas.

For the second fight with Spinks, Gregory had a calibrated scale set up in his hotel room. I weighed him myself at Adrian Davis' gym several days before their 2nd scheduled fight and he weighed below 175.

At the weigh in of course the "scales" said Gregory weighed over 175. He knew that was horseshit and he refused to fight. The fight was cancelled.

Without Larry Hazzard there to help him, Butch Lewis there to pay off Hazzard and the other NJ officials and rig the scales, and the use of his elbows,
Spinks was a far cry from a 'great' lightheavyweight.