Best Heavyweights Who Never Got a Title Shot

[Ambling Alp II]

Thought this might be interesting. Often fighters who never got a title shot are largely ignored and get less attention that guys who fought for the title and failed miserably.

Who were the best heavyweights who never got a shot at the championship or at least a major title?

Here are some names that I have come up with so far:
George Godfrey (Old Chocolate)
Frank Slavin
Peter Jackson
Joe Choynski
Joe Jeannette
Sam McVey
Sam Langford
Harry Wills
Gunboat Smith
Fred Fulton
George Godfrey
Ernie Schaaf
Johnny Risko
Elmer Ray
Jimmy Bivins
Rex Layne
Clarence Henry
Bob Baker
Nino Valdes
Bob Satterfield
Mike DeJohn
Eddie Machen
Bob Cleroux
Razor Ruddock
Tommy Morrison
Ray Mercer

There are some other guys who I thought about mentioning but was wondering if other people would mention them. I'm sure there are a few good ones that I am not thinking of either.
Thought this would be fun. If there is enough interest, I might set up a tournament. So anyway, lets see some names.

[Vladimir5555]

Morrisson and Mercer was a HW champions.

[pbchron]

MELIO BETTINA : after struggling to make the lt.heavy limit for a number of years, the short and stocky left hander moved comfortably into the heavyweight division and established himself as the number 1 contender. Even after serving in the war he continued as a top contender until 1947.
Look at his record, it compares favorably to Jimmy Bivins. Bettina took on all comers (black + white). Being a southpaw he was avoided by many prospective contenders and it was even suggested in some circles that Joe Louis management wanted no part of him because of his port side style. Among his heavyweight victims were : Bivins, Harry Bobo, Dorazio, Curtis Sheppard, Eddie Blunt, Red Burman, Lou Brooks, Booker Beckwith, Buddy Walker.

[Crease]

Rex Layne is a good shout. He was (and still is) a very underrated fighter./ But anyone who fought him spoke of how touch he was.

[Crease]

Jose Manuel Urtain could do with a mention. Apparently he was brilliant back in the day, but he suffered from a nervous disposition and he used to get very jittery and it caused him to choke sometimes.

[Bodyshot3]

Gary Mason is worth a bit of shout from the modern era....a good deal better than some of the guys landing title shots these days; but the Lewis fight and (I think) eye problems pretty much finished Gary's chances.

[Flump]

Jose Manuel Urtain could do with a mention. Apparently he was brilliant back in the day, but he suffered from a nervous disposition and he used to get very jittery and it caused him to choke sometimes.

Urtain's jitters used to manifest itself against people who hit him back. I don't think he ever particularly deserved a title shot.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Joey Maxim

[DaveyMac]

Harry Wills was by far the best. In my book he was easily a Top 10 All-Time HW and possibly top 5 and yet he never got a shot.

[Flump]

Certainly in my time it seems incredible that Ruddock, Mercer and Morrison never fought for a real version of the title.

[gilgamesh]

Joey Maxim

Maxim fought Ezzard Charles for the Heavyweight Championship didn't he?

[gilgamesh]

Razor Ruddock was on the list too. I'm pretty sure the Lennox Lewis vs Razor Ruddock bout was for the vacant WBC Championship back in 1992.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

He may have gil, I was just going off of memory. Morrison, Mercer & Ruddock all had shots. WBO was relevant enough at that point. If you're just asking for lineal title shots the list gets much longer.

[polecateddy]

Jose Manuel Urtain could do with a mention. Apparently he was brilliant back in the day, but he suffered from a nervous disposition and he used to get very jittery and it caused him to choke sometimes.

Urtain was just an awful weight-lifter heavy. But mind you, saying that, worse fighters got title shots in that era.

[polecateddy]

Razor Ruddock was on the list too. I'm pretty sure the Lennox Lewis vs Razor Ruddock bout was for the vacant WBC Championship back in 1992.

It must have been an eliminator or else why did Bowe dump the belt in the bin. Scaredy cat!

[Tuan_Jim]

Lewis/Ruddock was an eliminator. Ruddock never got a title shot, amazingly.

Now look at the crap Wlad K fights. Look at the series of second-tier WBA champs. Maddening.

[Ambling Alp II]

Just to clarify, Ruddock, Morrison, and Mercer didn't fight for a major title. Ruddock was promised a title shot if he beat Lewis, but it wasn't for a title even though Lewis was then given the title when Bowe got stripped.
In the early 1990s, (when Mercer and Morrison won the WBO title) the WBO had about the same stature as the IBO or WBU has now. (Almost none.) The WBO title gradually grew in significance. I guess you could count Mercer's title shot when he was way past it against W. Klitschko in 2002, but even that would be a stretch. It still certainly was not as highly regarded as the IBF, WBC, and WBA at the time.

Really didn't want this thread to go off on an alphabet soup tangent. It will be far more interesting if we talk about who didn't get a title shot in the long history of the sport. I think Urtain and Mason are interesting; I had not thought of them at all. Crease commented on my listing of Rex Layne. It is amazing that a guy who fought Walcott and Charles multiple times (beating each once) and Marciano never actually fought for the title.
Joe Choynski fought Corbett, Fitzsimmons, and Jeffries but never fought for the title either.

I'm sure there are some other interesting fighters that have not been mentioned.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Mercer/Morrison was a pretty big fight. Agreed the WBO was the lesser of the four, but by the time Tommy won it against Foreman it was regarded much higher than the WBU belt. Carbajal, Tapia, DelaHoya & Michalczewski all held the org's belts around that time.

[Crease]

Urtain was just an awful weight-lifter heavy. But mind you, saying that, worse fighters got title shots in that era.

I used to work with a girl from the Basque Country and her father was a sports colonists for one of the local papers and reportedly he was magnificent the night when he knocked out Peter Weiland... Then his victory over Juergen Blin cemented his status as the best European Heavyweight on the continent, it gave him superstar status in his home country.

[Sheila]

Roy 'Tiger' Williams

Yes, he lost a few he should have won. But he may have had the right stuff against Joe Frazier in 1972,
or George Foreman in 1973/1974, or Muhammad Ali in 1975/1976.

And Roy Williams against Kenny Norton would have been interesting, even in late-1977.

[Crease]

Another Heavyweight I'd mention is Sinan Samil Sam.

I'm actually quite surprised that he never received a shot at any of the four titles, considering that he shared the ring with Maskaev, Gomez and Oliver McCall.

Sam was brilliant the night that he stopped Danny Williams. I had been cheering Danny Williams on but I was impressed with the ruggedness of Sam. After that performance, I suspected that he could have went on and won a World Title somewhere down the line, but alas it was not to be for him.

Hopefully he won't be forgotten, he was good fighter and a tough, tough man.

[keithmoonhangover]

Just to clarify, Ruddock, Morrison, and Mercer didn't fight for a major title. Ruddock was promised a title shot if he beat Lewis, but it wasn't for a title even though Lewis was then given the title when Bowe got stripped.
In the early 1990s, (when Mercer and Morrison won the WBO title) the WBO had about the same stature as the IBO or WBU has now. (Almost none.) The WBO title gradually grew in significance. I guess you could count Mercer's title shot when he was way past it against W. Klitschko in 2002, but even that would be a stretch. It still certainly was not as highly regarded as the IBF, WBC, and WBA at the time.

Really didn't want this thread to go off on an alphabet soup tangent. It will be far more interesting if we talk about who didn't get a title shot in the long history of the sport. I think Urtain and Mason are interesting; I had not thought of them at all. Crease commented on my listing of Rex Layne. It is amazing that a guy who fought Walcott and Charles multiple times (beating each once) and Marciano never actually fought for the title.
Joe Choynski fought Corbett, Fitzsimmons, and Jeffries but never fought for the title either.

I'm sure there are some other interesting fighters that have not been mentioned.

Morrison fought Lewis. Was that not a title fight?

[Ambling Alp II]

It was just for the IBC title; not a major title. Lewis was "between" major titles at the time.

A few more that I have thought of: Peter Maher, Carl Morris, Larry Gains, and one of my favorite names; Turkey Thompson.

[Crease]

Maxim fought Ezzard Charles for the Heavyweight Championship didn't he?

Yeah, Charles defended against him when he was Heavyweight Champ.

[Crease]

Whilst thinking about Joe Maxim there, I got to thinking of one of his fellow compatriots, Jimmy Bivins. I don't remember Walcott, Louis or Charles defend the Heavyweight title against him.