The best HW you have ever seen ?

[ValMar]

This could be a little bit strange, but I have not any dilemma - Teofilo Stevenson.
What about you ?
Fidel Castro had changed the history of boxing, forbiding Cubans to compete at pro-boxing. Sad, really sad !

[Loki]

Live. Lennox (v Bruno) and Vitali (v Johnson). I was really taken aback on how quick they both were in the flesh for giants.

But, never saw Tyson, Holyfield, Holmes or Bowe.

Lucky enough to see Wlad (twice), Fury and AJ.

[Onetimeonly]

Ali was past it when I started. Gotta go Holmes followed closely by evander.

[Syntax Error]

This could be a little bit strange, but I have not any dilemma - Teofilo Stevenson.
What about you ?
Fidel Castro had changed the history of boxing, forbiding Cubans to compete at pro-boxing. Sad, really sad !

Do you mean live or during our lifetime?

[Loki]

This could be a little bit strange, but I have not any dilemma - Teofilo Stevenson.
What about you ?
Fidel Castro had changed the history of boxing, forbiding Cubans to compete at pro-boxing. Sad, really sad !

Do you mean live or during our lifetime?

I’ve changed it to ‘live’ as it’s easy otherwise. Ali or Joe Louis.

[Onetimeonly]

This could be a little bit strange, but I have not any dilemma - Teofilo Stevenson.
What about you ?
Fidel Castro had changed the history of boxing, forbiding Cubans to compete at pro-boxing. Sad, really sad !

Do you mean live or during our lifetime?

I’ve changed it to ‘live’ as it’s easy otherwise. Ali or Joe Louis.

[Syntax Error]

Live, it's Lennox Lewis.

I was a student living in London in the early 1990s & I saw a good few of Lewis's fights live, up to & including the Ruddock fight.

[tiny_acres]

Larry Holmes was the most complete heavyweight champion ever.

[SenorPipino]

Gee, if "live" is the criteria, then the best heavyweight I've ever seen is probably Pedro Lovell.

[tiny_acres]

Gee, if "live" is the criteria, then the best heavyweight I've ever seen is probably Pedro Lovell.

Damn such a sheltered life

[SenorPipino]

Gee, if "live" is the criteria, then the best heavyweight I've ever seen is probably Pedro Lovell.

Damn such a sheltered life

I live in Los Angeles, so in my lifetime not many outstanding heavyweights have appeared in a city that prefers watching smaller, action packed Latino fighters.

Ali-Norton 2 took place in L.A. but I was a kid and ticket prices were out of reach.

Wilder-Fury took place in L.A., but I was adult and ticket prices were out of reach.

So it appears I'll simply have to cherish my in-person memories of seeing Lovell drub Terry Krueger in one round and doing the same against a very faded Billy Daniels.

But that Daniels bout was the closest thing you'll ever see to a fighter taking an unquestionable, quick dive.

Phantom punch? There was never a punch even thrown. Disappointing.

There's a price to pay for being so sheltered

[paddy chavez]

Live razor ruddock ,I see Lennox Lewis win the European title but it wasn't a great performance

[Onetimeonly]

Live is definitely holy field.

[Ilya Muromets]

The best HW you have ever seen ?


Vitali Klitschko

[tiny_acres]

Gee, if "live" is the criteria, then the best heavyweight I've ever seen is probably Pedro Lovell.

Damn such a sheltered life

I live in Los Angeles, so in my lifetime not many outstanding heavyweights have appeared in a city that prefers watching smaller, action packed Latino fighters.

Ali-Norton 2 took place in L.A. but I was a kid and ticket prices were out of reach.

Wilder-Fury took place in L.A., but I was adult and ticket prices were out of reach.

So it appears I'll simply have to cherish my in-person memories of seeing Lovell drub Terry Krueger in one round and doing the same against a very faded Billy Daniels.

But that Daniels bout was the closest thing you'll ever see to a fighter taking an unquestionable, quick dive.

Phantom punch? There was never a punch even thrown. Disappointing.

There's a price to pay for being so sheltered

[Loki]

Gee, if "live" is the criteria, then the best heavyweight I've ever seen is probably Pedro Lovell.

Damn such a sheltered life

I live in Los Angeles, so in my lifetime not many outstanding heavyweights have appeared in a city that prefers watching smaller, action packed Latino fighters.

Ali-Norton 2 took place in L.A. but I was a kid and ticket prices were out of reach.

Wilder-Fury took place in L.A., but I was adult and ticket prices were out of reach.

So it appears I'll simply have to cherish my in-person memories of seeing Lovell drub Terry Krueger in one round and doing the same against a very faded Billy Daniels.

But that Daniels bout was the closest thing you'll ever see to a fighter taking an unquestionable, quick dive.

Phantom punch? There was never a punch even thrown. Disappointing.

There's a price to pay for being so sheltered

LA isn’t the greatest location for HW fights. Gutted I’ve a) not been there and b) missed Lewis v Vitali, which was the last great HW fight before AJ/Wlad. Fury/Wilder was good, but not a classic.

[KiwiRider]

Gee, if "live" is the criteria, then the best heavyweight I've ever seen is probably Pedro Lovell.

Yeah "live" for me trims it down a bit. Quite a lot actually.
In order of percieved talent, live, David Tua, Joseph Parker, Shane Cameron, and a long way back, still on the dressing room, Junior Fa
I should travel more

[jorrell1.203]

Live Ali v Brian London at Earls Court in 1966. Not much of a fight and if you blinked you missed it. However Ali at the very height of his power was truly awesome. He never stopped dancing despatching London in a lightning flurry.

It is good to know the 'Blackpool Rock' in still around.

[SenorPipino]

Live Ali v Brian London at Earls Court in 1966. Not much of a fight and if you blinked you missed it. However Ali at the very height of his power was truly awesome. He never stopped dancing despatching London in a lightning flurry.

It is good to know the 'Blackpool Rock' in still around.

Congrats. Seeing Ali-London in person is pretty close to witnessing mythic stuff.

That 11 punch combo Ali threw in about 3 seconds to end the bout is something I'll never forgot.

London probably still remembers too.

[Tony1244]

Live: Foreman vs Dino Dennis and Ken Norton vs Jerry Quarry. Saw Witherspoon vs Tubbs, but that was really boring.

TV: Ali Bomeye !

[JMac]

I have seen quit a few or met quit a few over the years. Going back to '77 when I first started boxing at Joe Fraziers gym, I watched Jimmy Young train for the George Forman fight. I would see Joe train including sparring from time to time. The gym was kind of a mecca for gyms at the time so it was full of great boxers in all weight classes. Both Spinks brothers moved to Philly after the '76 Olympics to train there. Good amateur heavyweights included Marvin Stinson and Marvis Frazier. Hell Meldrick Taylor was just around 12 years old then training with his brother Eldrick. I met Larry Holmes several times at amateur boxing shows.
I was at the fight where Tommy Morrison got whooped by Lennox Lewis and Mike Tyson KO'ing Michael Spinks. I got to slap box Muhammed Ali for like 10-15 seconds at an event he was being honored. I got a picture with Tim Witherspon sitting with a former opponent Buster Drayton at a amateur banquet in Philly. I sat across from Teofilo Stevenson at a banquet in Baku after the world cup tournament. I got a picture with Felix Savon at the world championships in Belfast. Frank Bruno walked up and shook my hand in London as the US team was walking into the Hilton hotel to box the English team in a dual. Jeff Lacy was on that team. I met Holyfield many times at US national tournaments. I was part of the US '08 Olympic team as a R/J so I traveled several times with Deonte Wilder. I got pictures with Tyson Fury and one with his crazy father at the U-19 worlds in Morocco. I was coaching boxers at an amateur tournament that Riddick Bowe fought in. There were two rings going and every time Bowe fought, everybody would run over to that ring to watch him.
At the closing ceremonies of the '08 Olympics I met Vitali Klitsko. He just happened to walk by me as I was standing with several boxing officials from different countries so we got pictures with him.
I've been around the sport for a long time. I never realized how many greats I've met until now.

[Loki]

This is turning into a really good thread. Some real experiences here. Gutted I missed Ali, Tyson, Foreman and Holyfield live.

[BroughtonRulesRefuge]

- Ali.

I was just a kid and he an adult acting like a kid, so of course he had us mesmerized.

But then I've never seen that many fighters live much less top shelf heavies. I could add Joe Frazier, but he was all business as opposed to Ali clowning us, so no surprise later on Joe whooped the clown show off Ali when push came to shove.

[Jacopodb]

I got a special thing for Lennox Lewis... IMHO he's widely underrated: such a responsible fighter, with such a strong will, solid work-ethics, and unquestionable natural makings, cannot be bypassed so easily.

He belongs in that paradoxical category of fighters that are underrated due to not having fought in the most competitive era of their respective weight-classes: there are champions who benefit from that (Anthony Joshua and GGG above all), becoming tremendously overhyped, and fighters that have just not been able to fight on equal terms with huge names, because they simply weren't there at the right time (that's the case of Marciano, Calzaghe, and arguably Floyd Mayweather Jr.), therefore ending up to be underrated, obviously, as written already.

His record is more than respectable, with only two (avenged) losses testifying his winning mentality, and considering the fact that he has been an outstanding amateur, without taking anything from the Olympic fascinating glory, turning pro at the not-so-early age of 24, (technically a very bad choice, in my view, considering Lewis' means), we could say that, summing up both his amateur and professional achievements, he's really something special.

Technically, he was less flawed and more complete than most heavyweight boxing champions in history, from early clinchers/grabbers/wrestlers (with all due respect), to Alí himself. Tyson's boxing proficiency waned too dramatically when he lost his former speed, and Lewis never experienced such a fall from grace: I still think that Lennox might be the only one really being able to put Joe Louis' obvious superiority in serious jeopardy: Lewis had a wondrous lead right hand, granite chin, and a one-two that has Anthony Joshua blushing: the most powerful one-two I've ever seen in a boxer.

To me, arguably the greatest heavyweight in history, hands down.

[Tony1244]

Gee, if "live" is the criteria, then the best heavyweight I've ever seen is probably Pedro Lovell.

Damn such a sheltered life

I live in Los Angeles, so in my lifetime not many outstanding heavyweights have appeared in a city that prefers watching smaller, action packed Latino fighters.

Ali-Norton 2 took place in L.A. but I was a kid and ticket prices were out of reach.

Wilder-Fury took place in L.A., but I was adult and ticket prices were out of reach.

So it appears I'll simply have to cherish my in-person memories of seeing Lovell drub Terry Krueger in one round and doing the same against a very faded Billy Daniels.

But that Daniels bout was the closest thing you'll ever see to a fighter taking an unquestionable, quick dive.

Phantom punch? There was never a punch even thrown. Disappointing.

There's a price to pay for being so sheltered

I remember Pedro Lovell. I was glued to the TV set when he fought Ken Norton one Saturday afternoon.