Greatest Decade of Boxing?

DoubleM · Post by **DoubleM** » 02 Jun 2006, 07:45

I'm saying the forties:

Henry Armstrong
Ray Robinson
Willie Pep
Ezzard Charles
Archie Moore
Joe Louis
Sandy Saddler
Manuel Ortiz
Ike Williams
Chalky Wright
Beau Jack
Bob Montgomery
Sammy Angott
Lew Jenkins
Marcel Cerdan
Jake LaMotta
Tony Zale
Rocky Graziano
Jimmy Bivins
Joey Maxim
Harold Johnson
Kid Gavilan
Rocky Marciano
Jersey Joe Walcott
Fritzie Zivic
Holman Williams
Charley Burley
Lloyd Marshall

(There were a few like Lou Ambers and Baby Arizmendi that could have gotten on there, but I decided to leave them out because they didn't fight enough in the forties or were clearly past their best there - some, like Harold Johnson and Rocky Marciano get in as up n' coming future greats).

jimglen · Post by **jimglen** » 02 Jun 2006, 09:16

Overall, mid-30s to early 50s, = 1940s!

ManonFire · Post by **ManonFire** » 02 Jun 2006, 09:19

Yeah that looks like the best decade to me.

You could also throw in Billy Graham.

pundit · Post by **pundit** » 02 Jun 2006, 09:48

jimglen wrote:Overall, mid-30s to early 50s, = 1940s!

Except for the heavyweights.

The Great John L · Post by **The Great John L** » 02 Jun 2006, 10:15

pundit wrote:
jimglen wrote:Overall, mid-30s to early 50s, = 1940s!
Except for the heavyweights.

Hmmm, where's Brocky....

pundit · Post by **pundit** » 02 Jun 2006, 10:45

The Great John L wrote:
pundit wrote:
jimglen wrote:Overall, mid-30s to early 50s, = 1940s!
Except for the heavyweights.
Hmmm, where's Brocky....

Brocky would argue for the early 1950s.... In the 1940s Louis was too dominant.

I continue to believe though that the 1930s and 1970s were the two greatest periods of heavyweight boxing.

The Great John L · Post by **The Great John L** » 02 Jun 2006, 10:56

pundit wrote:I continue to believe though that the 1930s and 1970s were the two greatest periods of heavyweight boxing.

You’ll get no disagreement from me.

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 02 Jun 2006, 11:05

pundit wrote:
The Great John L wrote:
pundit wrote: Except for the heavyweights.
Hmmm, where's Brocky....
Brocky would argue for the early 1950s.... In the 1940s Louis was too dominant.

I continue to believe though that the 1930s and 1970s were the two greatest periods of heavyweight boxing.

1940s and 1950s are underated eras in heavyweight boxing. the 1940s had a lot of solid depth for heavyweights, its one of the most underated and understudied eras ive seen.,

i think joe louis and rocky marcianos eras are underated. they are defintley not the best. but they are not bad ones like todays era.

1930s??? thats a good era, but ill take many other eras over the 1930s.

pundit · Post by **pundit** » 02 Jun 2006, 11:40

BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote: 1930s??? thats a good era, but ill take many other eras over the 1930s.

I take only the 1970s, and even there I'm not totally sure. Sharkey, Schmeling, Baer, Louis, Braddock, Uzcudun, Carnera, Risko, Loughgran, Schaaf, Stribling, Walker - the 1930s rocked. Not only in terms of fighters' quality but also in terms of the personalties involved.

Tantum · Post by **Tantum** » 02 Jun 2006, 11:43

Whatever decade these guys fought in...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37rlzUxQgd8

pundit · Post by **pundit** » 02 Jun 2006, 11:47

Tantum wrote:Whatever decade these guys fought in...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37rlzUxQgd8

What's the point of this post?

DoubleM · Post by **DoubleM** » 02 Jun 2006, 12:36

The seventies was also extremely rich, hot on the heels of the forties:

Roberto Duran
Ken Buchanan
Ismael Laguna
Ray Leonard
Esteban De Jesus
Jose Napoles
Carlos Monzon
Emile Griffith
Rodrigo Valdez
Muhammad Ali
George Foreman
Joe Frazier
Larry Holmes
Ken Norton
Bob Foster
Nicolino Loche
Matthew Saad Muhammad
Marvelous Marvin Hagler
Danny Lopez
Wilfred Benitez
Carlos Palomino
Antonio Cervantes
Wilfredo Gomez
Alexis Arguello
Carlos Zarate
Ruben Olivares
Eder Jofre
Pipino Cuevas

Some just miss out like Hearns, Saldivar and Sanchez.

Very strong, but not quite the same as the '40s.

The Great John L · Post by **The Great John L** » 02 Jun 2006, 13:02

I think he's refering to the quality of the fighters.

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 02 Jun 2006, 13:49

Sharkey, Schmeling, Baer, Louis, Braddock, Uzcudun, Carnera, Risko, Loughgran, Schaaf, Stribling, Walker - the 1930s rocked

1950s produced marciano, liston, patterson, walcott, charles, moore, old louis, harold johnson, machen, williams, folley, valdes.

Ill DEFINTLEY take that over ur list for the 1930s.

DoubleM · Post by **DoubleM** » 02 Jun 2006, 13:57

Please could we stick to overall fighters, rather than just heavyweights?

pundit · Post by **pundit** » 02 Jun 2006, 14:05

BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:
Sharkey, Schmeling, Baer, Louis, Braddock, Uzcudun, Carnera, Risko, Loughgran, Schaaf, Stribling, Walker - the 1930s rocked

1950s produced marciano, liston, patterson, walcott, charles, moore, old louis, harold johnson, machen, williams, folley, valdes.

Ill DEFINTLEY take that over ur list for the 1930s.

Well, I sure wouldn't. Btw, by including everything from "old Joe Louis" to "Liston" you're stretching the term "50s" a bit. Sure both fought a few fights in the 50s, but they are famous for deeds they did in different decades.

Btw, I hadn't even included the late 1930s in my list.

P

pundit · Post by **pundit** » 02 Jun 2006, 14:05

DoubleM wrote:Please could we stick to overall fighters, rather than just heavyweights?

Sorry, sure from now on.

DoubleM · Post by **DoubleM** » 02 Jun 2006, 14:17

pundit wrote:
DoubleM wrote:Please could we stick to overall fighters, rather than just heavyweights?
Sorry, sure from now on.

No worries.

So what would be your pick, Pundit? For the greatest decade in boxing, taking into account all weight classes, and why?

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 02 Jun 2006, 14:21

pundit wrote:
BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:
Sharkey, Schmeling, Baer, Louis, Braddock, Uzcudun, Carnera, Risko, Loughgran, Schaaf, Stribling, Walker - the 1930s rocked

1950s produced marciano, liston, patterson, walcott, charles, moore, old louis, harold johnson, machen, williams, folley, valdes.

Ill DEFINTLEY take that over ur list for the 1930s.
Well, I sure wouldn't. Btw, by including everything from "old Joe Louis" to "Liston" you're stretching the term "50s" a bit. Sure both fought a few fights in the 50s, but they are famous for deeds they did in different decades.

Btw, I hadn't even included the late 1930s in my list.

P

fine lets see these late 1930s "studs" that will make the 1930s look awesome.

1950s heavyweight was defintley better......

ok lets check...............

patterson, charles, walcott were better than baer, schmeling, sharkey

1950s produced 2 top 10 heavyweights of all time marciano, liston while 1930s produced only 1 joe louis

archie moore, cleveland williams, ingemar johannsen, zora folley, eddie machen, nino valdes, old joe louis, harold johson, roland lastarza, clarence henry, bob baker were a better list of contenders than the 1930s.

really clearly 1950s takes it

pundit · Post by **pundit** » 02 Jun 2006, 15:14

BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:
pundit wrote:
BrocktonBlockbuster49 wrote:
1950s produced marciano, liston, patterson, walcott, charles, moore, old louis, harold johnson, machen, williams, folley, valdes.

Ill DEFINTLEY take that over ur list for the 1930s.
Well, I sure wouldn't. Btw, by including everything from "old Joe Louis" to "Liston" you're stretching the term "50s" a bit. Sure both fought a few fights in the 50s, but they are famous for deeds they did in different decades.

Btw, I hadn't even included the late 1930s in my list.

P
fine lets see these late 1930s "studs" that will make the 1930s look awesome.

1950s heavyweight was defintley better......

ok lets check...............

patterson, charles, walcott were better than baer, schmeling, sharkey

1950s produced 2 top 10 heavyweights of all time marciano, liston while 1930s produced only 1 joe louis

archie moore, cleveland williams, ingemar johannsen, zora folley, eddie machen, nino valdes, old joe louis, harold johson, roland lastarza, clarence henry, bob baker were a better list of contenders than the 1930s.

really clearly 1950s takes it

Again, Liston was at best a prospect in the 1950s, his period are the early 60s.

Let's take a look at the the top 3 matchups:

#1 Louis -Marciano: obviously Louis by a wide margin
#2 Schmeling-Patterson: Schmeling; how would chinny Patterson avoid this right hook if Louis couldn't?
# 3 Baer-Walcott: prime Baer way too much for old Jersey Joe

So 3:0 1930s. Even though Louis, Schmeling and Baer all belong to the SAME era, all fought each other, while Marciano and Patterson belong to DIFFERENT ones.

If you go further down the list it becomes necessarily fishier; but a prime Jack Sharkey ought to be still too much for little Ezzard Charles (the #4s)

But let's see what the other folks come up with.

BrocktonBlockbuster49 · Post by **BrocktonBlockbuster49** » 02 Jun 2006, 15:31

Again, Liston was at best a prospect in the 1950s, his period are the early 60s.

go back and do ur research. YOU ARE WRONG.

liston was considered at his absolute peak in 1958-59 where he was the # 1 contender and beat ranked contenders cleveland williams, nino valdes, wayne bethea, mike de john.

if u watch a 1958-59 liston on film, u will find this is the best version of sonny. hes 26-27 years old and at the peak of his career. he never looked as fast as he did in 58-59.

IMO listons peak fight was wayne bethea. he went out there and destroyed a man in 58 seconds who had never been knocked out before or after. liston looked faster and better in this fight than in any other fight IMO. he was also a trim lean mean 204lb.

liston was a better fighter in 58-59 than in early 1960s

listons title reign should have started in 58, but he was avoided

#1 Louis -Marciano: obviously Louis by a wide margin

wide margin? marciano is a possible top 5 heavweight of all time. thats not a wide margin.

once again 1950s produced two top 10 heavyweights of all time sonny liston and rocky marciano. 1930s prodcued 1 joe louis

1958-59 sonny liston and rocky marciano combined outdue joe louis

#2 Schmeling-Patterson: Schmeling; how would chinny Patterson avoid this right hook if Louis couldn't?
# 3 Baer-Walcott: prime Baer way too much for old Jersey Joe

how could schmeling be able to deal with pattersons combination of speed and power?

max baer lost to light-H tommy loughran and tommy farr. baer had trouble with slick speedy boxers. walcott would have boxed baer's ears off.

was tommy loughran better than jersey joe walcott?

baer was very crude, swung widly, and didnt have many boxing skills. jersey joe would clearly beat him.

look what jersey joe did to rocky marciano for 12 rounds, look what he did to joe louis in 1947, look how he knocked out ezzard charles.

but a prime Jack Sharkey ought to be still too much for little Ezzard Charles (the #4s)

sharkey over ezzard charles? i suggest you go watch some film buddy.

charles was by far the superior fighter to sharkey.

The Great John L · Post by **The Great John L** » 02 Jun 2006, 15:38

Brocky, why not take this to your own thread rather than pirating this guys thread?

Collins2000 · Post by **Collins2000** » 02 Jun 2006, 17:08

I'd take the 70's but , of course, it's all subjective and even the question is open to different interpretations.

There was possibly more depth in the 40's and 50's given that there seemed to be a lot more fight cards but the great champs of the 70's stack up with best of most eras. If you came up with an all-time top 3 in every division I think there would be a bloke from the 70's in pretty much every weight class.

elmersalsa · Post by **elmersalsa** » 02 Jun 2006, 17:14

The early 80s was a great era of great champions, specially the 1982 class was very deep.

But I got to say that the 1950s was the best era of boxing, then the 1970s a close second place

barry · Post by **barry** » 02 Jun 2006, 17:26

I think the 1920s, or 1940s. The 40s probably had more talent overall, but there was just so much happening in the 20s outside of boxing, but this was the time that boxing really took hold with society and was second only to baseball as top sport, not to mention some of the exciting fights and fighters on the scene at that time.