The seven stand out World heavyweight champions

[prewarboxing]

In the entire history of World heavyweight boxing there have been, in my opinion, seven champions that stand out from the rest in terms of dominance and ability. Their names would be known to the ‘man in the street’ who may have had little or no interest in the sport. They are not necessarily the best seven, but they were all iconic. Who are they?

I will post my seven in a few days.

Over to you.

Miles Templeton

[gilgamesh]

The 7 that the Man in the Street would know I think are

John L. Sullivan
Jack Johnson
Jack Dempsey
Joe Louis
Rocky Marciano
Muhammad Ali
Mike Tyson

Those guys were probably known in their time even by people who don't follow the sport.

[bwu]

The 7 that the Man in the Street would know I think are

John L. Sullivan
Jack Johnson
Jack Dempsey
Joe Louis
Rocky Marciano
Muhammad Ali
Mike Tyson

Those guys were probably known in their time even by people who don't follow the sport.

Gilgamesh's post is pretty comprehensive. For the sake of discussion, maybe George Foreman of the '90s slides in the list? Ironically, by that time, I think his placement in the public consciousness was based more on personality and endorsements than his in-ring performances.

[gilgamesh]

Foreman could possibly replace somebody on my list but I'm not sure who

[evrenb]

The 7 that the Man in the Street would know I think are

John L. Sullivan
Jack Johnson
Jack Dempsey
Joe Louis
Rocky Marciano
Muhammad Ali
Mike Tyson

Those guys were probably known in their time even by people who don't follow the sport.

I think that is a fine list. It also illustrates boxings popularity, defined in them eras. It also represents the importance of the Heavyweight Champion of the world; in the Dempsey era being champ was 2nd only to the presidency!

[prewarboxing]

You have nailed it. That is precisely the seven I came up with

Miles Templeton

[overhand_right]

You have nailed it. That is precisely the seven I came up with

Miles Templeton

Too easy, Mr T. Give us a harder one!