first of all alp, heeney was NEVER #1 by ring magazine. 2nd, the press and most of the people around the era thought much higher of goerge godfrey than tom heeney. the press veiwed godfrey as a much more dangerous fight for tunney then heeney. godfrey was a super heavyweight 235lb, with skills and lots of strength and power!!!!! tunney never took on a fighter like that. this was clearly a much tougher challenge for tunney than heeney. when sonny liston fought cleveland williams, williams wasnt even rated in top 10 even though williams was clearly one of the best heavyweights in the world. same with godfrey.
YOU CANNOT JUST USE BOXREC TO BACK UP UR CLAIMS. dont be a boxrec hunter. godfrey was viewed by the press as the much better and much more dangerous challenger than tom heeny. YET tunney opted for the much easier task.
take a look at boxrecs ratings of the 1927 heavyweight division
Heavyweight 1927 1737.0 George Godfrey (
http://www.boxrec.com/record017618.html)
Heavyweight 1927 1718.3 Gene Tunney (
http://www.boxrec.com/record009046.html)
Heavyweight 1927 1671.8 Young Stribling (
http://www.boxrec.com/record012052.html)
Heavyweight 1927 1660.5 Armand Emanuel (
http://www.boxrec.com/record012069.html)
Heavyweight 1927 1645.0 Jack Delaney (
http://www.boxrec.com/record012049.html)
Heavyweight 1927 1638.0 Johnny Risko (
http://www.boxrec.com/record012063.html)
Heavyweight 1927 1626.5 Jack Sharkey (
http://www.boxrec.com/record010616.html)
Heavyweight 1927 1610.9 Clayton (Big Boy) Peterson (
http://www.boxrec.com/record017620.html)
Heavyweight 1927 1554.1 Tom Heeney (
http://www.boxrec.com/record013554.html)
Heavyweight 1927 1513.0 Jack Dempsey (
http://www.boxrec.com/record009009.html)
Heavyweight 1927 1481.2 Martin Burke (
http://www.boxrec.com/record011333.html)
Heavyweight 1927 1452.0 Chuck Wiggins (
http://www.boxrec.com/record011300.html)
Heavyweight 1927 1448.9 Paolino Uzcudun (
http://www.boxrec.com/record012118.html)
Heavyweight 1927 1411.7 Jack Renault (
http://www.boxrec.com/record011315.html)
Heavyweight 1927 1411.0 Harry Wills (
http://www.boxrec.com/record017615.html)
THEY HAD GODFREY AS # 1 OVER TUNNEY! WHY IS THIS?? WHY IS HEENEY ALL THE WAY BACK AT # 9???
- ALP, GODFREY HAD THE CUFFS ON WHEN HE LOST TO RISKO MEANING GODFREY DID NOT TRY HIS BEST.
- There are some historians who rate Godfrey among the top 20 heavyweights of all time. do any rate tom heeny as top 20 all time?? no cause godfrey was much better
"Godfrey is vastly under-rated. His record and career are somewhat mired in mystery. So many DQ's, knockouts and damn mystifying losses. I have no doubt, for instance, that he had the cuffs on against Sharkey. The high number of DQ's has more to do with him fighting to order than it does with him being sloppy.
Tunney could outbox most heavies and I don't doubt that he could outbox George Godfrey for 5 or six or even ten rounds. However, George was fast for his size, was adept at chasing men down and could hit like a team of mules. If this were a fifteen round fight, I see Godfrey having a hell of chance catching up to Gene. Remember that Tunney's heavyweight resume is not that long or overly impressive. His two best wins were against Dempsey--over 10 rounds--and it is probable that Jack was past it then. Godfrey handled Larry Gaines fairly easily and Gaines was a boxer in both the mold and style of Tunney. Gaines stated that he feared only two men in his life, his father and George Godfrey.
George was a beast--big, athletic, huge puncher and surprisingly good speed and movement for a man his size. I think in his prime, 1925-1931, he was about as good as it got. Nobody really wanted to fight George, and for good reason. Tunney avoided him like the plague. In his prime, with no handcuffs, and this is strictly my opinion, I think he could have beaten, Tunney, Sharkey, Carnera and maybe even Dempsey(certainly a post 1926 Dempsey)."- boxing historian kevin smith
- fact is when tunney fought heeny, not only was godfrey rated higher than heeney, he was also veiwed as the much better fighter and much more dangerous challenger than heeney
"Tunney wanted nothing to do with Godfrey--plain and simple--too tough a fight. I will look to see what I have for references regarding Tunney and the color line. People point to him wanting to fight Wills but that was a joke--Tunney only wanted to talk that up to push his way towards a fight with Dempsey. I think Tunney may have been a racist(which would not be surprising for the times) as well as an elitist snob."- boxing historian kevin smith
TUNNEY SPURNS GODFREY MATCH
"plans for a battle between geney tunney, former american lightheavyweight champion, and george godfrey, negro heavyweight, as the feature attraction on the annuel christmas boxing carnival in madison square garden on dec 18, today were abandoned. it was announced by the officials of the fund. billy gibson manager of gene tunney declinded the prooffered match. according the the fund officials, gibson asserted harry wills is the only negro heavyweight tunney will box." -los angeles times nov. 4 1925