Ezzard wrote:Can you rank the Heavyweights from this era? Give me a top ten...
1 Johnson
2 Dempsey
3 Langford
4 Jeffries
5 Jeanette
6 Corbett
7 Jackson
8 Suillivan
9 Wills
10 Gibbons
1. Sam Langford
-You cant argue with his success rate from 147-heavyweight; having a successful run against McVey (13x's), Jeanette (13x's), Wills (18x's), and giving Johnson a close fight when Langford was but in the 150 pound range. Throw in guys like Tate, Fulton, Smith, etc. he had a ridiculously high success rate against men who were head and shoulders taller, and weighed as much as 80 pounds more than himself. The greatest boxer of all time, of any weight class, period.
2. James Jackson Jeffries
-First heavyweight champion to retire undefeated; was so powerful and well conditioned, that even the great Sam Langford used to promote himself as 'Willing to take on all comers, except Mr. Jeffries", is severely underated today by historians and fans alike; a big man who had good speed and defense and one of the toughest fighters to ever live. Unfortunately is remembered for losing to Jack Johnson after 6 years inactivity, having to lose 110 pounds, and get in shape for a 45 round fight in half a years time.
3. Jack Dempsey
-On the way up was the most feared man in the division, virtually light heavyweight in size he had the power of a super heavyweight, blasting through some of the biggest, strongest, and most skilled men of the era; stopped but once in a career spanning from age 15 to his late 30's. The biggest superstar in boxing since John L. Sullivan, and would not be matched in such popularity until Joe Louis decades later.
4. John L. Sullivan
-The sports first icon, he was also the sports first commodity and promoting machine; the first man to seriously challenge the world, and helped encourage the use of Marquis of Queensbury rules in all prizefights. For twelve years he went undefeated under bare knuckle and gloves, and held hundreds of exhibitions. It can be argued no boxer since him was ever as popular. Fierce, powerful, fast, tough, nobody could match him in the ring at his peak in his era as most could barely last four rounds with him.
5. James J. Corbett
-IMHO the fastest man to ever wear the heavyweight championship; was as skilled at dirty infighting as he was at range; was so fast and skilled that Jack Johnson and Gene Tunney both stated Corbett was their inspiration for their own style. Despite popular mythology, he was not a popular champion, and he certainly did not make the Queensbury rules popular either. At his peak, however, he was almost impossible to hit with a clean shot and would tire opponents out by going on his bicycle, ages and ages before Muhammad Ali made such a tactic famous.
6. Jack Johnson
-True he bested the best colored fighters in his division before becoming heavyweight champion, but he also ignored them when he was champion. His reign consists of beating either limited, undersized, or aged opponents; however at his peak, he was the strongest, well conditioned, heavyweight of the era and was a master of psychological warfare. His skills, while highly touted over the years, imho just don't jiive with what film there is of him. However, such as it is, he could box at range and slug it out with the best of them when it was called upon to do so.
7. Bob Fitzsimmons
-His greatest achievements as a boxer took place at 160 pounds, and he became boxing's first triple crown champion; he is arguably the greatest boxer on the p4p level, but as a heavyweight he was one of its most feared competitors. No more than 167 pounds he had such punching power that he was capable of dropping men 6'7" and 290 pounds, or fighting a string of opponents in one day and beating them all with knockouts. His longetivity is also something to behold, for he competed until his 50's against some of the best heavies and light heavies of the era.
8. Peter Jackson
-I am in agreement with author Adam Pollack that John L. Sullivan would of had the better chance of beating Jackson, than he had against Corbett; simply because Jackson was a strong, hard punching, boxer who came forward. Those kind of guys, Sullivan had a picnic with. However, Jackson had defeated the best in Australia, England, and America. He defeated Godfrey, and several of Sullivan's title defense opponents, and if anyone on this list deserved a title shot as much as Langford did it was Jackson. His 'draw' with Corbett is one such fight to ignore on the surface, considering Jackson was fighting injured and Corbett still ran away from him even when Jackson was gassed out.
9. Tommy Burns
-Arguably the most underated heavyweight champion of all time; would rank higher on my list generally speaking. Bested some of the eras world reknowned middleweights, light heavyweights, and of course became heavyweight champion, racking up 14 title defenses in John L. Sullivan fashion barnstorming the world; a record that would not be surpassed until Joe Louis kayoed Abe Simon. Unfortunately was branded a mediocre champion, an undersized dwarf who had no business with the title, etc. when he lost to Jack Johnson when prior to this no heavyweight, no matter how big, strong, or skilled was able to touch him.
10. Harry Wills
-Why at the bottom of this list? Because the greatness of Wills generally comes from having won 11 fights out of 18 meetings with Sam Langford. Of all the 'giant' type heavyweights of the era, Wills may very well of been the best of the bunch, and when you consider Langford often fought Wills at 150-185 pounds it isnt hard to see how a man nearly 6'4" and 220 pounds was capable of doing so. True, he should have gotten his shot at Dempsey, but IMHO his style was all wrong for The Manassa Mauler, for Wills (for the most part) threw jabs and right crosses in the ring and that was it. Big men are big targets, and Dempsey made his career on this. Of course we will never know what would have happened, but just one man's two cents.