Once again, Moore didn't prove it at heavyweight. As mentioned before,Baker, Satterfield, and Vlades all had so many bad losses that that a win over them just isn't a big deal. A win at heavyweight over Jimmy Bivins isn't either.
You can point one result (such as Jones beating Folley) and make anyone look bad. You have to look at the whole record. Should we rate Marty Marshall because he beat Liston, Willie Meehan because he beat Dempsey, Hank Griffin becasue he beat Jack Johnson?
As for Moore's win over Johnson, that was at lightheavyweight. Should Oakland Billy Smith beat ranked at heavyweight because he beat Harold Johnson at lightheavy?
When rating Roy Jones as a lightheavy, you don't consider his wins over Toney and Hopkins becasue they weren't in that weight class.
Folley and Machen did have some bad losses(and as mentioned previoulsy that is why he isn't rated higher) but they also had some nice wins. Folley beat Bonavena, Chuvalo, Machen etc. at is more impressive than Moore's wins at heavyweight.
Machen beat Quarry, Jones, went the distance with Liston at a time when Liston was knocking everyone out easily. That is more impressive than Moore's wins at heavyweight.
Moore would ko Folley in 5 rounds? Well why didn't he do it then? He could have fought Folley, Machen, Liston, Johansson, Williams, but he didn't. He mostly fought lower level opponents at heavyweight. He could have fought these guys instead of fighting a second rate fighter like Howard King 5 times. (Who actually got a draw with Moore once).
I just can't justify ranking a guy in the top 30 who hasn't beat anyone that should be in the top 100.
Levels Of Past Heavyweights
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pundit
- Heavyweight
Good ranking, but Langford and especially Schmeling look too low, while Mc Vea is a tad too high.Ambling Alp wrote:This is an interesting idea. Here is how I see it:
League 1 - Ali, Louis, Foreman, Johnson, Frazier,Holmes,Marciano
League 2 - Tunney, Liston, Dempsey, Bowe, Holyfield, Lewis, Tyson, Jeffries
League 3 - Langford, Wills, Jeanette, McVey, Patterson, Charles, Walcott, Norton
League 4 - Peter Jackson, Jack Sharkey, Schmeling, Baer, Fitzsimmons, Corbett, Sullivan, Michael Spinks, Moorer, Douglas, Mercer
League 5 - Burns, Johansson, Rahman, Ellis, Terrell, Folley, Machen, Williams, Quarry, Young.
Honorable Mention - Vitaly Klitschko, Ray,Tucker, Witherspoon, Tubbs,Smith,Berbick,Thomas,Dokes,Page,Bruno,Weaver,McCall,Tate,ByrdCoetzee, Lyle,Shavers,Tom Sharkey.