BoxRec

The top candidates are:

Sam Langford

Jack Dempsey

Gene Tunney

Ezzard Charles

Rocky Marciano

Evander Holyfield

Ambling Alp wrote:

pundit wrote:

Ambling Alp wrote:Since Fitz won the head to head fight, I give him the edge because the the rest of Corbett's career would have to be better than Fitz's and I don't think it is.

At heavyweight it surely is.

I wouldn't say that. Fitz beat Sharkey,Ruhlin and Maher, besides beating Corbett. Why isn't that as impressive as what Corbett did?

Actually you may be right on this one.m Corbett is just the historically much more important figure; being credited with bringing a modern, counterpunching, defensive style to boxing.

That is pretty much how I see it. Corbett did more for the sport and is more of an important historical figure (though Fitz was important).

Corbett helped usher in a new era. Stylewise he was very different than Sullivan or anyone else. (Though Sullivan's boxing skills were probably better than he is often given credit for).

Stylewise, I have always thought of Fitz as sort of half/Sullivan-half /Corbett.

If Corbett never existed, and Fitz was Sullivan's immediate successor, the sport probably wouldn't have progressed as quickly.

As for who was better, Corbett or Fitz, that certainly is debatable. Corbett may very well have won a rematch. However, since it never happened and Fitz won the only fight that they did have and the rest of their careers were pretty even, I give Fitz a slight edge.

The greatest 190lbs fighters ever:

1. Evander Holyfield
2. Rocky Marciano
3. Jack Dempsey
4. Gene Tunney
5. Ezzard Charles
6. Sam Langford
7. James J. Corbett
8. Vassily Jirov
9. James Toney
10. Floyd Patterson

Evander Holyfield.

1. Marciano
2. Dempsey
3. Holyfield
4. Walcott
5. Charles
6. Patterson
7. Tunney
8. Schmeling
9. Johansson
10. Langford

Marciano Frazier wrote:1. Marciano
2. Dempsey
3. Holyfield
4. Walcott
5. Charles
6. Patterson
7. Tunney
8. Schmeling
9. Johansson
10. Langford

Langford FAAAAR too low.

pundit wrote:

Marciano Frazier wrote:1. Marciano
2. Dempsey
3. Holyfield
4. Walcott
5. Charles
6. Patterson
7. Tunney
8. Schmeling
9. Johansson
10. Langford

Langford FAAAAR too low.

I'm talking about at 190 pounds.Langford was arguably #1 out of all these guys pound-for-pound, but all the others were considerably bigger than he was. Although you could make a case for him ranking ahead of Schmeling and Johansson even at 190.

Now a 190 tournament thread might be interesting as the usual winners would already be out.

I'm surprised by how many people have marciano as number 1. he's definitely in with a chance but I'd have expected a greater range of opinion.