BoxRec

Ezzard wrote:

Mr E wrote:Nowadays, I break it up by era-- and I go by who I think would have beaten whom, head-to-head.

Old-Timers (1882-1915): I see it as being between Jim Jeffries and Jack Johnson, and I don't think either guy could have beaten the other even 7 times out of 10.

Golden Age (1916-1956): I see it as being between Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis. However, I think Gene Tunney and Rocky Marciano are real close and so have no strong argument to someone putting those guys in there.

Modern Era (1957-1987): Muhammad Ali, no question. Battle for 2nd place would be between George Foreman and Larry Holmes, with Sonny Liston and Joe Frazier being close honorable mentions.

Steroid/P.E.D. Era (1988-present): I need to go back and take a hard look at the early fights of Mike Tyson's reign, which I have not seen since I saw them live, to determine how much he'd lost by the time of the Buster Douglas and Evander Holyfield fights. My instinct is that he lost a lot, and that the best of this era comes down to Mike Tyson v. Lennox Lewis. That said, Evander Holyfield, Riddick Bowe, and the Klitschko brothers are definitely in the conversation.

My two cents, anyway.

Like how you did this...

Old Timers: Johnson, Jeffries, Langford

Golden Age: Louis, Dempsey, Tunney

Modern: Ali, Frazier, Holmes

PED: Holyfield, Lewis, Tyson (probably)