BoxRec

1. Muhammad Ali
2. Rocky Marciano
3. Vitali Klitschko
4. Larry Holmes
5. Oliver McCall
6. Evander Holyfield
7. George Foreman
8. Sonny Liston
9. Mike Tyson
10. Ray Mercer

I could have put McCall higher but i rated the others above him based on the harder punchers they faced....

evrenb wrote:1. Muhammad Ali
2. Rocky Marciano
3. Vitali Klitschko
4. Larry Holmes
5. Oliver McCall
6. Evander Holyfield
7. George Foreman
8. Sonny Liston
9. Mike Tyson
10. Ray Mercer

I could have put McCall higher but i rated the others above him based on the harder punchers they faced....

It's a total nonsense not to have McCall at the top of that list. He's still fighting at 48 and has never been floored. He sparred extensively with a prime Mike Tyson, and likewise was never floored. The only time I recall him being stunned, is when Frank Bruno made his knees dip in the 2nd round of their fight. Holmes was destroyed by Tyson, and had a few knock-downs in his reign. Vitali was knocked out by Pele Reid in kick boxing. Rocky and Ali were obviously tough, but too suffered knock-downs.

Jeffries would have to be on that list. Max Baer too.

Ezzard wrote:Jeffries would have to be on that list. Max Baer too.

Yeah i definitely considered Baer...hard call.....hard chin and hard puncher!! His fight with Schmeling is awesome..

Riddick Bowe also have a very good chin.

polecateddy wrote:

evrenb wrote:1. Muhammad Ali
2. Rocky Marciano
3. Vitali Klitschko
4. Larry Holmes
5. Oliver McCall
6. Evander Holyfield
7. George Foreman
8. Sonny Liston
9. Mike Tyson
10. Ray Mercer

I could have put McCall higher but i rated the others above him based on the harder punchers they faced....

It's a total nonsense not to have McCall at the top of that list. He's still fighting at 48 and has never been floored. He sparred extensively with a prime Mike Tyson, and likewise was never floored. The only time I recall him being stunned, is when Frank Bruno made his knees dip in the 2nd round of their fight. Holmes was destroyed by Tyson, and had a few knock-downs in his reign. Vitali was knocked out by Pele Reid in kick boxing. Rocky and Ali were obviously tough, but too suffered knock-downs.

Should a kick boxing defeat be factored in when debating the best chins in heavyweight boxing?
And please don't overlook James Toney, if alphabet champs are included. Or did his positive PED test DQ him?
A natural middleweight/super middle, Lights Out had a chin that belonged near the top of the ratings.

polecateddy wrote:

evrenb wrote:1. Muhammad Ali
2. Rocky Marciano
3. Vitali Klitschko
4. Larry Holmes
5. Oliver McCall
6. Evander Holyfield
7. George Foreman
8. Sonny Liston
9. Mike Tyson
10. Ray Mercer

I could have put McCall higher but i rated the others above him based on the harder punchers they faced....

It's a total nonsense not to have McCall at the top of that list. He's still fighting at 48 and has never been floored. He sparred extensively with a prime Mike Tyson, and likewise was never floored. The only time I recall him being stunned, is when Frank Bruno made his knees dip in the 2nd round of their fight. Holmes was destroyed by Tyson, and had a few knock-downs in his reign. Vitali was knocked out by Pele Reid in kick boxing. Rocky and Ali were obviously tough, but too suffered knock-downs.

Yeah but McCall could mentally pack it in when the going got tough. Those guys, like Chuvalo, shouldnt get as high a rating IMO as someone like a Holyfield who went in there battling even when exhausted and behind on points.

evrenb wrote:1. Muhammad Ali
2. Rocky Marciano
3. Vitali Klitschko
4. Larry Holmes
5. Oliver McCall
6. Evander Holyfield
7. George Foreman
8. Sonny Liston
9. Mike Tyson
10. Ray Mercer

I could have put McCall higher but i rated the others above him based on the harder punchers they faced....

Few quick notes....

How often did you ever see anyone be able to hit Sonny Liston, let alone last with them?

Ray Mercer was an alphabet champion, as was McCall. Do they really qualify?

Those three I would replace with James J. Jeffries, Jack Johnson, and Jack Dempsey.

I was torn on whether to include the alphabet champs but thought it may eliminate too many champs. .jeffries was my eleven...
Re liston an obvious example would be the two cleveland williams fights. Williams was an a rate puncher and he landed a rate punches in those 5 rounds...liston took them well. How many knockdowns did he suffer prior to 1965...?

evrenb wrote:I was torn on whether to include the alphabet champs but thought it may eliminate too many champs. .jeffries was my eleven...
Re liston an obvious example would be the two cleveland williams fights. Williams was an a rate puncher and he landed a rate punches in those 5 rounds...liston took them well. How many knockdowns did he suffer prior to 1965...?

Obviously none. HOWEVER, is it because Liston took a punch so well, or because he simply was too big, too strong, too brutal, and too accurate with his punches that made him so?

HomicideHenry wrote:

evrenb wrote:I was torn on whether to include the alphabet champs but thought it may eliminate too many champs. .jeffries was my eleven...
Re liston an obvious example would be the two cleveland williams fights. Williams was an a rate puncher and he landed a rate punches in those 5 rounds...liston took them well. How many knockdowns did he suffer prior to 1965...?

Obviously none. HOWEVER, is it because Liston took a punch so well, or because he simply was too big, too strong, too brutal, and too accurate with his punches that made him so?

Probably a combination of both..he met a few fighters his size like Williams, De John, Valdes....he had his jaw broken by Marty Marshall and didnt go down....he was decked in their second fight....so it happens.Ali went down against Banks, Holmes against Snipes....it happens...
evrenb

evrenb wrote:1. Muhammad Ali
2. Rocky Marciano
3. Vitali Klitschko
4. Larry Holmes
5. Oliver McCall
6. Evander Holyfield
7. George Foreman
8. Sonny Liston
9. Mike Tyson
10. Ray Mercer

I could have put McCall higher but i rated the others above him based on the harder punchers they faced....

How many guys on the above list keep getting up from the shots Foreman laid on Frazier in Jamaica?

yancey wrote:

evrenb wrote:1. Muhammad Ali
2. Rocky Marciano
3. Vitali Klitschko
4. Larry Holmes
5. Oliver McCall
6. Evander Holyfield
7. George Foreman
8. Sonny Liston
9. Mike Tyson
10. Ray Mercer

I could have put McCall higher but i rated the others above him based on the harder punchers they faced....

How many guys on the above list keep getting up from the shots Foreman laid on Frazier in Jamaica?

Do you have Frazier in the top 10?

You won't find Il Duce slummin' round these parts.

evrenb wrote:

yancey wrote:

evrenb wrote:1. Muhammad Ali
2. Rocky Marciano
3. Vitali Klitschko
4. Larry Holmes
5. Oliver McCall
6. Evander Holyfield
7. George Foreman
8. Sonny Liston
9. Mike Tyson
10. Ray Mercer

I could have put McCall higher but i rated the others above him based on the harder punchers they faced....

How many guys on the above list keep getting up from the shots Foreman laid on Frazier in Jamaica?

Do you have Frazier in the top 10?

Haven't thought about it much, but I would think he would have much qualification to be on the list as at least a few of the guys on the list.

btw, I don't think Marciano is as high as #2.

Jeffries should certainly on here. Foreman and Tyson probably should not be in here. Baer should probably be in here. Braddock had an underrated chin.

I'd replace Vitali with Frazier or Jeffries. I'm also surprised he wasn't mentioned with Mercer & McCall. He's the least deserving 'champion' on the list.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:I'd replace Vitali with Frazier or Jeffries. I'm also surprised he wasn't mentioned with Mercer & McCall. He's the least deserving 'champion' on the list.

You think Vitali is less desrving than Mercer?

Absolutely, the only threatening fighter that Vitali ever faced was Lewis. I would say Holyfield, McCall & Mercer all took his power better than Vitali did.

Edit: My bad, you meant as a 'champion'. Yes to that as well, Damiani & Morrison were better than any win Vitali has ever had. His resume as a champion is too pathetic to even call it paper.

SaadOffTheDeck wrote:Absolutely, the only threatening fighter that Vitali ever faced was Lewis. I would say Holyfield, McCall & Mercer all took his power better than Vitali did.

Corrie Sanders could dig, he hurt Vitali too.

That's true. Mediocre as Corrie was, he was dangerous for a few rounds.

Jess Willard should also be on that list. Before the Dempsey fight, his chin was solid as granite. The only man to floor him prior to Dempsey was Jack Johnson and he came back to stop Johnson.

Johnson floored Willard? I had never heard that.

Ambling Alp II wrote:Johnson floored Willard? I had never heard that.

Well, he wasn't actually floored. The ropes prevented Willard from being floored on several oocasions.