BoxRec

My list of the worst Heavyweight champions since 2000. I've left out Sanders and Brewster as both have wins over Klitschko.

I’ve left out Browne as he holds only the WBA regular title.

Martin is probably the worst on what he's achieved but he may prove in time to be better than some of these.

Siarhei Liakhovich – won UD vs Brewster, lost by KO vs Briggs
Oleg Maskaev – won TKO vs Rahman, lost by TKO vs Peter
Shannon Briggs – won TKO vs Liakhovich, lost UD vs Ibragimov
Sultan Ibragimov – won UD vs Briggs, lost UD to Klitschko
Samuel Peter – won TKO vs Maskaev, lost RTD to Klitschko
Bermane Stiverne – won TKO vs Arreloa, lost UD to Wilder
Charles Martin – won TKO vs Glazkov
Ruslan Chagaev – won MD vs Valuev, lost RTD to Klitschko
Nikolay Valuev – won MD vs Ruiz (twice), lost MD to Chagaev & MD to Haye
David Haye – won MD vs Valuev, lost UD to Klitschko

Few horrors there! I've not seen a lot of all of them but whenever I've watched Peter he has looked awful (bar the KDs against Wlad). If AJ chins Martin then you would have to say him. Wins the vacant title when his opponent hurts his leg then gets flattened in his first defence.... Ouch!

john ruiz

Liakhovich - He won the title from a C-Level fighters and lost vs a C-Level fighter. Never been much good either.

I don't think Ibragimov was a terrible champ, beat Briggs convincingly enough, beat an admittedly shot but still decent Holyfield and only lost to Klitschko.

Maskaev was pretty shit too. Won from an average fighter, lost it to a below average fighter and had a piss poor title defence in between.

Maskaev hands down I reckon.

mullenman wrote:john ruiz

Ruiz in fairness to him was a 2 time champion, with wins over Holyfield, Kirk Johnson, Rahman, Golota and McCline and his losses to Valeuv, Holyfield and Chagaev were razor thin. There are worse guys than him in the list above.

Offal wrote:Maskaev hands down I reckon.

Don't agree. Oleg ko'd Rahman clean and deservedly. I would say Stiverne is the worst. Did nothing of any real note.....

Audley Harrison's WBF title reign.

Here's a fact for you all:

When there was only one champ per division, it took thirty-four years for a tenth heavyweight champion to be crowned (Tunney).

Now, under the new multiple title system, boxing manages to cram the above listed ten heavyweights champs (and numerous other heavyweight champs not on the list) into just one ten year spell.

Thanks boxing!

reggaereggae wrote:Don't agree. Oleg ko'd Rahman clean and deservedly

And that's it he beat Rahman (who wasn't anything special himself) but lost every other major fight he had.

Champions by decade:

Up to 1929
1 Bob Fitzsimmons
2 James J. Jeffries
3 Marvin Hart
4 Tommy Burns
5 Jack Johnson
6 Jess Willard
7 Jack Dempsey
8 Gene Tunney

1930's
1 Max Schmeling
2 Jack Sharkey
3 Primo Carnera
4 Max Baer
5 James J. Braddock
6 Joe Louis

1940's
1 Joe Louis
2 Ezzard Charles

1950's
1 Ezzard Charles
2 Lee Savold
3 Jersey Joe Walcott
4 Rocky Marciano
5 Floyd Patterson
6 Ingemar Johansson

1960's
1 Ingemar Johansson
2 Floyd Patterson
3 Sonny Liston
4 Muhammad Ali
5 Ernie Terrell
6 Joe Frazier
7 Jimmy Ellis

1970's
1 Joe Frazier
2 Jimmy Ellis
3 George Foreman
4 Muhammad Ali
5 Leon Spinks
6 Ken Norton
7 Larry Holmes
8 John Tate

1980's
1 John Tate
2 Mike Weaver
3 Michael Dokes
4 Gerrie Coetzee
5 Larry Holmes
6 Tim Witherspoon
7 Pinklon Thomas
8 Greg Page
9 Tony Tubbs
10 Michael Spinks
11 Trevor Berbick
12 Mike Tyson
13 James "Bonecrusher" Smith
14 Tony Tucker
15 Francesco Damiani

1990's
1 Francesco Damiani
2 Mike Tyson
3 James "Buster" Douglas
4 Evander Holyfield
5 Ray Mercer
6 Michael Moorer
7 Riddick Bowe
8 Lennox Lewis
9 Tommy Morrison
10 Michael Bentt
11 Herbie Hide
12 Michael Moorer
13 Oliver McCall
14 George Foreman
15 Bruce Seldon
16 Frank Bruno
17 Henry Akinwande
18 Herbie Hide
19 Vitali Klitschko

2000's
1 Vitali Klitschko
2 Lennox Lewis
3 Chris Byrd
4 Evander Holyfield
5 Wladimir Klitschko
6 John Ruiz
7 Hasim Rahman
8 Roy Jones, Jr.
9 Corrie Sanders
10 Lamon Brewster
11 Nikolai Valuev
12 Siarhei Liakhovich
13 Oleg Maskaev
14 Shannon Briggs
15 Ruslan Chagaev
16 Sultan Ibragimov
17 Samuel Peter
18 David Haye

2010's
1 Vitali Klitschko
2 David Haye
3 Wladimir Klitschko
4 Alexander Povetkin
5 Bermane Stiverne
6 Ruslan Chagaev
7 Deontay Wilder
8 Tyson Fury
9 Charles Martin

johnswan1 wrote:Champions by decade:

Up to 1929
1 Bob Fitzsimmons
2 James J. Jeffries
3 Marvin Hart
4 Tommy Burns
5 Jack Johnson
6 Jess Willard
7 Jack Dempsey
8 Gene Tunney

1950's
1 Ezzard Charles
2 Lee Savold
3 Jersey Joe Walcott
4 Rocky Marciano
5 Floyd Patterson
6 Ingemar Johansson

No idea where you copied and pasted this list from but Bob Fitzsimmon's was not the first gloved heavyweight champion. He beat Gentleman Jim, who beat the Boston Strongboy. Gloved contests.

Also, no one includes Lee Savold's reign. You might as well insert Brian Nielsen into the list.

Tuan_Jim wrote:

johnswan1 wrote:Champions by decade:

Up to 1929
1 Bob Fitzsimmons
2 James J. Jeffries
3 Marvin Hart
4 Tommy Burns
5 Jack Johnson
6 Jess Willard
7 Jack Dempsey
8 Gene Tunney

1950's
1 Ezzard Charles
2 Lee Savold
3 Jersey Joe Walcott
4 Rocky Marciano
5 Floyd Patterson
6 Ingemar Johansson

No idea where you copied and pasted this list from but Bob Fitzsimmon's was not the first gloved heavyweight champion. He beat Gentleman Jim, who beat the Boston Strongboy. Gloved contests.

Also, no one includes Lee Savold's reign. You might as well insert Brian Nielsen into the list.

My fault, the two names I missed out from my Wiki source:

John L. Sullivan aka Boston Strongboy
Sullivan defeated Paddy Ryan in 1882 for the bare-knuckle championship of America. With the lack of legitimate challengers from outside America Sullivan gradually gained recognition as champion of the world. On August 29, 1885, he outpointed Dominick McCaffrey in Chester Park, Cincinnati, in a bout described as being "to decide the Marquess of Queensberry glove contest for the championship of the world"

James J. Corbett aka Gentleman Jim
James J. Corbett announced his retirement from boxing in 1895 and nominated his protégé Steve O'Donnell as his successor. Tradition demanded that O'Donnell win the world title in the ring so he was matched against the erratic Irish boxer Peter Maher. The bout took place at the Empire Athletic club, Maspeth, New York on 11 November 1895, Maher surprisingly defeated O'Donnell via first round knockout. The general public had little acceptance of the new champion and even Maher himself expressed a wish to fight Corbett for the "real" title. Maher defended his "world title" against the British-born Bob Fitzsimmons in Coahuila de Zaragoza, Mexico on February 21, 1896, and was himself the victim of a first round knockout. Fitzsimmons then fought another Irish fighter, Tom Sharkey of Dundalk on December 2, 1896, in San Francisco, the bout being billed for the heavyweight title. Sharkey was awarded victory by disqualification in round 8 by the referee, Wyatt Earp. Corbett announced his return to the ring late in 1896 and the claims of Maher, Fitzsimmons (until 1897) and Sharkey to be champion are usually ignored.
The champions of this version of the title were:
November 11, 1895 to February 21, 1896 Peter Maher Republic of Ireland Ireland
February 21, 1896 to December 2, 1896 Bob Fitzsimmons United Kingdom Great Britain
December 2, 1896 to 1897 Tom Sharkey Republic of Ireland Ireland.

Offal wrote:

reggaereggae wrote:Don't agree. Oleg ko'd Rahman clean and deservedly

And that's it he beat Rahman (who wasn't anything special himself) but lost every other major fight he had.

Right... He's not the best, but he's definitely not the worst

How could anyone vote for The People's Champ?

#LetsGoChamp

Anyway it's this "champion" http://boxrec.com/boxer/60968

You might as well include Brewster and Sanders.
They were poor champions and a win over a defensively naive, hittable and chinny Wlad doesn't alter that fact.

The man they beat wasn't the technically excellent, powerful, dominant champion we all came to know and love

Don't you love when you select an option on a poll and find yourself in the majority.

It makes me feel knowledgeable and wise.

Either that or you guys don't know shit!

For me out of the list it is Shannon Briggs (other than Martin). - although a possible honourable mention for the 2009 reign of Hasim Rahman..... which makes Charles Martin feel legit.

johnswan1 wrote:

mullenman wrote:john ruiz

Ruiz in fairness to him was a 2 time champion, with wins over Holyfield, Kirk Johnson, Rahman, Golota and McCline and his losses to Valeuv, Holyfield and Chagaev were razor thin. There are worse guys than him in the list above.

I agree. Ugly style but definitely not the worst, and I think the concentration on his style has led to him being somewhat underrated.

stujones wrote:For me out of the list it is Shannon Briggs (other than Martin). - although a possible honourable mention for the 2009 reign of Hasim Rahman..... which makes Charles Martin feel legit.

Still, his one punch KO of Lewis far exceeds what most of these guys have done.

Some of the names at the top of the HW division in the mid 2000's were grim. I know not everyone likes Wlad but at least having 1 genuinely world class boxer kept the division fairly respectable.

Maskaev or Liakhovich must be the worst. Valuev not far behind either.

Valuev probably the most unwatchable ever. Would have loved to have seen him put in with some punchers. When Haye finally cracked him, he turned to jelly.

I suppose the worst must be Lyakovich because he lost to Valuev. As far as his title win goes, he was in the right place at the right time. Brewster was injured, and looked like the wars were beginning to catch up with him.

Valuev probably the most unwatchable ever. Would have loved to have seen him put in with some punchers. When Haye finally cracked him, he turned to jelly.

I suppose the worst must be Lyakovich because he lost to Valuev. As far as his title win goes, he was in the right place at the right time. Brewster was injured, and looked like the wars were beginning to catch up with him.

Agreed...Valuev was abysmal and he represented an absolute low point for the division. Haye has never been my cup of tea but he did us all a huge favour from removing Valuev from the scene.

johnswan1 wrote:

stujones wrote:For me out of the list it is Shannon Briggs (other than Martin). - although a possible honourable mention for the 2009 reign of Hasim Rahman..... which makes Charles Martin feel legit.

Still, his one punch KO of Lewis far exceeds what most of these guys have done.

Oh yes, not saying he was the worst fighter.... but a contender for worst reign (and I mean his 2009 WBC reign where he was given the belt after beating Monte Barrett). Not his reign as undisputed champ.