BoxRec

I was just thinking who would be my 10 best heavyweights from the 60's.

In no particular order mines would be
Johansson, Patterson, Liston, Clay(Ali), Frazier, Terrell, Ellis, Quarry, Machen and Folley.

Honourable mentions for Williams, Bonavena, Mathis and possibly Cooper.

Johansson's biggest accomplishments remained in the previous decade. He started the 60s as a champ, but lost the belt in the 1st fight. #1 should be Clay, cause he had the best resume in the decade, Frazier is after him there, cause he had the 2nd best resume, but he can be after Liston as well, cause his biggest win was scored in the 70s. Jimmy Ellis should be after those three. Then Patterson, who, btw as I saw it, lost to Ellis, no robbery there. It's more difficult to rate everyone after those five, but the remaining top-list clearly included Bonavena, Terrell, Folley, Machen, Mathis, Chuvalo, Quarry, Cooper.

1. Ali
2 Frazier
3. Liston
4. Patterson
5. Johannson
6. Bonavena
7. Ellis
8. Chuvalo
9. Quarry
10. Spencer

The OP had a # of fighters I could have chosen.

I jotted mine off without peeking first on purpose.

Tony1244 wrote: ↑16 Oct 2018, 10:28 1. Ali
2 Frazier
3. Liston
4. Patterson
5. Johannson
6. Bonavena
7. Ellis
8. Chuvalo
9. Quarry
10. Spencer

Good list, only I would have Ellis right after Patterson.

There a ton of guys who were pretty close. In the early 1960s you had Machen, Folley, and Williams as well who people may not be considering.. It always gets a little tricky when doing it by decade because you have to disregard anything from the 1950s and 1970s. You also have situations where fighter A was better than fighter B but fought a much smaller period of time in the decade.

Certainly some interesting names though. Have to give this some thought.

1. Ali
2. Frazier
3. Liston
4. Patterson
5. Chuvalo
6. Quarry
7. Ellis
8. Folley
9. Bonavena
10. Cleroux

Frazier may be ahead of Liston in overall career accomplishments--perhaps because Liston was frozen out so long and denied the long reign he would have enjoyed--but could Frazier actually beat prime Liston in an actual fight?

I've always thought Sonny vs Smokin' Joe was one of the all-time mouth watering heavyweight matchups.

I've always felt that Eddie Machen deserves to be included in any top ten from this era. He took on Liston when Liston was pretty near his peak and never looked like being stopped. Not many could say that.
Of all the top heavyweights Machen was one of very few who never got a chance at the title before it was fragmented by Ali's banishment.
By the way I came across a short book on Zora Folley last week, it's only been out about a year, but focussed more on how he died. Machen died under very similar circumstances shortly after he retired.

dalcumly wrote: ↑18 Oct 2018, 12:08 Of all the top heavyweights Machen was one of very few who never got a chance at the title before it was fragmented by Ali's banishment.

When the WBA stupidly stripped Ali for agreeing to a rematch with Liston Machen fought Ernie Terrell for the vacant belt.
Terrell outpointed him on March 5th 1965.

dalcumly wrote: ↑18 Oct 2018, 12:08 By the way I came across a short book on Zora Folley last week, it's only been out about a year, but focussed more on how he died. Machen died under very similar circumstances shortly after he retired.

There's a great chapter in Boxing Babylon by Nigel Collins about Zora and Eddie and their oddly entwined lives and deaths.

I'll ignore what you said about Machen not fighting for the title!

I think I said quite clearly that Machen didn't get a shot at the title before it was fragmented by Ali's banishment. I know perfectly well that he fought Terrell for a 'nothing' title. Nobody at the time considered this a serious title fight.
Between 1958 and 1963 , when the title was protected by Cus D'Amato, Machen didn't get the chance he deserved, although maybe the Liston fight may have been considered an eliminator.
I personally think that Machen would have out pointed Patterson at his peak, but then again, Johansson flattened him within a round!

All true except Ali hadn't been 'banished' at the time.
If Machen had beaten Terrell for the 'nothing' title then I guess he would have been the one fighting Ali.