Let's imagine ourselves as like Dr. Frankenstein's for a while and with knowledge from our boxing oriented minds piece together the PERFECT heavyweight.
Who's power would we select? WHose right hand, whose left? Whose speed and whose chin?
Think long and hard about it. 8)
The Perfect Heavyweight
Joe Louis' straight right.
Sonny Liston's jab.
Joe Frazier's left hook.
Mike Tyson's right hook.
Joe Louis' uppercuts.
Mike Tyson's body punches.
Jersey Joe Walcott's footwork.
Rocky Marciano's stamina.
Muhammad Ali's handspeed.
Floyd Patterson's heart.
Jack Dempsey's ruthlessness.
Earnie Shavers' power.
George Foreman's build.
Joe Louis' accuracy.
Oliver McCall's chin.
Rocky Marciano's attitude.
Jack Dempsey's background.
Joe Louis' combinations.
Muhammad Ali's skin.
Muhammad Ali's recuperative abilities.
Ezzard Charles' versatility.
Ezzard Charles' overall skills.
Sonny Liston's stare.
Sonny Liston's jab.
Joe Frazier's left hook.
Mike Tyson's right hook.
Joe Louis' uppercuts.
Mike Tyson's body punches.
Jersey Joe Walcott's footwork.
Rocky Marciano's stamina.
Muhammad Ali's handspeed.
Floyd Patterson's heart.
Jack Dempsey's ruthlessness.
Earnie Shavers' power.
George Foreman's build.
Joe Louis' accuracy.
Oliver McCall's chin.
Rocky Marciano's attitude.
Jack Dempsey's background.
Joe Louis' combinations.
Muhammad Ali's skin.
Muhammad Ali's recuperative abilities.
Ezzard Charles' versatility.
Ezzard Charles' overall skills.
Sonny Liston's stare.
Very good, but Ali takes Walcott on footwork. And speed defo to Ali. I would rate Ali as having the most attributes of a perfect Heavy. He gets the nod in Chin, foot and hand speed, character, reccuperative ability, stamina, ring intelligence, combos, reflexes. For power I go with Foreman. For combo power it's Tyson or louis.
Mercman there is a pretty strong contingency of folks who agree with you regarding Patterson's hand speed. I'm not one of them but to some degree you and they may be right. He may have had a shade faster delivery but overall effectiveness bring me back to giving Ali the nod in this area.
But you are with good company in your assessment on that.
But you are with good company in your assessment on that.