BoxRec

Thought I would do something a little different.
There have been a lot of great and really good lightheavyweights who never won the lightheavyweight title. Some you rarely hear about. Some never got a title shot, some just happened to be unlucky and fought in a very good era for the division. These fighters seem pretty impressive when compared to non-champions in other weight classes.
I believe 11 are in the Hall of Fame. 3 did win the heavyweight title and 3 won the middleweight title.
Anyway I made a list of the top 35. I am sure that I am missing someone that belongs. So let me know who is missing and who I have way too high and way too low.

1. Ezzard Charles
2. Gene Tunney
3. Sam Langford
4. Jimmy Bivins
5. Harry Greb
6. Tommy Gibbons
7. Tommy Burns
8. Joe Choynski
9. Lloyd Marshall
10. Kid McCoy
11. Young Stribling
12. Kid Norfolk
13. Jock McAvoy
14. Mauro Mina
15. Mickey Walker
16. Jorge Ahumada
17. Richie Kates
18. Jerry Martin
19. James Scott
20. Yaqui Lopez
21. Leo Lomski
22. Pierrie Fouri
23. Rudy Coopmans
24. Piero Del Papa
25. Guilio Rinaldi
26. Erich Schoppner
27. Adolf Hueser
28. Gustave Roth
29. Aldo Traversaro
30. Oakland Billy Smith
31. Ramon Peralta
32. Eddie Cotton
33. Eddie Davis
34. Harry Matthews
35. Yvon Durelle

Well, I don't know if you're referring to the linear title, or just any old strap. If it's the former, I would make some room for Michael Moorer. I think some people have forgotten how good he was at this lighter weightclass. He became a monster.

Lou Scozza

No lightheavy weight list can be complete without Jesse Burnett.

Scartissue

That is a great group of light heavyweights

Lest I forget, Doug Jones, Gregorio Peralta and Heny Hank.

Scartissue

Also from the UK, Len Harvey and Chris Finnegan

I posted a while back about this guy:Irish Bob Murphy. This guy
loved to fight inside and out side the ring.

Most of these just missed the cut. You certainly could make a case for them. I overlooked Murphy and Moorer. Moorer would have to be in the list. His competition at lightheavyweight wasn't impressive, but he was so dominaint that he has to be on the list somewhere. Just where exactly is hard to say.
Boy, there have been a lot of good lightheavyweights that never won a major title. (The WBO wasn't a mjor title when Moorer won it. HBO had yet to tell us sheep that it was just as important as the IBF,WBC and WBA. )

I think these guys compare favorably to non-champions in other weight classes.
There are probably other guys that we are overlooking.

Gerhard Hecht
Erich Schöppner
Doug Jones
Jimmy Duprèe
Ray Anderson

From South America:

Ángel Rodríguez (49-1-0; 44 K.O.); South American Champion, who KO'ed Luis Firpo in one

José Carattoli, who beat Tommy Loughran and Isidoro Gastañaga

Guillermo Silva, Dogomar Martínez, Luíz Ignacio, brilliant fighters, too