Greatest Heavyweight Boxer Ever...

[raider2124]

You all have to remember that as time goes by the athletes of almost every sport get bigger,stronger,faster. No disrespect to Ali but there are a number of boxers today that would destroy him in a fight. Speaking as all these boxers were in there prime Tyson,Lewis,Holyfield,Vlad. Klitchscho, David Tua could win just because of his incredible punching power. As far as alot of you saying Marciano is the best, he was the best for his time and one of the greatest ever but no match for the fighters of today. He would be in Roy Jones Jr's weight class and that would spell the end to his undefeated record.

 

[trimtan1]

Ali, plain and simple. He could talk the talk and then walk the walk, all over your ass.

Tyson...........yes..........and quite possibly had the potential to be the very best. But, as was mentioned, he lost his guidance, and quickly found he could trust no one. Plus, on his own mental merits............he was nothing but a stupid thug.

 

[TC2]

rocky marciano with out a dought, anybody that disagrees doesn't know shit about boxing.

Mike tyson was great in his prime, I used to live to watch him fight.

But if you go back and look at rocky marciano's fights you'll see what a truley great fighter he was, and by far the hardest puncher.

 

[vixenbabe]

Marciano for his size was probably the toughest/hardest puncher.

My mother is a Brockton,MA. girl..she went to school with Rocky!

 

[bullett]

Muhammad Ali vs. Mike Tyson, both at their very prime = Ali getting decimated by Tyson, probably within 6 rounds

Thats the same thing EVERYONE said about Ali / Foreman!

 

[The Unjust]

And Ali could take a punch, remember fighting Joe Frazier with a broken jaw for 10 rounds?

I would say Ali. If you watch some of those fights, he was so accurate with his punches...he hit Frazier on the button every time he threw. I also believe without a doubt that he was the SMARTEST of all the heavyweight champs. He knew how to get in their head (made Sonny Liston quit), knew how to manupulate them in the ring, knew how to craft a strategy (rope a dope), etc....the guy was smart. He also knew how to play the media.

I remember seeing George Foreman fight Joe Frazier and almost knock his head off...I think he knocked him down six times in two rounds....now rememeber Ali never knocked him out...and I thought NO ONE could beat him. like 6'4", pure muscle, hit like a freight train...then I saw Ali make him look like a fool...UNBELIEVEABLE, easily done. How much moxy does it take to plan to allow him to beat on you for 10 rounds until he tires himself out? Angelo Dundee was not even privy to that strategy, and was screaming at ALi to fight....

Anyway, for all the reasons above, I think Ali was the best, plus he lost 3 years in his ABSOLUTE prime due to the draft thing.

I think in his prime, he could have beaten anyone else in their prime. The guy was an artist..

And for you guys who will say Tyson, Tyson, Tyson, remember fuckin Buster Douglas knocking him out...he couldn't take a punch. He beat most people by pounding them into submission, and he didn't get hit. Now, that is something, he was quick, and awesome, fast, powerful, etc...but I believe Ali would have beaten him, cause he was so smart...

NOW give me some karma......

I must retort. It was Norton who broke Ali's jaw.

Personally, I believe the Ali/Foreman fight was fixed. Foreman threw very few punches to Ali's head in this fight. Most of the punches he threw were to Ali's hips where he wore a protective cover.

Tyson's jaw was better than most in the division. Buster Douglas had a career night, was motivated by the death of his mother, and Tyson took him as lightly as if he were fighting a featherweight.

The best heavyweight of all time is a difficult thing to assess. However, basing it on stats vs era of difficulty, Ali would have to be #1.

 

[notoriousQQ]

greatest heavyweight I have ever witnessed is Mike Tyson up until the Buster Douglas fight. Besides Iron Mike, I don't think that we have witnessed that many great heavy weights. Holyfield, Lewis and whoever else you want to throw out from the recent decades don't stack up too well in the overall historical landscape of boxing.

But, if you want to talk about golden age of boxing, look at the quality of some of the light and middle weight fighters. Mosley, De la Hoya, Trinidad, Vargas, Hopkins, Jones Jr., Forrest, there are some incredibly talented fighters in those ranks IMO .

 

[powerforward]

Tyson never beat a great fighter, he was humilated twice by holyfield and killed by lewis. Ali beat great fighters (liston,frazier,foreman,quarry). But, given the argument about today's guys being bigger and stronger, I would probably say that Lennox would beat Ali 9 out of 10 times if they fought. One other thing, the most underated champ ever= Larry Holmes.

 

[Athernigy]

Rocky Ballboa, remember how he killed that russian dude?

-sk

 

[bullett]

I must retort. It was Norton who broke Ali's jaw.

Personally, I believe the Ali/Foreman fight was fixed. Foreman threw very few punches to Ali's head in this fight. Most of the punches he threw were to Ali's hips where he wore a protective cover.

Tyson's jaw was better than most in the division. Buster Douglas had a career night, was motivated by the death of his mother, and Tyson took him as lightly as if he were fighting a featherweight.

The best heavyweight of all time is a difficult thing to assess. However, basing it on stats vs era of difficulty, Ali would have to be #1.

Unjust, I think you are correct, it was Norton. The fights with Frazier were such total wars, they were unbelieveble.

But, I will tell you that I disagree about the Foreman fight being fixed. I didn't think so then, and I certainly don't now. I watched a bio on George where he was talking about being depressed after losing that fight. It evidently took him years to forget it..