Website Ranker has, well, ranked the 20 greatest heavyweights in boxing history. The result of a fan poll, the top 20 makes for interesting reading. Thousands of fans cast their vote, and the ensuing list – sure to cause some debate, some anger even – has been revealed.
In reverse order, the top 20 is as follows (note – this poll was conducted, with its results published, before the sad passing of heavyweight great George Foreman):
20: Gene Tunney
19: Riddick Bowe
18: Oleksandr Usyk
17: Ken Norton
16: Jack Dempsey
15: Tyson Fury
14: Floyd Patterson
13: Vitali Klitschko
12: Wladimir Klitschko
11: Rocky Marciano
10: Sonny Liston
9: Jack Johnson
8: Larry Holmes
7: Evander Holyfield
6: Lennox Lewis
5: Joe Frazier
4: Mike Tyson
3: Joe Louis
2: George Foreman
1: Muhammad Ali.
Fans are sure to point out some of their own problems with the list, but in all honesty, all the correct and deserving names are on the list; you might argue about the positions of a few of the names, but there are no obvious omissions here (although John L. Sullivan fans might strongly disagree, along with Jim Jeffries fans and supporters). Ali, we all agree, he ranks as the best in the division’s history – Ali’s truly incredible list of opposition being one huge factor in “The Greatest” being in pole position. In short, Ali, fighting in a golden era for the heavyweights, ducked absolutely no one.
It’s great to see “Big George” getting a lot of love, with him being ranked at #2. But is Holmes too low at #8? Is Tyson Fury too high at #15? Is Mike Tyson far too high at #4? Some fans might be surprised to see Patterson ranked as high as #14, or then again, maybe not.
Ali received 8,890 votes, while Foreman got 5,265 votes coming in second on the list.
What do YOU think of this 20 greatest heavyweights ever list, and what changes, if any, would you make?
