Best heavyweight ever?

Question

For me it's Joe Louis closely followed by Ali and Jack Dempsey. All three would destroy the the heavywieghts of today. DESTROY!!!

For those of you pumping up Rocky Marciano i suggest you do some research on the quality (or lack of) of opposition that made up that record and then compare it to the quality of opposition the three fighters listed faced.

Answer 1

I agree with you about Ali. Your take on the overrrated Marciano is on the money, also.
However, you have to take Dempsey out of the mix. Every heavyweight that competed in the forty odd years between Jack Johnson and Joe Louis can't be counted, for the same reason you don't count Rocky Marciano. Quality of opposition. Between Johnson and Louis, blacks were not allowed to compete for the title, so those fighters were competing in a watered down division and not fighting the best competition.

Answer 2

I'll go with Ali over Louis, even though I always idolized The Brown Bomber. I see the trouble that Joe had with Billy Conn and I see Ali as a bigger, stronger, even faster version of Conn. As far as Tyson, well I believe that a young Ali beat the Tyson of his day, Sonny Liston. I don't think Tyson could have caught Ali if Ali was radioactive and Mike had a geiger counter. I look down the list of past greats and I am almost saddened by the state of the Heavyweight division of today. Bucha tomato cans. There are guys from the past that never won the title because they were fighting in the era of a Louis, Ali, Dempsey, Marciano, Liston, and even Tyson. Guys like Zora Foley, Doug Jones, Cleveland Williams and others would have probably been head and shoulders above in todays crowd. But, who knows?

Answer 3

I would say Marciano. And as far as the quality of opponets, look at some of the fighters. Joe Louis by KO, Jersey Joe Walcott by KO in the first round, Archie moore KO, Jimmy Weeks KO, he beat everyone around in his time and those fighters back then were tougher than these fighters today.

Answer 4

1. Rocky Marciano
2. Joe Louis
3. Muhammad Ali

I'm not pumping up Rocky but he just never lost and you just can't take that away from him. I have respect for all the boxing greats. Yes I also agree that the three you named plus Rocky would have destroyed any of the heavyweights today.

Answer 5

Joe Louis: The Brown Bomber's shuffling footwork would have worked against Muhammad Ali. In his prime, his incredible hand speed and punching power would have conquered anyone else. The record says it all (and is there a better example in all of history of learning from one's mistakes than Louis-Schmeling.

Answer 6

I gotta go with Ali. He had better competition than any other heavyweight i think. they way he moved no one could touch him. and he could have done so much more if he weren't in prison those couple years in his prime.

i agree about marciano but i think the same might be said about who joe louis was fighting. not trying to take anything away from him. he's one of my all-time favorite fighters, but most of his fights were against bums.

Answer 7

Rocky Marciano!
49 Fights Undefeated World Champion.
How can it be anyone else.

Answer 8

Ali, in a round robin tournament of the 20 or so best Heavyweights ever he would come out on top.

Answer 9

Hello Rocky Marciano? Undefeated? Ever heard of him?

Answer 10

Best 'dead' heavyweight? Cassius Clay. Best living heavyweight? Muhammad Ali. Add the two together and what do you get? Best Athlete of the century - Ali, Ali, Ali.