Who Is The 3rd Greatest Heavyweight Of All Time?

[#1Assassin]

1. Ali
2. Louis
3. Holmes
4. Johnson
5. Foreman

[crold1]

1. Ali
2. Louis
3. Holmes
4. Johnson
5. Foreman

Holmes and Johnson go back and forth in my head for third all the time.

[GJC]

Holmes and Johnson go back and forth in my head for third all the time.

For me Ali then Louis is inked in and from 3 to 12 is in pencil to be amended on a whim.

[BigStereotype]

Big George Foreman. Look at that resume...look at his performance (twice!) against Joe Frazier. Enough said.

[geribeetus]

To show where I stand with all the names being mentioned:

01. Muhammad Ali
02. Joe Louis
03. Jack Johnson
04. Jack Dempsey
05. Larry Holmes
06. Sonny Liston
07. Evander Holyfield
08. George Foreman
09. Rocky Marciano
10. Mike Tyson
11. Joe Frazier
12. Harry Wills

Poet

i take it you don't drink the lennox lewis kool aid. i'm with you on tyson and holyfield ranking higher than him. he mostly scavenged on holyfields and tysons leftovers and struggled way too much with guys like bruno briggs and mercer. i'm not trying to be a hater, he'd probably beat plenty of my favorite heavyweights. but i'll never rank him as the man of his era.

[StarshipTrooper]

i take it you don't drink the lennox lewis kool aid. i'm with you on tyson and holyfield ranking higher than him. he mostly scavenged on holyfields and tysons leftovers and struggled way too much with guys like bruno briggs and mercer. i'm not trying to be a hater, he'd probably beat plenty of my favorite heavyweights. but i'll never rank him as the man of his era.

I drink no fighter's KoolAid I'm a fan of the sport first, particular fighters second. That being said, I rank Lennox at #13: The best of what I call the "near-greats". If his chin had been better he'd have cracked my top-10. If Tyson and Lewis had fought 10 times in their respective primes I'd favor Tyson to win 6 and Lewis 4.

Poet

[wmute]

I think I have Sonny ranked about 7th or 8th. Jeffries, as good as he was, just didn't have the longevity for me to put him in the top 10. Dempsey I think I have at 11. Very underrated in the skills department, but he just didn't defend the title enough. These are just my opinions at the moment and are subject to change the more I learn about these guys their era's and their competition.

They are all legit points. I like this thread, because I think it will not lead to a consensus, but it will sure be interesting.

I am thinking of sticking with Lewis at number 3 for now. I will definitely change my mind back and forth.

[Obama]

Gotta go with Jack Johnson.

Dempsey has no votes so far. Good.
But sadly Marciano does have some.