1. Muhammad Ali - For me personally, he’s head and shoulders above everyone as the clear, definitive number one. He scored highly in every area. He passes the eyetest as an almost unique heavyweight in terms of style. Incredibly fast feet, excellent defensive capabilities, a granite chin, fast hands and underrated, if not exactly great power. Wins over Sonny Liston, George Foreman and Joe Frazier and then guys like Ken Norton (debatable), Floyd Patterson, Ron Lyle, Cleveland Williams etc. A couple of those guys were past their best but many in their prime too. Was also intelligent and durable enough to change styles at certain stages of his career and has the greatest competition out of any top heavy imo.
2. Lennox Lewis - A controversial call having him so highly and I expect to get a lot of stick for this, but I’ll try and justify it. An excellent jab, insane one punch power, great stamina for a big guy and a very good defence. Underrated chin too, it pains me when people say he was chinny. Like Louis, he possibly lacks a win over an absolutely elite heavyweight in their prime but only a few guys have them. His wins over a slightly faded Holyfield and Vitali (depends how you view tko 6, I personally felt a past it version on Lennox would have forced the stoppage with that cut and vitali was fading after a great start) are both excellent and he has such a long list of second tier wins - Golota, Tua, Grant, Bruno, Morrison, Ruddock, Tucker etc, most of whom were in their prime. Avenged both of his defeats too which counts in his favour massively for me, even if McCall II was a farce (not really his fault).
3. George Foreman - Again, a controversial call that I’ll get stick for as most lists I see have him 7-10.
His win over a peak Frazier is one of the greatest in the history as the division for me (first one). Excellent wins just below that one too over Ken Norton (I know he hated punchers, but it’s still an excellent win), Moorer, Lyle etc. He also deserves tremendous credit for coming back and being the oldest heavyweight champion against a live opponent too. Not the best fighter in terms of how he looked, he often looked crude and like a bit of a caveman. He was definitely vulnerable to a good boxer and a solid chin/defensive capabilities (see Young/Ali), but he was fucking strong, powerful and had a brain second time round. Valiant losing effort to a peak Holy when he was an old man.
4. Joe Louis - I don’t rate him quite as highly as most, but still very highly indeed! Lacks a signature win imo but arguably the best offensive, technical fighter in the history of the division. Perfectly throw combination punching, devastating power in either hand and a few very good (if not quite top level) victories over the likes of Schmeling, Baer and Walcott. Incredible longevity and the eye test put him here over his list of wins.
5. Larry Holmes - Like Louis, he lacks a properly top signature win for me but the eye test is so convincing and his consistency just about gets him in front of Holyfield, Frazier, etc. Lots of very good second tier wins against the likes of Norton, Cooney, Shavers, Tim etc. The most beautiful jab in heavyweight history, a granite chin and proven ability to go the 15 round distance at a pace.
6. Evander Holyfield - Bonus points for being a blown up (roided up?) cruiserweight in an era where we were moving into the super heavyweights. He fought the two great super heavies of his era in Bowe and Lewis too and performed very respectably against both before ultimately coming up short.
Incredible record that boasted Tyson x2, Bowe, Buster Douglas, Michael Moorer, old versions of Foreman and Holmes as well as a variety of other respectable heavyweights. Incredible will to win, bravery and determination. Had a heart attack against Michael Moorer and fought Bowe the third time despite knowing he had hepatitis C. I’m not sure a braver man has ever stepped in the ring.
7. Joe Frazier - Arguably the greatest single victory in the history of the division in taking Muhammad Ali’s ‘0’ in the Fight Of the Century. Had a very solid record and had to beat some very good men before he even got his title shot against reigning WBA king Jimmy Ellis. Jerry Quarry, Oscar Bonavena, Joe Bugner, Buster Mathis etc were all solid wins, although the absolute pasting he took against Foreman hurts him. Like Holyfield, an incredibly brave man with an insane will to win and he had that left hook.
This is my definite top 7 but it gets difficult after this. You have Marciano, Tyson, Johnson, Dempsey, Liston, Wladimir etc.
