Every World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Ranked

Boxing fans all around the world are currently waiting impatiently for the announcement of the bout we all want to see — Anthony Joshua vs Tyson Fury. Never before in the era of 4 recognised governing bodies has there been an undisputed Heavyweight Champion, and this fight will finally give us that, as well as let us know who is the dominant force in the current era (as long as it actually happens and it doesn’t end in a draw!)

With such a momentous event on the horizon it therefore feels like the perfect time to look back at the history of the Heavyweight championship and to rank every man that has laid claim to the title.

Since 1892 the position of ‘Heavyweight Champion of The World’ in Boxing has generally been known as the most prestigious title in individual sports. For the first 76 years things were straightforward… most people could agree on who the champion was. However following Muhammad Ali’s ban for refusing the Vietnam War draft, in 1968 the title split into 2, the WBA and the WBC. The IBF became a force in 1983 and the WBO launched in 1989. At first the WBO title wasn’t that highly regarded, but in recent years it has come to enjoy a similar level of status as those of the other governing bodies.

As if that wasn’t complicated enough the WBA in their infinite wisdom also split things further by introducing ‘Regular’ and ‘Super’ champions. Oh, and Interim champions… and now the WBC are getting in on the fun with ‘Franchise’ champions.

However hopefully later this year we may end up getting our first ever true unified 4 belt heavyweight champion when WBC champ Tyson Fury takes on WBA, IBF and WBO king, Anthony Joshua.

But how do they stack up against those that came before them? As of February 2021, there have been 84 officially recognised holders of the 4 major Heavyweight championship belts, including the WBA ‘Regular’. I haven’t included Axel Schulz or Franz Botha, who contested the vacant IBF title in 1995, with Botha winning but then the bout being declared a no contest when Botha failed a doping test. I also am not including minor titles, such as the WBF and WBU.

So what methodology do you use for a ranking of this kind? I have generally done this on the extremely unscientific basis of trying to decide who would win in a one-on-one match at their peak. I have also taken into account factors such as their overall career resume, their in-ring skills, their title reign, and very importantly how they actually fared against other champions on this list.

Obviously it is always an extremely difficult task to compare different boxers of different eras; especially when there is very little or no footage of them, and we are having to rely on eye witness accounts. The unique issue with heavyweight boxing is that many of the heavyweights of the early decades are significantly smaller than the modern giants who have dominated recent times; and this is not a ‘pound for pound’ situation. Someone from the 2010s at 6ft 5in and 220 lbs will likely have an advantage over someone from the 1910s at 5ft 7in and 175 lbs, and that needs to be taken into account.

I am not saying this is the definitive ranking — this is my ranking and with any exercise of this nature everyone will have their own views and there is no ‘correct’ answer. This is really here to spark debate, and it would be great to hear your ranking so feel free to comment and get in touch.

With all that said, here is my ranking of every heavyweight boxing champion. In the words of immortal referee Mills Lane, lets get it on!

84. Charles Martin

First off I feel the need to point out that every boxer on this list is exceptional. To step in the ring takes a huge amount of guts, to then turn professional is only for the very best, and then to not only challenge for titles at the highest level, but to actually win one is a remarkable achievement. That said, someone had to be last, and that dubious honour falls on ‘Prince’ Charles Martin. Not only does he have the second shortest reign of any heavyweight champion at just 85 days, he also won the title in one of the least prestigious ways possible, when challenging for the vacant IBF belt his opponent Vyacheslav Glazkov suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the 3rd round that meant he couldn’t continue.

Less than 3 months later Martin took a considerable payday to come to the UK and fight Anthony Joshua, getting easily knocked out in 2 rounds and looking every bit like he didn’t want to be there.

He has had some good victories against other contenders, and at 6ft 5in and with technical skill and decent power there is a good chance he would have beaten some of the people further up the list; but someone had to be last, and based on the deeply unimpressive nature of how he won and lost the title… this just feels right. Sorry Charles.

83. Michael Bentt

Bentt had an accomplished amateur career, and with Emmanuel Steward in his corner great things were expected of him. However, after getting knocked out in the first round of his professional debut this may have been an indication the pro game wasn’t for him. He did however win the WBO title in a shock upset over Tommy Morrison in October 1993, managing to knock out the famously hard hitting but vulnerable Morrison in the 1st round. His first defence was against fellow Brit Herbie Hide, where he was stopped in the 7th round. He retired afterwards due to brain injuries suffered in the fight with a record of 11–2, the fewest fights and wins of anyone to hold the Heavyweight title

82. Oleg Maskaev

Blessed with punching power but cursed with a glass jaw, The Big O held the WBC belt from 2006–08, capturing the title from Hasim Rahman, in the second of two wins against ‘The Rock’. He defended once against the unheralded Ugandan Okello Peter but then lost it to the ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ Samuel Peter, clearly a very different level of Peter.

He retired in 2013 with a record of 39–7 with 28 Kos. He consistently mixed with top level contenders, but other than Rahman they generally knocked him out.

81. Francesco Damiani

Another decorated amateur, having competed at the 1980 and 1984 Olympics, plus with a win on his record over the legendary Teofilo Stevenson, his professional career wasn’t quite as successful. However he will always be remembered as the first man to hold the WBO title, which he won via 3rd round knockout of Johnny du Plooy in May 1989. At the time Mike Tyson held the other 3 belts so it was very much seen as a fringe title in this period. He lost the title to Ray Mercer in 1991 via 9th round knock out. He made a brief comeback, including a unanimous 10 round decision over former WBA champion Greg Page, but then retired after suffering a loss to future WBC champion Oliver McCall

80. Lamon Brewster

Lamon Brewster will always be remembered for his stoppage victory over Wladimir Klitschko, which won him the WBO title in 2004. He defended it 3 times, including a first round knockout over an aging Andrew Golota, but then lost it to Siarhei Liakhovich in an excellent scrap that is really worth watching. After that he suffered a loss in a rematch with Wladimir plus he took further losses against Gbenga Oloukun and Robert Helenius, suffering an eye injury in the latter which caused him to retire

79. Siarhei Liakhovich

The ‘White Wolf’ has a pretty unimpressive resume of 27–9, but the victory mentioned before over Lamon Brewster means he surely needs to place above him on the list. A big underdog against Brewster, having already been knocked out by Maurice Harris 4 years earlier, he pulled off a unanimous points victory in a dramatic fight which saw them both hurt multiple times. He lost the belt to Shannon Briggs in his first defence, and since then has gone on to lose any time he has stepped up in class, basically giving prospects the chance to add a former world champion to their record.

78. Marvin Hart

We now take it all the way back to a boxer that made his professional debut in the 1800’s, the man often known as ‘the forgotten champion’, Marvin Hart. Having beaten the legendary Jack Johnson in 1905, he earned a shot at the title, which had just been vacated by James J Jeffries. He beat Jack Root by 12th round knockout, but then lost the belt in his first defence against Tommy Burns.

Not known to have been particularly skilled as a boxer, he was tough and durable, and that win over Johnson as well as other big names of the era including Root and Peter Maher moves him a few places up the list.

77. Tommy Burns

One place ahead of the man he beat for the title, at just 5ft 7in Tommy Burns is the shortest man to ever hold a heavyweight title. He was the first true ‘world’ champion defending the title in England, Ireland, France and Australia, before losing it to Jack Johnson, who had chased him all around the world in desperation for a title shot. To be fair to Burns many other heavyweight champions in these first few decades of the 20th century refused to give black fighters a shot at the title.

There is quite a bit of footage available which shows Tommy was a tenacious and aggressive fighter, although at just 5ft 7in and weighing in between 168 and 182 lbs for his title fights, it remains to be seen how he would do against some of the giants that came later. That said as a true legend of the ‘Golden Era’ it wouldn’t have felt right to have him ranked below some of the other names discussed so far

76. Samuel Peter

The ‘Nigerian Nightmare’ is a big, strong hard-hitting heavyweight, albeit slow and limited in the skills department. After a loss to Wladimir Klitschko and a victory over James Toney he took the title from Oleg Maskaev but then lost it to Wlad’s brother Vitali. He would later lose again to Wladimir, as well as Eddie Chambers, Robert Helenius, Kubrat Pulev and Hughie Fury

75. Nikolai Valuev

This is a tough one to place — the tallest and heaviest of all the men to have held the title, with an excellent record of 53–2–1 NC, including a win over Evander Holyfield, but also one of the most limited boxers to have held a heavyweight belt.

After beating John Ruiz to win the title he defended it 4 times, before losing to Ruslan Chagaev via majority decision. He was supposed to rematch Chagaev for the title but when the man know as the ‘White Tyson’ pulled out through injury Valuev was given the chance to beat John Ruiz for the belt again, which he did via unanimous decision.

He won another unanimous decision, this time against a 46-year-old Evander Holyfield, although this was majorly disputed, with most thinking Holyfield had done enough. He then went on to lose via majority decision in the famous “David vs Goliath” bout against David Haye, before retiring.

74. Ruslan Chagaev

Known as the ‘White Tyson’ due to his height and aggressive style, Chagaev ranks above Valuev mainly due to his victory over him in 2007, which saw him pick up the WBA title. After 2 defences he lost comfortably to Wladimir Klitschko in a unification bout. He unsuccessfully challenged Alexander Povetkin for the WBA regular title in 2011, but he did then win it with a majority decision over Fres Oquendo for the vacant crown in 2014. This officially made him a 2-time champion, although at this point with Wladimir being elevated to ‘Super’ champion the Regular belt certainly did not hold the same level of esteem. He then lost it to Lucas ‘Big Daddy’ Browne via a brutal stoppage.

73. Lucas Browne

The big tough Australian ranks above Chagaev here, following the aforementioned victory in 2016 for the WBA Regular title, however failed drug tests meant he was later stripped of the title.

Not the most technically gifted, but with a rugged come forward style and knockout power in both hands, he racked up a record of 25–0 with 22 inside the distance, before losing to Dillian Whyte. A knockout loss to Dave Allen in 2019 showed that Browne was unlikely to be in the title picture again, however he has continued to box on, now at the age of 41.

72. Jack Sharkey

Back into the history books now with the ‘Boston Gob’, Jack Sharkey, the only man to fight both Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis. He was a skilful and solid all-round boxer but very erratic, suffering 13 defeats in his 55 fights.

Sharkey fought for the vacant world title, against Max Schmeling, losing via disqualification due to a low blow. He then beat Schmeling in the rematch via controversial decision. However, he then lost the title to the giant Primo Carnera, whom he had beaten 16 months earlier.

He lost 4 and drew 1 of his last 7 fights, including a 3rd round KO loss to Joe Louis before retiring.

71. James ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith

‘Bonecrusher’ Smith is one of the group of 80s Heavyweights that will always be overshadowed by Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson who dominated the start and end of decade respectively. You will notice this theme come up a number of times later on, and it is hard to rank them because many of them fought and beat each other.

For instance, Smith has wins over Frank Bruno, Mike Weaver twice, and Tim Witherspoon, whom he beat for the WBA title in a shocking first round upset. However he also has losses to Tony Tubbs, Witherspoon and Larry Holmes, whom he had challenged for the IBF title in 1984, and Mike Tyson whom he lost his title to just 3 months after having won it so convincingly against Witherspoon.

He would go on to box throughout the 90s, including losses to Greg Page and Michael Moorer.

70. Tony Tucker

Another of that group of 80s heavyweights, Tony Tucker was an all round accomplished boxer who could also go to war when required. He held the IBF title for a record shortest amount of time, at just 64 days, winning the vacant belt against ‘Buster’ Douglas, then losing it to Mike Tyson via a 12 round decision which was impressive seeing as everyone else in Tyson’s path at this time was stopped or knocked out cold.

6 years later in 1993 he had another decision loss to an all-time great, this time to Lennox Lewis. After that he would suffer defeats to the likes of Henry Akinwande, Herbie Hide & John Ruiz.

69. Bob Fitzsimmons

Another tough one to place from the late 1800s and early 1900s due to a lack of footage, plus considering the fact he would be significantly smaller than most modern heavyweights, winning the title weighing in at just 165lbs, the lightest heavyweight champion in history.

From the small amount of footage we have and eyewitness accounts, Fitzsimmons was quick, crafty and had exceptional punching power for a man of his size.

Spending much of his career at middleweight, and winning the world middleweight championship, he then stepped up to campaign at heavyweight, beating James J Corbett to take the title. He then lost the title to James J Jeffries by 11th Round knockout, and he lost in a further challenge to Jeffries 3 years later in 1902. In 1903 the light heavyweight division was introduced, where he would then win a further world title, becoming the first 3 weight world champion. At 44 years of age he fought Jack Johnson, losing by 2nd round knock out.

68. Herbie Hide

Another tricky one to judge, as a smaller Heavyweight who held the WBO title twice, but every time he stepped up against a much bigger man i.e. Riddick Bowe and Wladimir Klitschko, he came up short. Other than an aging and overweight Tony Tucker he never really beat any other top heavyweight contenders, however he had speed, ability and power; and later in his career when he dropped down to Cruiserweight he had a series of good wins — making you wonder whether if he had been at Cruiserweight throughout his career that he could have been one of the all-time great champions of that division.

67. Primo Carnera

At 6ft 6in and weighing up to 275 lbs the ‘Ambling Alp’ dwarfed most of his opponents, but similar to Valuev he wasn’t the most skilled boxer. Beating Jack Sharkey comfortably by 6th round knockout, he defended the title twice but then lost it convincingly to Max Baer, being knocked down multiple times before the fight was stopped in the 11th.

He didn’t have many other victories over world ranked fighters, being as his career was widely believed to have been managed by the mob where he tended to fight at a much lower level, plus was involved in stunts such as boxing kangaroos.

66. Bermane Stiverne

Long periods out of the ring and problems with weight have blighted what could have been a far more successful career. He won the WBC title that had been vacated by Vitali Klitschko with a unanimous points victory over Chris Arreola, who he then rematched and knocked out in 6 rounds.

He then came up against Deontay Wilder and was the first person to take Wilder the distance, although he was soundly beaten on points. He then rematched Wilder but didn’t seem interested in being there, getting wiped out in a round. He has since gone on to be stopped by both Joe Joyce and Trevor Bryan, the latter being for the vacant WBA regular title just a couple of months ago.

65. Trevor Bryan

The newest heavyweight champion on this list, in December 2020 Bryan beat Stiverne to take the Regular title which was stripped from Manuel Charr due to inactivity. Talking of inactivity, this was Bryan’s first fight in 2 and a half years, and he came in significantly heavier than he had been in his last couple of fights. With no other major names on his record it remains to be seen how he will square up against some of the other big names in the division, assuming he is able to stay active.

64. Manuel Charr

The man whose title was stripped and is now around the waist of Trevor Bryan, is Manuel Charr. Charr had a run of 21 wins before coming up against Vitali Klitschko, who beat him comfortably in 4 rounds. Since then he has had 10 further fights, but every time he stepped up against the likes of Alexander Povetkin, Johann Duhuapas and Mairis Breidis, he would get beaten. After a win against former Tyson Fury comeback opponent Sefer Seferi (remember him?) he was given the opportunity to fight Alexander Ustinov for the WBA regular title, which he won via unanimous decision in November 2017… and he hasn’t fought since.

63. Tommy Morrison

A very hard one to judge, as on his day he had the power to beat anyone, but then he had a vulnerable chin and so could lose to anyone, as demonstrated by his loss to Michael Bentt, number 83 on this list. Probably best known for starring in Rocky V as Tommy Gunn, he had some excellent wins against the likes of Pinklon Thomas, James Tillis, Razor Ruddock and George Foreman, against whom he won the WBO title. He also however suffered knockout losses to Ray Mercer and Lennox Lewis.

62. Henry Akinwande

If you asked people to name every British Heavyweight champion, only the true boxing aficionados would be able to provide you with the name Henry Akinwande. Best known for his awkward style and defeat to Lennox Lewis where he spent 5 rounds trying to cuddle his fellow Brit, getting disqualified after numerous warnings from referee Mills Lane. He did manage to score several good wins, including against former cruiserweight champion Johnny Nelson, Axel Schulz, Tony Tucker and Tyson Fury’s dad John Fury.

61. Ray Mercer

“Merciless” Ray Mercer had a powerful punch and a solid chin, and had some notable wins, including winning the WBO title from Francesco Damiani, defending against Tommy Morrison, but then suffering losses when he stepped up against the likes of Larry Holmes, Evander Holyfield and Lennox Lewis. Later in his career he would also then suffer defeat against Wladimir Klitschko and Shannon Briggs

60. John Ruiz

One of the most heavily criticized recent heavyweight champions, Ruiz is a tough one to place, having some good wins but then also several losses. Ruiz held the WBA belt twice in the 2000s, winning and drawing with Evander Holyfield, losing to Roy Jones Jr and then in his second reign beating Hasim Rahman, Fres Oquendo and Andrew Golota. He later had 2 controversial points losses against Nikolai Valuev, before he was then knocked out by David Haye in his last fight. His scrappy style didn’t win him many fans, but you must respect some of those wins on his resume.

59. Roy Jones Jr

If this were a pound for pound list Roy would surely be in the top 10, as one of the finest boxers to ever lace them up. But as a Heavyweight he literally only had one fight, a points victory over John Ruiz in 2003, to become a 4 weight world champion, before dropping back down to Light Heavy.

Therefore I had to place Jones above Ruiz, and I think the 2003 Jones would have had a good chance against a lot of the champions from the first few decades who were of similar weight, plus against a lot of the lower rated bigger guys, where his exemplary boxing skills would have given him a very good chance. However he was never tested against a true Heavyweight, other than the recent exhibition against Mike Tyson.

58. Corrie Sanders

With concussive power in his southpaw left, Corrie Sanders is most well-known for knocking out Wladimir Klitschko in 2 rounds in 2003 in a massive upset victory. He bit off more than he could chew when he then took on big brother Vitali though, getting knocked out in the 8th round. He also suffered a loss to Hasim Rahman in his only other bout at that level. However both Wladimir and Rahman are quoted as saying Sanders was the hardest puncher they ever fought, so that needs to be considered.

57. Sultan Ibragimov

Ibragimov is difficult to rank, as he was a decorated amateur with great skills and excellent combination punching, but he only really had 3 bouts against championship level fighters. He won 2 of them, against 36 year old Shannon Briggs via unanimous decision for the WBO title and then against 45 year old Evander Holyfield, also via unanimous Decision. He then took on Wladimir Klitschko, to whom he lost by unanimous decision in a classic Wlad ‘jab and grab’ performance.

After this Ibragimov retired due to chronic hand injuries, and it remains to be seen what he could have achieved had he been able to box on.

56. James J Braddock

The famous “Cinderella Man”, he had a very patchy career, suffering 23 defeats, but only getting stopped in one of them, before having a run of 6 wins and 1 no contest to earn a shot at the champion Max Baer. He was a massive underdog but managed to get the points decision against the under prepared Baer. He would then go onto fight Joe Louis, who he managed to put down in the 1st round, but who ultimately knocked him out in the 8th.

He was extremely durable and hard punching, with his poor record being mainly down to taking fights at short notice and chronic hand injuries. Given the proper opportunities he surely would have had a better record, but then coming up against a prime Joe Louis I doubt that would have made a difference!

55. Jess Willard

One of the rare ‘big men’ from the classic era of heavyweight boxing, Willard stood 6ft 6in, and was immensely strong with good stamina and power in both hands. He defeated Jack Johnson, knocking him out in the 26th round in a famously controversial fight. Willard defended the title once, against Frank Moran, before coming up against the ferocious Jack Dempsey who absolutely destroyed him in their bout in 1919. The footage of the much smaller Dempsey knocking down the giant Willard multiple times, on each occasion standing over him poised to knock him down again as soon as he got up is hard to watch, and you can understand why the neutral corner rule was introduced not long after.

54. Bruce Seldon

With a great physique and a strong jab, the ‘Atlantic City Express’ came through the ranks with a lot of hype, but then stepping up to world level he would suffer defeat — by Oliver McCall, Riddick Bowe and Tony Tubbs. No doubt his losses were mainly down to a weak chin, but also he notably had a lack of focus outside the ring which definitely didn’t help. He got a world title shot after a run of 7 victories, including against former champ Greg Page, and he made the most of it, beating Tony Tucker via 7th round stoppage on cuts. He would defend the title once before being destroyed in a round by Mike Tyson in a paltry showing. After this he was out of the ring for 8 years, returning for a couple of ill-fated comebacks in the 2000s.

53. John Tate

Another of the ‘lost generation’ of Heavyweights, Tate was a gifted boxer and a big puncher, who seemed to be set for greatness. Having won the vacant WBA title from Gerrie Coetzee he was comfortably ahead on points in his first defence against Mike Weaver before suffering a sickening knockout defeat. He would also get stopped in his next fight against Trevor Berbick. While he continued to box throughout the 80s his weight had ballooned up and he never challenged at the top level again. A case of what could have been.

52. Mike Weaver

Next up is the man who handed Tate that crushing title defeat, Mike Weaver. Big and strong but with limited ability, at first it looked like he would just be a sparring partner and journeyman, but 5 wins in a row in 1978–79 got him a shot at Larry Holmes, who stopped him via 12th round TKO.

He then got his chance against Tate, and while behind on points, he managed to pull out the one big punch. He defended against Gerrie Coetzee and James Tillis, before losing to Michael Dokes in the first round, with some feeling the fight was stopped prematurely. They had a rematch which ended in a draw. He would go on to have losses against Pinklon Thomas, Razor Ruddock and ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith (twice).

51. Michael Dokes

‘Dynamite’ Michael Dokes is another of the lost generation of 80s heavyweights, and he comes in above Weaver here as he beat him for the title. After that victory and the subsequent draw, he then lost the title to Gerrie Coetzee via 10th round KO. He would then later rack up several wins over lower ranked contenders, but then lose when stepping up against the likes of Evander Holyfield, ‘Razor’ Ruddock and Riddick Bowe.

50. Gerrie Coetzee

Next up the man who beat Dokes but lost to Weaver (showing how hard it is to rank these guys…!) Gerrie Coetzee. With good durability and clubbing power, he had good wins over the likes of Leon Spinks, James Tillis and Dokes, from whom he won the title. But he was also vulnerable and lost to John Tate, Greg Page and Frank Bruno, the last of which was a brutal first round knock out that saw him unconscious, out of the ring and out of boxing for 7 years.

49. Greg Page

Another one of the lost generation of 80’s heavyweights, Greg Page was highly skilled with a fluid style but troubles in his personal life were never far away and impacted his performance inside the ring. He suffered a loss to Trevor Berbick before getting a shot at the vacant WBC title, which he also lost to Tim Witherspoon. A couple of months later he suffered another loss to David Bey, but still got the opportunity for another title shot before the end of the year, and this time he took it, taking the opportunity to travel to apartheid South Africa and beat Gerrie Coetzee by knockout.

However he lost it in his first defence just 5 months later to Tony Tubbs, and would go on to have a number of other fights with other champions past and present, including losses to Buster Douglas, Francesco Damiani and Bruce Seldon; with wins against ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith and Tim Witherspoon, albeit when they were both the wrong side of 40.

48. John L Sullivan

The ‘Boston Strong Boy’ John L Sullivan is very difficult to rank, as there is no footage of any of his fights. However we can’t argue with the fact that he was a dominant fighting force in the late 1800s, beating everyone in his way, and attaining legendary status. His only recognised defeat is when he came up against a skilled boxer in James J Corbett, who knocked him out in the 21st round, although by this stage Sullivan had been out of the ring for 3 years, and came in significantly out of shape.

47. James J Corbett

It therefore makes sense to have the man who beat the man next in James J Corbett. Gentleman Jim revolutionised boxing, in helping to usher in the pugilistic arts, and becoming an icon for the sport.

In the ring he is best known for his victory over Sullivan, and later he would suffer defeats to Bob Fitzsimmons and to James J Jeffries twice, but it is what he did for the sport that would remain his legacy, and give him his place here in the top 50.

46. James J Jeffries

Another legend of the early years of boxing, James J Jeffries had tremendous physical strength and endurance, gaining him wins over Fitzsimmons and James J Corbett. He was the first heavyweight champion to retire undefeated, having defended the belt 7 times over 5 years. He came out of retirement to take on new champion Jack Johnson, having been out of the ring for 6 years and having had to lose 110 lbs to get into shape for the contest. He was knocked out in the 15th round of a very one sided affair, which ended up causing race riots across the USA.

45. Leon Spinks

Leon Spinks is one of these difficult ones to rank, as he had one exceptional victory, in his case a win over Muhammad Ali in his 8th professional bout, but beyond that not much else.

A come forward aggressive fighter with little regard for defence, his other big fights typically ended up in defeat, for instance against Larry Holmes and Gerrie Coetzee. He fought into his early 40s, ending his career with a record of 26 wins, 17 losses and 3 draws. 45th may be generous, but a win over ‘The Greatest’, even at that stage of his career, deserves a lot of credit.

44. Oliver McCall

Still boxing (and winning) as late as 2018 well into his 50s, Oliver McCall had 74 professional bouts over 33 years as a pro, but he will be best remembered for 3 contests between 1994 and 1997. First off, his upset victory over Lennox Lewis via a one punch knockout in the 2nd round. Second, him then losing the title to Frank Bruno at Wembley Stadium, but then most infamously in the rematch with Lewis where he suffered a mental breakdown during the fight.

As well as this the man known as the ‘Atomic Bull’ took losses against ‘Buster’ Douglas and Tony Tucker, but did score victories over 45-year-old Larry Holmes, Oleg Maskaev, and Henry Akinwande.

43. Max Schmeling

Best known for being the only heavyweight champion to win the title via disqualification, Schmeling had a great level of durability as well as knockout power in both hands.

Winning the title from Jack Sharkey after having received a low blow, he defended once before losing in the rematch to Starkey by a controversial points decision. One year later in 1933 he fought and lost to Max Baer via 10th round TKO. Baer, who had a Jewish father, fought with the Star of David on his trunks, a political statement as Schmeling was the hero of Nazi Germany. Schmeling’s greatest victory was a knockout of Joe Louis before his championship reign, although Louis avenged this defeat, knocking out Schmeling in the first round 2 years later.

42. Hasim Rahman

Hasim Rahman like Oliver McCall, is best known for his upset victory over Lennox Lewis, which Lewis then avenged 7 months later.

Beyond that though Rahman consistently mixed with the best over his almost 20 year career, with notable wins over Trevor Berbick, Corrie Sanders and Monte Barrett. The Barrett win meant he picked up the Interim WBC title, which was later upgraded to the full belt following the retirement of Vitali Klitschko. He has several losses though, against Holyfield, John Ruiz, Alexander Povetkin and twice against Oleg Maskaev, the second of which saw him lose the WBC belt

41. Shannon Briggs

Shannon “The Cannon” Briggs is now best known for turning up uninvited at places and shouting “Let’s Go Champ!” ad infinitum… but he is a two-time heavyweight champion, blessed with extremely fast hands and serious power.

Winning a controversial points decision over George Foreman in 1997 gave him a claim to the Lineal title, as Foreman was widely accepted as “the man who beat the man”, although he didn’t actually hold a title at the time, having been stripped of both belts he previously won for not facing his mandatory challengers Tony Tucker and Axel Schulz.

Briggs lost the claim to the Lineal title to Lennox Lewis in a match up where Lewis’ WBC belt was also on the line.

Various wins including against aging former champ Ray Mercer got him a title shot at the unheralded WBO champion Siarhei Liakhovich, which he won via 12th round stoppage. He then lost the belt in his first defence, against Sultan Ibragimov.

He had one more crack at the title, this time losing a one-sided points affair to Vitali Klitschko.

40. James ‘Buster’ Douglas

Another case of a boxer being known primarily for one big victory, ‘Buster’ Douglas’s 10th round knockout of Mike Tyson went down in history as one of the biggest upsets in all of boxing. He then lost the title to Evander Holyfield, coming in 15lbs heavier and a lot less focussed than he had against Tyson.

Throughout the rest of his career he had wins against Trevor Berbick, Greg Page and Oliver McCall, and he had one other title shot, which he lost to Tony Tucker.

39. Chris Byrd

Similar to Herbie Hide, Byrd was small for modern heavyweights who did well against men of a similar size, even top contenders such as David Tua and Evander Holyfield (although Holyfield was 40 at the time). However when he came up against true giants even with his excellent boxing skills he struggled to make up the size differential. He does hold a victory on paper over Vitali Klitschko, although he was losing the fight before Vitali had to pull out due to a shoulder injury. Little brother Wlad beat him twice comfortably, and a loss against Povetkin saw him drop to light heavy for his last few fights.

38. Tony Tubbs

A highly skilled boxer with a good jab that he apparently learned as a sparring partner of Muhammad Ali, Tubbs is another of the 80’s generation that lived in the shadow of Holmes and Tyson.

Early wins over ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith and Greg Page put him in contention for a title shot against Tim Witherspoon, but weighing in 15lbs more than he had done in his previous contest he ended up losing a 15-round decision.

Tubbs then took on Tyson, doing very well against Iron Mike in the first round before getting knocked out in the 2nd.

Later in his mid-30s he lost a controversial decision to future world champion Riddick Bowe, plus he scored a victory over another future champ, Bruce Seldon.

37. Frank Bruno

One of the biggest punchers with one of best knockout ratios in heavyweight history, Bruno had the power to beat anyone he landed on, such as Gerrie Coetzee who he knocked out in 1 round in devastating fashion, but when he himself got caught he had the tendency to freeze which then would then leave him open to brutal assaults, hence his stoppage losses to ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith, Witherspoon, Lewis and Tyson twice.

His greatest triumph came at Wembley in 1995, scoring a unanimous points win over the man that had beaten Lennox Lewis, Oliver McCall.

36. Max Baer

With a vicious aggressive style and serious power in both hands, Baer had some excellent wins including his victories over Max Schmeling and Primo Carnera. However his lax attitude to training and tendency to not take opponents seriously saw him lose his title to the Cinderella Man James J Braddock, among his 13 losses. One of those was against the great Joe Louis, being knocked out in the fourth round, although Baer apparently fought with an injured right hand, taking away his greatest weapon… and you don’t want to be going in with Joe Louis with any sort of handicap.

35. Tim Witherspoon

Tall and technically gifted with a great jab, Witherspoon was another of the 80’s generation in the shadow of Holmes and Tyson. He lost to Holmes via a close 12 round decision in his first world title challenge, but then did pick up the WBC strap after outpointing Greg Page who had admittedly come in overweight.

He would then drop the title to Pinklon Thomas, but then beat ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith and then Tony Tubbs to pick up the IBF title. He then defended against Bruno, before losing via upset first round KO to Smith.

He carried on well into his 40s with a mixed record, including losses to Greg Page and Ray Mercer.

34. Pinklon Thomas

As mentioned previously Thomas picked up the title outpointing Witherspoon, the only blemish on his record prior to this being a draw against Gerrie Coetzee. He defended against Mike Weaver, with a one punch knockout in the 8th round, but then dropped it to Trevor Berbick via decision.

This was in the peak period of Mike Tyson, and Thomas took on Iron Mike in May 1987. He was always blessed with an effective left jab, and used it to his advantage for 6 rounds, before a vicious combination from Tyson ended the contest.

As is the case with many of the heavyweights discussed he carried on well past his best and ended up suffering losses to Holyfield, Bowe and Morrison, although he did achieve a first round knockout victory over ‘Bonecrusher’ Smith.

33. Trevor Berbick

Berbick is best known for two fights against boxing legends at very different points in their career. The first was his victory over Muhammad Ali, beating a visibly diminished Ali in a sad spectacle, and ending the career of “The Greatest”. The second was his loss to 20 year old phenomenon Mike Tyson, being knocked down multiple times on his way to a 2nd round knockout loss.

However outside of these iconic encounters he had a number of matches against the other top 80’s and 90s heavyweights, including wins against John Tate, Greg Page and Pinklon Thomas, from whom he won the title, as well as losses to Larry Holmes in his first world title challenge, ‘Buster’ Douglas and in his later career, Hasim Rahman.

32. Andy Ruiz Jr

A tough one to rank as he is still active, and it remains to be seen how his career will progress from here. He is currently best known for briefly holding the unified WBA, IBF and WBO titles, stopping Anthony Joshua in an upset victory. He lost them in the rematch 6 months later, Joshua taking a safety first approach and winning comfortably off the jab.

He has a points victory over Siarhei Liakhovich, plus in his only other title challenge he lost a very close points decision to Joseph Parker.

With excellent boxing skills and very fast hands, it is a shame that he has such a lack of conditioning, as a more in shape Andy Ruiz Jr could be a serious force in the division. Now working with Canelo’s trainer Eddie Reynoso, that may yet be the case.

31. Joseph Parker

The recently mentioned victory over Ruiz puts him one place above the Mexican on the list. Before capturing the WBO title in that bout he had some good wins against the likes of Carlos Takam and Alexander Dimitrenko. Following the Ruiz victory, he defended the WBO title against the relatively unheralded Razvjan Cojanu and then against Hughie Fury in a controversial points decision.

He then lost the title to Anthony Joshua, the Brit jabbing his way to victory over 12 rounds. Following that he suffered a further loss to Dillian Whyte, albeit knocking him down in the last round and almost stopping him with seconds to go. Since then he has had three knockout victories and at just 29 years old he has plenty of time to get back into the title picture.

30. Ernie Terrell

Ernie Terrell was the earliest recipient of a splintered title in the multiple sanctioning bodies era, after Muhammad Ali was stripped. He defeated Eddie Machen for the vacant WBA crown, having previously beaten Cleveland Williams, Zora Folley and Bob Foster. A tall fighter with good reach and power, He then defended the title against George Chuvalo and Doug Jones before losing to Ali in dominant fashion, being consistently punished and taunted with “what’s my name” having previously called refused to use Ali’s chosen name and continued to call him Cassius Clay.

He would go on to fight a further 11 times, losing 4, but never again would he be in the title picture.

29. Michael Moorer

Strong, athletic and powerful, Moorer was the first southpaw to hold the Heavyweight title.

He initially won the vacant WBO crown, via 5th round stoppage against Bert Cooper. He didn’t defend the belt but would go on to have a further 5 victories including a 10 round points win over Bonecrusher Smith.

He then challenged Evander Holyfield for his WBA and IBF titles, winning a majority decision after being down in the 2nd round. He famously lost the belts later that year to George Foreman, with big George winning by knockout well behind on the scorecards to become the oldest ever heavyweight champion at 45 years old.

He regained the IBF title which Foreman had vacated, winning a close points decision against Axel Schulz. He defended it twice before then losing it to Holyfield in a rematch via 8th round stoppage.

He continued fighting well past his prime, including a 1st round knockout defeat by David Tua.

28. Jimmy Ellis

Jimmy Ellis was a good mover, a busy boxer and could punch. Having originally campaigned at middleweight where he suffered several losses, including against Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter, he really came into his own at heavyweight, once he had started working with legendary trainer Angelo Dundee, and regularly sparring with Muhammad Ali.

With Ali stripped Ellis took part in a tournament to find the WBA heavyweight champion, beating Oscar Bonavena and Jerry Quarrey on his way to the title. He defended once against former champ Floyd Patterson in a controversial points win, before taking on Joe Frazier who was recognised as the WBC champion. Frazier had too much for him, Dundee stopping the fight at the end of the 4th round.

He would later fight Ali, losing by 12th round stoppage; and would also then go on to suffer defeats to Earnie Shavers, Ron Lyle and Joe Frazier again.

27. Ingemar Johansson

The Swede had a stand-up European style, plus had explosive power in his right hand.

Wins over contenders Henry Cooper and Eddie Machen earned him a title shot at Floyd Patterson, and he caused a major upset knocking out Floyd in the 3rd round. He would then get knocked out himself in the rematch just under a year later, and then in the rubber match he was knocked out again.

He had a further 4 victories before retiring at the age of just 30.

26. David Haye

David Haye was a smart boxer with dynamic knockout power. Originally a unified cruiserweight champion having beaten Jean Marc Mormeck for his WBA and WBC titles, and then Enzo Macaranelli for his WBO title, he moved up to heavyweight where he beat Monte Barret before taking on the 7ft Russian Nikolai Valuev. Despite a huge weight and reach difference he won a unanimous decision, even wobbling the giant on a couple of occasions.

He defended against John Ruiz and Audley Harrison, both by knockout, before losing to Wladimir Klitschko via unanimous points decision which he infamously blamed on a poorly toe.

He then beat Dereck Chisora in a grudge match before retiring for 4 years. He came back and had two quick knockout victories before losing twice to former cruiserweight champion Tony Bellew.

25. Michael Spinks

Another boxer that had great success in a lower weight division before moving up, Michael Spinks, younger brother of Leon Spinks, dominated the Light Heavyweight division throughout the early 80s before moving up to challenge Larry Holmes for the heavyweight championship. He got the nod in a controversial points decision, and also won the rematch the following April, ending with the same result.

He had 2 more victories before coming up against a peak Mike Tyson, who knocked him down twice to win in 91 seconds, after which he retired.

24. Alexander Povetkin

Povetkin is another case of an excellent and talented heavyweight who happens to compete in the era of super heavyweights. His 2 losses have come at the hands of Wladimir Klitschko, who knocked him down 4 times on the way to a lop sided points victory, and Anthony Joshua whom he wobbled before getting brutally knocked out in the 7th round.

Wins against Chris Byrd and Eddie Chambers put Povetkin in position to fight Ruslan Chahaev for the WBA “regular” title, Wladimir Klitschko having been upgraded to “super” champion. He won the title via decision, and went on to defend it 4 times, including a 2nd round knockout against Hasim Rahman

After defeat to Wladimir he clocked up 8 wins including against future WBA regular champion Manual Charr, before taking on Joshua.

Since then wins against Hughie Fury and Dillian Whyte, along with a draw against Michael Hunter has put him in title contention again at 41. Later this year he will rematch Whyte, the winner being in line to face the winner of the likely Fury and Joshua fight as WBC mandatory.

23. Ken Norton

Ken Norton was best known for being Muhammad Ali’s bogeyman, fighting the great one 3 times, and while ultimately he lost two and won one over the combined 39 rounds, many have Ken Norton coming out on top overall.

An aggressive fighter with noted power in the left hook and overhand right; he employed a cross-guard defence that made him very difficult to land against.

After the victory over Ali in their first encounter he challenged George Foreman for the title, getting destroyed in 2 rounds.

He won an eliminator against Jimmy Young in 1977 and was set to face Ali again, although Ali lost to Leon Spinks in a huge upset. Spinks chose to rematch Ali rather than face Norton, for which the WBC stripped Spinks and made Norton champion. In his first defence however, he would lose the title to Larry Holmes in an extremely close split decision. He would go on to suffer further losses to Earnie Shavers and Gerry Cooney before retiring for good.

22. Floyd Patterson

Floyd Patterson had great speed with fast hands and his famous leaping left hook. Rising through the ranks, fighting at what would now be considered super middleweight, he suffered just one loss in 32 fights before taking on Archie Moore for the title made vacant by Rocky Marciano’s retirement. He defeated the “old mongoose” by 5th round KO, defending the title 3 times before losing it to Ingemar Johannsson. He won the rematch, becoming the first man to successfully regain the title. He won the 3rd bout between them, and then defended it once more before coming up against the juggernaut that was Sonny Liston, who destroyed him in a round on two occasions.

He came back and had 5 straight wins including against George Chuvalo and Eddie Machen before challenging for Ali’s titles in November 1965. Ali scored a 12 round TKO which could have ended much quicker, but Ali chose to draw it out to punish Patterson for calling him Clay and not his chosen name.

He would go on to fight a further 16 times, including a loss to Jimmy Ellis and finally another loss to Ali, due to a cut in the 7th round.

21. Jersey Joe Walcott

A wily and skilled boxer who seemed to get better with age, Jersey Joe Walcott was one of the top heavyweights throughout the 40s and early 50s, fighting the best in the era.

His first title challenge came at age 33 against Joe Louis. He knocked down the “Brown Bomber” twice, but still lost on points in a highly controversial verdict. In the rematch he was once again able to put Louis on the canvas, but again lost, this time via more conclusive 11th round knockout.

He went on to have 4 fights with Ezzard Charles, losing the first 2 but winning the 3rd, to become the first man to win the title at the fifth time of asking, and the oldest ever at that stage, at 37. He also won the 4th Charles fight via unanimous decision.

He then would have the misfortune of coming up against Rocky Marciano, who knocked him out in 13 rounds to take his title; and then again in the 1st round the following May after which Jersey Joe finally called it a day.

20. Deontay Wilder

With his ungainly style and basketball player physique, Deontay Wilder shouldn’t be a great heavyweight, but his unnatural power made him a force throughout the 2010s, amassing 40 wins with 39 knockouts, with only Bermane Stiverne going the distance — although he was knocked out within a round in their rematch.

One could question the quality of the opponents, although he did face former champions or at least highly rated challengers such as Siarhei Liakhovich, Johann Duhuapas, Chris Arreola, Domonic Brezeale and Luis Ortiz (twice).

However, when he came up against a true challenge in Tyson Fury he was found wanting, getting outboxed in their first fight but escaping with a controversial draw thanks to 2 knockdowns and questionable judging. In the rematch just over a year later he was systematically dismantled by the Gypsy King, being stopped in 7 rounds.

Since then the lack of willingness to return to the ring and the various excuses offered for his defeat has dented his reputation, but at 35 he still has time on his side to come back, it just depends on what impact the crushing defeat by Fury will have had, physically and psychologically.

19. Riddick Bowe

It feels wrong to say someone that held the heavyweight title twice and only lost once in 45 fights had a disappointing career, but that is the case with Big Daddy Bowe.

Massively talented with great punching power, he rose through the ranks highly touted as the future of the heavyweight division.

Wins over ex champions Pinklon Thomas and Tony Tubbs, plus future champion Bruce Seldon amongst others put him in position to challenge Evander Holyfield, and he was able to win via decision, scoring a knockdown in the 11th round. He would then defend the title against Michael Dokes and Jesse Ferguson before his only professional loss in the rematch to Holyfield.

He then won the WBO title by knocking down Herbie Hide multiple times on his way to a 6th round victory, which he defended once before taking on Holyfield in the rubber match. Where the previous 2 fights had gone to points, this was much more emphatic, Bowe winning the match and the rivalry with an 8th round knockout.

There was then the bizarre situation of 2 victories via disqualification against Andrew Golota, who was winning both fights before getting disqualified for consistently punching below the belt. After the second of these Bowe retired, although he did return for 3 more comeback fights in the 2000s.

The real shame is we never saw Bowe in with the other greats of the era, particularly Lewis, who previously beat him in the 1988 Olympics, and Mike Tyson.

18. Wladimir Klitschko

Wladimir Klitschko is an interesting one. Having won Olympic gold and along with his brother Vitali being picked out as potential future stars, he suffered 3 stoppage defeats early in his career, which severely dented his reputation. However after working with Emmanuel Steward he went on a run of 22 wins over 11 years to dominate the heavyweight division, along with his brother Vitali.

At 6ft 6in and typically weighing around 240–50 lbs, he had a powerful left jab, concussive straight right, supreme fitness and great footwork.

Among his victims were former and future champions Ray Mercer, Chris Byrd (twice), Samuel Peter (twice), Lamon Brewster (avenging his defeat), Sultan Ibragimov, Hasim Rahman, Ruslan Chagaev, David Haye and Alexander Povetkin.

He then came up against Tyson Fury; whose superior height and size combined with his slick movement meant Wlad was unable to dominate in his typical way, and Fury won a unanimous decision. He had one more fight, an absolute war with Anthony Joshua that he was very close to winning in the 6th round before Joshua got the stoppage win in the 11th

17. Joe Frazier

Smokin’ Joe is best known for his 3 battles with Muhammad Ali, but throughout his career he mixed with the best, in maybe the greatest era in heavyweight boxing.

With his “bob and weave” style and relentless pressure, along with his famous left hook, he was able to defeat Oscar Bonavena (twice), George Chuvalo, Jerry Quarry (twice), Eddie Machen, Jimmy Ellis (twice) and future Light Heavyweight great Bob Foster. The leaping left hook to knock Ali down in their first fight is one of the most iconic punches in history.

Ali ended up winning their third fight, the famous Thriller in Manilla, with Frazier unable to come out for the 15th round. However unbeknownst to Frazier, Ali was also in a state of complete exhaustion and also would have struggled to make it through the round.

The one irresistible force he came up against in his career was George Foreman, who destroyed him in 2 rounds for the title in 1973, and then in 5 rounds in their rematch 4 years later

16. Ezzard Charles

Ezzard Charles was an exceptional technical boxer, and is considered by many to be the greatest light heavyweight of all time. He is even currently ranked as the greatest boxer of all time, by the heralded boxing website boxrec. While he didn’t spend much of his career at Heavyweight, Charles was also a significant presence there, defeating Jersey Joe Walcott to win the title, successfully defending it 8 times including against Joe Louis, Joey Maxim and Walcott again, before losing it to Walcott in their 3rd encounter by 7th round knockout. They would go again for the 4th time, with Walcott again victorious, this time by 15 round decision as had been their first 2 fights. He would go on to challenge for the Heavyweight title again against Rocky Marciano, losing the first bout by a close points decision and then being on the verge of stopping Marciano due to a badly cut nose, before Rocky knocked him out in the 8th round.

The 95 victories on Charles’ record is the most of anyone on this list.

15. Sonny Liston

Sometimes boxers come along that are thought by many to be unstoppable forces, destroying everything in their path. That was the case in the early 70s with George Forman, in the mid-80s with Mike Tyson, and in the 50s and early 60s this was certainly the case with Charles “Sonny” Liston. Knocking out top contenders Cleveland Williams, Zora Folley and Eddie Machen before annihilating champion Floyd Patterson in a round on two separate occasions. He then took on young challenger Cassius Clay, whom he was expected to beat comfortably. As has now gone down in history a masterclass of boxing from the soon to be Muhammad Ali saw Liston beaten comfortably, not getting up from his stool for the 7th round. The rematch later that year was even more famous, Liston being counted out after Ali delivered the famous “phantom punch”.

He would continue to box although was never in the title picture again; the closest he came being against Leotis Martin who was ranked 3rd at the time, but although he scored a knockdown in round 4 he ended up getting ko’d in the 9th. He fought once more, a 9th round stoppage in 1970 of Chuck Wepner, who would go on to be the inspiration for the film Rocky.

14. Evander Holyfield

Some of the boxers on this list are hard to rank because they didn’t really fight many other champions. For Evander “Real Deal” Holyfield it is the opposite problem. He fought pretty much every important name on the heavyweight scene from the late 80s through to the early 2010s. And that was after having cleaned up at Cruiserweight, going 18–0 and unifying the belts.

It would probably be quicker to list who he didn’t fight from the last 35 years of Heavyweight champions, but here we go.

Early in his career he beat Pinklon Thomas and Michael Dokes, before taking the unified titles from Buster Douglas, who had dramatically won them from Tyson earlier that year. He then successfully defended against George Foreman and Larry Holmes before losing to Riddick Bowe. He would then defeat Bowe to win them back, but later would lose the rubber match by 8th round knockout. He lost the WBA and IBF titles to Michael Moorer, but then after a points victory over Ray Mercer and the aforementioned loss to Bowe, he won the WBA title back against Mike Tyson by 11th round knockout in 1996 in a fight that should have happened 6 years earlier. The rematch was the famous ‘bite fight’ when Tyson bit off a chunk of Holyfield’s ear, to earn a very much deserved disqualification.

He then defended a couple more times including a revenge victory over Moorer, before taking on WBC champion Lennox Lewis in a unification bout. The fight ended in a controversial draw, as many watching felt Lewis had won comfortably. They had a rematch later that year which Lewis then did win, although ironically Holyfield had actually done better in the 2nd fight.

Throughout his late 30s through to his late 40s he would go on to fight many of the other champions of the time, winning and losing the title to John Ruiz, beating Hasim Rahman and losing further title challenges to Chris Byrd, Sultan Ibragimov and Nikolai Valuev, the last of which was very controversial with the then 46 year old Holyfield being the deserving winner in many eyes, even though he was almost a foot shorter and just shy of 100 lbs lighter than the Russian giant.

13. Jack Dempsey

The Manassa Mauler was one of the first global superstars of boxing, with his fights setting gate records and being some of the first sporting events to be broadcast live.

His nonstop aggressive style made him immensely popular, and the way he dominated the great champions and contenders of the time secures his place on the list.

Winning the title in brutal fashion against the 6ft 6in Jess Willard, the man who had dethroned the great Jack Johnson, he went on to defend it 6 times, including against the great light heavyweight champion Georges Carpentier.

He then lost it to Gene Tunney, being outboxed via 10th round decision. He scored a victory over future champion Jack Sharkey before taking on Tunney again, this time losing via unanimous decision in the fight known as the ‘battle of the long count’.

12. George Foreman

George Foreman almost had 2 careers as 2 separate people. The first being as the terrifying young prospect that bulldozed his way through the heavyweight division in the early 70s having won Olympic gold in 1968. He racked up 37 victories with 34 knockouts before taking on Joe Frazier, who was coming off a career best performance having beaten Muhammad Ali in their first fight. Big George destroyed Frazier, knocking him off his feet multiple times in 2 brutal rounds.

He defended twice, including against future champion Ken Norton, also by 2nd round knockout.

He famously lost to Muhammad Ali in the Rumble in the Jungle, falling for Ali’s ‘rope a dope’ tactics, wailing away and tiring himself out to lose via dramatic 8th round knockout.

He came back in 1976 and 77 with a further 5 victories including against Ron Lyle and another knockout of Joe Frazier, but a points loss to Jimmy Young caused him to retire at the age of just 28.

He came back 10 years later, almost unrecognisable, now shaven headed and significantly heavier. However he still had the same concussive knockout power. 24 victories with 23 inside the distance followed, earning a shot against 28-year-old undefeated champion Evander Holyfield which he lost by unanimous decision. He would lose another title challenge, this time to Tommy Morrison for the WBO title, before finally becoming a 2-time world champion by defeating Michael Moorer for the WBA and IBF titles by a stunning 10th round knockout while behind on the scorecards.

He went on defeat Axel Schulz in a controversial points win, but found himself in a position of holding the lineal title, but no actual recognised championships, having been stripped of both belts for refusing to defend against the mandatory challengers Tony Tucker (WBA) and Axel Shulz (IBF).

His lineal title was lost when he lost to Shannon Briggs, after which he retired.

11. Jack Johnson

Heralded as a defensive master and one of the early greats of the sport, Johnson was the only black man to challenge for the title until Joe Louis 22 years later. Prior to getting his shot he had amassed a record of 35–5–6, including taking on the top contenders at the time such as Sam McVey, Joe Jeannette, Sam Langford, Marvin Hart and Bob Fitzsimmons. He chased then champion Tommy Burns around the world to force him to fight him, which he did in Sydney, Australia in 1908. Johnson was declared the winner by decision after police stopped the fight.

He would go on to defend the title 8 times, including against former undefeated champion James J Jeffries in the ‘fight of the century’. He finally lost the title in the blistering heat of Havana, Cuba, being knocked out in the 26th round by Jess Willard.

He would go on to fight until his early 50s, but never again would challenge for the title.

10. Gene Tunney

A tough one to place, as he was a highly skilled technical boxer who had the majority of his fights at light heavyweight. He lost just once in 88 contests, to Harry Greb, whom he beat 3 times and drew once with. He also held victories against many of the other great light heavyweights of the era, including Georges Carpentier.

He stepped up to Heavyweight to fight the dominant champion Jack Dempsey, winning via decision twice, including the “battle of the long count”. He defended it once more, against Tom Heeney, before retiring at just 31 years old.

9. Rocky Marciano

Still the only man of all the champions listed here to have never suffered a defeat, Rocky Marciano steamrollered through the division with his brutal punching power, incredible fitness and iron chin. He came up against many more technically gifted boxers and always managed to find a way to win.

Beating Joe Louis on his rise through the ranks, (although according to the film Coming To America Joe Louis was 137 years old at the time), he then got his opportunity against Jersey Joe Walcott, knocking him out in the 13th round with one of the most powerful punches ever thrown. He defended the tile 6 times, including a first round knockout of Jersey Joe in the rematch, 2 wins over Ezzard Charles and then a 9th round knock out victory over the “old mongoose” Archie Moore in his last bout before retiring.

8. Anthony Joshua

Time will tell whether this is far too high or too low for Anthony Joshua. However currently taking into account his considerable punching power, 6ft 6-inch massive frame and boxing skills which seem to be improving, I feel he deserves this very high placing, as in a head to head I would generally favour him against the previously covered champions.

Taking the IBF title with an easy knockout victory over Charles Martin, having beaten Dillian Whyte in his previous fight, he has gone on to pick up 2 of the other titles, defeating Wladimir Klitschko in an absolute war for the WBA title, and Joseph Parker by decision for the WBO. He defended against former champion Alexander Povetkin, then lost to Andy Ruiz in a shock stoppage, but he quickly gained revenge with a comfortable points win 6 months later. He recently beat Kubrat Pulev by 9th round KO, and hopefully the big showdown with WBC and lineal champion Tyson Fury will happen later this year, the result of which will certainly impact his placing on this list.

7. Larry Holmes

With the unenviable task of taking up the mantle of the world’s leading Heavyweight from Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes was a dominant champion throughout the late 70s to mid-80s, racking up 48 wins, coming within one of Rocky Marciano’s record. He had one of the greatest jabs in all of boxing, along with good fundamental skills and excellent punch power.

Throughout his peak he beat the likes of Earnie Shavers (twice), Ken Norton, Mike Weaver, Ali, Trevor Berbick, Leon Spinks, Tim Witherspoon and Bonecrusher Smith. His reign was finally ended by Michael Spinks via a highly contested points decision. The rematch 7 months later ended with the same result.

Holmes retired but then came back 19 months later, at 39 years old, to challenge Mike Tyson, losing via 4th round stoppage, the only stoppage defeat in his career.

He carried on fighting through until his early 50s, with his most significant victory coming against Ray Mercer in 1992, setting up a title fight with Evander Holyfield which he lost on points. He had one more losing world title challenge, against Oliver McCall in 1995.

6. Mike Tyson

A controversial figure and one that is extremely divisive whenever you consider a list of the greatest heavyweights. The early Tyson may have been the most dominating force in heavyweight history, tearing through the division, destroying everyone in his path. Trevor Berbick, Bonecrusher Smith, Pinklon Thomas, Tony Tucker, Larry Holmes, Tony Tubbs, Michael Spinks and Frank Bruno were all durable past, present or future champions, and yet with the exception of Tucker, Tyson knocked them all out.

Financial and personal problems were mounting, and in 1990 he suffered a shock loss to Buster Douglas in what should have been a routine defence setting up for a mega fight with Evander Holyfield.

He would come back later that year, compiling 4 victories including 2 over Razor Ruddock, before conviction for rape meant he was imprisoned and out of the ring for over 4 years. Resuming his career in 1995 he had 2 wins before fighting Frank Bruno again, taking Big Frank’s WBC title by 3rd round stoppage. He then unified, taking Bruce Seldon’s WBA title via 1st round knockout. However, he then had two defeats to Evander Holyfield, an 11th round knockout and then the disqualification in the ‘bite fight’. By this point it was clear that this was not the same Tyson, and he would have one more title challenge, losing to Lennox Lewis by definitive 8th round knockout.

5. Vitali Klitschko

The Klitschko brothers dominated the Heavyweight scene from the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s, however most people think of Wladimir as the more dominant champion, having carried on longer than Vitali and having had a number of very high profile bouts, while Vitali’s career was cut shorth through injury

However Vitali ranks higher here due to the fact he only suffered two very unlucky defeats in his career, a 6th round stoppage on cuts to Lennox Lewis in a fight he may well have won, and a 9th round shoulder injury against Chris Byrd while well ahead on the scorecards. And while his career certainly could have gone on longer, even with the retirements and injuries he still racked up 45 wins, 41 of which were inside the distance. He had all the attributes of Wladimir, but with a better chin and some would argue more power.

He won the WBO title from Herbie Hide, scoring a 2nd round knockout victory, defending twice before losing it to Byrd due to the shoulder injury. He racked up another 5 wins before the defeat to Lewis for the WBC and Lineal championship.

He then won the WBC title from Corrie Sanders, avenging his brother Wladimir’s defeat. He defended once before retiring, and then came back 4 years later at age 37 to take his old WBC belt back again, this time against Samuel Peter. He defended it a further 9 times before retiring, including against Shannon Briggs and Manuel Charr

4. Tyson Fury

The current lineal champion and WBC belt holder having dismantled Deontay Wilder last year, Tyson is a unique heavyweight in that he is 6ft 9in and often weighs in excess of 250 lbs, yet he dances on his toes like a middleweight, plus he is technically gifted with great reflexes and an awkward switch hitting style that makes him extremely difficult to beat… as you can see by the fact that he is currently unbeaten.

He burst on to the global scene taking on Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, befuddling the long reigning champion and winning the unified WBA, IBF and WBO belts and the Lineal title via a deserved 12 round decision. He never defended the belts as mental health issues caused him to have 2 and a half years out of the ring. Upon coming back after a couple of warm up fights he took on feared puncher and WBC champion Deontay Wilder, dominating the fight but then getting heavily knocked down in the 12th round, somehow getting up when he looked to be out cold. The fight ended in a controversial draw, with most neutral observers feeling Fury deserved the victory.

Another two tick over fights followed in 2019 before the inevitable rematch with Wilder, and this time he didn’t leave it to the judges, taking the fight to the American and systematically dismantling him over 7 rounds.

Now we look forward to the long-awaited showdown with Anthony Joshua, and when that happens, we will have a much clearer picture of where ultimately both will be in the history of the heavyweights.

3. Joe Louis

Joe Louis had the longest reign of any heavyweight champion both in terms of time and number of defenses, and that would have been even more significant had his reign not coincided with the World War II.

With knockout power and an efficient and highly effective boxing style, Louis was a true phenomenon and global icon.

Coming through the ranks he scored knockout victories against former champions Primo Carnera, Max Baer, and Jack Sharkey, although he did suffer a 12-round stoppage to Max Schmeling.

He won the tile against James J Braddock, before avenging Schmeling, winning by a decisive first round knockout. There were 25 defenses in total over 11 years, with the last 2 coming against Jersey Joe Walcott. The first was a very controversial points decision, the second a conclusive 11th round knockout.

Louis retired but then came out of retirement 2 years later challenging Ezzard Charles for the title and losing via unanimous decision. A further 8 victories followed over the next year before he took on the up and coming Rocky Marciano, who knocked him out in the 8th round

2. Lennox Lewis

Some may argue this is a very high placing for Lennox Lewis, but given his size, strength, skills and power, I genuinely think he beats everyone below him on the list.

On his way to the championship among many others he defeated former champion Mike Weaver, and then he knocked out Razor Ruddock in what was supposed to be a final eliminator to face WBC champion Riddick Bowe. However rather than fight Lewis Bowe literally dropped the belt in a rubbish bin, meaning Lewis was elevated to champion. He defended 3 times including against former champion Tony Tucker and future champion Frank Bruno, before suffering a shock loss to Oliver McCall.

He came back with 4 wins, including against Tommy Morrison and Ray Mercer, before avenging the McCall defeat and taking his titles back. It was a bizarre showing by McCall, who refused to fight and was visibly in tears at various points.

Lewis went on to defend a further 9 times, including against Henry Akinwande, Shannon Briggs, David Tua and twice against Evander Holyfield, the first of which was a controversial draw which many felt Lewis won, and then a points win.

Lewis then suffered and avenged another shock defeat, this time against Hasim Rahman. He had 2 further fights, firstly by finally catching up with Mike Tyson, in a fight that should have happened many years earlier, Lewis dominated the much smaller man, and won convincingly by 8th round knockout. Then against young challenger Vitali Klitschko Lewis was in a lot of trouble before Vitali was unluckily stopped on cuts.

1. Muhammad Ali

It had to be the greatest. If we were picking this on the most iconic or the most important then Ali would hands down be number one, but here looking at his full career and thinking about how he would have done on a one on one basis with the other greats listed, it isn’t quite as clear cut, however I am still happy to have him top, as I have to think that the mid 60s peak Ali would beat just about anyone on this list. Even the later Ali after his ban who was much slower showed incredible ring generalship and determination to win, and still beat some great champions.

Throughout the first part of his career Ali racked up a record of 25–0 including wins over Archie Moore, Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson and Ernie Terrell.

Coming back in 1970 he had the classic trilogies with Frazier and Norton, as well as wins over Jimmy Ellis, Jimmy Young, and the famous Rumble In The Jungle victory over George Foreman. Later in his career he made history by capturing the title for the 3rd time, having lost to Leon Spinks and then winning the rematch. Defeats to Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick when he was a shadow of his former self were sad to see, but the memories of those incredible earlier triumphs will never be forgotten, and I am happy to have him here as the number 1 Heavyweight Champion of all time.

So do you agree with my picks? Feel free to comment below or join in the conversation on twitter and instagram, @oasisboxing