10 Greatest Heavyweights Of All Time

If there’s one weight class that people love to watch the most, it’s gotta be the heavyweights. This is for several reasons but the main is due to the fact that anything can happen at any given time just look at the unified heavyweight champion, Andy Ruiz stopping Anthony Joshua at Madison Square Garden ending Joshua’s undefeated streak. Today, we will be talking about the ten greatest heavyweights of all time!

10) Evander Holyfield (44-10-2)

Evander Holyfield had a career that spanned for 27 years and even became WBA, WBC and IBF champion at a point. Holyfield not only found great success at heavyweight but cruiserweight too as he was even WBA and IBF cruiserweight champion before making the jump upwards and won titles there too. Holyfield beat big names in boxing as well such as: Buster Douglas, George Forwman, Larry Holmes and even Mike Tyson (twice although he did lose a chunk of ear but those are the sacrifices you make). Holyfield who made his debut in 1984 boxed until 2011 retiring after a win over Brian Nielsen while being roughly 49 years old.

9) Joe Frazier (32-4-1)

Smoking Joe Frazier was known for his strength and punching power. Frazier became undisputed champion in 1970 and at the height of his career, defeated Muhammad Ali by unanimous decision after going all 15 rounds with Ali at Madison Square Garden. However, Ali went on to avenge those losses twice with one of them even being a decision victory at Madison Square Garden so Ali really did avenge that loss by flipping the tables. A list of the greatest heavyweight boxers wouldn’t be the same without Joe Frazier.

8) Jack Johnson (56-11-10)

Jack Johnson or “The Galveston Giant” had a total of 104 bouts and had a great career. Starting his career at middleweight, Johnson eventually put the weight on and had a good run at heavyweight and even defeated Tommy Burns in 1908 to become lineal heavyweight champion becoming the first African American heavyweight champion. His lineal reign spanned 7 years before dropping the belt to Jess Willard in round 26 out of 45. Crazy.

7) Lennox Lewis (41-2-1)

If you’re wondering why Lennox Lewis is on this list then look no further than his resume of guys he’s beaten such as Frank Bruno, Shannon Briggs, Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson and even Vitali Klitschko. They are big names in the heavyweight division and all fell victim to Lennox Lewis. Lewis who was once unified heavyweight champion led a successful career and truly one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time.

6) George Foreman (76-5)

A lot went down in George Foreman’s boxing career. It was interesting as he retired at the age of 28 after suffering an unanimous defeat to Jimmy Young but he returned to the ring to face Steve Zouski and even won 4 more bouts that year. In 1988, he fought a total of NINE times! NINE! Imagine that nowadays? Neither could I. Foreman proved that he was serious about this return. At the age of 42, he fought Evander Holyfield for the WBA, WBC and the IBF heavyweight championship but lost in decision but Foreman continued to win however once again came up short in another title shot against Tommy Morrison. He did become heavyweight champion at the age of 45 by defeating Michael Moorer therefore becoming WBA and IBF heavyweight champion before picking up the now defunct WBU and IBA. Foreman’s last fight was at the age of 48 as he lost to Shannon “The Cannon” Bridge on points.

5) Rocky Marciano (49-0)

If you just scroll though Rocky Marciano’s boxing record then you’d see KO after KO as 43 out of Marciano’s 49 fights ended in KO. He dominated the ring in America where he exclusively fought and became champion in his last three years in his career before retiring from boxing. His record is a perfect clean sheet with 49 wins and 0 losses, still it’s a shame he never did reach 50 wins. His legacy will live forever for many reasons but one of the biggest is that Rocky Balboa in the Rocky movies was inspired by Marciano so Rocky lives on.

4) Larry Holmes (69-6)

At one point, Larry Holmes went 48-0 and even defeated Muhammad Ali. Holmes is well known for his incredible jab and was even the first IBF heavyweight champion. Holmes even defended the world title a total of 20 times! At a reach of 81 inches, Holmes jabbed his way to become one of the greatest heavyweights of all time.

3) Joe Louis (66-3)

The Brown Bomber made 25 defences of his heavyweight championship and was named fighter of the year a total of 4 times. Many consider Louis as the best heavyweight of all time which is hard to disagree with but we think there’s people slightly better than him but we’ll get to that in just a moment. Louis had his first fight in 1934 with his last fight being in 1951. He has a fantastic career and will always be remembered as one of the best.

2) Mike Tyson (50-6)

Mike Tyson was a killer in his prime. He turned professional at the age of 18 and ran through the division and didn’t see a decision until his 20th fight. At the age of 20, Tyson became WBC heavyweight champion and then became WBA champion before unifying it with the IBF heavyweight title too. Tyson was 37-9 before drilling the belts to Buster Douglas in one of the biggest upsets in boxing history. Tyson ended his career at a record of 50 wins, 6 losses and 2 no contests but was the first heavyweight boxer to simultaneously hold the WBA, WBC and IBF champion.

1) Muhammad Ali (56-5)

Who else was it going to be? Muhammad Ali was an icon, he is boxing. Ali moved like no other heavyweight the world ever seen. He was cocky but he also backed it up, that’s what people loved about him. He’s got so many famous quotes about how good he is and was just one of the best boxers of all time. He is the only three time lineal heavyweight champion and one of his most famous fights apparently was watched by one billion people. That number is mind boggling to me but that’s just how well known Ali was. Ali’s legacy will always live on as he is the greatest heavyweight of all time.