With Artur Beterbiev and Dmitry Bivol meeting on Saturday to definitively determine the top light heavyweight of this generation, who are the fighters they have to overtake to be considered as one of the division's all-time greats?
The light heavyweight division has seen some of the greatest boxers to ever lace them up, but defining what makes a great light heavyweight is surprisingly tricky. Particularly during the first two decades of the twentieth century, heavyweights were smaller and becoming king of the 175 pound weight class was not universally considered a meaningful goal. So the problem becomes: do fighters who weighed around 175 pounds but considered themselves heavyweights count as light heavyweight boxers for the purposes of retrospectives such as this?
Two all-time-greats with a case to be made for them are not on this list. Harry Greb is one, perhaps unreasonably given his overall brilliance and body of work, but he did most of his damage at middleweight. Similarly, while some who know far more than I have included Sam Langford in very high spots on similar lists, I have not. I yield to nobody in my admiration for Langford, but many of the bouts for which he weighed at or around 175 pounds were clearly heavyweight contests, as evidenced by his opponent frequently weighing much more; and for many of his fights, we don't have records of his weight. So I took the easy way out and left him off.
Some of the names on this list—Charles, Moore, Tunney, Foster, Spinks—are slam dunks in some order, others less so. The inclusion of Roy Jones at #10 will cause some apoplexy, particularly among those who argue Jones's light heavyweight dominance could not have been replicated had he competed when the division was at its murderous peak in the 1970s and 1980s.
It says a great deal about the quality of the 175 pound weight class through history that a list like this doesn't feature the likes of Matthew Saad Muhammad, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad, Harold Johnson, Marvin Johnson, Michael Moorer, John Conteh, Victor Galindez, Philadelphia Jack O'Brien, Jack Dillon, Virgil Hill, and countless more. Like all such lists, it will presumably amuse and enrage in equal measure.
All that being said, here is one person's list:
10. Roy Jones Jr (66-10, 47 KOs)
This is the entry on this list that will cause the most fume and fury, both from those who insist he should be higher and those who are aghast at the notion he should be anywhere near the all-time-great light heavyweights. Working against him is the fact that he was never the lineal champion and eschewed the opportunity to face rival titlist Darius Michaelczewski to secure that status; on the negative side of the ledger, too, is that his time at light heavyweight coincided with one of the division’s barren stages. Against that, Jones was an undeniably phenomenal talent, and from 1996 to 2003 was not only unbeaten at the weight (save for a DQ loss, emphatically avenged, against Montell Griffin) but was virtually untouchable.
9. Billy Conn (64-12-1, 15 KOs)
Conn's record is misleading, in that he had little by way of an amateur career, turned pro at 16, and lost six of his first 14. He then rattled off 27 straight wins over the likes of Fritzie Zivic (an all-time dirty fighter) and Vic Dundee and won the 175 pound title by defeating Melio Bettina. In 1941, he challenged Joe Louis for the heavyweight crown. Ahead handily through 12, he was knocked out with seconds remaining in the 13th.
8. Jimmy Bivins (86-25-1, 31 KOs)
Despite never being given the chance to fight for the world championship, Bivins faced 11 former, future, or current champions, defeating eight of them; and seven Hall-of-Famers, emerging victorious against four. His prime was from 1942 to 1946, when he scored wins over the likes of Joey Maxim and Archie Moore.
7. Maxie Rosenbloom (210-38-26, 23 NDs, 2 NCs, 19 KOs)
To win 210 contests with just 19 knockouts suggests tremendous ring acumen, which Rosenbloom possessed in bucketloads. A combination of skillful defense and a strong chin meant that he was stopped just twice in 299 fights, which unfolded over the course of 16 years —an average of more than 18 bouts annually. “Slapsie” Maxie won the world title in June 1930 and lost it four years and 107 fights later.
6. Tommy Loughran (94-23-9, 45 NDs, 1 NC, 17 KOs)
One of the greatest defensive boxers of all time, Loughran was the Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year in 1929 and 1931. He had wins over the likes of Harry Greb and heavyweights Max Baer and Jack Sharkey, and won the light-heavyweight crown in 1927 before abdicating two years later to focus on the heavyweight division.
5. Bob Foster (56-8-1, 46 KOs)
Perhaps the best single-shot knockout artist in the history of the light heavyweight division, Foster won the title in 1968 with a KO of champ Dick Tiger and went on to make a division-record 14 defenses over the next six years. Of his eight career defeats, seven were above 175 pounds, including losses to Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier in his peak years, and two in the final outings of his career after returning from a brief retirement.
4. Michael Spinks (31-1, 21 KOs)
Spinks is too often remembered for his first-round destruction at the fists of Mike Tyson and the controversy of his wins over Larry Holmes, but at light heavyweight, he was indisputably one of the very best, and the last champion of the division's golden era. A 1976 Olympic gold medalist, he beat veteran Yaqui Lopez in just his fourteenth fight as a professional, took out Marvin Johnson two fights later, and in his 17th pro bout, took the title from Eddie Mustafa Muhammad. He retained his belt 10 times, including against the likes of Dwight Muhammad Qawi, before stepping up to heavyweight and becoming the first reigning light heavyweight champion to win the heavyweight championship.
3. Gene Tunney (61-1-1, 19 NDs, 1 NC, 45 KOs)
One of the most skilled boxers of his time, as well as one of the most powerful, Tunney never won the light heavyweight championship but established himself as the best through victories over the likes of Harry Greb (who had previously handed him the only defeat of his career), the aptly named Battling Levinsky, Tommy Loughran, amd Tommy Gibbons before moving up to heavyweight and seizing the crown from Jack Dempsey, defending it in the “Long Count” rematch, and retiring.
2. Archie Moore (184-24-10, 1 NC, 130 KOs)
Moore has more knockouts to his name than anybody in the history of the sport. Amazingly, he did not win the title until he was 39 but then promptly held onto it for a decade. Famed for his cross-guard defense, “The Old Mongoose” also challenged all-time great heavyweights Rocky Marciano, Floyd Patterson, and Muhammad Ali, and after retirement also trained a young George Foreman.
1. Ezzard Charles (89-25-1, 51 KOs)
In contrast to Moore's lengthy reign, Charles never won or even challenged for the light heavyweight championship, but from 1946 to 1949, he laid waste to the top of the division, beating Joey Maxim and Bivins and going 3-0 against the Old Mongoose before stepping up to heavyweight and taking the vacant crown via victory over Jersey Joe Walcott. His first defense was against former light-heavyweight champ Gus Lesnevich, who had repeatedly refused to give Charles a shot. Charles knocked him out in seven.
Kieran Mulvaney has written, broadcast and podcasted about boxing for HBO, Showtime, ESPN and Reuters, among other outlets. He also writes regularly for National Geographic, has written several books on the Arctic and Antarctic, and is at his happiest hanging out with wild polar bears. His website is www.kieranmulvaney.com.