Greatest heavyweight of all time?
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Trapper Gus
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Greatest heavyweight of all time?
Just finished reading the Randy Roberts bio of Joe Louis entitled: Joe Louis - Hard Times Man. I am not really a boxing fan except for a brief portion of my life when as a young teen I got to meet Tommy Hearns just before his Sugar Ray fight and suffered my first crushing sports loss when Tommy lost that one. I paid attention a bit to boxing during the Mike Tyson era but that was it for me and boxing. In fact, I couldn't even tell you who the current heavyweight boxing champion is.
In any case, the book is a great read and more than just a sports bio. Lots of history about boxing and the tough road black boxers had to face. A great review of the last bare-knuckle championship bout. The descriptions of Joe's fights are riveting as other than knowing he knocked out a "Nazi" I really didn't know much about the details of his fights.
Certainly I was aware of Joe Louis and his connection to Detroit and that he is considered one of the greats. But I had no idea as to the impact on race relations that he had and how he managed to go from a hero to black Americans to a hero to all Americans.
Leads to an unanswerable sporting question. Who is the greatest heavyweight of all time? My vote would go to Mohammad Ali as he had the best combination of size, speed, and ring smarts. For me the other contenders would be Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, Mike Tyson.
In any case, the book is a great read and more than just a sports bio. Lots of history about boxing and the tough road black boxers had to face. A great review of the last bare-knuckle championship bout. The descriptions of Joe's fights are riveting as other than knowing he knocked out a "Nazi" I really didn't know much about the details of his fights.
Certainly I was aware of Joe Louis and his connection to Detroit and that he is considered one of the greats. But I had no idea as to the impact on race relations that he had and how he managed to go from a hero to black Americans to a hero to all Americans.
Leads to an unanswerable sporting question. Who is the greatest heavyweight of all time? My vote would go to Mohammad Ali as he had the best combination of size, speed, and ring smarts. For me the other contenders would be Jack Johnson, Joe Louis, Mike Tyson.
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Re: Greatest heavyweight of all time?
I'd venture to guess 90% of Michiganders (especially white guys under 60) have no clue the worldwide impact "the fist" guy had.
He should be inspiring to certain groups in America.
He should be inspiring to certain groups in America.
AvgMSUJoe- Geronte
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Re: Greatest heavyweight of all time?
I think Max Schmeling was a pallbearer for Joe Lewis. Schmeling was used by the Nazi’s in ways he didn’t appreciate. They were friends at the end.
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Re: Greatest heavyweight of all time?
Seems like there was a good black and white movie... google is returning "The Joe Louis Story" from the 50s but it seems like there was one in the 80s maybe?
Last edited by AvgMSUJoe on Mon 18 Jul 2022 - 13:41; edited 1 time in total
AvgMSUJoe- Geronte
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Re: Greatest heavyweight of all time?
I think this guy should be in the discussion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Johnson_(boxer)
edit - and Mike Tyson doesn't belong on it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Johnson_(boxer)
edit - and Mike Tyson doesn't belong on it.
Re: Greatest heavyweight of all time?
AvgMSUJoe wrote:Seems like there was a good black and white movie... google is returning "The Joe Lewis Story" from the 50s but it seems like there was one in the 80s maybe?
Lewis
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tGreenWay- Geronte
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Re: Greatest heavyweight of all time?
Floyd Robertson wrote:AvgMSUJoe wrote:Seems like there was a good black and white movie... google is returning "The Joe Lewis Story" from the 50s but it seems like there was one in the 80s maybe?
Lewis
Kids today, amirite?
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Re: Greatest heavyweight of all time?
Floyd Robertson wrote:AvgMSUJoe wrote:Seems like there was a good black and white movie... google is returning "The Joe Lewis Story" from the 50s but it seems like there was one in the 80s maybe?
Lewis
I think Louis is more known, being 50 years later, but Johnson had a similar life. Louis had a longer formal boxing career, but Jackson's was cut short by racism.
John Arthur Johnson (March 31, 1878 – June 10, 1946), nicknamed the "Galveston Giant", was an American boxer who, at the height of the Jim Crow era, became the first African-American world heavyweight boxing champion (1908–1915). Widely regarded as one of the most influential boxers of all time, his 1910 fight against James J. Jeffries was dubbed the "fight of the century". According to filmmaker Ken Burns, "for more than thirteen years, Jack Johnson was the most famous and the most notorious African-American on Earth". Transcending boxing, he became part of the culture and history of racism in the United States.
In 1912, Johnson opened a successful and luxurious "black and tan" (desegregated) restaurant and nightclub, which in part was run by his wife, a white woman. Major newspapers of the time soon claimed that Johnson was attacked by the government only after he became famous as a black man married to a white woman, and was linked to other white women. Johnson was arrested on charges of violating the Mann Act—forbidding one to transport a woman across state lines for "immoral purposes"—a racially motivated charge that embroiled him in controversy for his relationships, including marriages, with white women. Sentenced to a year in prison, Johnson fled the country and fought boxing matches abroad for seven years until 1920 when he served his sentence at the federal penitentiary at Leavenworth.
Johnson continued taking paying fights for many years, and operated several other businesses, including lucrative endorsement deals. He died in a car crash on June 10, 1946, at the age of 68. He is buried at Graceland Cemetery in Chicago. On May 24, 2018, Johnson was formally pardoned by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1937 until his temporary retirement in 1949. He was victorious in 25 consecutive title defenses, a record for all weight classes. Louis had the longest single reign as champion of any boxer in history.
Louis's cultural impact was felt well outside the ring. He is widely regarded as the first person of African-American descent to achieve the status of a nationwide hero within the United States, and was also a focal point of anti-Nazi sentiment leading up to and during World War II because of his historic rematch with German boxer Max Schmeling in 1938. He was instrumental in integrating the game of golf, breaking the sport's color barrier in America by appearing under a sponsor's exemption in a PGA event in 1952.
Last edited by Trapper Gus on Mon 18 Jul 2022 - 12:30; edited 2 times in total
Re: Greatest heavyweight of all time?
Joe and Gus—check your spelling.
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Re: Greatest heavyweight of all time?
AvgMSUJoe wrote:I'd venture to guess 90% of Michiganders (especially white guys under 60) have no clue the worldwide impact "the fist" guy had.
He should be inspiring to certain groups in America.
tGreenWay wrote:Joe and Gus—check your spelling.
Looks okay to me, be more specific.
Re: Greatest heavyweight of all time?
Lewis <> Louis
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Re: Greatest heavyweight of all time?
“The greatest” begins and ends with Ali. If we’re talking prime. Then, we always forget Teofilo Stevenson. Three Olympic Golds 4 world championships. Tried to give him 5 million to fight Ali Jin the late 70’s but you know Castro. “What is 5 million dollars when you have the love of 10 million Cubans?” I think that would have been the greatest, most watched fight ever.
Then Lewis, Johnson, Marciano, Prime Tyson.
But prime Ali doesn’t get hurt by any of them.
Then Lewis, Johnson, Marciano, Prime Tyson.
But prime Ali doesn’t get hurt by any of them.
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Re: Greatest heavyweight of all time?
Floyd Robertson wrote:Lewis <> Louis
thanks - fixed
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Re: Greatest heavyweight of all time?
It is pretty much impossible to compare heavyweights of differing eras - the size difference is just crazy.
Marciano - 5' 10"
Joe Lewis - 6' 1.5"
Ali - 6' 3"
Lennox Lewis - 6' 5"
Wladimir Klitschko - 6' 6"
Current champ Tyson Fury - 6' 9"
Marciano - 5' 10"
Joe Lewis - 6' 1.5"
Ali - 6' 3"
Lennox Lewis - 6' 5"
Wladimir Klitschko - 6' 6"
Current champ Tyson Fury - 6' 9"
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Re: Greatest heavyweight of all time?
The correct answer is...
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Spartan Dawg SETH MITCHELL
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