# 9– Ezzard Charles– “The Cincinnati Cobra” is in my opinion the most underrated heavyweight champion of all time. After winning the U.S, National amateur middleweight championship in 1939, Charles turned pro the following year. “The Cobra” won the vacant NBA heavyweight championship over Jersey Joe Walcott in 1949, the New York State Athletic Commission heavyweight championship in 1950, and became the undisputed World heavyweight champion in 1951. Charles had more heavyweight championship title fights than all except for three others, those being Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali, and Larry Holmes. Ezzard fought more fights than any other heavyweight champion in history with 96 wins, 25 losses, 1 draw, with 58 wins coming by knockout.
#8– Sam Langford– “The Boston Tar Baby” is perhaps the best heavyweight never to win a title. A tremendous puncher, he was avoided by heavyweight champion Jack Johnson, as Johnson had fought Langford once before winning the title, and wouldn’t chance fighting him again. Most pugilistic historians believe Langford had more than his recorded bouts, probably closer to 350 professional bouts. In any case, his record stands at 167 wins, 38 losses, 37 draws, 48 no-decisions, 3 no contests, and 177 knockouts.
#7– Rocky Marciano– “The Brockton Blockbuster” is the only one to hold the heavyweight title and to retire undefeated. Rocky was behind on points going into the 13th round against champion Jersey Joe Walcott when the Rock unleashed his famous “Susie Q,” that lethal straight right hand that distorted Walcott’s features caught for immortality on film. Marciano had the shortest reach of any heavyweight champion, measuring just 68 inches, yet he ranks as the highest of knockout percentage at 88%. Marciano went 49-0 with 43 KO’s.
#6– Gene Tunney– “The Fighting Marine’s” greatest claim to fame comes from his two wins over Jack Dempsey, including the famous “Long Count” fight in which Tunney caught a four punch combination from Dempsey that put him on the canvas for the first time in his career. Dempsey lingered over his foe instead of going to a neutral corner as the rules stipulate (which was a newly added rule at the time), and Tunney was down from five to seven seconds before the referee could begin the count. Referee Dave Barry reached the count of nine before Tunney got up, which means he was down a total of 13 to 17 seconds. A self proclaimed “scientific” boxer, Tunney had 61 wins, 1 loss, 1 draw,1 no-contest, 19 no-decisions, and 45 knockouts.
#5– Jack Johnson– “The Galveston Giant” was considered by many to be the most controversial heavyweight champion of all time. As the first African American heavyweight champ, Johnson lived his life to please no one except Jack Johnson, and as a result, the “White” masses were not happy. Thus, a call went out for a “Great White Hope” to defeat Johnson. Unfortunately we will never know how good Johnson really was, as he fought as he lived, recklessly, and often did only as much as needed to win. His record stands at 123 fights, 77 wins, 13 losses, 14 draws, 19 no-decisions, and he had 48 knockouts.
#4– Jack Dempsey– “The Manassa Mauler” had an aggressive, take no prisoners style in the ring that made him one of the most popular champions in history and he is responsible for the first million dollar gate, a fight with Georges Carpentier. Dempsey left the ring with a record of 81 bouts (again most think there were a number of fights that went unrecorded), 61 wins, 6 losses, 8 draws, 6 no-decisions, and 50 wins coming via KO.
#3– Muhammad Ali– “The Greatest” had an outstanding amateur career, winning the National AAU championship in 1959 and 1960, the Western Golden Gloves title in 1959, before capturing Olympic (light heavyweight) Gold in 1960. Ali, then known by his birth name of Cassius Clay, defeated Sonny Liston to win the heavyweight championship in 1964. Ali was the first three-time heavyweight champion, and he fought more title rounds than any pugilist in any weight class, with 255 championship rounds. His record is 61 fights, 56 wins, 5 losses, with 37 knockouts.
#2– Harry Greb– “The Pittsburgh Windmill” won the American light heavyweight championship in 1932, and he was World middleweight champion from August 31, 1923 untill February 26, 1926. Because he never won a heavyweight title, many do not rank Greb in their top ten lists. However because Harry fought and beat heavyweights, and because of the sheer talent he had, being the “nearest thing to a perfect fighter boxing has ever seen,” according to esteemed historian Bert Randolph Sugar, I include him in my heavyweight list. Greb’s record is 299 fights (that’s no typo, 299) 105 wins, 8 losses, 3 draws, 183 no-decisions, with 48 knockouts. (Some records indicate Greb had 298 fights, 261 wins, 19 loses, 18 draws, 6 no-contests, with 48 KO’s. I went with the IBHOF record)
And finally…
#1- Joe Louis– The “Brown Bomber” was arguably the closest to a perfect fighting machine in his prime, Louis had an amateur career that included the 1934 National AAU light heavyweight title. Louis won the World heavyweight championship from James J Braddock, having to get up off the canvas to go on to stop Braddock in the eighth round. Louis had 25 successful title defenses, which is still the record for the heavyweight division. Louis retired as champion in 1949, but financial woes and tax problems brought on by bad management forced him to comeback. Joe’s record is 68 wins, three defeats with 54 early endings!