Ôîðóì » Äèñêóññèè » Áîêñ (ïðîäîëæåíèå) » Îòâåòèòü
Áîêñ (ïðîäîëæåíèå)
milstar: Rating the All Time Heavyweights in 10 Categories By Monte Cox The Categories 1. POWER Power is the great equalizer, and reflects how hard a fighter hits in relation to other heavyweights, and his ability in punching effectiveness. Again 5 is average, a 10 represents that the named fighter is one of the hardest punchers in division history. 9 represents an outstanding knockout puncher. 8 means he is capable of delivering a one punch knockout, though this may not be his bread and butter dependency. 7 is a good puncher but not a real knockout fighter. 6 is above average in power and so on. The hardest hitters in division history all rating a 10 are Jack Dempsey, who at his peak between 1918-1923 was 32-0 with 28 kayo's, 17 in the first round, was one of the greatest punchers in ring history, Joe Louis (who sent men down for long 10 counts, spun them 360%, left them unconsious on lower ropes, and also knocked out much larger opponents such as the 6-6' 260 pound Carnera, the 6'5" 220 pound Buddy Baer, and the 6'4" 255 pound Abe Simon, is one of the great punchers of all time, his knockout percentage is 76% but at his retirement as champion his percentage was 83.6%), Rocky Marciano (87.75% knockout percentage), Sonny Liston (one of the most feared hitters in history), George Foreman (83.9% knockout percentage in 81 fights!), Mike Tyson (without question one of the most prolific punchers in ring history), Riddick Bowe also rates a 10 (for his size, strength and hitting power and knockout percentage 76.1%) and Lennox Lewis (whose combination of size and power are under-estimated by some.) 2. PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES This category gives credence to a heavyweights overall size and encompasses height, reach and weight advantages. Unlike Power punching, footwork, defense and ring generalship this is not a skill category but merely a "measurement" of physical attributes. Scoring a 10 would be fighers like Jess Willard, Primo Carnera, Ridick Bowe and Lennox Lewis who are the largest of heavyweight champions, although the first two are not considered on this chart which is limited to 20 fighters. Riddick Bowe and Lennox Lewis get the only 10's in this category. Muhammad Ali, Larry Holmes and George Foreman are 9's. Sonny Liston, and Jim Jeffries are 8's. Joe Louis (peak weight about 207 for rematches against Simon and Buddy Baer) plus height and reach qualify for a 7. Evander Holyfield about same height and reach as Louis, weight varied from 205 (Bowe 1) to 215 (Tyson 1) prime weight, but overall a 7. He started at cruiserweight. Mike Tyson height and reach qualify as a 6 but his weight is an 8, this makes him a 7. 3. HAND SPEED Hand Speed is gauged by the speed with which a fighter lands from point A to point B. It is the ability to beat the opponent to the punch. Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Floyd Patterson, and Mike Tyson are tops in this category. The crude slugger types received the same score of 6 here, so I hope the formula is consistent. 4. FOOTWORK One doesn't have to be fleet-footed to rate highly in this category, but it does help. Footwork includes the ability to avoid punches by side stepping, sliding, and dancing out of harm's way. It also includes the ability to rush or spring forward and/or the ability cut the ring to maneuver an opponent to the ropes. This can be a difficult category to judge. Some fighters with excellent footwork are easy to rate, while others who were slower afoot (Louis for example) were experts in cutting the ring, rate higher than if they were judged on foot speed alone though still ranking much lower than the "Fancy Dan" types. The only fighter I give a ten in this category is Ali. His speed and lateral movement is far above that of any other heavyweight champion. Holmes, for example had excellent footwork (9) but not in the class of Ali. Rated just below Ali are outstanding movers with a 9 rating such as Tunney, Charles, Walcott, and Holmes. Jack Johnson could move well, up on his toes, but had a tendency to fight and punch) flat-footed, and therefore rates an 8. Also deserving of an 8 are Tyson and Dempsey who are two of the fastest moving attackers in heavyweight history. Rating a 7 are Jeffries who had decent foot speed (he could run the 100- yard dash in world class speed of 10.5 sec’s), Schmeling, Patterson, Liston and Holyfield all who had decent foot speed, and Louis, who was slower, but who was a master at cutting the ring. His footwork was designed to conserve his energy to maintain his strength and power until the end of the fight. In like manner Foreman gets a 7 because he was very good at cutting the ring. I rate Frazier a 7 now because he was quick coming in and was consistent in his pressure, more so than Marciano who was not quite as quick coming in. 5. DEFENSE A fighter’s defensive ability is defined as boxing skills used to avoid punches. Classic defense is the ability to slip punches with the movement of the head or bending at the waist, parry with the open glove (or closed glove), block jabs with the rear hand, block punches at the elbow, and properly hold ones hand so as not to be open for counters. Another part of defense is “defensive tactics”, such as clinching, smothering, and the use of the crouch or the bob and weave to change ones target level, and turning sideways to offer less of a target (as Joe Louis did among others). The only fighter worthy of a ten is Jack Johnson who was one of the best defensive fighters of all time, a master at glove and elbow blocking, parrying, feinting, smothering, as well as the clinch. Tunney was a fine defensive fighter, close to the level of Johnson. He rates a 9. Tyson, in his prime, had excellent head movement and quickness, making his opponent's miss and countering effectively. Tony Tucker and Bonecrusher Smith only landed one significant punch in each of their fights with Tyson. He rates an 9 in defensive ability in his prime. Louis was a solid classic defender, blocking, parrying and slipping an opponent's jab, although he was not in the class of Johnson. Louis held his hands up, kept his chin down and his elbows in, he has the best classic defense of any puncher among the heavyweights, he rates an 8. Frazier and Dempsey both have the highest slip and duck rates amongst heavyweights. There constant bob and weave could make them difficult targets to hit cleanly. This is especially so against fancy boxing styles. Ali never learned the rudiments of classical boxing, did not know how to duck, or parry punches but leaned away (normally a suicidal tactic). He used his footwork, jab and sense of distance for defense, of which footwork has its own category. Ali rates a 7. Lennox Lewis likewise rates a 7 not difficult to hit at times he improved defensively as he matured. Rating a 7 is Holyfield. Holyfield could also maneuver effectively when he had to. Unfortunately, he had a tendency to abandon defense and slug it out. Also rating a 7 are men who were effective fighting out of a crouch, such as Jeffries and Marciano. Fighters such as big men like Riddick Bowe and George Foreman (the older George would rate one/two categories higher) all of whom were not too difficult to hit. Taking into account the effectiveness of their offense, as part of their defense, none of the champions I consider would rate below a 6. 6. DURABILITY This category rates the fighter’s ability to take a punch and absorb punishment, and recover from a knockdown. How well can a fighter take a punch without being kayoed, how well can he take a punch without going down, and how well can he fight when hurt? All must be considered when rating the champions in this category. Some heavyweights have "glass jaws" and are easily kayoed, while others were knocked down easily but were much harder to knock out. A fighter who has been knocked out cannot receive a 10 (unless way past his prime). Deserving of a 10 is Jeffries who it was claimed was "impossible to hurt" and was never knocked down until a 6 year lay-off. Muhammad Ali also gets a 10 having withstood some of boxing’s biggest hitters, such as Liston, Frazier, Foreman, Lyle, and Shavers. Dempsey, Tunney (who was floored only once), Marciano, Foreman, Holmes and Holyfield all had excellent chins and receive a 9. Bowe, also down only once from punches above the belt, gets a 9 here. In the next group are those fighters who had relatively strong chins but who suffered the occasional knockdown or rare knockout are fighters such as Tyson or Frazier who receive 8’s. Frazier's face also had a tendency to swell. Louis also gets an 8 here, knocked down- but only out twice (once at age 21 before he hit his peak and in his last fight). Louis showed exceptional recuperative ability in recovering from knockdowns, fighting back with skill, power and determination when hurt. 7. HEART A fighter displays Heart when he shows that he has the WILL to win when the chips are down. It comprises the qualities of guts, courage, and determination against all odds of winning a fight. Those who have superior will and courage are men like Jeffries (who once beat Tom Sharkey with a dislocated elbow). Also worthy of a 10 are Dempsey, Tunney, Louis, Marciano, Ali, Frazier, Holmes, and Holyfield all who demonstrated the ability to come from behind and fight while hurt to win. Rating just below them with 9 is Foreman, who showed great courage in his comeback against Holyfield, Moorer, Lyle and others. Johnson also rates a 9, as he showed great Heart facing racial discrimination and basically having the whole world against him to become the first black heavyweight champ. He fails to make a 10 because of the various controversies surrounding some of his other fights. At level 8 we have men like Patterson, Charles, and Walcott who have shown courage and will in the ring. Rating a 7 are men who didn't demonstrate the same level of will. Sometimes this showed up in their training habits. Bowe is of this type. Liston, who quit on his stool against Ali, rates a 6. Tyson, who has never shown the ability to come from behind when hurt in his entire career, rates a 5, which is just average, showing some will when he was winning, but never really coming through when the chips were down. 8. KILLER INSTINCT A fighter with a Killer Instinct will finish off an opponent when he is hurt. Whether this is accomplished by one well placed blow or a through a combination of punches. Killer Instinct is the thirst for blood, knowing your opponent is ready to go and taking him out. This is an important category and should not be taken lightly. A good finisher with killer instinct can keep an opponent from getting back into a fight. Rating a 10 in this category are Dempsey, without question one of the most savage finishers in boxing history, and Louis, who could end a fight suddenly with one punch or a devastating flurry of blows, rated tops in the category by nat Fleischer. Marciano, with his non-stop attack, rates a 10 as well. Also in the class of these previously mentioned fighters are Liston, Frazier, Foreman, and Tyson, all of whom have demonstrated the ability to be great finishers in their prime. Pure punchers, sluggers and some boxer-punchers tend to be great finishers. Rated just below them are strong finishers like Holyfield, and Bowe who would end matters if their opponent's were hurt. Johnson “carried” many of his opponents, in order to make a living and didn’t always finish them but he was a great finisher when he wanted to be, he rates an 8. Lewis was not as agressive as he could be at times but when he wanted to, which was often, he could end a fight in a hurry. Other champions rating an 8 are the likes of Jeffries, Schmeling, Patterson, and Holmes. They were good finishers but sometimes let their opponent go the distance or into the later rounds after they had them hurt. Ali rates a 7 as a finisher. Although he could deinfatley finish a man he did not possess the desire to really go after and hurt his opponent's. He failed to finish Mildenberger when he had him hurt in the mid rounds, he didnt go after Terrell, and many other times refused to really punish opponents. 9. ENDURANCE A fighters stamina and endurance is a critical factor in determining how he can maintain his effectiveness over the course of a scheduled boxing match. A fighter that retains his knockout punch to the last round should score higher than one who tires easily. A fighter who is a proven 15 round fighter should score better than one who was known to tire in 12 rounds. An "all time" rating means the ability to fight and be successful in any era. Those who had the proven ability to fight 20-25 rounds and beyond would have the advantage over those who never fought beyond 12 or 15 in a bout scheduled for that distance. I have broken down the ratings in this category as follows: 10 - Those who have proven or demonstrated the style to fight beyond 15 rounds and maintian effectiveness. Those who fought 20 rounds or more should get credit over those who never fought beyond 12. 9 - Proven 15 round fighters. Fighters who have demonstrated that they can go 15 and maintain effectiveness. 8 - Fighters who have proven they can go 12 without overly tiring 7 - Those who can go 12 but were known to tire in 12 round fights. 6 - Those who struggled to make it 12 rounds or less without tiring. 10. RING GENERALSHIP Ring Generalship is a broad category that includes a fighter’s command of the action in the squared ring. The ability to dictate the tempo of a fight. The ability to outbox boxers, and out punch punchers. It includes the ability of a fighter to lull his opponent into fighting his kind of tactical fight. Ring Strategy and Tactics are keys to this category. Those who were the greatest Ring Generals in boxing history include Jack Johnson and Gene Tunney (whose greatest strength was being able to discover the flaws in his opponent's style). Joe Louis was also a master of boxing styles, rates highly in this category. This truth is hammered home by the fact that Louis’ opponents always faced disaster the second time around where he was 10-0. Joe Louis invariably had the answer to their style, and he rarely made a mistake in the ring. He was a master at drawing a fighter into his punching range. Muhammad Ali, a versatile ring strategist, also rates a 10 in this category. Also worthy of a top score as ring generals are Jersey Joe Walcott and Ezzard Charles both masters of ring center, and Larry Holmes a superb technician in the ring. Holyfield rates a 9, he has ability enought to rate amongst the top men, buy sometimes abandoned his fight plan to slug it out. 9 of course is an outstanding score, nonetheless. Some of the real old -timers may dis-agree with me giving Corbett only a 9 as a ring general, he certainly was a master of ring center and could dominate even the hardest hitters with ease up to 20 rounds, he was extrmeley clever, but he did peak prior to 1900 and had not fought the versatility of styles that was rising even at that time. He only had 20 pro fights (although he claimed according to one source to have 39 pro fights, which is as many as most top pros today). I deducted him 1 point. Men like Lennox Lewis, Riddick Bowe, Sonny Liston and Max Schmeling all receive a 9 as ring generals. Lennox could command ring center, and Bowe control the tempo of a bout up close in his style, but were not the ring generals of the men rated above them like Ali and Holmes. Schmeling proved he could outbox-boxers and out-punch puncher and was highly intelligent ring strategist deserving a 9. Liston was a very good technician, and is really under-rated here by many. He would be at the low end of the 9 rating, but still better as a technician than those who are rated an 8. 8 means "very good" and the following were effective at imposing their style on their opponents Dempsey and Jeffries, both of whom were better boxers than they are given credit for by some boxing fans. Jeffries developed into a decent boxer who liked his opponents to come to him, where he would take them apart. Dempsey was more than just a ring savage as his book, "Championship Boxing" demonstrates, Dempsey outboxed master boxer Tommy Gibbons winning 12 of 15 rounds through pressure fighting in dictating the pace of their bout. Marciano against Ezzard Charles showed he could force his fight in a 15 round bout against a clever boxer, and Frazier showed he was something of a ring general in Superfight 1 against Ali forcing his dictation of the pace. Patterson and Tyson both fought in the same peek-a-boo style taught to them by Cus D'Amato and at times they could box well, slip inside and go to work, come in behind the jab and control the tempo of the bout, but they were not master strategists in the ring. These men, Jeffries, Dempsey, Tyson, Frazier, Marciano are all about the same level as ring generals and deserve the same score. Foreman (prime young version) was wild slugger who did not have the sustained ability to outbox anyone over the course of a fight, but he could force his opponets to the ropes, cut the ring and inmpose his will, he rates a 7. None of the heavyweight champions considered would rate below a 7 as a ring general, all possess a champions measure of skill in their own particular brand of fighting. http://coxscorner.tripod.com/boxchart1.html TO SEE THE RESULTS CLICK BELOW http://coxscorner.tripod.com/heavyweightchart.html
ïîëíàÿ âåðñèÿ ñòðàíèöû