YOU CAN ASSEMBLE rankings (toplists)

1) based on real-world-achievements ("world titles won", "KO'ratio", "Quality of opposition defeated", …)

2) or based on in-ring performances ("Wow, this speed", "Wow, this power", …)

But there is another method to rank boxers, which I call the "psychological approach" and which combines both approaches in a neat manner.

 

The Mafia and the offer you cannot refuse

Imagine you owe the Mafia money, quite a sum… and you cannot pay.

So one day they catch you, tie and gag you, cut off one of your fingers and make the following offer:

"Wladimir Klitschko is fighting tomorrow night against Muhammad Ali. We will place a bet. You can get rid of your your debts. But you have to tell us who you think will win.

If you get it right we will let you go.

If you get it wrong, we will kill you, kill your family and burn down your house.

Who will win? Who will win?"

 

In other words: Straight to the beef. No more hype, no more fame-names, no more wishful thinking, no more excuses. Who will win a clash between Wladimir Klitschko, Lennox Lewis, Mike Tyson, Muhammad Ali etc etc. IF YOU COULD SAVE YOUR LIFE AND THE LIVES of you FAMILY and FRIENDS.

 

Please note: This article is part of a multi-part series:

• Heavyweight Boxing Rankings (#1) pound for pound, head to head, record for record
• Heavyweight Boxing Rankings (#2) A common sense formula -OR- Ratio*Quality
• Heavyweight Boxing Rankings (#3) TOP 10 by boxing experts -OR- Grandpa's champions
• Heavyweight Boxing Rankings (#4) Head-to-head toplists by trick questions
• Heavyweight Boxing Rankings (#5) Losses and avenged losses
• Heavyweight Boxing Rankings (#6) The all time greatest boxer

 

"I would love to see…"

Another psychological approach is the following:

Ask people "What fantasy clash would you LOVE to see personally?"

Would it be Prime Tyson vs Prime Ali? Prime Lennox Lewis vs Prime Vitali Klitschko? Prime Larry Holmes vs Prime Rocky Marciano?

If you would ask 100 people you would not only get a list of the best heavyweight boxers of all time (since no one would list irrelevant fighters) but you would also get pairs of COMPETITIVE fights and no mismatches.

I can guarantee you that the outcome would include Wladimir Klitschko, Lennox Lewis, George Foreman etc..  despite of all possible naysayers who refuse to accept that Lennox and the Klitschkos would be competitive in any era.

The same naysayers who claim that "Muhammad Ali would beat prime Tyson" can suddenly be in a position where they send in Vitali Klitschko (instead of Ali) to beat Tyson and thereby admitting that maybe both Tyson AND Vitali are stronger than Ali.

 

"Which opponent could he not beat?"

If someone claims that Boxer X is better than Y ("Joe Louis is stronger than Vitali Klitschko") then one psychological approach is to list the opponents of Joe Louis and check whom Vitali Klitschko WOULD NOT defeat.

Could Vitali Klitschko defeat Patsy Perroni 187 lbs? Lee Ramage 183 lbs? Bob Pastor 179 lbs?

If you have difficulties finding opponents (of Joe Louis) who could clearly beat Vitali Klitschko then you have to admit Vitali Klitschko (at least in theory) plays in the same league as Joe Louis.

 

"Pick the nemesis!"

Another approach is to ask "Who has the most chances of beating a prime X?" e.g. who has the most chances of beating a prime Lennox Lewis?

That way you also compile a list of competitive opponents of Lennox Lewis.

However, you will most probably end up with a list of hard punchers (e.g. George Foreman) whereas hard chins (e.g. George Chuvalo) and defensive minds (Evan Fields) and good southpaws won't play a big role.

 

Ali vs Alien

Another question can be "Whom would you send in to KO that 350 lbs Alien from Mars?" which automatically would include only heavy punchers with a proven resistance/defense.

 

"You vs Him"

Another approach is to ask "Against whom would YOU prefer to step into the ring for 1 or 2 rounds?" Would you prefer to enter the ring with Muhammad Ali? Or with Mike Tyson?

 

"What boxer would you like to be?"

Another trick question is: "If you were a boxer, about to face 10 all-time-greats like Ali, Lennox Lewis etc… Whose fighting style would you like to adopt?"

 

"Which boxing trainer would you pick?"

Another way is to ask "If you could choose a boxing trainer to train your friend who wants to become an ATG… whom would you choose? Would it be Ali's trainer? Or would it be Lennox Lewis' trainer?"

Of all the trick questions this is probably the weakest one, but at least you could get a ranking of trainers thereby admitting that Emanuel Steward (Lewis' trainer) is more capable than Angelo Dundee (Ali's trainer) hence Muhammad Ali by the mere fact of a weaker trainer has already disadvantages against Lennox.

 

End words

If you don't want to dive into hardcore statistics and if you want to cut through fame bubbles then the above approaches might offer a fast road to a democratic consensus toplist.

Heavyweight Boxing Rankings (#4) Head-to-head toplists by trick questions, 4.0 out of 5 based on 8 ratings