It was years ago on Arsenio Hall’s television show that he had former heavyweight champion and Olympic champion Mohammed Ali, world champion “Iron” Mike Tyson, and former two-division world champion and 1976 Olympic champion “Sugar” Ray Leonard as his guests.
Hall asked Tyson if he was the biggest after Ali said Tyson had the power to knock him out, but he had the hand and foot speed to beat him.
Nat Fleischer, who ran Ring Magazine years ago before his death, claimed Jack Johnson, 53-11-8 with 33 stoppages, was the greatest heavyweight he had ever seen. This may or may not have been before Ali became champion.
Before Ali, most fans felt that Joe ‘The Brown’ Bomber Louis, 66-3 with 52 stoppages, was considered the greatest heavyweight of all time, mainly due to twenty-five title defenses.
Others felt it was Rocky Marciano whose record was 49-0 with 43 shutouts. It took him in his forty-third fight to get a title shot against then-champion “Jersey” Joe Walcott, 49-20-1 with 21 stoppages. Late in the fight, Marciano hit Walcott with such a powerful blow that Walcott’s face was distorted.
In Walcott’s dressing room fellow boxer from Marciano’s camp, Hank Cisco, of Norristown, Pennsylvania, was there and heard the ring doctor say, “This man has a broken leg under his eye and must never fight again. If he does, the first hard punch will knock him out!” Gangster Blinky Palermo influenced Walcott and put him in the rematch, knowing the possibility betting fans felt Walcott might win the rematch due to a “lucky” Marciano strike. The result was a first-round knockout win for Marciano, and Palermo certainly had its money’s worth on Marciano.
In Marciano at 37-0, Louis stopped in his last fight who was well past his prime. Rumors were that Marciano cried afterwards after defeating “his hero”.
Over the years, some have pointed to former Olympian and world champion Lennox “The Lion” Lewis, 41-2-1 with 32 stoppages, most notably of the UK, as the greatest. Another former Olympian and world champion, “Big” George Foreman, 76-5 with 68 stoppages, once declared that Lewis would be a formidable opponent.
Lewis stopped Tyson at 49-3, who was past his prime in 2002. Lewis trailed (58-56 on all cards) on points in what would be his final fight against former WBO champion Vitali “Dr. Ironfist” Klitschko, 45-2 with 41 stoppages, who he stopped after the six-round six and cut I title on a nasty line. 2003.
