Favorite White Heavyweight

[Gary]

Who is your favorite All-Time White Heavyweight? Four are listed but there are many to choose from-Max Baer, Jim Corbett, Jim Braddock, Etc.
There were many who never won a title who could be considered-Jerry Quarry, Tom Sharkey, Gerry Cooney, Tommy Morrison, George Chuvalo, Etc.
There are a lot of good White Heavyweights today but this poll is more about the Greats of the past.

 

[White_Savage]

I had to vote for the REAL all-time greatest, "The Boilermaker" Jim Jeffries. Never defeated in his prime. People doubt him for coming out of five years of retirement and loosing 80 lbs to fight Jack Johnson at age 37, yet these self-same people never question Joe Louis's legacy because he lost to Rocky Marciano at the same age, even though Louis had won several fights before facing Marciano and was a better 37 than Jeffries.

 

[Gary]

White_Savage, I agree with you all the way. Jeffries gets my vote. Tracy Callis is a Boxing Historian from Cyberboxingzone.com and rates Jeffries the BEST OF ALL-TIME! Jeffries had it all power, size, speed, endurance. He chin was great and his punching power was awesome! Jim Jeffries in his prime was in the opinion of many the greatest heavyweight of all-time.
Dempsey was also great. Jack was one of the hardest punchers of all-time. Marciano was tough as a cheap steak, his chin was one of the best ever, he could punch with anybody and he refused to lose. Tunney was a terrific boxer with a good punch-1 loss in 76 fights is proof Tunney knew what he was doing in the ring.
Max Baer was a very hard hitter and lots of potential but never took boxing seriously and never lived up to all he could have been.

 

[White Shogun]

Guys, I know its too recent and it may seem like I'm not giving proper credit to the great white fighters of the past, but I'm going with Vitali Klitschko.

The white fighters in the past fought during a time when the caste system was not like it is now. White men were still taught and believed they could beat a black man in a fight. I realize that the Eastern Europeans are not raised under the shadow of the caste system like we are here in the USA, but I appreciate the fact that Vitali won as a heavyweight at a time in our history when white men are perceived as milquetoasts and weaklings.

I don't know a lot of the history of the personal lives of those men, either, but I'm guessing that they were not well educated and were not perceived as intelligent and well-mannered. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong, like I said I don't know a lot about their history. But I like the fact that Vitali has a Phd, speaks five languages, is classy and very well mannered. He and Wlad belie the notion that you have to act like an animal to kick ass. They remind me of the classical tales of chivalrous knights of old.

And finally, Vitali has the highest KO % of any heavyweight, including Mike Tyson.

I even thought of choosing Chuck Wepner, for going 15 rounds with the "Greatest", a mere club fighter who exposed Ali for the chump that he is.

 

[White_Savage]

Shogun:
Well, Tunney read and quoted Shaekspeare.
All the fighters named with the possible exception of Dempsey were nice guys, and even there I think any seedieness of Dempsey is greatly exaggerated by certain non-White forces. He opened up a restaraunt and lived a decent life after his retirement, unlike alot of other fighters I could name.

But you're right, in terms of societal evolution, the Klitschkos and Eastern Europeans in general have done more for our race as a whole now when we need champions most.

 

[freedom1]

I'd have to say Tommy Morrison. I started becoming aware of this issue as young kid. I remember being disappointed when Jerry Quarry was stopped by Joe Frazier. I actually listened to that fight on the radio. I went through Duane Bobick getting knocked out by Teofilo Stevenson in the Olympics, then in the pros by Ken Norton. I became very excited about Gerrie Coetzee of South Africa and of course, Gerry Cooney. After all those disappointments I still got really excited when Tommy Morrison came along. He was super quick, had knockout power in both hands, was agressive and good looking. He was also related to John Wayne. If he would've made it, he would've turned everything around. He used to come out with the American flag shorts, blonde hair and ripped physique. America would've really taken to that guy. I love the Klitschkos and Andrew Golota. And I have high hopes for the new breed of fighters coming out of Eastern Europe, but Tommy really caught my imagination. I think people would've been able to relate to him. I think blacks would've even accepted him as a champion.

 

[white lightning]

I loved watching Tommy Morrison too!He will always be one of my favorite fighters.His power in both hands was incredible!!He also had unbelievable hand speed.What a stud he was.It's too bad he had some issues outside of the ring.I heard that he was one of the biggest ladies man in the history of boxing and I wouldn't doubt it.That & drugs were his downfall.It was sad but he only had himself to blame.

 

[White Shogun]

Tommy Morrison: didn't he have to stop fighting because he contracted AIDS?

 

[KG2422]

White_Savage, I agree with you all the way. Jeffries gets my vote. Tracy Callis is a Boxing Historian from Cyberboxingzone.com and rates Jeffries the BEST OF ALL-TIME! Jeffries had it all power, size, speed, endurance. He chin was great and his punching power was awesome! Jim Jeffries in his prime was in the opinion of many the greatest heavyweight of all-time.
Dempsey was also great. Jack was one of the hardest punchers of all-time. Marciano was tough as a cheap steak, his chin was one of the best ever, he could punch with anybody and he refused to lose. Tunney was a terrific boxer with a good punch-1 loss in 76 fights is proof Tunney knew what he was doing in the ring.
Max Baer was a very hard hitter and lots of potential but never took boxing seriously and never lived up to all he could have been.

Max Baer was Jewish. He even had a star of David sewn into his boxing trunks. The collector's edition of Cinderella Man has the original fight footage where he is wearing the trunks. The star wasn't included in the movie. That would have made Ron Howard an even better director in my book. Too bad, I guess he didn't want to be "crucified" like Mel Gibson.Edited by: KG2422

 

[ocaamikedm11]

Can't argue a guy who was undefeated.. no matter what they say about him now...

 

[jcolec02]

Watch the "SPORTS CENTURY" about rocky marciano and tell me he isnt the best"not to say a 6'7 255 pound vitali klitschko couldnt beat him because if it came down to a FIGHT he would win!!!

 

[White_Savage]

I really can't believe I'm saying this, but...

It seems like there are two kinds of boxing commentators. The Castites who under-rate Marciano because he was White, of course, and the rest, who over-rate him.

Good as Marciano was, likeable as he was, and as much acclaim as he deserves for never allowing himself to be defeated,he is NOT the greatest HW who ever lived. Jeffries and Dempsey were better. By leaps and bounds. Jeffries too, was never defeated in his real career-only when he let himself be talked into fighting Jack Johnson as an out of shape 37-old ex-fighter. He was never knocked down in his real career-excellent punchers actually broke their hands on the Jeffries chin! He was larger, stronger, and faster than Marciano, probably had the greatest stamina of ANY fighter from ANY era. He fought an opponent just about Marciano's equal in Tom Sharkey (that day and age produced more REAL fighters than we can imagine today). He was 21 solid pounds in the days before weight training was recognized as important for fighters, probably be 230 with a good regimen today. If he was alive today, he'd be HW champ in boxing, or, considering his wrestling talents, MMA.

Dempsey had all of Marciano's power and toughness, with much greater speed, and skill. Think a taller and heavier-handed Mike Tyson. Considering how he terrorized bigger men, he might also be the HW champion today, even facing the Russians.

Of course, since Marciano weighted between 185 and 190 lbs soaking wet, he could easily opt to reign over the cruiser or light heavy weights virtually unapposed today.

 

[sport historian]

When Rocky Marciano was champion, he was considered a good HW King, but not one of "the greatest." As WS says, Jeffries, Dempsey, and Tunney were rated ahead of him (and yes, so was Jack Johnson). Rocky wasn't thought to be in a class with the young Joe Louis either. These opinions were rendered by people who had seen all of these men fight.

During the 1960's, Marciano's standing among the all-time heavyweights did go up. He was making appearances and was very popular. His tragic death in the 1969 plane crash really made him an iconic figure.

 

[White_Savage]

I don't know about Louis vrs. Marciano He had chin issues. If older, smaller, Max Schmelling could beat him, Marciano stands a good puncher's chance any night of the week.

Come to think about, since Joe Louis is near the top of everyone's list, doesn't Schmelling deserve a place on this poll for beating him?

It's also too bad about Louis, I watched a supposedly pro-Louis documentary of the man, and it turns out he displayed plenty of TNB in his private life after all, just had to keep it hidden in the 30s and 40s. Damn people, if you were interested in Louis's legacy, you should have left his private escapades in the closet.

 

[moose]

TNB- what does that mean?

 

[White Shogun]

Moose, check your PM for the answer to your question.

 

[moose]

thankyou

 

[white is right]

My favourite is Quarry because he was a gladiator. Eventhough he couldn't win the big one, he won all the ones below that level and beat or fought hard every top contender,except for Ali. The best white heavy of alltime might be Jefferies, especially if they used his eras rules. With the modern 12 round fights Vitali may be right up there in an alltime tourney......

 

[Gary]

Jeffries was not only the best White Heavyweight Champ, he was the best of EVERYBODY!! With Jack Dempsey 2nd.

 

[pt.guard2]

Quarry was a warrior who fought everyone during what may have been the most competitive era for heavyweights.....with both Ali and Frazier in their primes. He beat most of the best heavyweights out there.....including Patterson, Shavers and Lyle... and his first fight with Frazier (which was stopped due to cuts) was a classic. I have no doubt that had he fought in most other eras he would have been a champion.

A fighter I do remember from when I was a kid is Cooney.....who is considered a joke now, but was one of the most devastating punchers around. His destruction of Ken Norton was a mirror image of what Norton did to Bobick a few years before.

If he was managed better, he would have and should have become the heavyweight champ. As it is, even though he was not nearly experienced enough, he gave a gutsy performance against Holmes but was never the same after losing that fight.

 

[Colonel Callan]

pt.guard2 - Quarry did all you mention while usually being significantly
smaller than his opponents. The media was very cruel to this fighter,
exaggerating his losses and ignoring his wins.

 

[Bart]

pt.guard2 - Quarry did all you mention while usually being significantly
smaller than his opponents.

It's amazing that Jerry beat as many top heavyweights as he did being significantly smaller than most of them. Earnie Shaversand Ron Lyle were expected to make mince meatout of him, but hebeat them both, giving a boxing lesson to Lyle and KO' ing the reputed fiercest, hardest hitting heavyweight Shavers in one round.

 

[white is right]

Quarry was really a tweener, he would have been a cruiserweight today. He probably would have been a more skilled Jirov type and won a title and then moved up to the heavyweight division....

 

[bigman]

Quarry was basically a great counter puncher.. when he was on time he was impossible to beat.. .but he was only at his very best for a very short time .. perhaps 4 or 5 years from 66 to 70... after that like all smaller heavyweights it was downhill fast...

 

[white is right]

Yes his prime years were around the time when his idiotic dad and niave manager forced him to fight with a broken back against Jimmy Ellis. They thought they weren't getting another shot for years so they forced Quarry to fight injured. The 70's Quarry that beat Lyle and ko'd the overrated Shavers was 90 percent of the prime Quarry. Quarry even got relatively fleshy past the late 60's. He also had a real ahole for a wife who might have cost him a few key wins, because she always interfered in his train camps........