Boxing is one of the oldest sports in history, with its origins dating back to ancient times. It has been a popular sport for centuries, with its popularity increasing even more over the last few decades. Boxing is now an internationally recognized and established sport, with dozens of professional leagues around the world that feature boxers from different weight classes and backgrounds.
The heavyweight division is the most prestigious and celebrated class in the sport, where the larger and stronger fighters compete for championship titles. The heavyweight division has seen some of the greatest athletes ever, with their intense physicality, skill, and courage are highly respected across all corners of the world.
While there are plenty of great sports out there, heavyweight boxing just has something rather special about it, and fans of it are always focusing on FanDuel picks for the best heavyweight boxing.
Over time there have been some amazing boxers, but some of the best of all have been heavyweight boxers, producing some of the most iconic fights in all history.
There is hardly a shortage of options from which to pick the best heavyweight boxers, so, it can be tricky trying to pick who is best. That is why we have put together a list of who we think are the best heavyweight boxers of all time.
We’ve looked at the stats, the facts, and everything that makes a boxer great. This is our list!
1. Joe Louis
Joe Louis is considered to be one of the most powerful heavyweight boxers to have ever existed. He held the title of ‘Heavyweight Champion’ for 12.5 years, so we consider him to be the best of the best.
He was fast with his punches and left his opponents trembling. He would easily cut an opponent up with a bludgeoning jab, just before he launched his short right hand.
We have to consider him the best, you can’t be any less than the best if you’ve held the title for that long!
2. Muhammad Ali
Ali has long been considered a legend, in spite of how much of his mystique has been coated in his ability to defy offs, he defeated Frazier and Foreman who also made it onto our list. He has beaten legends.
His domination and endurance tell of his abilities. Back in the 60s he was in his best form, and was probably the best the world had ever seen at this point. To this day, no one can match the Ali magic.
3. George Foreman
Foreman was durable, and this was an unmatched factor for him, even for those above him in our list. He was world-class, and his activity spanned 20 years. He even destroyed Norton and Frazier in the ring.
4. Larry Holmes
Some would say that Holmes ruled while the division was weak, but he has a list of victims in a grossly underestimated collection of heavyweights. With a single weak arm, he defeated Ken Norton, who was top 20 all-time heavyweight, to win the WBC championship.
He ended up winning 48 fights with no losses in 7 years!
5. Evander Holyfield
The only person who holds the heavyweight belt over four times is known as the ‘Real Deal’. If he was around today, he would be the top choice for FanDuel betting. He won his major cruiserweight titles before he made history in heavyweight boxing as a pro, when he was also competing as a light heavyweight in the Olympic in 1984.
6. Jack Johnson
Johnson is often forgotten due to the period in time in which he competed. He was a great athlete who used defense and extra mobility as well as his already vast amount of talent to totally overwhelm his opponents in the ring.
Even though he faced some setbacks and challenges, he still defeated many legends.
7. Joe Frazier
After Frazier made the gold at the Olympics in Tokyo in ‘64, he made his entrance, facing off every heavyweight of the ‘Golden Age’ and took down all but his enemy, Foreman. The most well publicized match in history was his battle with Ali in ‘71.
Frazier shook Ali with a mean left hook in the 15th to secure his victory and keep his place in our books!
8. Mike Tyson
This list would be wildly incomplete without mentioning Mike Tyson! He is probably the best showman in sport since Ali, and the force of him put fear into every man, no matter how tough they were.
He does get some slack for never getting off the mat to win, or coming from behind, we can’t really hold that against him.
9. Lennox Lewis
Lewis overcame Holyfield, Klitschko, and Tyson, and showed off just how skilled he was in doing so. He was also the world heavyweight champion on three occasions too!
With 44 fights through the duration of his career, he won 41 of them, 32 of those 41 he won by knockout. His career saw him unleash a mean uppercut with insane power and perfect technique.
His right hand is one of the most feared in all our list, and it completed most of his knockout wins.
10. Rocky Marciano
We finish with Marciano, even though most of his significant opponents were older when he was in his prime, this does not mean they were not good competition for him.
He retired with 49-0, with 43 of these wins all being knockouts. He was one of the toughest of the bunch, and had an insane punch that all feared when he stepped into the right.
What was awesome about Marciano as well was his incredible pain threshold and outstanding stamina. He retired an undisputed champion with no fair opponents left. A great final addition to our list of legends.
