The single greatest accomplishment in boxing history

[Miburo]

The bigger problem is the amount of recognized champions in a weight class today. In Louis' day he wasn't beating the best named by the sanctioning organization, he was beating the best in the world. Records like Armstrong and Louis' will be virtually impossible to break today because of the changes in the sport. But this cannot take away from those accomplishments.

I'm not sure you can say just because he was the sole recognized champion he was fighting the best in the world unequivocally. He fought quite a large number of unworthy challengers as well - in those days the most deserving fighter rarely ever got a shot due to his ability (I'm pretty astonished Armstrong managed to secure four, his management must have really had some pull). I would actually say it's more common for the top fighters in the sport today to fight consistently worthy opponents (even if it involves shifting weight classes and disregarding the titles) than it was in the past.

[THE REED]

tyson winning the HW championship at only 20 is pretty big... foreman at 45 is real big

[Miburo]

Once again, I'd like to question the Tyson fans: what's more impressive, winning an alphabet title at age 20 from Trevor Berbick, or winning the linear JWW title at age 17 from Antonio Cervantes?

[Kinetic Linking]

Guys with natural disadvantages overcoming them are always pretty impressive.

Guys facing much larger opponents, specifically, are often impressive.

First three that come to mind are Barbados Joe Walcott, Harry Greb and Jack Dempsey.

Note that they were all totally ferocious two-handed fighters. I guess at a certain point skill doesn't cut it.

[mickey malone]

I think it's fair to give RJJ a mention to (re: winning titles from MW to HW)

[GJC]

I've always been partial to Foreman winning back the title 20 years after he lost it, but can't really argue with Armstrngs accomplishment. Hopkins being one of the best p4p fighters at 44 is impressive. Archie Moore's 131 ko's. Jack Johnson becoming the first black man to hold the heavyweight championship. Sam Langford being a dominant force from welterweight thru heavyweight. Harry Greb averaging more than 20 fights a year for his career against many of the best fighters of his era. I'll stick with my original pick, but there are a lot of great accomplishments that are noteworthy.

whooo leave some for other people

[Brockton Lip]

Willie Pep coming back and regaining the title after the devastating plane crash certainly deserves mention.

[Verstyle]

Once again, I'd like to question the Tyson fans: what's more impressive, winning an alphabet title at age 20 from Trevor Berbick, or winning the linear JWW title at age 17 from Antonio Cervantes?

When has the WBC belt being a alphabet belt? Winning it legit too. Tyson fought FULL grown big grown men. That said and he Benitez fought most ppl with losing records or their first fight up to the title. Tyson didn't, that's the difference on why he isn't talked about as much. Great accomplishment of course. VERY

[JAB5239]

I'm not sure you can say just because he was the sole recognized champion he was fighting the best in the world unequivocally. He fought quite a large number of unworthy challengers as well - in those days the most deserving fighter rarely ever got a shot due to his ability (I'm pretty astonished Armstrong managed to secure four, his management must have really had some pull). I would actually say it's more common for the top fighters in the sport today to fight consistently worthy opponents (even if it involves shifting weight classes and disregarding the titles) than it was in the past.

He did not fight a large number of undeserving challengers my friend, almost all were top 10 at the time. But with 25 defenses a fighter is bound to have the occasional easy fight. Out of curiosity....who do you think Louis should have fought but didn't?

[Miburo]

He did not fight a large number of undeserving challengers my friend, almost all were top 10 at the time. But with 25 defenses a fighter is bound to have the occasional easy fight. Out of curiosity....who do you think Louis should have fought but didn't?

Oh, I don't think he avoided any fighters per se; he was just a class above most of the available opponents during the bulk of his reign, it was somewhat of a weak era. Many of those he fought shouldn't have even been in the same ring with him, hence "bum of the month club".