The Heavyweight Division

Throughout history the heavyweight division has been one of the most talked about divisions in the sport of boxing. Great heavyweights of the past include: Joe Louis, Max Schmeling, Rocky Marciano, Ezzard Charles, Floyd Patterson, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Ken Norton, Larry Holmes, young Mike Tyson, and Evander Holyfield. Those are only a few but theres many more on the list of great heavyweights. Ever since the creation of boxing the most popular and most talked about division in the sport of boxing is the heavyweight division. Back in the early twenties it was full of club fighter heavyweights until the thirties came along. Before the Joe Louis era you had the Jack Dempsey era. Jack Dempsey wasnt really the biggest heavyweight he weighed about 185 pounds, but he was able to brawl. The rules in boxing were much different then. We see the tactics that Jack Dempsey used as "dirty" these days because he would hit fighters on the back of the head, he would hit fighters when they were down on one knee, just stuff like that. Dempsey who many saw as a racist would not step in the ring with a black fighter. So we never saw what could have been a huge super fight between Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey. Despite holding the heavyweight championship for seven years this fight could have brought on a bigger legacy for Dempsey. There was a string of champions in the heavyweight division until Joe Louis came along. Joe Louis was a highly skilled fighter and went on to hold the belt for 12 years a feat thats unheard of in the sport of boxing. Joe Louis was a knockout artist, and knew when and where to make his punches count. After Joe Louis there was the Ezzard Charles and Rocky Marciano era's. The Rocky Marciano era was a good heavyweight era though some may not see him as that great of a fighter compared to Ali, a Rocky Marciano in the fifties could still be a champion in this era of the heavyweight division. Later we have the Sonny Liston era which was a time where Sonny Liston who was a tough guy who went to prison earlier in his life was knocking out his opponents left and right similiar to a George Foreman. Sonny Liston's knockouts were more brutal. Liston looked to be in for a long reign after knocking out Floyd Patterson in one round twice. He was later dethroned by Muhammed Ali who many proclaim as the greatest heavyweight of all time. Ali fought in the golden era of that division in the seventies. He fought Joe Frazier the man who held his belt that was stripped away from him. They had perhaps the greatest rivalry in the history of heavyweight boxing. So many great heavyweight fighters in the seventies. Ken Norton, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Ali, and Holmes. You even had some quality journeyman like a young Leon Spinks, Jerry Quarry, George Chuvalo, and Ernie Shavers. This was the most talked about division in the world. When people talk about the boxing history in the seventies they think of the Ali vs Frazier Trilogy, The Rumble in The Jungle, Howard Cossell yelling "down goes Frazier!!!", Norton breaking Ali's jaw, and every Muhammad Ali interview was entertaining. Its still talked about decades later. The Larry Holmes era was good but his era lacked good quality fighters. Larry Holmes was fighting hyped contenders like Gerry Cooney, Leon Spinks, and Trevor Berbick who would later win a world title. At the end of the eighties the reign of Mike Tyson was fearsome. This 20 year old kid off the streets knocked out Trevor Berbick in 2 rounds, knocked out Larry Holmes in 4, and Michael Spinks in seconds of round 1 to become the undisputed world heavyweight champion. These three names alone were the top heavyweights of the early eighties. Tyson lost to Buster Douglas and then Douglas lost to Evander Holyfield who had a good reign.