Nascar

**Unchained** · June 10th, 2006, 07:59 AM

How long has it been since boxing has seen an undisputed heavyweight white champion? I'm not talking about the last decade or so where the division has been watered down with a lack of good heavyweights? I remember when Tommy Morrison had so much promise, and folks said at last a white man was going to take the crown finally. I know that Euros are ruling the sport, but we all know that not a one of them could have went 3 rounds with Iron Mike in his prime (nor Ali, Foreman, Frazier...on and on)

**Gotch** · June 10th, 2006, 10:00 AM

According to that criteria it was probably Ingemar Johansson who was also European (Sweden).

The 70's era heavyweights are actually somewhat over-rated in the view of most boxing historians. The art of old-time footwork and going to the body had just recently been "lost" while the mega athlete had not really arrived on the scene yet.

The top three fighters of all-time (any division) in the view of many historians are Ray Robinson, Henry Armstrong, and the little known Henry Greb.

**Gotch** · June 10th, 2006, 10:04 AM

Bert Sugar once wrote that he had overheard three men debating the greatest fighter of all-time. One believed it was Ali, another thought Marciano, the third argued for Dempsey. Sugar wrote that he simply smiled knowing that the middleweight Henry Greb could have dispatched all three in the same night.

**imported_biggamesjames** · June 10th, 2006, 02:40 PM

I tend to notice that the only sports not dominated by caucasians are sports that place a high priority on quickness and raw speed. Caucasians are especially dominant in sports that require upper body strength such as power lifting, shot put/javelin...for example if you ever watch the World's Strongest Man competition you will rarely see any non-white's make the finals. Some Somoans and a few Japanese have made it but I don't think I've ever seen a black or latino in the finals. I've also rarely seen a white man win a world or olympic championship in a sprinting event. I think thats why you have alot of backs and receivers in the NFL who are black and alot of lineman and QB's who are white. Those positions require a different skill set. Asians seem to be really good at sports that require quick reflexes and good hand eye coordination. Have you ever seen them play ping pong? Also they could probably just about take over the major leagues if they all came over here to play instead of their own leagues.

**imported_biggamesjames** · June 10th, 2006, 02:52 PM

I think Mike Tyson is probably the most overrated heavyweight of all time. I also agree that alot of the fighters in the 70's were overrated. The sport was 50 times more popular then with the media and fans and people exaggerate the accomplishments of fighters in that era to a great degree. Fights then were nationally televised and everybody got to see them...NBC, CBS and ABC routinely aired heavyweight championship bouts. Pay per view is one of the main reasons the sport began to falter. People don't care about things they can't watch and participate in. The same thing would happen to the NFL if it was taken away from the common fan on Sunday afternoons. The sport has also become less popular in the U.S. now because there has been an influx of good fighters coming from other countries. Americans usually are more interested when they have a fellow American to cheer for. I believe Lennox Lewis could have beat most fighters from that era. I believe Vladimir Klitchko is the best heavyweight in the world right now and I think he could have beaten Tyson in his prime. Vitaly probably could have as well given the fact that he tore Lennox up for 5 rounds before it was stopped due to a cut.

**Gotch** · June 10th, 2006, 05:10 PM

There was a short period of time when Mike Tyson was a great fighter. All that changed as soon as he fired Kevin Rooney as his trainer.

He stopped bending at the knee's and his head movement disappeared. This made him a short, stationary, arm punching, heavyweight who came striaght in. An easy target and easy pickins for any large and talented heavy.

It's really kind of hard to compare fighters from different eras. I believe the fighters from the early 1900's to the 30's and 40's were far tougher than most later fighters but there is the size difference to consider in a head to head match.