This is Rummy's Corner.
Good evening boxing fans and welcome to Part 7 of the Boxing Survey Series. This open Survey
was conducted in the Classic Section of BoxingForum24.com and 24 volunteers participated. Each of them
provided a Top 15 list for each of the traditional 8 weight classes. Today we will be exploring
the Light Heavyweight division. I did not personally participate in the Survey, as I
did not want my opinions to influence the final outcome.
This is the scoring system. 100 points for a 1st place vote, and so on according to these
point values. With 24 participants, the most points any individual boxer can accumulate
in any given weight class is 2,400. Let's quickly review the Top 10 results in the Light
Heavyweight Survey.
#10 is John Henry Lewis. He received 282 points and was mentioned in 19 out of 24. This is
pretty typical of the type of numbers we have been seeing for a 10th place finish in other
weight classes.
#9 is Roy Jones Jr. Jones was awarded 410 points and he was also mentioned on 19 out of
24. In addition Jones also received one 1st Place Vote. This is the lowest finish inside
the Top 10 for anyone receiving a 1st Place Vote - although it should be noted one boxer
who received a 1st Place Vote finished outside the Top 10. In other words, this is the second
lowest finish for someone receiving a 1st Place Vote.
#8 is Tommy Loughran. 667 points for him and he appeared on a perfect 24 out of 24, making
him the first Light Heavyweight to appear in the All 24. This is a strong 8th place
finish, where 667 points was a considerable 135 more than his closest 8th place counterpart
from the lower six weight classes.
#7 is Bob Foster. 720 points for The Deputy Sheriff and an impressive 23 out of 24. This
is another strong finish, as Foster earned the most points we've seen for a 7th place
finish since Flyweight.
#6 is Harry Greb. 747 points for Greb and he appeared on 19 out of 24. Four less lists
than Foster, but Greb was generally held in higher regard where he did appear. Greb also
finished 1st Place in the Middleweight Survey, so this is his second Top 10 appearance. That
puts him in very good company, as he joins an exclusive club that includes Sugar Ray
Robinson and Henry Armstrong, the latter of whom incredibly got three Top 10 finishes.
#5 is Sam Langford and this is an interesting case. Langford had 790 points and he also
received two 1st Place Votes. But amazingly Langford achieved these numbers
while only appearing on 13 out of 24. This is the first time in the entire Survey that
someone who finished inside the Top 5 did not receive at least 21 mentions. So all of
the other Top 5 finishes got at least 8 more mentions than Langford.
#4 is Gene Tunney. 1,005 points for Tunney make him the first Light Heavyweight to enter
the ranks of the 1,000+ points club. Tunney finished on an impressive 23 out of 24 and
The Fighting Marine also received one 1st Place Vote.
#3 is Michael Spinks. Very solid scores for Spinks. 1,065 points, a perfect 24 out of
24, and two 1st Place Votes for Michael Spinks. So 1,000+ points and All 24 place him in both
exclusive clubs. More on Spinks in a bit.
#2 is Archie Moore, the Old Mongoose, Powerhouse numbers here. Archie earned 1,715 points and
he also received two 1st Place Votes. Interestingly enough, Moore missed out on a list appearing
on 23 out of 24. This is only the second time in the Survey that a 2nd place finish didn't
get a perfect 24. Hmmm.
And #1 is Ezzard Charles. The Cincinnati Cobra ran away with this, and it was a strong consensus.
A staggering 2,145 points for Charles, and he received ⅔ of the 1st Place Votes tallying
16. Charles also missed out on a list, with mentions on 23 out of 24. Hmmm. That means
that Ezzard Charles is the only 1st Place winner who didn't unanimously appear on All
24.
So this is the entire Top 30 statistical breakdown for the Light Heavyweight Survey. The first
thing that really jumped out to me is there are a lot of oddities going on here that we
haven't seen previously. For starters, this was the first time that neither of the Top
2 guys finished on the All 24. In the cases of Archie Moore and Ezzard Charles this is
a real head-scratcher for me. And I'm not saying this to criticize any of the participants.
Everyone has their own views, and the criteria for these Surveys was largely open to interpretation.
Things like this can simply be the result of a mere oversight or something of that nature.
This isn't the first time an elite boxer wasn't on All 24, but it jumps out more here in the Light Heavyweight Survey because
of who we're talking about. The Old Mongoose? Outside of someone's Top 15? The Cincinnati
Cobra not in the Top 15? Oh my goodness! But, even with those abnormalities, I think the
scoring system is working the way I had hoped. Meaning, even with some peculiar oddball omissions,
Ezzard Charles and Archie Moore both finished exactly where I believe they should. Now there
was a time years ago when I would have ranked Archie 1st, and I still think there is a valid
case for this, but I have since reversed my position. I think Ezzard belongs at the top here.
And that's another unusual thing going on here. 1st Place Votes were divided among 6
different boxers. So while most people generally agree with Ezzard being the best, the dissenting
voices are less concentrated. Meaning those who do not believe Ezzard Charles was the best, those
people are very divided over who is. Prior to Light Heavyweight, the most different boxers
receiving 1st Place Votes was 4 - and that happened at Flyweight, Bantamweight and Middleweight.
Here it was 6.
Then we have the fact that this is the only time in the Survey that we only had one member
in both exclusive clubs - and it was 3rd place finisher Michael Spinks. 1,000+ points and
All 24. Previously we usually had 3 that were in both exclusive groups, and once we had 2. But here at Light Heavyweight, Michael
Spinks was unique in being the sole member of both. Furthermore, Spinks having a career
that was relatively recent makes this even more intriguing on another level.
Then as I mentioned, the Sam Langford case. Top 5 finish, but he only received mention on
just over half of the lists. I think these unique totals can be best described by the
fact that Langford is one of those guys who generally tends to be viewed by his entire
body of work which spanned across 5 of the traditional 8 weight classes. Langford's greatness
cannot denied, but placing him in the context of a single division can be a little difficult.
In this Survey, those who did mention Langford held him in extremely high regard.
On the whole I think this is another pretty good list. Once again I tend to think the correct
4 names are at the top, and I find nothing truly objectionable here. I don't think there
was a whole lot separating a lot of those boxers between Jones Jr and Bivins. I think a good
case can be made that Harold Johnson belongs in the Top 10, and then looking at the right
side. I can't shake the feeling that Matthew Saad Muhammad belongs somewhere on the left
side. But this time the thing that really jumped to me is we've seen a lot of things
in the Light Heavy results that we have not seen elsewhere. And I don't expect we will
see these types of things going on at Heavyweight, but perhaps I'm speaking too soon.
In total there were 37 boxers mentioned in the Light Heavyweight Survey. This is in
line with what we've seen since venturing north of Feather. 1,000+ points is in the
same ballpark, but that 2 in the All 24 is unusual, especially since those 2 finished
3rd and 8th respectively. Ezzard Charles had the high score with 2,145, and he also had
the most 1st Place Votes with 16. So a stronger consensus for the Cincinnati Cobra than what
we had seen at Lightweight and Middleweight, but otherwise a slightly less convincing consensus
than we've seen elsewhere. But still, this is a decisive win for Ezzard, and I definitely
think he deserves to be in the top spot here. Sugar Ray still has the high score to beat
and the most 1st Place Votes to date.
That's it for this one. Next up will be the last Divisional Survey when we explore the
Heavyweight division. So just one weight class left before the final All Time Survey.
Once again, a special thanks to the 24 participants who took the time and effort to create and
submit their Survey lists. Without them there would be no Survey.
Please share your thoughts on the Light Heavyweight results in the comment section.
Thanks for watching everyone, I hope you enjoyed, and have a wonderful night! This is Rummy's
Corner.