Boxing's Best Heavyweigh​t Champions

Nearly 47 years ago, Muhammad Ali defeated the menacing Sonny Liston by a 7^th round TKO to capture the WBA and WBC heavyweight titles.

Ali (56-5, 37 KOs), who then still went by the name Cassius Clay, proclaimed after the fight to the press, “I shook up the world!”

In tribute to “The Greatest,” I decided to rank the five most accomplished heavyweight pugilists of the past quarter century.

I want to emphasize that I am nominating the most accomplished fighters, and not the most skilled.

Without further adieu, below are my rankings.

No.1 Lennox Lewis (41-2-1, 32 wins by KO)- Lewis, 43, became the WBC heavyweight champion by default in 1993 after Riddick Bowe cowered and refused to scrap the mammoth Brit.

Bowe’s pink decision made Lewis the first and only world heavyweight titleholder to hail from Britain in the 20th century.

In September, 1994 in London, Lewis lost to a journeyman crackhead named Oliver McCall via TKO in the second round.

In April, 2001 in South Africa, Lewis was defeated by Baltimore bruiser Hasim Rahman via knockout in the fifth round.

The only two losses that Lewis suffered in his professional career stemmed from two flailing bombs that miraculously landed directly on the Brit's kisser.

Lewis avenged both of his losses and retired as champion in 2003.

The United Kingdom’s resident badass is one of four boxers in history to have won the heavyweight championship on three separate occasions.

2)      Evander Holyfield (42-10-2, 27 wins by KO)- Holyfield, 46, began his professional career as a cruiserweight.

However, after having had great success in that division, the Atlanta native purposely gained weight and set his sights on the heavyweight division.

In October 1990, “The Real Deal” countered a looping uppercut and cracked James “Buster” Douglas squarely on the jaw.

The portly pugilist was unable to get off the canvas and Holyfield became the new undefeated, undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

Holyfield’s crowning moment in the ring came when he bullied Mike Tyson and TKO’d the notorious villain in the 11th round to capture the WBA Heavyweight Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Seven months later, Holyfield was scheduled to fight Tyson in a rematch for the WBA Championship.

In the rematch, Holyfield incited the menacing Tyson when he connected an inadvertent head butt that opened a deep laceration over the former champion’s eye.

Tyson subsequently went insane and ferociously chomped pieces of Holyfield’s ears off with two illegal bites.

Holyfield has somewhat tarnished his legacy because he has insisted on continuing to fight despite the fact that he is more washed-up than a 65-year-old prostitute.

Nevertheless, Holyfield is the only boxer to ever win the heavyweight title four times and he deserves to be recognized one of the absolute greatest pugilists of the past quarter century.

3)      Mike Tyson (50-6, 44 wins by knockout)- Tyson, 43, had one of the most ferocious and intimidating presences in the annals of professional sports.

Before he receded into a cannibalistic, convicted rapist, Tyson was also one of the most skilled prizefighters the sport of boxing had ever seen.

“Kid Dynamite” became the youngest heavyweight champion in history when he demolished Trevor Berbick for the WBC heavyweight championship in November 1986.

Tyson steamrolled the competition for years before his personal demons derailed his seemingly inevitable path to immortality.

Tyson can be considered something of a Shakespearean tragedy.

However, the Brooklyn brawler also needs to be recognized as one of the most talented fighters in the illustrious history of boxing.

4)      Riddick Bowe (43-1, 33 wins by knockout)- Bowe, 42, was a genuine superstar in the ring for a relatively brief period of time.

In November 1992, Bowe upset undefeated Evander Holyfield to become the World Heavyweight Champion.

Bowe and Holyfield engaged in a memorable and savage slugfest that will forever be seared into the minds of boxing fans all over the world.

Bowe eventually fought a psychotic Polack called Andrew Golota.

Golota, a barbaric and tough animal, landed so many low blows on Bowe that it is somewhat shocking the Brooklyn product doesn’t currently speak like Little Richard.

Bowe was named the victor in both of the wars he waged with Golota via disqualification.

Unfortunately, the two fights exhibited that Bowe could no longer compete on a high level in the sport.

Bowe ultimately lost his marbles and became little more than tabloid fodder.

In 1996, Bowe announced that he would leave his wife and children to join the United States Marine Corps.

Due to his anemic work ethic, “Big Daddy” dropped out of boot camp in the midst of basic training.

In 1999, the punch-drunk fighter kidnapped his wife and children at her parents' community in North Carolina.

Thankfully, all victims were released unharmed.

Bowe did sadly become a laughingstock.

Still, for five years, he was a legitimate tactician in the ring and a fighter that does not deserve to be overlooked despite his litany of issues.

5)      Wladimir Klitschko (53-3, 47 wins by knockout)- Klitschko, 33, outmanned WBO Heavyweight Champion Sultan Ibragimov at Madison Square Garden in New York City in February 2008 to unify the IBF and WBO heavyweight titles.

With his demolition of Ibragimov, “Dr. Steel Hammer” became the first unified champion since Lennox Lewis was in 1999.

Klitschko has shown that he is a worthy fighter, and his recent matches have indicated that he is only going to continue to improve his craft.

The heavyweight division is sadly devoid of talent and it seems realistic to predict that Klitschko will continue to be a true force in its ranks for the foreseeable future.

Needless to say, this publication is an opinion piece.

I genuinely would like to hear the thoughts of my loyal Boston readers.