Best Heavyweight Boxers of All Time
Professional boxing has many different weight categories, and finding your favourite is no mean feat. Do you follow the noble art and concentrate on the lighter weights, enjoying the speed, skill, and determination with plenty of punches thrown and almost as many talking points? The likes of Naseem Hamed and Scott Harrison are two great examples of talented, exciting fighters from the lower-weight category. Look at the international stage, and you’ll enjoy Marco Antonio Barrera, Manuel Marquez, and other big-hitting little guys.
Perhaps you prefer the middle ground of the weight divisions, including welterweight, light-middleweight, and middleweight? Those areas give fans the best of both worlds, combining the speed and ferocity of the lighter weights with the big punches and knockouts you’ll often see in the heavier divisions. Welterweight professional boxers often weigh less than 10st 7lbs but are larger than the category below, which is the 10st light-welterweight division. Many of the sport’s most famous names and best-loved fighters have competed at welterweight during their careers, including Floyd Mayweather Jr, Manny Pacquiao, and Mexican superstar Saul Alvarez.
Then we arrive at the main attraction, the heavyweights, and that’s where the big names exist. Sometimes, fighters from the smaller weight categories look at the heavyweight division with envy. It’s not the best weight category, it doesn’t possess the most talented fighters, and many bouts from the top division are labeled uncompetitive and sometimes even boring. But the paying public and casual boxing fans love the heavyweights. They love the big fights, the heavy shots, and the surprise knockdowns.
How we picked the best boxing heavyweights of all time
Our resident boxing betting expert and fight game historian compiles a list of some of the best heavyweight boxers in history, detailing who they were, where they came from, what they achieved in the noble art, and the legacy left behind for fans to enjoy for future generations. What you’ll read on this page isn’t the only compilation of the best heavyweight boxers, as there are many out there, but some are better than others. These types of articles are subjective and often play to the crowd, listing the heavyweights who were the most famous instead of those who achieved the most. But that’s not the case on this page.
We have poured over the stats and results, measured the head-to-head figures, and collected opinions. We go back through the ages, picking out and highlighting the heavyweight boxers from the United Kingdom, United States, and further afield who changed the sport for the better, helping promote boxing on the global stage. We also wanted to ensure there’s something for everyone. If you’re a fan of the destruction of Mike Tyson and other knockout artists, we’ve got you covered. If you prefer the polished skills of Lennox Lewis and the like, you’ll find plenty on this page to keep you entertained. Perhaps you’re fully signed up to the fan club of boxers with a mix of dedication, skills, and power, someone like the great Evander Holyfield or James Toney in his later years. If that’s the case, settle down and prepare to be entertained.
Heavyweight boxing is globally popular for one reason: the knockouts. But fighters in the head division come in many shapes and sizes. Mike Tyson stands at just 5ft 10 inches in a land of giants with concussive power in both hands. Critics said he would be too short to make an impact in world boxing, but history shows exactly what critics know about the fight game. The issues with trying to predict heavyweight boxing stems from its volatile nature. Bouts very rarely go to plan, as one punch can change the course of a contest.
Why we love heavyweight boxing
What makes the heavyweight division the best and most popular weight category in this most ancient and respected combat sport? Is it the physiques of the top-level fighters? That’s unlikely, as you’ll see many of the best-performing heavyweight champions don’t have the kind of muscular build you’d expect from an all-conquering athlete and gladiator. Look at long-reigning WBC champion Tyson Fury, for example. He is overweight, carries rolls of fat around his midriff, and his weight is often in the high teens for stones. Yet he’s 6ft 9 inches tall and packs a punch, putting his bulk behind every shot.
Fight fans love the heavyweights because that’s the division that produces the most impressive showreel knockouts. It’s what gets the crowd up and out of their seats, sets pulses racing and tongues wagging. Boxing fans, both avid and casual, love big KOs, and an early night is almost guaranteed in a heavyweight contest at the highest level. You’ll see most championship bouts end in stunning fashion, with one fighter spread across the canvas while the other struts around the ring in celebration. But excitement isn’t reserved for championship bouts. Watch any contest from the undercard at heavyweight, and you will enjoy a fascinating contest. Visit your local amateur boxing club’s show, and if there is a heavyweight on the card, you can expect fireworks.
The truth is, you can never be too sure what’s going to happen when two heavyweight boxers meet in the centre of the ring and go toe-to-toe. The bout could go the distance with the better boxer reeling off a points win after collecting the majority of rounds. It could end inside the first minute of the opening round if both warriors go on the front foot early. It could also descend into a shootout with both teeing up big shots, putting all their might into single punches, and attempting to score a KO, just like we witnessed when Tyson Fury stopped Deontay Wilder after both men had been on the floor.
What can you expect in the next world championship contest from the heavyweight division? There’s no way of knowing, but armchair fans can take two things for granted: expect the unexpected, and the bout will keep you guessing up to the final punch. Heavyweight boxing is a rollercoaster ride, and that’s why we love it.
Let’s now discuss some of the best heavyweight boxers in modern history. The fighters listed below helped make the division popular and dramatic and worth billions of dollars annually.
Tyson Fury
We start this article with multi-belt-winning Tyson Fury, who has become the most famous and respected fighter of his generation in the top division. He isn’t the best followed in an era that includes Saul Alvarez and Terence Crawford – to name just two attractions from the lighter weights – but he is the standout name of the heavyweight division. I can feel the groans from boxing historians who may believe a list of the top heavyweights ever shouldn’t start with a modern champion, but Fury fully deserves his spot, both in terms of ability and the story he brings.
What is a heavyweight boxer without a story? A rags-to-riches tale is common in this sport, especially in this division, but Fury didn’t share the same challenging upbringing as his namesake, Mike Tyson, the one Baddest Man on the Planet. Fury was something of a joke during the early exchanges of his career, and I was present in Essex when he struggled to beat Big Bad John McDermott, believing the underdog had done enough to score a shock upset win. But Fury persevered, completely convinced he had what it takes to change the division and rule the world.
Fury realised his dream in 2015 when he beat the long-term ruler of the division, Wladimir Klitschko, in Germany before his home support. That win for Tyson finally broke the stranglehold the Klitschko brothers had on heavyweight boxing, and Fury did it in style. He then relinquished his belts to battle ongoing depression, alcohol, and drug issues before returning to dethrone WBC champion Deontay Wilder by knockout, stopping a fighter who carried one of the fiercest KO averages in history.
Rocky Marciano
The Rock has inspired many boxing movies on the silver screen, and that is no surprise as his career is like something from a Holywood script. Rocky’s career ended with his CV showing 49-0, making him the only heavyweight champion to enter retirement unbeaten, although Tyson Fury is on course to join that most exclusive club. Fury’s CV currently stands at 34-0-1, and he does have that single draw with Deontay Wilder. The Englishman is also unlikely to make it to the dizzy heights of 49 fights with time against him as he enters his late 30s and the autumn of his boxing career.
The Brockton Blockbuster not only dominated the heavyweight scene during his career that spanned from 1947 to 1955, he did so during a time when many supremely talented fighters were on the scene. His CV and list of victims read like a who’s who of heavyweight boxing at the time, defeating greats including Joe Louis, Ezzard Charles, Archie Moore, and others. Either of those fighters would’ve cleaned up the division and continued to control if Marciano wasn’t on the scene, but the man standing just 5ft 10 inches tall was to take his place in the history books as one of the best who ever lived.
Marciano tragically died in an aviation accident when a small plane he was travelling on crashed, killing all three passengers. The tragedy struck one day before his 46th birthday with a surprise party set up before the accident. Marciano’s death left the entire sport of boxing in mourning.
Muhammad Ali
No article on the best heavyweight boxers is complete without Muhammad Ali, known and loved the world over as ‘The Greatest of All Time,’ and we wouldn’t dream of leaving Ali out in the cold. You’ll already know his story, and that’s evidence of his fame, success, and legacy. Ali’s career is portrayed in movies, and Will Smith played the heavyweight champion in the most famous blockbuster. It would be impossible to do the great man’s achievements and story justice, but if you haven’t seen the Fresh Prince of Belair play Ali, we advise you to remedy that as soon as possible.
Muhammad Ali achieved almost as much out of the ring as he did inside the ropes, but we prefer to concentrate on his boxing skills. Ali’s record at completion read 56 wins against five defeats and no draws, with 37 KOs and just one stoppage suffered. The man from Louisville, Kentucky, made his debut in 1960 with his final fight against Trevor Berbick in 1981. He lost his last two outings and three of his final four bouts, but that wasn’t anywhere enough to tarnish his legacy.
Ali was involved in some of the biggest boxing bouts in history, and he humbled many legends, including Leon Spinks, Earnie Shavers, Ken Norton, Joe Frazier, Chuck Wepner, George Foreman, Joe Bugner, Floyd Patterson, Henry Cooper, and many, many more big names. He’s known not only for his dazzling footwork, unorthodox power, and polished boxing skills but also for the men he beat. Ali’s achievements in professional heavyweight boxing would’ve been amazing at any age, but to achieve what he did in what’s universally recognised as the golden era makes it even more special.
Mike Tyson
Iron Mike Tyson is another fighter and former champion who inspired scriptwriters and authors. His life is something much stranger than fiction as he fought his way out of the slums and had a dreadful upbringing of an absent father and drug-addict mother to become champion of the world and one of the best-paid sportsmen in history. But there was to be no happy ending for Tyson as he lost most of his riches, squandered a high percentage on parties and hangers-on, and then had to pay the remainder in legal fees following several high-profile incidents.
Mike Tyson’s boxing CV settled at 50 wins and six defeats with 44 KO wins and five KO losses. The once Baddest Man on the Planet lost each of his last two and three of his last four, just like his idol Muhammad Ali, and by that stage of his career, he was a shadow of the fighter that once ruled heavyweight boxing. In his prime, Tyson beat some greats, including Trevor Berbick, Pinklon Thomas, Tony Tucker, Larry Holmes, Michael Spinks, and Frank Bruno, but lost too many fighters he should’ve beaten and would’ve beaten if his head was in the right place.
For all his ferocious knockouts and devastating punch power, Tyson’s prime was painfully short, and his supporters often overlook that fact. He spent only a short portion of his career winning at the highest level before problems outside of the ring, including alcohol and drug abuse, began to take their toll. His fall from grace wasn’t a gradual decline, but, instead, Mike’s life seemed to spiral out of control as many factors took him off-course, some outwith his control, including the death of trainer and mentor Cus D’Amato. But Tyson was something special when he shone brightest, and that’s what he’s remembered for: his freakish power and ability to KO bigger, stronger men.
Lennox Lewis
We sign off with another British heavyweight who dominated the global boxing scene during his prime and knocked out Mike Tyson when the pair finally came to blows. However, they had to be separated throughout the build-up after Tyson flew at Lewis in a blind rage at a press conference, trying to sink his teeth into the Brit. Lewis beat Tyson inside eight rounds in Memphis in 2002 with the IBF, IBO, and WBC titles on the line.
Lennox’s career finished with 41 wins, two defeats, and one draw, with 32 KO wins and a pair of knockout losses. The Lion was active between 1989 and 2003, winning multiple championship belts, losing his prized possessions, and winning them back. He even turned his skills to acting and appeared in the blockbuster movie Oceans 11, something many supporters thought caused him defeat to Hassim Rahman in 2001, a defeat he overturned in style next time out. Lennox finished his boxing career in the heavyweight division by winning each of his last three, scoring a revenge win over Rahman before stopping Tyson inside eight round and Vitali Klitschko before the bell to signal the end of round six.
Lennox Lewis often sees his achievements in boxing overlooked. Still, there’s no denying he was a more successful heavyweight than other big names and deserves his place on our list, showing the Brits pack a punch at heavyweight. You’ll now find Lennox working as a TV pundit on major broadcasters in the United Kingdom and the United States, covering the top heavyweights, including Tyson Fury, Anthony Joshua, and Oleksandr Usyk. He remains active in the sport after taking a break following his retirement.
