Which Era was the best in Light-Heavyweight History

[Pat_Lowe]

So which period was it? The obvious one that comes to mind is the late 70's and early 80's (around 75 to 85). It featured Spinks, Mustafa Muhamad, Qawi, Johnson, Saad Muhammad and Conteh.

One era that rivals it is the late 40's and the 50's with arguably the 2 best light Heavies competing in Moore and Charles, along with other great fighters like Maxim, Bivins, Johnson, and Ray.

Let me know which era you think it was.

[MachineGunMitch]

today is the best era....we can have up to 5 or 6 champions in any
weight class,fighters are overpaid and we have steriods

[heerko koois]

So which period was it? The obvious one that comes to mind is the late 70's and early 80's (around 75 to 85). It featured Spinks, Mustafa Muhamad, Qawi, Johnson, Saad Muhammad and Conteh.

One era that rivals it is the late 40's and the 50's with arguably the 2 best light Heavies competing in Moore and Charles, along with other great fighters like Maxim, Bivins, Johnson, and Ray.

Let me know which era you think it was.

Correct.....but you did forget one outstanding boxer called Rudy Koopmans...........:good

[dmt]

40'sn was the best

also the 10's: Langford, Gibbons, Levinsky, Carpeinter, O'Brien, Dillon, O'Brien etc

[heerko koois]

40'sn was the best

also the 10's: Langford, Gibbons, Levinsky, Carpeinter, O'Brien, Dillon, O'Brien etc

:-(

[ChrisPontius]

Correct.....but you did forget one outstanding boxer called Rudy Koopmans...........:good
:dead

:lol:

[heerko koois]

:dead

:lol:

Rudy did very well against Eddie Mustafa.....but he got headbutted
and was badly cut....he should have gotten a rematch....

[Bad_Intentions]

:-(:rofl:rofl

[Dempsey1238]

the 1920's hand downs. We had Battling Levinsky, Georges Carpentier, Tommy Loughran, Jack Delaney, Paul Berlenbach, Jimmy Slattery, Battling Siki, Mike McTigue, Maxie Rosenbloom, That is a pretty tight era right there.

[Pat_Lowe]

the 1920's hand downs. We had Battling Levinsky, Georges Carpentier, Tommy Loughran, Jack Delaney, Paul Berlenbach, Jimmy Slattery, Battling Siki, Mike McTigue, Maxie Rosenbloom, That is a pretty tight era right there.

Hands down? Thats a pretty big assertion to make.

[Dempsey1238]

Thsos are just the champs that rein in the 20's and early 30's(RosenBloom was a contender in the 20's and rein in the 30's)

In the 90's all we had was Jones Jr, Hill and DM. And Jr and DM were not getting around to fighting each other lol.

The 40's and 10's are a strong 2nd though.

[Pat_Lowe]

Thsos are just the champs that rein in the 20's and early 30's(RosenBloom was a contender in the 20's and rein in the 30's)

In the 90's all we had was Jones Jr, Hill and DM. And Jr and DM were not getting around to fighting each other lol.

The 40's and 10's are a strong 2nd though.

Well the 80's as I previously mentioned had Spinks, Mustafa Muhamad, Qawi, Johnson, Saad Muhammad and Conteh. These guys were champs and they're a very strong bunch. They each reined with Spinks being the dominant one of the lot. I'd also pick him to beat all the guys from the 20's and 30's

[Pat_Lowe]

The 1940s was one of the weakest eras for obvious reasons.

It had Ezzard Charles and Archie Moore fighting in at the time, thats pretty friggin strong.

[Dempsey1238]

Well the 80's as I previously mentioned had Spinks, Mustafa Muhamad, Qawi, Johnson, Saad Muhammad and Conteh. These guys were champs and they're a very strong bunch. They each reined with Spinks being the dominant one of the lot. I'd also pick him to beat all the guys from the 20's and 30's

Strong group of fighters of couse. But the 20's were a level ahead of em. Outside of Spinks, I see no one beating Tommy Lougran or Jack Delaney imo. And even with Spinks it's 50 50. The 20's I rank Delaney 1rst, follow by Loughran, Than Carp, Berlenbach is also a guy I would rank high. All these guys are pretty impressive on film. Berlenbach was a great fighter, and though he lack knockout power for his slugging style, He out slick the boxers as he did with Delaney, (Delaney did finger him out by the 3rd fight). Berlenbach was a pretty akward fighter added some wrestling to the style he had. I think he do great in the 80's short of a rival with Spinks.

[Pat_Lowe]

Both are rated too highly because they competed in a division that was very weak and people fail to account for that fact. It's a common error. In fact, 15 million men were out of the country fighting the Nazis, more than half of all boxing clubs closed down, and titles were frozen. The war was even more devastating to European boxing. Charles and Moore distinguished themselves against extremely weak light heavyweight and heavyweight competition, and for this reason people have a false impression of how good they actually were.

If thats how you believe so be it, agree to disagree. Who is at the top of your rankings then? Whats your top 10 list look like?

[janitor]

The 1940s was one of the weakest eras for obvious reasons.

Billy Conn
Melio Betina
Gus Lesnevich
Jimmy Bivins
Loyd Marshall
Ezzard Charles
Joey Maxim
Eddie Booker
Freddie Mills
Archie Moore
Harold Johnson

I faill to see how this can be regarded as a weak era.

[janitor]

I vote for the 20s

Tommy Gibbons
Georges Carpinter
Battling Siki
Gene Tunney
Young Stribling
Kid Norfolk
Harry Greb
Mike McTigure
Paul Berlenbach
Tommy Loughran
Jack Delaney
Jimmy Delaney
Jimmy Slatterey
Maxie Rosenbloom
Leo Lomski
Batling Levinski
Jimmy Braddock
Pete Latzo

[ThinBlack]

mid 70's to early 80's.One of those guys was handing Foster a loss had he stuck around for a couple years later than he did.

[techks]

Thanks for the bump. I know or know of the 40's and 80's eras of LHWs but this thread will help me study the history of strong eras of the LHW division further. A shame this thread is only 2 pages but without this bump I would've never known about it, thanks.

[ThinBlack]

Thanks for the bump. I know or know of the 40's and 80's eras of LHWs but this thread will help me study the history of strong eras of the LHW division further. A shame this thread is only 2 pages but without this bump I would've never known about it, thanks.

no prob!:good

[Vysotsky]

I vote for the 20s

Tommy Gibbons
Georges Carpinter
Battling Siki
Gene Tunney
Young Stribling
Kid Norfolk
Harry Greb
Mike McTigure
Paul Berlenbach
Tommy Loughran
Jack Delaney
Jimmy Delaney
Jimmy Slatterey
Maxie Rosenbloom
Leo Lomski
Batling Levinski
Jimmy Braddock
Pete Latzo

:good

[Legend X]

I'd say the 1920s if I had to choose one single decade ..

There was Tunney, Greb, Gibbons, Loughran, Stribling, Norfolk, Delaney, Rosenbloom etc.


The 1930s was pretty strong too .... J H Lewis, Rosenbloom, Conn, Fox, Bettina, Olin, Gainer, McAvoy etc.

And the 1940s ... Conn, Bivins, Charles, Moore, Marshall, Maxim, Lesnevich ...

[PowerPuncher]

40s for sure, the 90s would have been if there was no SMW division

[Seamus]

I vote for the 20s

Tommy Gibbons
Georges Carpinter
Battling Siki
Gene Tunney
Young Stribling
Kid Norfolk
Harry Greb
Mike McTigure
Paul Berlenbach
Tommy Loughran
Jack Delaney
Jimmy Delaney
Jimmy Slatterey
Maxie Rosenbloom
Leo Lomski
Batling Levinski
Jimmy Braddock
Pete Latzo

That was my thought, also. Ridiculous era.

Glad we can agree on something.

[Clinton]

Shame the division has always overshadowed by the heavyweights because when you read this thread,you realize how rich its history has been.

[Flea Man]

70s IMO. 40s had the greater P4P fighters, but the amount of quality contenders in the 70s was INSANE!!!

[Flea Man]

That was my thought, also. Ridiculous era.

Glad we can agree on something.

Also a ridiculously dense era.

[Dempsey1238]

The 20's were a lot more powerful than the 70's imo.

[Flea Man]

Powerful? It loses points for having Carpentier and Siki, who were both dreadful IMO.

[Legend X]

Powerful? It loses points for having Carpentier and Siki, who were both dreadful IMO.

The championship lineage didn't represent the true strength of the division at all though.

[Flea Man]

I know. They're still abysmal on film. Loughran, less so.

[Legend X]

I know. They're still abysmal on film. Loughran, less so.

Well, I wouldn't say they are abysmal or dreadful.
Loughran was excellent. He seemed to think Carpentier was a great and genius fighter.