Top 10 boxing heavyweight greats of all-time

1. Muhammad Ali (56-5, 37 KOs)

Muhammad Ali is nicknamed ‘The Greatest’ for a reason. He is the greatest heavyweight champion of all-time inside the ring and out. Arguably, Ali was the most influential sports icon ever to live. He impacted boxing, American culture, politics, fashion, media, racial inequality, and so much more. Outside of the way he changed the world around him, Ali did things in the ring that no heavyweight boxer ever could.

Ali was a surprisingly big man at 6-foot-3 and hovered between 210 pounds to 225 pounds for the majority of his career. He had a rare combination of size, speed, quickness, power, and fleet feet. No other heavyweight was as athletic or physically gifted as Ali.

He first won the title in 1964 by stopping Sony Liston in six rounds. The new Ali documentary, What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali, shows how Liston was massively favored over the young, trash-talking kid from Louisville, Kentucky. Ali tore Liston to shreds with his hand speed and made him quit in his corner despite claiming a shoulder injury.

It only took Ali one round to dispatch Liston in the rematch. Ali’s parade through the heavyweight division stopped in 1967 when he was arrested for refusing induction into the U.S. Army. Ali lost three years of boxing due to suspension while fighting the government and protesting the Vietnam War on religious grounds.

Ali accrued some losses on his record after resuming his career in 1970. He lost his first bout with Joe Frazier and Ken Norton by decision. He avenged both losses. Ali and Frazier are forever linked because of their competitive and grueling trilogy where Ali won two of three fights.

Ali’s crowning achievement was his 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” knockout of then-undefeated champion George Foreman. His Zaire victory was fabulous, but so was his entire career.

Ali has the best boxing résumé in history. Here are the notable opponents he defeated: Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Ken Norton, Earnie Shavers, Leon Spinks, Jimmy Ellis, Floyd Patterson, Archie Moore, and more.

Ali lost along the way, but he usually redeemed himself. The end of his career was tragic, and he needed to be protected from himself. His brain was damaged when he stepped into the ring against Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick. Someone should have prevented him from fighting, but the greed of money spawned these bouts.

The bottom line is that there will never be another Muhammad Ali. His accomplishments in the ring and out are too significant. He’s an original that can never be reproduced.