Heavyweight Boxing Champions

HEAVYWEIGHT BOXING CHAMPIONS

INTRODUCTION

In boxing, there are many different belts but the lineal heavyweight champion can be traced to the first fight which was regarded as the world heavyweight boxing title match in 1885 in which John Sullivan defeated Dominick McCaffrey. The lineal champion is the fighter who defeats the previous lineal champion. One of the key differences between the lineal championship and a belt are that a lineal champion can't be stripped of their title. For example when Muhammad Ali was stripped of his belts in 1969 for refusing to fight in Vietnam, he remained the lineal heavyweight champion. When a lineal champion retires, a new lineal champion is determined when the 2 fighters widely considered the best fight each other. This page looks at the lineal heavyweight champions in the following charts and data table:

Charts

1. Black American Lineal Heavyweight Champions by Region of Birth

2. White American Lineal Heavyweight Champions by Region of Birth

3. Lineal Heavyweight Champions by Country

4. American Lineal Heavyweight Champions by Region of Birth

5. Lineal Heavyweight Boxing Champions by Race

6. Lineal Heavyweight Boxing Champions by Height

7. Knockout Percentage of Lineal Champions

8. Number of Lineal Defences

Data Table

9. Lineal Heavyweight Champions by Win%, KO%, Height, Reach, Race and Place of Origin

Photo by Sabatu

Photo by José María Mora

The South and the Northeast have been the two most dominant regions for producing American lineal heavyweight champions. The Midwest has a modest representation while the West has a very low representation. However this wasn't always the case. The Midwest and the West produced 4 of the first 7 American lineal heavyweight champions. However soon the division became exclusively dominated by fighters from the South and the Northeast.

The majority, 58%, of black American lineal heavyweight champions were born in the south. The south has had the largest black population so this isn't surprising. Both Muhammad Ali and Joe Louis, considered the two greatest heavyweights of all time, were from the south. The low representation of the south among white American lineal heavyweight champions is notable.

The Northeast shows the strongest representation with 45%. The white ethnic communities such as Italians, Irish and Jews in northeastern cities like New York and Boston had a strong boxing tradition in the first half of the 20th century. Many famous boxing coaches in the latter part of the 20th century were from these communities, most notably Cus D'Amato.

The United States has dominated heavyweight boxing for most of it's history. This was true from the start but the dominance of American fighters was particularly so in the 60s, 70s and 80s when heavyweight boxing was completely dominated by American fighters. It's certainly not the case now. 3 of the last 4 have been from outside the USA with Hasim Rahman (who had no successful lineal defences) being the only American fighter to be lineal champion this century. This cause of this dramatic change is debated.

The 2 fights between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling in the 1930s in shadow of World War II were highly charged with nationalistic sentiments.

Photo by Sabatu

In the early days of heavyweight boxing, it was almost exclusively contested between white boxers. Of the first 15 lineal heavyweight champions, only Jack Johnson was black. After Jack Johnson, black fighters were effectively barred from competing for the heavyweight title for years. After Joe Louis became champion, things changed. Although two white fighters, Rocky Marciano and Ingemar Johansson, were prominent in the 1950s, black fighters would soon come to completely dominate the division. From Ingemar Johansson's loss to Floyd Patterson in 1960 till Wladimir Klitschko became lineal heavyweight champion in 2009, all lineal heavyweight champions were black fighters. This has changed recently. With the decline of black Americans from the division, there has been a rise in European fighters. The last two lineal heavyweight champions, Wladimir Klitschko and Tyson Fury, are white Europeans.

Photo by Pulitzer Publishing Company

The tallest of the lineal heavyweight champions is Tyson Fury, the current lineal champion. This is unsurprising as there has been a gradual increase in height of boxers in the heavyweight division. The fighter he won the title from, Wladimir Klitschko, is the 3rd tallest of all time. Very notable, however, is the 2nd tallest Jess Willard who fought in the early 20th century. Mike Tyson and Rocky Marciano, two of the greats, are among the 4 shortest lineal heavyweight champions. This shows that height isn't everything in heavyweight boxing.

Photo by Abelito Roldan

Licensed under CC BY 2.0

Rocky Marciano has the best Knockout rate of lineal heavyweight champions with 88%. George Foreman is second with 84%. Mike Tyson, who is 5th highest at 76%, is notable for the high amount of matches won by first round KO. Fighters with high KO percentages tend to be power punchers. Marciano, Foreman and Mike Tyson were formidable punchers. Notable on the graph is the low position of Muhammad Ali who is considered one of the greatest, if not the greatest, but has a relatively low 61% KO rate. This reflects his style of fighting where he would break opponents down with jabs rather than deliver powerful KO punch. In his prime, he would often win fights by TKOs. However in the latter part of his career, he won more fights by decisions.

The incredible run of title defences by Joe Louis, the Brown Bomber, can be seen from this chart. He far exceeds anyone else with 25 total defences from 1937 to 1948. Second is Muhammad Ali with 19 total lineal defences. Muhammad Ali is notable in being lineal champion 3 separate times, winning his title first when he famously defeated Sonny Liston in 1964. Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali are widely considered the two greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. Mike Tyson notably has only 2 lineal defences which doesn't reflect his domination of the division during the 80s. This is due to the fact that for much of his time as undisputed heavyweight champion, Michael Spinks remained the lineal champion. Mike Tyson eventually defeated Spinks to become lineal champion in 1988 but was famously defeated by Buster Douglas 3 fights later in a shock defeat. 10 lineal heavyweight champions don't have any lineal defences. These are often fighters who won the title unexpectedly such as Buster Douglas and Hasim Rahman.

Photo by Carl Van Wechten

DATA TABLE

9. Lineal Heavyweight Champions by Win%, KO%, Height, Reach, Race and Place of Origin

Lineal Champion Order	Boxer	Win %	KO %	Lineal defences	Height (cm)	Stance	Reach (cm)	Racial/Ethnic Group	Country	US State of Birth
1st	John L. Sullivan	92.68	78	3.5	179	Orthodox	188	White/European	USA	Massachusetts
2nd	James J. Corbett	55	25	1.5	185	Orthodox	185	White/European	USA	California
3rd	Bob Fitzsimmons	76.25	71	1	182	Orthodox	182	White/European	UK	N/A
4th	James J. Jeffries	79.17	67	8	183	Orthodox	194	White/European	USA	Ohio
5th	Marvin Hart	71.79	51	0	182	Orthodox	188	White/European	USA	Kentucky
6th	Tommy Burns	79.66	59	12.5	170	Orthodox	188	White/European	Canada	N/A
7th	Jack Johnson	71.79	45	8	184	Orthodox	188	Black/African	USA	Texas
8th	Jess Willard	78.57	71	1	199	Orthodox	211	White/European	USA	Kansas
9th	Jack Dempsey	79.71	65	5	185	Orthodox	196	White/European	USA	Colorado
10th	Gene Tunney	95.59	71	2	183	Orthodox	193	White/European	USA	New York
11th	Max Schmeling	80.00	56	1	185	Orthodox	193	White/European	Germany	N/A
12th	Jack Sharkey	69.81	25	0	183	Orthodox	193	White/European	USA	New York
13th	Primo Carnera	86.27	70	2	197	Orthodox	216	White/European	Italy	N/A
14th	Max Baer	83.54	65	0	189	Orthodox	206	White/European	USA	Nebraska
15th	James J. Braddock	60.26	35	0	189	Orthodox	191	White/European	USA	New York
16th	Joe Louis	95.65	75	26	187	Orthodox	193	Black/African	USA	Alabama
17th	Ezzard Charles	78.51	43	4	183	Orthodox	185	Black/African	USA	Georgia
18th	Jersey Joe Walcott	71.43	44	1	183	Orthodox	188	Black/African	USA	New Jersey
19th	Rocky Marciano	100	88	6	179	Orthodox	173	White/European	USA	Massachusetts
20th & 22nd	Floyd Patterson	85.94	63	4 & 2	183	Orthodox	180	Black/African	USA	North Carolina
21st	Ingemar Johansson	92.86	61	0	184	Orthodox	183	White/European	Sweden	N/A
23rd	Sonny Liston	92.59	72	1	185	Orthodox	213	Black/African	USA	Arkansas
24th, 27th & 29th	Muhammad Ali	91.80	61	9 & 10 & 0	191	Orthodox	198	Black/African	USA	Kentucky
25th	Joe Frazier	86.49	73	4	182	Orthodox	185	Black/African	USA	South Carolina
26th & 38th	George Foreman	83.95	84	2 & 3	191	Orthodox	199	Black/African	USA	Texas
28th	Leon Spinks	56.52	30	0	185	Orthodox	193	Black/African	USA	Missouri
30th	Larry Holmes	92.00	59	12	190	Orthodox	206	Black/African	USA	Georgia
31st	Michael Spinks	96.88	66	3	0	null	0	Black/African	USA	Missouri
32nd	Mike Tyson	86.21	76	2	178	Orthodox	180	Black/African	USA	New York
33rd	James "Buster" Douglas	82.22	53	0	192	Orthodox	211	Black/African	USA	Ohio
34th & 36th	Evander Holyfield	77.19	51	3 & 0	189	Orthodox	198	Black/African	USA	Alabama
35th	Riddick Bowe	95.56	73	2	196	Orthodox	206	Black/African	USA	New York
37th	Michael Moorer	91.23	70	0	188	Southpaw	198	Black/African	USA	New York
39th	Shannon Briggs	88.24	78	0	193	Orthodox	203	Black/African	USA	New York
40th & 42nd	Lennox Lewis	93.18	73	5.5	196	Orthodox	213	Black/African	UK	N/A
41st	Hasim Rahman	80.65	66	0	189	Orthodox	208	Black/African	USA	Maryland
43rd	Wladimir Klitschko	92.75	77	11	198	Orthodox	206	White/European	Ukraine	N/A
44th	Tyson Fury	96.43	68	2.5	206	Orthodox	216	White/European	UK	N/A