A brief chronology of lineal heavyweight champions

This is from this corner in the rich history of professional boxing there have been many world

champions

, especially in the last 30 to 40 years when things evolved to the point where we now have four major sanctioning bodies, we don't have many undisputed

champions

in the boxing. Nowadays, and in the rare cases where boxing politics arises in the corrupt nature of the sanctioning bodies, it usually creates a short-lived undisputed reign. Tracing championship lineage in any weight class is not an exact science and can be difficult in some cases. At any given time, the linear champion is not necessarily the most highly regarded champion in his division, in fact, the linear champion may not even technically hold a world title, still, tracing the lineage of the man who beat the man usually tends to be much more of an objective guideline than adhering to the ever-changing whims of any of the four alphabetical bodies and I think a great example of this can be seen by tracing the lineage of the

heavyweight

championship back to the 1880s, john ll sullivan , the strong boy from Boston who was considered the boxer. first world

heavyweight

champion, so for our purposes here it all started with Sullivan on September 7, 1892, Gentleman Jim Corbett defeated Sullivan by 20 knockouts in the first round.

Corbett defended the title only once over the next four years and then, on March 17, 1897, Bob Fitzsimmons challenged Gentleman Jim for the title. Corbett was in control of the action for most of the contests and knocked Fitzsimmons down in the sixth round, but Fitzsimmons persevered and recovered to score a 14th round knockout in his next title fight on June 9, 1890. 9 Fitzsimmons was knocked out by James J. Jeffries in round 11 Jeffries defended the title seven times for the next 5 years before retiring when Jeffries retired. The original lineage going back to Sullivan had been broken. A new lineage began on July 3, 1905 when Marvin's heart stopped Jack Root in the 12th round in a foul that was refereed by Jeffries himself on February 23, 1906.

Tommy Burns decisively defeated Hart in a 20 round decision. Byrnes defended the title 11 times over the next two years on December 26, 1908. Byrnes faced challenger Jack Johnson and Byrnes. was completely dominated for 14 rounds before the police stopped the fight, the title was awarded to Johnson by referee's decision. Johnson defended the title eight times over the next six years, including his successful defense against James J. Jeffries, who had come. he came out of retirement to challenge Johnson on July 4, 1910. Johnson was in control of that fight before finally stopping Jeffries in the 15th round and that victory had further solidified Johnson's claim to the heavyweight lineage by eliminating any doubt that could have arisen from the broken lineage when Jeffries first appeared. he retired on April 15, 1915.

Jack Johnson faced Jess Willard Johnson had been in control of most of the fights during the first 20 rounds, but his affairs approached the middle of the scheduled 45-round round, the champion He began to tire and Willard scored a knockout. In the 26th round, Willard defended the title only once over the next four years and on July 4, 1990, Team Willard faced Jack Dempsey. The Challenger proceeded to knock down Willard seven times in the first round, still in the era when a fighter did not do so. He did not have to go to a neutral corner after scoring a knockdown, the fight was eventually stopped when Willard did not answer the round bell because Dempsey defended the championship five times over the next few years and on September 23, 1926, Dempsey faced Gene Tunney and Dempsey lost this title when Tony received a 10-round unanimous decision.

Sunny defended the championship twice before retiring, including a rematch victory against Dempsey in the famously long camp match when Sunny retired. This marked the second time the heavyweight lineage was broken. but unlike Jeffrey before him, Tony never attempted a comeback on June 12, 1930. Jack Sharkey faced Max Schmeling for the vacant heavyweight crown. Sharkey won the first three rounds, but was disqualified for a low blow near the end of round 4, so Smell became the first boxer to win the world heavyweight championship with Smell made a title defense and then On June 21, 1932, Odor lost a controversial 15-round split decision in his rematch with Sharkey and then on June 29, 1933, Primo Carnera became the world champion when he knocked out Sharkey in the sixth round.

Carnera made two successful title defenses and then faced Max Baer. On June 14, 1934, Baer savagely beat the champion, dropping Carnera 11 times in the fight before the referee fortunately stopped the fight eleven saving Carnera from further punishment. Air lost the championship on his next title map on June 13, 1935 when he faced James Braddock despite being a 10-1 underdog. Braddock overcame the odds and defeated Baer. It was a 15-round unanimous decision for Braddock and he would make a name for himself. like Cinderella as a result of this most improbable feat on June 22, 1937, Braddock faced brown bomber Joe Luce Braddock knocked down Lewis in the first round, but Lewis soon found his rhythm and inflicted a large amount of damage on the champion before Finally knocking him out with a big right hand in the eighth round, Joe Lewis successfully defended the heavyweight championship a record 25 times over the next 12 years before retiring, but his retirement did not last long and his absence on June 22, 1949 , Ezzard Charles defeated Jersey Joe.

Walcott to become the NBA Heavyweight Champion, Azhar Charles defended that title three times before the Brown Bomber came out of retirement to challenge Charles on September 27, 1950, defeating Louis by unanimous decision in 15 rounds. and with the victory, Charles was the new

lineal

heavyweight champion that Charles defended. the title four more times and then, on July 18, 1951, Charles faced Jersey Joe for the third time. This was Walcott's fifth shot at the title and, although Charles had won his first two matches, this time Jersey Joe emerged victorious and scored a seventh. round knockout Walcott made a successful title defense against Charles himself on September 23, 1952.

Jersey Joe faced challenger Rocky Marciano Walcott Rob Marciano in the first round and woke up and proceeded to control most of the proceedings in the Round 13. Marciano landed a crushing right hand to score a devastating knockout, Rocky would make six successful title defenses before retiring and Marciano has the unique distinction of being the only heavyweight champion in history to retire and stay retired with a record undefeated, but Marciano's retirement represented another break in the lineage. On November 30, 1956, a showdown between Archie Moore and Floyd Patterson was set to crown a new heavyweight champion and Patterson stopped the old Mongoose in the fifth round.

Patterson would make four defenses of the title and then, on June 26, 1959, Patterson moved up. against Ammar Johansson, Inko knocked down Patterson seven times in the third round before the referee fortunately stopped the fight the following year on June 20, the two had a rematch and this time the much more cunning Patterson emerged victorious scoring a knockout in the fifth round. this meant that Patterson had become the first heavyweight to regain the championship. Patterson defended the title three more times, including a bout victory over Johansson on September 25, 1960. Sonny Liston challenged and defeated Floyd Patterson by first-round knockout. Liston defended the title. once he fed Patterson in a rematch with an identical result.

On February 25, 1964, Liston faced Cassius Clay. Liston was a heavy favorite entering the contest, but Clay controlled the action and won the fight when Liston failed to answer the bell for the seventh. Of course, the clay round would change his name to Muhammad Ali and Ali defended the title nine times before losing his boxing when Ali was once again granted a boxing license. Joe Frazier had defeated Jimmy Ellis for the vacant title on March 8, 1971. Muhammad Ali faced Joe Frazier in the fight of the century, it was a unique situation in the sense that at this time, due to circumstances, Ali and Frazier had legitimate claims to Frazier's bloodline in round 15 and smoking Joe.

He received a 15-round unanimous decision. Frazier would defend the title twice after this and then on January 22, 1973, Frazier was overwhelmed in a brutal display of power by the great George Foreman. Pig George knocked down Smokin Joe three times in the first round and took them down. three more times in the second round before the fight was mercifully stopped. Foreman would defend the title twice on October 30, 1974. Foreman faced former world champion Muhammad Ali, the big George was the favorite going in, but I'll be used as a smartass. strategy that wore down Foreman Ali stopped Foreman with an eighth-round knockout, making him the second boxer in history to regain the heavyweight title.

Ali made ten successful title defenses over the next three or more years. On February 15, 1978, Ali faced a relative newcomer. Leon Spinks in an upset effort Spinks defeated Ali by split decision over 15 rounds. The two had a rematch on September 15 of that year and this time Ali won by unanimous decision in 15 rounds, giving Ali the unique distinction of becoming the only boxer to become a three-time winner, shout champion of Heavyweight. He went into a short-lived retirement and then returned to face Larry Holmes on October 2, 1980. At this point, Holmes had already made seven defenses of his WBC title and Holmes proceeded to dominate. the very faded Muhammad Ali before Ali's corners stopped the fight at the end of the tenth yeast and killer, May 20 title defenses in total, including those he made before solidifying the linear claim on September 21, 1985, Holmes faced Michael Spinks and Spinks was awarded. a controversial split decision over 15 rounds.

Speaks made two successful defenses of the IBF title before being stripped of the belt, shortly after Iron Mike Tyson would successfully unify the three major titles at the time, the WBA, the WBC and the IBF, but although Tyson was undisputed in alphabetic belt terms. Spinks still had a legitimate claim to the

lineal

title as he was the man who defeated veteran champion Larry Holmes, so this was a unique situation where the linear champion was not considered the best in the division and in fact was not even technically title holder, but this matter was resolved on June 27, 1988 when Mike Tyson stopped Michael Spinks in the first round with the victory.

Tyson truly became the undisputed champion in an era of fractured titles with everyone. three major titles and also linear recognition Tyson would make two more successful defenses and then on February 11, 1990, Tyson faced James Buster Douglas in what was arguably the biggest upset in the history of professional sports. Douglass scored the all-time upset when he knocked out Tyson in the tenth round in their next fight on October 25 of that year. Douglass faced Van der Holyfield. The real deal made Douglas make relatively quick work of knocking him out in the third round. Holyfield defended the title three times over the next pair. years old, on November 13, 1992, Holyfield faced Riddick Big Daddy and what turned out to be an explosive, crowd-pleasing clash knocked down Holyfield in round 11 and round 2, receiving a 12-round unanimous decision. .

Bo made two title defenses and then had a rematch with Holyfield on November 6, 1993. This fight was known for the infamous fan incident and Holyfield edged Bo with a very close majority decision. This marked Holyfield as the third boxer to regain the Heavyweight Championship joining the company of Patterson and Holly before him. On April 22, 1994, Holyfield fought Michael Moore. Holyfield was tougher early in the contest, but he persevered longer and proceeded to win by majority decision. On November 5, 1994, Michael Moore faced the former world heavyweight champion. Postponement: It had been more than 20 years since Foreman lost the title to Muhammad Ali and, at age 45, few observers were giving Foreman much of a chance, but the great George defied the odds and despite losing heavily in the first nine rounds, Foreman landed his money punch in round 10 and knocked out more Foreman had become the oldest heavyweight. champion in history and also became the fourth boxer to regain the heavyweight championship when Foreman faced Shannon Briggs on November 22, 1997.

Foreman no longer held the WBA and IBF versions of the titles he had won in the war, but it was stillthe linear champion that Briggs was. awarded a controversial 12-round majority decision against the great George, so this was another unique situation where Shannon Briggs was entitled to the lineal title despite not having been recognized as champion by any of the major sanctioning bodies on the 28th. March 1998, Briggs challenged WBC heavyweight champion Lennox. Lewis, it was an exciting battle that saw Lewis injured early in the battle, but Lewis persevered and proceeded to knock down Riggs three times en route to scoring a fifth-round knockout victory.

Lewis had six title defenses after this and during this time he also managed to reunify. the three major belts that were fractured when Riddick lost the WBC belt in a dumpster on April 22, 2001. Lewis faced Hasim Rahman in a surprising victory. Rahman scored a fifth-round knockout over Lennox. The two had a rematch on November 17 of that year and this time Lewis knocked out Rahman in the fourth round as a result, Lewis had become the fifth and final boxer to regain lineal heavyweight recognition. Lewis had two more title defenses and then retired once again causing a rift in the lineage this left the lineal Championship title vacant for several years until Vladimir Klitschko finally received such recognition following his long and dominant Championship reign.

Most observers see Klitschko's victory over Ruslan Chagaev as the turning point and it almost occurred on June 20, 2009, one day less than six full years since Lewis' last title defense, Vladimir racked up 11 more defenses of the title before facing Tyson Fury on November 28, 2015, to the surprise of most, Fury completely outclassed Klitschko to earn a 12-round unanimous decision and that's where we currently find ourselves. Tyson Fury is the linear one. world heavyweight champion, but it's been almost two full years since Fury defeated Klitschko and in his absence we've seen the rise of WBC champion Deontay Wilder and unified WBA/IBF champion Anthony Joshua .

These two seem to be on a collision course where their confrontation is inevitable as long as they both keep winning, but assuming that Tyson Fury returns and I tend to believe that he will return to the grave, then I am of the opinion that all paths that seek to take over the bloodline Heavyweights go through Tyson Fury and I go through one and I'm very interested to see how the heavyweight championship picture develops, that's all I have for now. Thank you so much for watching everyone and have a great night.