RC's Top 5 Greatest Light Heavyweights Of All Time Part 1

By Ronald "RC" Cameron

What I love about boxing is the fact that there are so many topics to debate and discuss with friends and this one is no different. In this article, I go back in time and rank the 5 Greatest Light-Heavyweights of All-time.  


I've ranked the top 5 Heavyweights and Middleweights last year at BoxingIQ.com and those articles were broken down into 2 parts and I will stick with that formula.  What I can guarantee is there will be a lot of content filled with research and facts that support each of my picks. 

Before I begin, let me explain how I rank fighters:

Quality of opposition: To me, this is the most important element when comparing fighters.  If you have fought and beat primed, hall of fame-caliber fighters, then chances are you will be on this list.

Lengthy World title reign: Also important, but it depends on who you beat during your long title reign.  For example, former Light Heavyweight king, Dariusz Michalczewski unified the titles and he had a very long title reign, but he did not beat any great, hall of fame caliber fights during his title reign and he was not even the best Light heavyweight in the world when he was champion.  At that time, Roy Jones was the best fighter in the world and due to the fact that Dariusz demanded that the potential fight had to be held in Germany and Jones refused to fight him over there, the two could not come to terms. With that said, you won’t see Dariusz in my top 5 due to the lack of quality wins against elite fighters. 

  

5. Bob Foster

Professional record: 56-8-1 with 46 KO's

Credentials: Light Heavyweight Champion from 1968-1974

Biggest wins: Dick Tiger (KO 4), Mike Quarry (KO 4)

He stood 6'3 which was rare for a Light-Heavyweight, he had a tremendous left jab and could knock you out cold with either hand. The Albuquerque, New Mexico resident had a decent amateur career, winning a Silver medal at the 1959 Pan American games. 

Foster turned pro in 1961 and while he was successful fighting as a Light-Heavyweight, he often fought Heavyweights and he suffered some setbacks, losing to Doug Jones (the same Doug Jones who gave Muhammad Ali a close shave early in his career) Ernie Terrell and Zora Foley, but that did not discourage him one bit.

  
After losing to Foley, Foster focused on fighting mostly Light-Heavyweights and he destroyed everyone that was in his path before finally getting an opportunity to fight for the championship against champion, Dick Tiger on May 24th, 1968.  Foster made the most of his opportunity and he destroyed Tiger, knocking him out in the 4th round, winning the Undisputed Light Heavyweight title.
Foster would not lose his titles in the ring ( He was stripped of the WBA title in 1970 but he won it back 2 years later) and he held the title for 6 years, beating contenders such as Mike Tessman, Mike Quarry and Pierre Fourie.

 

But as great as Foster was as a Light Heavyweight champion, his ultimate dream was to become the Heavyweight champion of the world.  He finally received his chance against champion Joe Frazier in 1970 and while he had a decent first round, Foster fell victim to Frazier's famous left hook and was knocked out in the second round. 

He also took on Muhammad Ali 2 years later and while he became the first and only man to ever cut Ali, he was knocked down 7 times and was finally knocked out in the 8th round.  No shame in losing to the greatest Heavyweight of all time.

But this about Foster's career as a Light-Heavyweight and he was one of the most dominant, hard-hitting champions of all time. He fought only one Hall of Fame Light-Heavyweight (Tiger) but he destroyed almost every Light Heavyweight he faced.  What a great career.

4. Michael Spinks















Professional record: 31-1 with 21 KO's

Credentials: 1976 Olympic Middleweight Gold Medal, Unified the Light Heavyweight title

Biggest wins: Marvin Johnson (KO 4), Eddie Mustafa Muhammad (UD 15), Dwight Muhammad Qawi (UD 15)

This was a tough pick for me because I followed his entire professional career and I could have easily put him higher on this list.  The pride of St. Louis, Missouri and younger brother of former Heavyweight Champion Leon Spinks, Michael had an outstanding amateur career, going 93-7 and he was a part of the most dominant, most successful Olympic team of all time in 1976, winning the Middleweight Olympic Gold Medal that year.

Spinks turned pro the following year and unlike his brother, he was brought along slowly and he developed into a complete fighter. After winning his first 15 fights, he was matched against former Light-Heavyweight champion Marvin Johnson. Spinks had a rough time with Johnson but in the 4th round, Spinks landed a devastating left hook/uppercut that sent Johnson crashing to the canvas. Johnson was out cold, no need for the referee to count and Spinks put the boxing world on notice by knocking out Johnson and proving that he was now ready to fight for the title.

Spinks did receive his opportunity in his next fight, against the WBA Champion Eddie Mustafa Muhammad.  Dealing with a injured back and having to lose the weight after fighting in his previous fight as a Heavyweight, Eddie fought a courageous battle, but in the end, he was no match for the younger challenger and Michael Spinks became the new WBA Light-Heavyweight champion of the world, winning a 15 round (boy do I miss 15 round fights!) unanimous decision.

But Spinks would not stop there. He won his first 5 title defenses by KO yet there was another man who held one of the belts and on March 18th, 1983, he was matched against the WBC Light Heavyweight king and future Hall of Famer, Dwight Muhammad Qawi but before this fight took place, tragedy struck as Spinks suffered a fatal blow as his wife lost her life in a fatal car accident 2 months before the fight.

It would have been entirely understandable if Spinks would have postponed the unification title fight, but instead, Spinks dedicated this fight to his wife and he fought one of his best fights of his career against Qawi as he out-boxed him and won a clear decision and the unified Light Heavyweight championship of the world. An amazing display of mental toughness and resolve by Spinks, who proved once again that he was the best Light Heavyweight on the planet. 

Spinks went on to defend the world title 4 more times before finally leaving the division and making history by becoming the first man ever to move up from Light-Heavyweight to Heavyweight and win the world title by defeating the legendary Larry Holmes over 15 hard-fought rounds. 

We all know what Spinks accomplished when he was a Heavyweight champion, but as a Light-Heavyweight, he was a GREAT fighter who was capable of knocking you out with his "Spinks Jinx" right hand, or he could simply box your ears off and frustrate his opponents with his unorthodox defense.

Spinks took on all comers as a Light-Heavyweight, a Hall of Famer (Qawi) and some great former champions (Marvin Johnson, Eddie Mustafa Muhammad).  It's too bad that he never faced Matthew Saad Muhammad and they almost did meet back in the early 80's after Spinks knocked out Johnson, but as great as Saad Muhammad was, he was starting to slow down and I'm not so sure that he would have fared too well against Spinks at that point. 

If you rank Spinks based on boxing ability alone, he would be closer to the top of my list, but due to the fact that he didn't face as many primed, hall of famers, I can't rank him ahead of the guys who are ahead of him. But overall, Michael Spinks was one of my favorite fighters to watch when he was a Light-Heavyweight and he was a complete fighter.


As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, this will be broken down into two parts. I will reveal the remaining 3 fighters in Part 2 of my article real soon. Feel free to leave a comment and let me know what you think of the article, my new blog and whatever else you have on your mind.