Teddy Atlas believes there is just one heavyweight in the history of boxing that is even better than the man they called ‘The Greatest’ – Muhammad Ali.
Ali rose to fame during the late 1960s, shortly after he walked away from the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome with a light-heavyweight gold medal.
He would go on to capture the world heavyweight championship on three occasions throughout the course of his storied 21-year professional career, racking up victories over the likes of Ken Norton, Joe Frazier and George Foreman.
His 1974 showdown with Foreman, known more commonly as ‘The Rumble In The Jungle’, is widely considered to be one of the most memorable moments in boxing history.
Whilst discussing his top ten list of greatest heavyweights, legendary trainer-turned-analyst Teddy Atlas surprisingly placed Ali at number two, but claims it is a ‘damn good spot’ for the boxing icon.
“A pretty damn good spot, but maybe not good enough for some of you. The first heavyweight ever to exhibit the speed of a lightweight. And he had a great chin, that we didn’t know he had in his first coming.”
Atlas followed this up with revealing the greatest heavyweight of all time in his opinion, naming none other than ‘The Brown Bomber’ Joe Louis.
“He [Louis] was the baddest man on the planet before they even used that term.”
Throughout the course of his 17-year professional career, which spanned between 1934 and 1951, Louis reigned as the world heavyweight champion for no less than 12 years, making 25 successful defences of his crown, a record number that is yet to be broken in any weight class.
Despite his career coming in the midst of World War 2, ‘The Brown Bomber’ proved himself to be arguably the greatest fighter of that entire generation, where he racked up victories over the likes of Jersey Joe Walcott, James J. Braddock and Mac Schmelling.
