Who was the best American Heavyweight Champion 2000-2025?

[MalevolentBite]

Depends on what you are ranking by. Byrd's top wins this century are better than Wilder's: Prime Tua, aged Holyfield, and Vitali (even if that win is kinda dubious). Based on that, then yeah he has probably gotta be #1 over the past 25 years.

But I am openly biased in favor of Wilder, as he was basically the only thing keeping the US heavyweight scene alive over the past decade. And if I had to pick one of them to win in their prime head to head, I'd lean towards the Bomber. So it depends on what you are looking at. I imagine you are looking at those top wins, and in that case I got no problem with it.

I think RJJ has to be at the bottom of the list if you are basing on resume though. He just had that one fight (well he didn't make weight at Cruiser when he was old later in his career if you want to count that as heavy). But he just doesnt have a heavyweight resume to be ranked higher than the others- and RJJ was my fav in the 90s

I got Byrd number base on what you said plus he was a 2x champion. Wilder isn't getting another belt at this point. Number #2 best American Heavyweight champion in the last 25 years is still impressive no matter what.

Roy is number six only because he went up in weight and claimed a belt and went undefeated at heavyweight lol. If you want to put him below Andy Ruiz and Old Holyfield thats fine. I had a hard time placing him so I decided to go off. 2 time heavyweights, title defenses. Everyone below him within that time period didn't really achieve much. I guess Ruiz could be six. .

Thanks for replying back and giving your honest feedback.

[MalevolentBite]

Wilder
Wilder
Wilder.

A lot of revisionist history from Anthony Joshua stans, who claimed he was better than Lennox Lewis have hurt his reputation.

Not a single fighter on that list would've put the prime version of Tyson Fury (that just had 2 life or death fights, while past his prime, with Oleksandr Usyk) on his ass 4x

I think you forgot Steve Cunningham dropped Fury. I think you might have a good point but Deontay didn't beat Fury so I can't really put him over a 2x heavyweight champion Byrd. Wilder is up there because of title defenses.

Maybe the Cannon could had landed on Fury. I wouldnt put money on it though.

[MalevolentBite]

You are right on my friend. Wilder - Joshua, held any time between 2015 and 2022, would look a lot like Foreman-Norton.
This, I know.

A lot of fans dispute that, But they reason with pure emotion. With a little sprinkle of US envy tossed it.

Look at Wilder's reaction when Fury - Wilder II was stopped.

Now look at Joshua's reaction when Ruiz Jr. - Joshua I was stopped.

That's all you need to know.

Not the same level of "Fight" in those two dogs at all.

I know both of them feel real ****** now that fight never happened for undisputed. An undefeated American heavyweight and An undefeated British Fight. Crazy how it never happened.

[Willow The Wisp]

I like your thread and I like your list too.
My contributions are these:

I don't give the kind of credence to the importance of the phony "title" belts that you seem to here, limiting your list to contenders who held one of those meaningless baubles. Some were gifted to fighters, others won in the ring; but the champions of 21st century are limited only to Lennox Lewis, Hassim Rahman, Lennox Lewis, Wladimir Klitschko, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. That business out of the way; my personal ranking of 21st century heavyweights is as follows. I will Highlight those from the US to align it's purpose with the thread, and asterisk those who wore a belt of some kind.

We're all proud of our boxing history chops here and I'm no exception. But your thoughts are every bit as valid as mine, or anyone else's.

I'll preface that America provides plenty of easy, profitable opportunity for it's citizens today, to the extent that very few see the wisdom of suffering the rigors and long odds associated with a career in boxing anymore. Those who are too inproductive or physically disabled to take advantage of American opportunity, self evidently, are poor candidates for boxing; the hardest sport you can't tap out in.

Boxing has been a truly international sport for many generations, of course; and what we see in the division today reflects America's absence from competition, allowing fighters from other countries a spot in the rankings that they would not have achieved during many 10 year eras during the last century.
Bear in mind that older fighters on this list, who did the bulk of their work prior to 2000, carry a ranking lower than they would if their 20th century work were included.


1. Wladimir Klitschko, UKR*
2. Oleksandr Usyk, UKR*
3. Tyson Fury, UK*
4. Lennox Lewis, UK*
5. Deontay Wilder, US*
6. Zhilei Zhang, CHI
7. Anthony Joshua, UK*
8. Daniel Dubois, UK*
9. Joseph Parker, NZ*
10. Vitali Klitschko, UKR*
11. Andy Ruiz Jr, US*
12. David Tua, AUS
13. Hasim Rahman, US*
14. Luis Ortiz, CUB
15. Dillian Whyte, UK
16. Alexander Povetkin, RUS*
17. Joe Joyce, UK
18. Agit Kabayel, GER
19. Mike Tyson, US*
20. Chris Byrd, US*
21. Jarrell Miller, US
22. Corrie Sanders, SA*
23. Ruslan Chagaev, UZB*
24. David Haye, UK*
25. Lamon Brewster, US*
26. Moses Itauma, UK
27. Chris Arreola, US
28 .Kubrat Pulev, BUL*
29. Filip Hrgovic, CRO
30. Roy Jones Jr., US*
31. Charles Martin, US*
32. John Ruiz, US*
33. Derrick Chisora, UK
34. Martin Bakole, CON
35. Oliver McCall, US*
36. Fabio Wardley, UK
37. Evander Holyfield, US*
38. Tony Thompson, US
39. Calvin Brock, US
40. Nikolai Valuev, RUS*
41. Samuel Peter, NIG*
42. Sultan Ibragimov, RUS*
43. Oleg Maskaev, KAZ*
44. Bermane Stiverne, HAI*
45. Jameel McCline, US
46. Carlos Takam, CAM
47. Johann Duhaupas, FRA
48. Jared Anderson, US
49. Baby Joe Mesi, US
50. Robert Helenius, FIN
51. Bryant Jennings, US
52. Hughie Fury, UK
53. Tony Yoka, FRA
54. Luan Krasniqi, KOS
55. Mariusz Wach, POL
56. Otto Wallin, SWE
57. Michael Hunter, US
58. Frank Sanchez, CUB
59. Kirk Johnson, CAN
60. Sinan Samil Sam, TUR
61. Efe Ajagba, NIG
62. Artur Szpilka, POL
63. Richard Torrez, US
64. Bakhodir Jalolov, UZB
65. Danny Williams, UK
66. James Toney, US
67. Eric Molina, US
68. Tomasz Adamek, POL
69. Siarhei Liakhovich, BEL*
70. David Price, UK
71. Alexander Dimitrenko, UKR
72. Gerald Washington , US
73. Adam Kownacki, POL
74. Lance Whitaker, US
75. Ray Austin, US
76. Guido Vianello, ITA
77. DaVarryl Williamson, US
78. David Izon, NIG
79. Francesco Pianeta, ITA
80. Derrick Jefferson, US
81. Eddie Chambers, US
82. Aleksandr Ustinov, RUS
83. Juan Carlos Gomez, CUB
84. Lawrence Clay-Bey, US
85. Cedric Boswell, US
86. Ray Mercer, US*
87. Murat Gassiev, ARM
88. Dominic Breazeale, US
89. Demsey McKean, AUS
90. Vladyslav Sirenko, UKR
91. Lucas Browne, AUS
92. Arslanbek Makhmudov, RUS
93. Frans Botha, SA*
94. Derric Rossey, US
95. Simon Kean, CAN
96. Jermain Franklin, US
97. Timo Hoffmann, GER
98. Larry Donald, US
99. Justis Huni, AUS
100. Christian Hammer, ROM

[MalevolentBite]

I like your thread and I like your list too.
My contributions are these:

I don't give the kind of credence to the importance of the phony "title" belts that you seem to here, limiting your list to contenders who held one of those meaningless baubles. Some were gifted to fighters, others won in the ring; but the champions of 21st century are limited only to Lennox Lewis, Hassim Rahman, Lennox Lewis, Wladimir Klitschko, Tyson Fury and Oleksandr Usyk. That business out of the way; my personal ranking of 21st century heavyweights is as follows. I will Highlight those from the US to align it's purpose with the thread, and asterisk those who wore a belt of some kind.

We're all proud of our boxing history chops here and I'm no exception. But your thoughts are every bit as valid as mine, or anyone else's.

I'll preface that America provides plenty of easy, profitable opportunity for it's citizens today, to the extent that very few see the wisdom of suffering the rigors and long odds associated with a career in boxing anymore. Those who are too inproductive or physically disabled to take advantage of American opportunity, self evidently, are poor candidates for boxing; the hardest sport you can't tap out in.

Boxing has been a truly international sport for many generations, of course; and what we see in the division today reflects America's absence from competition, allowing fighters from other countries a spot in the rankings that they would not have achieved during many 10 year eras during the last century.
Bear in mind that older fighters on this list, who did the bulk of their work prior to 2000, carry a ranking lower than they would if their 20th century work were included.


1. Wladimir Klitschko, UKR*
2. Oleksandr Usyk, UKR*
3. Tyson Fury, UK*
4. Lennox Lewis, UK*
5. Deontay Wilder, US*
6. Zhilei Zhang, CHI
7. Anthony Joshua, UK*
8. Daniel Dubois, UK*
9. Joseph Parker, NZ*
10. Vitali Klitschko, UKR*
11. Andy Ruiz Jr, US*
12. David Tua, AUS
13. Hasim Rahman, US*
14. Luis Ortiz, CUB
15. Dillian Whyte, UK
16. Alexander Povetkin, RUS*
17. Joe Joyce, UK
18. Agit Kabayel, GER
19. Mike Tyson, US*
20. Chris Byrd, US*
21. Jarrell Miller, US
22. Corrie Sanders, SA*
23. Ruslan Chagaev, UZB*
24. David Haye, UK*
25. Lamon Brewster, US*
26. Moses Itauma, UK
27. Chris Arreola, US
28 .Kubrat Pulev, BUL*
29. Filip Hrgovic, CRO
30. Roy Jones Jr., US*
31. Charles Martin, US*
32. John Ruiz, US*
33. Derrick Chisora, UK
34. Martin Bakole, CON
35. Oliver McCall, US*
36. Fabio Wardley, UK
37. Evander Holyfield, US*
38. Tony Thompson, US
39. Calvin Brock, US
40. Nikolai Valuev, RUS*
41. Samuel Peter, NIG*
42. Sultan Ibragimov, RUS*
43. Oleg Maskaev, KAZ*
44. Bermane Stiverne, HAI*
45. Jameel McCline, US
46. Carlos Takam, CAM
47. Johann Duhaupas, FRA
48. Jared Anderson, US
49. Baby Joe Mesi, US
50. Robert Helenius, FIN
51. Bryant Jennings, US
52. Hughie Fury, UK
53. Tony Yoka, FRA
54. Luan Krasniqi, KOS
55. Mariusz Wach, POL
56. Otto Wallin, SWE
57. Michael Hunter, US
58. Frank Sanchez, CUB
59. Kirk Johnson, CAN
60. Sinan Samil Sam, TUR
61. Efe Ajagba, NIG
62. Artur Szpilka, POL
63. Richard Torrez, US
64. Bakhodir Jalolov, UZB
65. Danny Williams, UK
66. James Toney, US
67. Eric Molina, US
68. Tomasz Adamek, POL
69. Siarhei Liakhovich, BEL*
70. David Price, UK
71. Alexander Dimitrenko, UKR
72. Gerald Washington , US
73. Adam Kownacki, POL
74. Lance Whitaker, US
75. Ray Austin, US
76. Guido Vianello, ITA
77. DaVarryl Williamson, US
78. David Izon, NIG
79. Francesco Pianeta, ITA
80. Derrick Jefferson, US
81. Eddie Chambers, US
82. Aleksandr Ustinov, RUS
83. Juan Carlos Gomez, CUB
84. Lawrence Clay-Bey, US
85. Cedric Boswell, US
86. Ray Mercer, US*
87. Murat Gassiev, ARM
88. Dominic Breazeale, US
89. Demsey McKean, AUS
90. Vladyslav Sirenko, UKR
91. Lucas Browne, AUS
92. Arslanbek Makhmudov, RUS
93. Frans Botha, SA*
94. Derric Rossey, US
95. Simon Kean, CAN
96. Jermain Franklin, US
97. Timo Hoffmann, GER
98. Larry Donald, US
99. Justis Huni, AUS
100. Christian Hammer, ROM

Some ppl feel Andy did enough to beat Parker. If you are also in that majority then I understand why he is rated high on your list. I respect this list. David Tua is too high for me IMO.

I honestly went down the whole list to find Fast Eddie Chambers lol. He was Americas last hope for a while.

Do you think Byrd should get into the hall of fame ?

[Mr Mitts]

Yes, Byrd should easily be HOF.

[Willow The Wisp]

I think you forgot Steve Cunningham dropped Fury. I think you might have a good point but Deontay didn't beat Fury so I can't really put him over a 2x heavyweight champion Byrd. Wilder is up there because of title defenses.

Maybe the Cannon could had landed on Fury. I wouldnt put money on it though.

Sonny Banks dropped Muhammad Ali. It's a rough time being in that ring.

[MalevolentBite]

Yes, Byrd should easily be HOF.

I totally agree !!!

[MalevolentBite]

Sonny Banks dropped Muhammad Ali. It's a rough time being in that ring.

There's nothing wrong with being dropped. I was just making a point for a man of his size tyson chin was always suspect. I dont think ppl have that same notion for Ali.

[MalevolentBite]

Man Chris Byrd is massively underrated.