Muhammad Ali is often heralded as the greatest fighter of all time but when quizzed upon his opinion, Chris Eubank Sr offered an alternate heavyweight icon, who paved the way for many legends that fought after his time.
Ali defeated the likes of George Foreman, Joe Frazier and Floyd Patterson during his time in the ring and became the first three-time conqueror in the history of the division when he trumped Leon Spinks in their 1978 rematch.
‘The Louisville Lip’ made a phenomenal 19 defences of the heavyweight crown across his three reigns, a record trumped by only Joe Louis, Wladimir Klitschko and Larry Holmes.
Another man that made a high number of defences of his world title was Eubank Sr, who reigned at middleweight and super-middleweight and has now revealed who he deems to be even better than Ali.
On his YouTube channel, Eubank Sr looked toward a heavyweight ruler who defended the belt on just seven occasions, hailing the efforts of Texas pioneer Jack Johnson, who became the first black champion of the division when he dethroned Tommy Burns back in 1908.
“We first have to say Jack Johnson [when we discuss the greatest fighters]. What he lived through and the bigotry and racism that he withstood all of those years back in the early 1900’s was nothing less than miraculous. Followed then by Muhammad Ali.”
Despite not getting his hands on the title until the age of 30, it is believed that Johnson was the greatest heavyweight on the planet long before, but restricted opportunity for black fighters meant Johnson was unable to secure an earlier title shot.
