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Ranking the greatest French boxers


BoztheMadman
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And now the turn has come to our Gallic friends. ;-) France has always had a strong boxing tradition and has given us some very fine boxers, some of the greatest of all time even. Brace yourself, here comes the list of and a short bio of greatest boxers from France!

 

1. Marcel Cerdan

The first guy on this list has hardly even lived in France, even though he was of French ethnicity. Marcel Cerdan was born in Algeria and raised in Morocco, for which he gained the fighting alias "The Casablanca Clouter" and also "Le Bombardier Marocain (Moroccan Bomber)". Turning pro in 1934, Cerdan racked up 44 wins without a loss before losing by disqualification in 5 against English Harry Craster in England, 9 January 1939. This hard-hitting and skilled middleweight then won 23 fights before again being disqualifed against Victor Buttin in 8, in a fight in Algiers, Algeria, 15 August 1942. In December 1944, he won the "Second Inter-Allied Championships" by TKO2 against Ralph Burnley. On 7 July 1946 he decisioned the 141-22-10 Holman Williams in his first notable victory. He also decisioned Georgie Abrams, knocked out Bert Gilroy in 4 and decisioned Anton Raadik in a tough fight, before turning in a listless performance against Belgian contender Cyrille Delannoit in his first defense of the Euro title, which he had won easily previously against 4-2-2 Giovanni Manca. On 23 May 1948, Cerdan lost for the first time the "real way" by dropping a 15-round decision to Delannoit at the Heizel Stadium in Brussels. He avenged the defeat in the rematch on 10 July, putting Delannoit down twice and winning by decision at Palais des Sports, again in Brussels. He then got the chance to win the world title against the legendary Tony Zale and went for the first time over the pond to fight the champion 21 September 1948 at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City. Zale was at the end of his career and was dominated by the younger Cerdan, who put him down with a hard left hook to the jaw in round 11 before Zale retired in the corner following the round. It was named The Ring FOTY. Zale only won 2 rounds on the scorecard. Cerdan then went to England to fight a non-title bout against Dick Turpin, brother of Randy, It was a competitive fight until round 7, when Cerdan first hurt Turpin with a right to the body and then knocked him out with a short left hook to the jaw. It was the first fight of 1949 for Cerdan and after knocking out Lucien Krawczyk in another non-title fight, he again went over the pond to defend for the first time against Jake La Motta, The Raging Bull. It was 16 June at Briggs Stadium in Detroit and Cerdan injured his shoulder when he was thrown down by La Motta in the first round. He still did well until after round 9, when he had to retire. The rematch was then scheduled 28 September but La Motta injured his shoulder and it was postponed to 2 December. However, Cerdan was killed in a plane crash on 27 October that year, on his way to USA to train for the rematch. He was 33. His record is an amazing 110 wins, with 65 ko's and only 4 losses. He was never really bested when he was at his best. He had a great punching power and was an all-around great fighter, also known for his toughness. He was the 1991 IBHOF inductee.

 

2. Georges Carpentier

Known as "The Orchid Man", Carpentier was one of the greatest light heavyweights in history. Like Cerdan, he could punch and box equally well and was a tough guy, known for his fighting spirit. He started his pro career as a flyweight at only 14 years of age, in 1908. In 1909 he fought for the French bantam title against Paul Til but the fight ended as a draw. His first true success was when he won the European welter title by RTD10 against Young Joseph in Southwark, London, 23 October 1911. On 29 February 1912 he won the middleweight version of the title as well, by KO2 against Jim Sullivan. He defended it twice and then fought for the world middle title, but the fight ended controversially after his manager entered the ring to protest against his opponent Frank Klaus hitting him with his elbow twice. Carpentier was thus disqualified in round 19. In 1913 he won the Euro light heavy title by KO2 against Bandsman Dick Rice 12 February in Paris. He then won his fourth Euro title belt, at heavyweight, by knocking out Bombardier Billy Wells in 4 in Gent, Belgium on 1 June. He knocked out Wells in the rematch in 1 round. He finally won the world title at lhw by knocking out the outstanding Battling Levinsky in 4 at Westside Ballpark in Jersey City, 12 October 1920. Carpentier then signed to fight one of the biggest fights of the era against the world heavyweight champion Jack Dempsey. On 2 July 1921 in Jersey City, Carpentier landed some big shots in the first two rounds, but broke his right thumb in two places in round two after landing a punch to Dempsey's head and was then taken out in the 4th after being down twice. Next year he defended his world title with a single punch ko in the first round against none other than Ted Kid Lewis, a legend with over 200 wins. It was a right hand that did the trick. Carpentier surprisingly lost both the world and European belts in his second defense against the rather unknown Battling Siki, a Senegalese brawler, on 22 September in Montrouge, France. He first started well and sent Siki down twice in round 3 before Siki bounced back and put him down in the same round with a four punch combination. Carpentier was then down first in round 5 and then knocked out in round 6 by a right to the ribs. The referee at first disqualified Siki, but the French boxing federation overturned the decision. Carpentier decided not to seek a rematch and left the division for good. He defended his European heavy title one more time by KO1 against Joe Beckett, 1 October 1923, before first fighting Tommy Gibbons on 31 May '24 and losing on points and then getting stopped by Gene Tunney by TKO15 on 24 July that year. Carpentier retired after scoring two minor ko wins in late 1926, aged 32. His record is 91 wins with 59 ko's, 14 losses and 6 draws. He died in 1975, aged 81. Like Cerdan, he was inducted into IBHOF in 1991.

 

3. Marcel Thil

A true great who won the world middle title in 1932 and made 11 defenses of it, Marcel Thil was physically strong but also skilled fighter who later on in his career developed his punching power as well. Thil debuted professionally in 1922, just before turning 18. Standing 5'8 and with a reach of 68 inches, he used his tenacity and skill to win. At first he was unsuccessful and lost 17 fights in the first 5 years. One of those losses was in a fight against the best British middleweight back then, Len Harvey. After 1927, his career progressed and he won 16 straight fights, winning the French title against Yvan Laffineur on points and then in 1929 he won the Euro title by decisioning 94-25-5 Leone Jacovacci. He lost the title next year to the 100-11-10 Mario Bosisio of Italy, on points. After stopping the solid Jack Hood by TKO7, Thil was matched against the first African-American world champion, Gorilla Jones, 11 June 1932 in Paris. Thil won by disqualification in 11, after being ahead on points when Jones repeatedly had hit him low. Less than a month later, he avenged the loss to Len Harvey in his first defense, decisioning Harvey in 15. He also avenged a points defeat to Kid Tunero in his second defense, also by UD15. In 1934 he also won the Euro light heavy title by DQ13 against Jose Martinez de Alfara, a solid Spanish contender. As mentioned, he made eleven title defenses, among others beating Jock McAvoy, Carmelo Candel and Lou Brouillard (him he beat twice, both times by DQ), before going to the States for the first time to make his 12th defense against Fred Apostoli. It was 23 September 1937 at Polo Grounds in New York when Thil lost due to a cut right eye in round 10, after being the better man for most of the fight. It was a sad farewell to the title and the ring for Thil, as he retired following the fight, aged 33. He left behind a record of 107 wins, 49 by ko, 21 losses and 10 draws. Thil died in 1968 and was inducted into IBHOF in 2005.

 

4. Fabrice Tiozzo

The best light heavyweight from France, Tiozzo won the light heavy and cruiser world titles, in 1995 and 2004 and 1997 respectively. He was a very capable fighter who was physically strong and hit hard and wore his opponents out with his heavy handed attack. He was only beaten twice as a pro, by the same man-Virgil Hill, one of the best fighters of that time. Tiozzo came from a boxing family and is the brother of super middle world champ Christophe. After turning pro in 1988, Fabrice won the French lhw title in 1991 on points against Eric Nicoletta. He then challenged then-WBA champ Virgil Hill and the two fought a very close fight on 3 April '93, Hill prevailing by a split decision in the end. Tiozzo then knocked out the 25-0 Eddy Smulders in 7 to become the Euro champ, in 1994. He defended the title twice, against Maurice Core and Noel Magee, both times by TKO4, before vacating it to fight for the vacant WBC title against Mike McCallum, 16 July '95. Tiozzo prevailed this time after putting the aging legend down once and won by UD12. He defended the title once against Eric Lucas, also by UD12, before vacating it to become a cruiserweight. He won the WBA title there against Nate Miller, 8 November '97 in Vegas, by UD12. He defended it four times, all by TKO, before losing it by a shocking first-round TKO to Virgil Hill on 2 December 2000 in Villeurbanne, France. The out of shape Tiozzo was put down three times and stopped with a second to go of the round. After winning 3 fights as a cruiser, he decided to go back to light heavyweight and in 2004 won the WBA title from Silvio Branco in a thrilling war where both men were down, by majority decision. He defended it next year by TKO6 against Dariusz Michalczewski, who was coming back from retirement, and sent him into permanent retirement. He vacated the title later that 2005 and after one more fight in 2006 he retired. His record is excellent 48 wins, 32 by ko, and only 2 losses.

 

5. Laurent Boudouani

This talented light middleweight was born in Sallanches, Alpine French town close to Mont Blanc, 29 December 1966. He captured the silver medal at the 1988 Olympics as a welterweight. He became a pro in 1989 and scored 15 straight wins, all but one of them by ko. He was upset for the first time against Gilbert Baptist, a famed contender from USA, by TKO8 in July 1991. He won the Euro super welter title on his 26th birthday, by KO3 against Jean-Claude Fontana. He defended it twice by ko before losing it in an upset against Bernard Razzano, 5 October 1993 in Dijon, by TKO8. On 3 January 1995 he reclaimed it by stopping the man who had stopped Razzano, Javier Castillejo, by TKO9. He became the first man to stop the excellent Spaniard. He defended it twice, including a rematch with Castillejo which he won by UD, before challenging the reigning WBA champ Julio Cesar Vasquez on 21 August 1996 in Le Cannet, France. Boudouani produced his greatest victory by catching Vasquez with a right uppercut which put him down and then finished him off with a combo. He first defended the title by decisioning Carl Daniels, who had held this title before being knocked out late by Vasquez and was a slick technician. Boudouani won by UD in Las Vegas, 29 March '97. Next year in February he drew against the 6'4 Guillermo Jones and then beat him in the rematch by SD. His last successful defense was against a faded Terry Norris and Boudouani dominated the legend before winning by TKO9, 30 November '98 in Paris. He finally lost his title after 2 and a half years to Olympic gold medallist David Reid, losing by UD in Atlantic City on 6 March 1999. He retired with a record of 38 wins, 32 by ko, 3 losses and 1 draw. Boudouani was a fast and hard-hitting fighter who was hard to beat. He had both the skills and the aggressiveness, fighting spirit.

 

6. Bruno Girard

One of the finest technicians of his divisions, Bruno Girard was WBA's super middle and light heavy world champion. Not a puncher but blessed with good conditioning, chin and boxing IQ, as well as good height for his divisions, Girard developed into a world class boxer after a somewhat rocky start in the pros, losing 3 fights early on, one of them to a guy who until then only had one loss on his record. Girard, the younger brother of light heavy and cruiser contender Christophe, was born and raised in Blois, Loir-et-Cher province. He turned pro in 1991 and won 12 fights, all on points in 6-rounders, before being upset by Konstantin Semerdjiev, then 0-1, in another 6-round decision in 1993. In 1995 he unsuccessfully challenged Tshimanga M'Biye for the French smw title and lost on points in 10 rounds. He won the title on his second attempt, in 1996, by UD10 against Jean-Roger Tsidjo. 10 April '99 he won the Euro title by SD against Andrey Shkalikov, who had before challenged Frankie Liles for the WBA title. He defended it once by TKO8 against Juergen Hartenstein before fighting for the WBA title against Byron Mitchell, 11 December '99 in Tunica, USA. The result was a draw but Girard and his manager protested the decision and asked for a rematch. They got their wish granted and the rematch was held in Paris, 8 April 2000. Bruno Girard then beat Mitchell by UD to become the second French super middle champion, after Christophe Tiozzo. He then defended the title against Manny Siaca by SD, but the decision was thought to be controversial and Girard was then stripped after refusing to give Siaca a rematch. In 2001, he first tried to win the WBA lhw title against Lou Del Valle, but the fight was declared a draw. He then fought Robert Koon, an unrated fighter, for the same title in December and won by TKO11 to take his second world title at a second weight. He defended it twice, beating the Norwegian Thomas Hansvoll by UD and Lou Del Valle by SD, before losing it to puncher Mehdi Sahnoune by TKO7, 8 March 2003. He retired with a record of 42 wins, 7 by ko, 4 losses and 2 draws.

 

7. Christophe Tiozzo

The older brother of Fabrice, Christophe was an excellent amatuer who won the 1982 and 1983 national championships at light middleweight and a bronze medal in 1984 Olympics, also at light middleweight. He turned pro in 1985 and was trained by Don Turner and Teddy Atlas during his career there. He won the European middleweight title on points against Pierre Joly in 1988 and defended it twice before relinquishing it to challenge for the WBA super middle title against one of two best South Korean fighters of that time, the hard-hitting In-Chul Baek. It was 30 March '90 in Lyon when Tiozzo became the first French smw champion by stopping Baek by TKO6. He defended the title twice, first stopping Paul Whittaker by TKO8 and then the 38-0 Dan Morgan by TKO2, all in 1990. On 5 April next year, he faced the dangerous Victor Cordoba of Panama and traded with him in an unforgettabe back and forth war, before being stopped against the ropes with several hard shots in round 9. He then made the jump to 175 and 5 June '92 he challenged the WBC champion Jeff Harding and did well for 6 rounds, outboxing the less polished Harding until he got hurt in round 7 and then knocked out in round 8 by a big left hook. He had 3 more insignificant fights before retiring in 1996. His record is 33 wins, 23 by ko, and 2 losses. He has become a big celebrity in France, even before his retirement, and appeared in some films. Christophe Tiozzo was a fine technical boxer who also carried power and came to fight. While not as accomplished as his brother, he still belongs among the best French boxers of all time.

 

8. Jean-Marc Mormeck

One of the best cruiserweights of his time and probably ever, Mormeck was a tank of a man who had a long and successful career, at cruiserweight. As a heavyweight, he was not as good. He was born in Pointe-a-Pitre, Guadeloupe, and raised in Pantin, Seine-Saint Denis province. After a brief amateur career, he became a pro in 1995 and after dropping two decisions early on, he would remain undefeated for a long time. Standing 5'11, he first fought as a light heavy. He won the French title there in November '98, with a SD10 against Alain Simon. In 2000 he beat Cuban Livin Castillo by TKO3 to win the WBA Intercontinental title and defended it by TKO10 against Juan Carlos Viloria, but then chose to forfeit it and become a cruiserweight. In his first fight there, he beat the later world-challenger Valery Vikhor by TKO3, 3 Aprl '01. He got to fight for the WBA title in his fifth fight at 200 against Virgil Hill, 23 February 2002 in Marseille. Hill had been inactive for 14 months and Mormeck gave him a beating until Hill quit on his stool after 8 rounds. Also his next two defenses ended after 8 rounds; first he beat the Canadian Dale Brown by TKO8 and then the 6'5 Ukrainian Aleksander Gurov also by TKO8, in his first fight in Las Vegas 1 March '03. He made two more successful defenses, beating Hill in a rematch by UD and then WBC-champion Wayne Braithwaite, then 21-0, in an unification fight in Worcester, Massachusetts, 2 April '05. Mormeck put Braithwaite down in round 7 and won by a somewhat close but unanimous decision. He then looked to take the third major title and fought against the IBF champion O'Neil Bell in a great fight, 7 January '06 at Madison Square Garden. This time, things didn't go his way. After a close and very fast paced fight, Mormeck was cornered by Bell and knocked out with several right hands at the end of round 10. He recaptured two of the titles, as the IBF one had been stripped from Bell for not fighting a mandatory, in a rematch 17 March '07 in Paris. Mormeck won by a close UD. He then lost in his first defense against David Haye, 10 November that year in Paris. Mormeck put Haye down in round 4 but was caught with a big combination against the ropes in round 7 and stopped. He was ahead on two of the scorecards at the time, slightly. After that Mormeck made the move to heavyweight, but he was simply too small for the division and after getting gift decisions at home against Fres Oquendo and Timur Ibragimov, the last which was for the WBA International title, he was easily blown out in 4 by the much bigger Wladimir Klitschko on 3 March 2012 in Dusseldorf. Mormeck then returned to cruiserweight and won one easy fight by TKO4, but after losing a vital fight against Mateusz Masternak by MD10 in 2014, he retired, aged 42. Mormeck was a fine fighter and had a good jab, good power and could dish it out and take it, despite getting knocked out three times. His record is a fine 37 wins with 23 ko's and 6 losses, 3 by ko..

 

9. Khalid Rahilou

A Moroccan-born and French-raised light welterweight who won the WBA title in 1997, by stopping Frankie Randall. He took part in the 1988 Olympics but was eliminated in the second round by Todd Foster by second-round stoppage. Rahilou was a fine technician who had accumulation power and had a good accuracy and punch output. After turning pro in December '88, in 1994 he won the European light welter title by UD12 against the 36-1 Valery Kayumba. He became the only man to beat the excellent Dane Søren Søndergaard in a defense of the belt, by TKO9 in 1995 and also stopped another Danish world champion, Gert Bo Jacobsen, by TKO3 and TKO9 respectively, in 1994 and 1995. After making five defenses of the Euro belt, he challenged Frankie Randall, who was holding the WBA title he had won from Juan Martin Coggi previously, 11 January '97 in Nashville. Rahilou was slightly ahead on one of the cards when he stopped Randall in the 11th round with a barrage. In his first defense on 5 July, he stopped thw 105-3 Marty Jakubowski by TKO7. He then beat the two-time world lightweight champion Jean-Baptiste Mendy by UD to make his second defense. He lost the title in his third defense against Sharmba Mitchell, a strong and tricky boxer from USA, who put him down four times and won by UD on 10 October '98 in Paris. Rahilou's career never recovered after that and he was knocked out in his next fight, for the first time in his career, in 4 rounds by another Dane, Thomas Damgaard, in April '99. Rahilou won 5 fights before fighting his final fight against Souleymane M'baye, then 25-0, 23 May '02. He dropped a decision to the future WBA champ and was down twice in that fight. He retired with a record of 37 wins with 16 ko's and 5 losses, 3 by ko.

 

 

10. Julien Lorcy

A fine lightweight who had the power and the boxing IQ, Julien Lorcy was a two-time French amateur feather champion and also participated in the 1992 Olympics as a lightweight, where he was eliminated in the quarter-finals. Affectionately known as "Bobo", Lorcy turned pro in 1992 and won 32 fights before winning the European super feather title by TKO7 against Boris Sinitsin, 2 November 1996. In 1997, he twice fought for the vacant WBO title at 130 against Arnulfo Castillo, but both fights ended in draws. In his third attempt at the same title, he was upset for the first time by Anatoly Alexandrov, who beat him by MD12 on 16 May 1998. Lorcy became a lightweight after that and won the WBA title impressively by stopping Jean-Baptiste Mendy by TKO6, 10 April 1999 in Paris. He lost the title in his first defense to Stefano Zoff of Italy, by split decision in Le Cannet, 7 August that year. He won the Euro title on points against Oscar Garcia Cano in 2000 and then became a world champion again by beating the excellent Takanori Hatekayama by UD12 in Saitama, Japan. However, he once again lost his title in his first defense, this time against Raul Horacio Balbi of Argentina, being down once and losing by MD12 in Paris. His final fight was against the WBA super lightweight champion Juan "Baby Bull Diaz", 4 November 2004 in San Antonio, Texas. Lorcy threw a whole lot of punches and landed 222, but still lost by an unfairly wide UD. He also damaged the scar tissue under his right eye, which then led to his retirement at the age of 32. His record is an excellent 56 wins with 40 ko's, 4 losses and 2 draws.

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Great article S.

 

Briefly, as off topic - how do you rate the current crop ?

 

Oubaali: current WBC World Bantamweight Title holder which he earned by beating Rau'shee Warren and defends against Inoue in November.

 

Tony Yoka: up 'n coming Olympian HW who has beaten fellow countryman Leonet. Has stopped both David Allen and Dimitrenko and fights Wallisch in 3 weeks time.

 

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Great article S.

 

Briefly, as off topic - how do you rate the current crop ?

 

Oubaali: current WBC World Bantamweight Title holder which he earned by beating Rau'shee Warren and defends against Inoue in November.

 

Tony Yoka: up 'n coming Olympian HW who has beaten fellow countryman Leonet. Has stopped both David Allen and Dimitrenko and fights Wallisch in 3 weeks time.

 

I don't know much about Oubaali but he sounds good. And Yoka is pretty promising, yes. A huge guy with skills. :thumb: And thanks for the compliment buddy. :tea:

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