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Ranking the best Canadian boxers of all time


BoztheMadman
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Canada, the little brother of USA. Despite being far behind them in the number of world class boxers, Canada still produced some very good ones. There was that heavyweight hero George Chuvalo. Before him, there was Tommy Burns, one of the first famous heavyweight world champions, and Jack Delaney, a formidable light heavyweight ko artist. Jimmy McLarnin was also raised in Canada, but I already included him on my Irish list, so he will be left out. Few are also aware that the famous "Boston Tar Baby" Sam Langford actually was from Canada.

 

1. Sam Langford

 

And we kick off the list with Langford. Known as "the greatest fighter nobody knows", Langford stood only 5'6 but packed a good punch and had great natural ability. He fought from lightweight to heavyweight, which I believe nobody else famous can say. He was born 4 March 1886 in Weymouth Falls, Nova Scotia. He turned pro in 1902, at just 16 years of age, fighting from Boston. He was therefore called both "Boston Tar Baby" and "The Boston Bonecrusher". He most notably defeated Joe Gans, then the world lightweight champion, in 1903, but Gans' title was not at stake. He was forced to fight mostly against other black boxers and beat Young Peter Jackson, Joe Jeannette, Harry Wills and Sam McVea. One of the first well known white fighters he beat was Gunboat Smith; after first losing to him on points, he won by KO3. He also beat Philadelphia Jack O'Brien by TKO5 and Stanley Ketchel by a decision. Langford won the "world coloured heavyweight title" four times and the middleweight version once. He was however avoided by Jack Johnson after he became the world champion, after the two had a fight for the world coloured title in 1906, which Johnson won on points. He has fought Fred Fulton, a man who was nearly a foot taller than him at 6'5 and went the distance with him once, and the second time he was stopped by TKO7. Langford never received a real world title fight and died penniless and nearly blind in 1956, after having fought in 252 bouts and winning 178 of them, 126 by ko. He was finally done justice to when he got inducted into the IBHOF in 1990.

 

2. Tommy Burns

 

Burns was another very short heavyweight at 5'7. He however had a long reach for his height and was fast and tough and hit hard as well. Burns' real name was Noah Brusso and he was born in a French-Canadian family in Chesley, Ontario, 17 June 1881. He was known as "The Little Giant of Hanover". He turned pro in 1902 and won the Michigan state middleweight title by KO3 against Jack Hammond, in 1903. In October 1904 he first fought Philadelphia Jack O'Brien and lost to him on points. On 23 February 1906, he beat Marvin Hart on points to win the world heavy title. On 2 October, he faced Fireman Jim Flynn (who later knocked out Jack Dempsey in one round) for the world heavy title and won by a KO15 in his second defense. He then fought Philadelphia Jack twice and first drew against him, before winning on points in his fourth defense. He made 12 defenses in all before losing the title to Jack Johnson, 26 December 1908 in Sydney, Australia. He lost by a 14-round decision after the fight was stopped by the police prematurely, per agreement. He won the Commonwealth title right after that by decisioning Jack Lang, but retired after losing it to Joe Beckett by RTD7 in 1920. He had fought for 18 years and his record is 47 wins with 35 ko's, 4 losses and 8 draws. Burns died in 1955 and was inducted into IBHOF in 1996.

 

3. Jack Delaney

 

Was the first Canadian light heavy world champion. Delaney was a great puncher and fighter overall, but his love of partying became his great bane. He has defeated Paul Berlenbach three times and took the world title from him in 1926, after first losing in an attempt against him. He also beat Tommy Loughran, Mike McTigue, Tiger Flowers (by KO2 and KO4), Maxie Rosenbloom and Johnny Risko and got a disqualification win over Paulino Uzcudun. He only made one easy defense of his world title before vacating it to step up to heavyweight, which proved to be a mistake. In 1928, he was infamously stopped in one round by Jack Sharkey after going into the ring extremely intoxicated. He retired in 1932 and his record is 73 wins, 43 by ko, 11 losses and 2 draws. Delaney was another French-Canadian, real name Ovila Chapdelaine. He died at only 48 in 1948 and was inducted by IBHOF in 1996.

 

4. Donovan Ruddock

 

Known as Razor Ruddock, this guy was the last truly good Canadian heavyweight so far. Although the world title eluded him, he was one of the best heavyweights in the world between 1989 and 1992. Ruddock was born in Jamaica but moved to Canada as a child and lived in Weston, Ontario. His three best wins all came one after another: first in December '88 he stopped James Broad by TKO1, then he came off the canvas to stop James "Bonecrusher" Smith in 7 rounds in July '89 and finally in April '90 he brutally knocked out Michael Dokes in 4. He was known for his devastating left hook-left uppercut hybrid which he nicknamed "The Smash". Ruddock fought Mike Tyson first in March '91 and was stopped in 7 rounds, somewhat prematurely, and then in June that year, where he waged a true war against him and shook him several times, but was down twice and lost by UD. He was the last man to go 12 with Iron Mike and only the third one as well. He stopped Greg Page and knocked out undefeated Phil Jackson before fighting Lennox Lewis in October '92 and getting stopped in only 2 rounds, in his worst performance ever. His career pretty much went downhill after that and he also got stopped by Tommy Morrison in 6 rounds, after first having him down once, in June '95. Ruddock retired in 2001 but came back briefly in 2015, winning two fights before being knocked out by Dillon Carman in 3. His record is 40 wins, 30 by ko, 6 losses and 1 draw.

 

5. Lou Brouillard

 

Another outstanding French-Canadian, Brouillard was an outstanding welterweight but as a middleweight he was a bit less successful. He won the world welter title in 1931, by beating Young Jack Thompson by UD15, scoring four knockdowns along the way. He however lost the title only 3 months later to Jackie Fields, by UD10. In August that year, he scored his best victory when he pounded Jimmy McLarnin into winning by SD10. He also beat Mickey Walker by UD10 in 1933. Right after that, he won the NYSAC world middle title by KO7 against Ben Jeby at Polo Grounds in New York. He again lost his title in his first defense against Vince Dundee, by UD15 in October '33. Dundee was the superior defensive boxer and Brouillard could not penetrate his defense. He also defeated Bob Olin twice, Al Gainer twice, Swede Berglund and Young Corbett III, all on points. He fought against Marcel Thil three times, twice he got disqualified and once he lost on points. In 1938, he was stopped for the first and only time against Tiger Jack Fox, a natural light heavy, by TKO7. He also lost a decision to Gus Lesnevich and ended his career at 175. Standing 5'7, he was simply not a true light heavy, also never weighing above 165. Brouillard ended his career in 1940, with 100 wins, 57 by ko, 31 losses and 2 draws. He died in 1984 and was inducted into IBHOF in 2006. Brouillard was a tough and strong scrapper who always came to fight.

 

6. George Chuvalo

 

Along with Ruddock, Chuvalo was the best Canadian heavyweight who never won a world title but was one of the toughest men to ever lace on gloves. Born and raised in Toronto, Chuvalo stands 6 feet and was thus never a tall heavyweight, but had plenty of strength and could hit hard as well. He was an aggressive come forward fighter who looked to break his opponent down with constant attack. Chuvalo fought between 1956 and 1978-22 years, one of the longest careers for a heavyweight. His best victories were when he stopped Doug Jones by TKO11 in October '64 and when he knocked out Jerry Quarry in 7 in a big upset in December '69. He also stopped Manuel Ramos and fought Muhammad Ali for the world title in March '66, losing to him in a good performance by UD15, in Toronto. Chuvalo also defeated Mike DeJohn previously, by MD10, which was DeJohn's last fight. He was disqualified against Bob Erskine for butting and before the Ali fight, he fought the other champion, WBA's Ernie Terrell, in November '65, losing to the much bigger man by UD15 and getting badly cut up. Chuvalo protested the decision. He was only stopped twice, first by Joe Frazier via TKO4 and second by George Foreman via TKO3-both due to cuts. Chuvalo finally ended his career at the age of 41 and with a record of 73 wins, 64 by ko, 18 losses and 2 draws.

 

7. Steve Molitor

 

Maybe the best Canadian boxer in this century, especially of those born in Canada, Molitor won the IBF super bantam title in 2006. Another Ontario-native, Molitor is a tall (5'7) superbantam who turned pro in 2000 and in 2002 won the Commonwealth bantam title on points against Nicky Booth. He also won the minor NABA and WBF titles at bantamweight. On 10 November '06, he went to England to fight Michael Hunter for the vacant IBF title and knocked him out in 5. He made his first defense against the top South African fighter Takalani Ndlovu and impressively stopped him by TKO9 at home in Canada. He would make five successful defenses, most notably by beating Fernando Beltran by UD. On 21 November 2008, he had a unification fight against the WBA champion Celestino Caballero, who at 5'11 was 4 inches taller and was a true puncher and destroyer at the time. Molitor suffered his first loss when he was stopped by TKO4 after being down and then stopped on his feet. On 27 March '10, he recaptured his old title by decisioning Ndlovu by UD and then made one successful defense by MD against Jason Booth in September. In March next year he lost the title in a rubbermatch against NDlovu, by a questionable decision in South Africa. He ended his career after being stopped for the second time by rising star Carl Frampton in 2012, by TKO6 in Belfast. His record is 34 wins, 12 by ko, and 3 losses.

 

8. Donny Lalonde

 

I can't believe a guy I actually know is on this list! :D Donny "Golden Boy" Lalonde was the first Canadian light heavy world champ since Jack Delaney-the first in over 60 years! He was a popular fighter who had deadly power in both hands, but his shoulder injuries plagued him for a good part of his career. The 6'1 Lalonde won the WBC title by stopping Eddie Davis in 2 rounds in November 1987-Davis had been one of the best contenders in the division for a long time, but by then was not his old self. Still, it was an impressive showing as nobody else stopped Davis so fast and he had gone 12 with Michael Spinks. Lalonde made one successful defense in May next year when he went to Trinidad and Tobago to fight their hero Leslie Stewart, who had held the WBA title previously. Lalonde was again impressive and stopped Stewart on his feet in 5 rounds. He then made a mistake and signed for his biggest fight against Sugar Ray Leonard. Problem was-he had to come in under or at 168 for the fight, despite putting his title on the line! This left him seriously weakened and he was unable to capitalize on his great advantages-power and size/strength. Although he did manage to knock Leonard down in round 4, in the later rounds he got tired and Leonard then stopped him in the 9th after flooring him twice, first stunning him with a punch to the Adam's Apple. Lalonde was then supposed to fight Dennis Andries for the WBC title which Leonard had vacated, but after a sparring incident where he nearly killed his partner, he decided to retire, in 1989. He came back in 1991, as a cruiserweight. After winning 4 easy fights, he got to fight Bobby Czyz for the WBA title in May 1992, but lost to the smaller and quicker Czyz on points. He retired again after this and came back two more times. In his last fight which was in July 2003, he fought Virgil Hill and had him badly hurt in the seventh, but Hill eventually weathered the storm and won on points in ten rounds. Lalonde's record is 41 wins, 33 by ko, 5 losses and 1 draw.

 

9. Eric Lucas

 

One of the best Canadian fighters in the last 20 years, Lucas won the WBC super middle title in 2001, by knocking out the excellent Glen Catley in 7. Lucas was a very strong and tough guy who had power but didn't score that many knockouts for some reason. He fought the best and improved as a fighter gradually. He first got exposure by fighting Roy Jones jr for the IBF super middle title in 1996 and surprised everyone by lasting 11 rounds, despite soaking up punishment in each of those rounds. Before that, he lost on points to Fabrice Tiozzo in a WBA lhw title fight. In 1999, he was stopped by Glenn Catley by TKO12 in a WBC-eliminator but avenged this loss when he knocked him out in 2001, as mentioned. He stopped Dingaan Thobela, who had taken the title from Catley previously, by TKO8 in his first defense. In the other two, he decisioned Vinny Pazienza and Omar Sheika. In 2003, he was robbed of his title when he lost by a very controversial split decision to Markus Beyer in Germany. In December that year, he was stopped by Danny Greern by TKO6, after suffering a rib injury in sparring before the fight. His final world title fight was in January 2006 and he fought against the WBA champion Mikkel Kessler and got stopped by TKO10. He came back briefly in 2009 and first won one fight, but then in May next year he was stopped by corner retirement in 8 by Librado Andrade. He retired after that, with a record of 39 wins, 15 by ko, 8 losses and 3 draws. Lucas also had thyroid gland problems, which made him retire the first time. He now has a promotional company called Interbox.

 

10. Matthew Hilton

 

The third of four fighting Hatton brothers, Matthew showed most promise, but sadly, he burned out too quickly. It was his love of alcohol that ruined his career. He did manage to capture the IBF light middle title in 1987, by impressively beating the much older but game Buster Drayton on points, at home in Montreal. Hilton stands just under 5'8 but was very fast on his feet and had power and resilience, plus he was a very aggressive pressure fighter. He turned pro in 1983 and scored his first great victory when he halted Vito Antuofermo by a corner retirement in 4, in October 1985. In his very next fight, he knocked out Wilfred Benitez in 9. He was 21 when he fought and beat Buster Drayton on 21 June '87 in Montreal. He dropped Drayton in the first round and dominated him over 15 rounds, finally winning by a clear UD. He thus became the first in a famous fighting family to win a pro world title. He made one successful defense by stopping the lightly regarded Jack Callahan by TKO2 in October '87. He then started drinking before fights and that became his downfall, when he faced Robert Hines on 4 November '88, on the same card as Hearns-Kinchen fight. He put Hines down in the second and third round, but then just ran out of gas and was outboxed for the rest of the fight, most of it anyway. He therefore lost by a rather close UD. In January 1990, he tried to win the WBO middle title against Doug DeWitt, but was halted after 11 rounds with a closed right eye. He would have eye problems for the rest of his career and retired in 1993, after losing to journeyman Darrell Flint by UD10. He was not yet 28 and he had squandered his promising career away. His record is 32 wins with 23 ko's, 3 losses and 2 draws.

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