GOAT Index

Two legends at a time. Thousands of votes. One ranking.

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Joe Louis: the case for the GOAT

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    Joe Louis: the case for the GOAT

    Heavyweight · USA · Born 13 May 1914, LaFayette, Alabama, USA · Died 1981 · Career 1934–1951

    'The Brown Bomber', heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1949. A compact, economical puncher with devastating short combinations and textbook balance.

    Career highlights

    Why Joe Louis could be the GOAT

    Louis holds the longest heavyweight title reign in history and made 25 defences, a heavyweight record, during an era when he fought anyone put in front of him. His one-round destruction of Schmeling in 1938 became a national event. For sustained dominance at heavyweight, nobody on this list comes close.

    What fans say

    Joe Louis is #21 of 25 in the fan ranking, with a 0–1 head-to-head record from 19 Men's boxing votes. See the full Men's boxing GOAT ranking

    Joe Louis head to head

    How the ranking works. Every head-to-head vote is a result, like a game. The standings use a Bradley–Terry model, the same idea behind chess ratings: beating a highly rated legend counts for more than beating a long shot. Ratings are shown on a chess-style scale centred on 1500.

    One vote per matchup per person. If you see a pairing again in another session your new answer replaces the old one, so nobody can stuff the ballot by repeating a matchup.

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      Photos come from Wikimedia Commons under the licenses listed. Each links to its source page.