Who were the Top 5 heavyweight champions during the 2000s?
In the 2000s there were 17 men who held claim to at least a portion of the heavyweight championship between January 1st, 2000 and December 31st, 2009. For the purposes of this video, we are specifically comparing heavyweight championship reigns and championship bouts that happened during this particular stretch. (Please note, this video focused on the decade, not the entire century to date).
The 2000s heavyweight championship landscape was the wildest one to date, with the addition of a new major alphabet title in the middle of the decade, and more heavyweight champions than we had seen in any previous decade. In the 1950s we had 5 heavyweight champions, there were 7 in the 1960s, 8 in the 1970s, 15 in the 1980s, and 11 in the 1990s. Lennox Lewis began the decade as the undisputed world heavyweight champion, where he held all 3 major belts of his day and also a valid claim as lineal world heavyweight champion. But Lennox’s reign as undisputed was short lived, with the WBA stripping him of their title in April 2000, just over 4 months into the decade. We would not have another undisputed heavyweight for the remainder of the decade, and when Lewis officially retired in February 2004, it would be more than 5 years before Wladimir Klitschko established a new lineage.
Lennox Lewis was the dominant force in the beginning of the decade, Wladimir Klitschko was the dominant force at the end of the decade, and Vitali Klitschko was a major player throughout the decade, despite a a stretch of almost 4 years of inactivity which included a brief retirement before he made a triumphant return in 2008.
So who were the Top 5 heavyweight champions during the 2000s?
This edition of Rummy’s Corner will attempt to answer that question while also providing a quick overview of the heavyweight championship landscape during the 2000s, and a quick recap comparing the 2000s championship reigns of Lennox Lewis, Wladimir Klitschko, Vitali Klitschko, Hasim Rahman, Evander Holyfield, Chris Byrd, John Ruiz, Ruslan Chagaev, Sultan Ibragimov, Lamon Brewster, Siarhei Liakhovich, Shannon Briggs, Roy Jones Jr, Sam Peter, Oleg Maskaev, and Nikolai Valuev, and David Haye. Please watch and enjoy the video for one man’s opinion. This is Rummy’s Corner (produced and narrated by Geoffrey Ciani)
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