Greatest Fighter of the last 25 Years?

What other credentials aside from who you've beaten and what you've accomplished are there to define who the greatest is?

Jones is the most gifted, sure, but what does that do for his greatness?

Floyd is the best overall boxer? On what grounds? If he didn't beat the best , then how did he prove he's the best boxer? If your saying he's the most skilled, that's possible - but what does that do for his greatness?

 

Howabout we do it this way... Who have you voted for, and why?

 

Easy choice for me to make since the thread title is...
"Greatest FIGHTER"

The answer for me is Julio Cesar Chavez.
Had the thread been "Greatest Boxer" or "Tech" then my answer would be
Pernel Whitaker.

 

Best 3 of the last 30 years are Leonard, Whitaker and Jones.

 

1. Whitaker
2. Mayweather
3. Pacquiao
4. Lopez
5. Hopkins
6. Jones
7. Chavez

 

Good names..

Real Deal for me.
He fought big, bad and skilled men in great era and didn't seem to avoid anyone.

..and in his peak, early 90es he pretty much fought as a cruiser (Buster:208 Cooper:210 Bowe 1:205), and later/past prime his extreme conditioning didn't really provide the upgrade like would imagine (against perhaps the best super heavies ever..).

[ame]http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTi-o7Wl7Cc[/ame]

[ame]http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImG7PFGr6Xc[/ame]

 

Agree to disagree.

I have no divisional bias or bias for/against heavily televised fighters.

 

I'd pick Pea, just a hair infront of Jones who is himself just a strand infront of Hopkins.

 

It's between Mayweather and Jones.

They both are above Whitaker, imo. Pea's resume doesn't help.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/news/boxing...yd-mayweather-jr--rank-against-his-peers.html

25. Oscar De La Hoya, 1992-2008, 39-6, 30 knockouts – The biggest star of his era, he won titles in six weight classes.

24. Shane Mosley, 1993-present, 46-7-1, 1 no contest, 39 knockouts – Mosley was a dominant lightweight with uncommon speed and power.

23. Felix Trinidad, 1990-2008, 42-3, 35 knockouts – Trinidad was a vicious puncher and a quality offensive fighter who fought just about all of the greats of his era.

22. Riddick Bowe, 1989-2008, 43-1, 1 no contest, 33 knockouts – Though he had a great record, including two wins over Evander Holyfield, Bowe seems like a failure because he was so physically gifted.

21. Humberto "Chiquita" Gonzalez, 1984-1995, 43-3, 31 knockouts – Gonzalez was a little man with big power. He's regarded as one of the pound-for-pound best punchers ever.

20. Mike Tyson, 1985-2005, 50-6, 2 no contests, 44 knockouts – Tyson was a massive puncher, but he isn't higher because he never beat a truly elite heavyweight in his prime.

19. Mike McCallum, 1981-1997, 49-5-1, 36 knockouts – McCallum was one of the sport's best body punchers who may have been the best super welterweight of his time.

18. James Toney, 1989-present, 74-7, 45 knockouts – Toney was a master craftsman who would be higher on this list if not for his maddening inconsistency.

17. Juan Manuel Marquez, 1993-present, 54-6-1, 39 knockouts – Marquez is a complete fighter who combines offense and defense as well as anyone in the last quarter-century.

16. Michael Carbajal, 1989-1999, 49-4, 33 knockouts – He was so good, he forced Americans to pay attention to the light flyweight division. That's saying a lot.

15. Marco Antonio Barrera, 1989-2011, 67-7, 1 no contest, 44 knockouts – "The Baby-faced Assassin" reeled off wins over the likes of Naseem Hamed, Erik Morales, Johnny Tapia and Paulie Ayala.

14. Joe Calzaghe, 1993-2008, 46-0, 32 knockouts – Calzaghe had a remarkable run at super middleweight, going 22-0 in 168-pound title fights.

13. Lennox Lewis, 1988-2003, 41-2-1, 32 knockouts – Lewis beat every man he faced, avenging losses to Oliver McCall and Hasim Rahman, and fought to a draw with Evander Holyfield.

12. Manny Pacquiao, 1995-present, 54-3-2, 38 knockouts – Pacquiao made an extraordinary rise through the weight classes and his speed and power made him elite.

11. Bernard Hopkins, 1988-present, 52-6-2, 2 no contests, 32 knockouts – In 2011, Hopkins defeated Jean Pascal to become, at 46, the oldest man ever to win a major belt. He also made 20 consecutive successful defenses of the middleweight title earlier in his career.

10. Ricardo Lopez, 1985-2001, 51-0-1, 38 knockouts – A master craftsman, Lopez was the best small fighter of his era. He went unbeaten in 26 world title fights (25-0-1) and knocked off a who's who of his era's best.

9. Floyd Mayweather Jr., 1996-present, 42-0, 26 knockouts – Mayweather was at his best at super featherweight, when he had a streak in which he beat a string of elite fighters. He remains a masterful defensive fighter who has underrated counterpunching ability.

8. Thomas Hearns, 1977-2006, 61-5-1, 48 knockouts – Hearns' prime came before 1988, but he has wins over a small army of Hall of Famers. He was a devastating knockout puncher and carried his pop with him from welterweight through middleweight.

7. Julio Cesar Chavez Sr., 1980-2005, 107-6-2, 86 knockouts – Chavez began his career an astounding 87-0 and beat so many world champions, a list of them all would be the size of a phone book. He was a ferocious inside fighter who went hard to the body and punched well in combination.

6. George Foreman, 1969-1997, 76-5, 68 knockouts – Arguably the greatest puncher ever, and I know that creates an argument. Foreman destroyed Joe Frazier to win the title in his first stint. After a 10-year retirement, he came back and became the oldest man, at the time, to win a major world title – a record since surpassed by Bernard Hopkins.

5. Evander Holyfield, 1984-present, 44-10-2, 29 knockouts – Holyfield would fight anyone, usually beat them and almost always won in entertaining fashion. He had memorable wins over Mike Tyson, Larry Holmes, George Foreman, Riddick Bowe, Michael Dokes and Dwight Muhammad Qawi.

4. Pernell Whitaker, 1984-2001, 40-4-1, 17 knockouts – Whitaker was the best defensive fighter of his era and was practically unhittable at his peak. He racked up innumerable quality wins, but his best performance came when he was robbed against Julio Cesar Chavez Sr. Whitaker got a draw in a fight he appeared to easily win.

3. Larry Holmes, 1973-2002, 69-6, 44 knockouts – Holmes was at his prime from 1976 through 1984. He had a terrific jab, a great chin and fought and beat most of the great heavyweights of his day.

2. Roberto Duran, 1968-2001, 103-16, 70 knockouts – Duran's peak was from 1971 through 1985, and he may be the greatest lightweight who ever lived. Inconsistency, with losses to the likes of Kirkland Laing and Pat Lawlor, hurt him badly in his bid for the top spot.

1. Roy Jones, 1989-present, 55-8, 40 knockouts – Jones was perhaps boxing's most physically gifted fighter in his prime. He was as fast as anyone in the sport, but he was an extraordinarily powerful puncher. He was rarely hit when he was in top form and he took out elite fighters like Bernard Hopkins, James Toney, and Mike McCallum in his heyday. He's hung on far, far too long and is a remnant of the great he was, but that doesn't take away from what he did when he was at his best.

 

If you mean who's the best, probably between RJJ, Floyd or Whitaker, personally I'd go with a prime RJJ but hard to say. Greatest I'd still have to say Pac, to me he's the very definition of greatness, a national hero, underdog story who continually shocked the world with feats he should not have been close to achieving.

 

Holmes and Lopez too high. Who did they beat again? Calzaghe shouldnt be above a lot of those guys on that list either.

 

If we're going by achievements and legacy, then Pacquiao, Chavez, and Whitaker are at the top of the list. I voted for Pacquiao because his resume is hard to argue against.

Hopkins, Floyd, and Jones would be the next in line, in that order imo.