Modern Super Fights vs Old Time Super Fights

What constitutes a super fight? I say it's when 2 of the top 10 fighters of that decade or the one preceding it square off in a ring together. People complain that the best don't fight the best anymore, but from what I can see, the best are fighting the best as much as they ever have. According to The Ring Magazine these were the 10 best fighters by decade. I listed the superfights that got made around that time for each decade below the fighters names. Please, excuse me if I forget one, or get the date in the wrong column.

1920s

1. Harry Greb 2. Benny Leonard 3. Gene Tunney 4. Mickey Walker 5. Pancho Villa 6. Tommy Loughran 7. Jack Dempsey 8. Bud Taylor 9. Tony Canzoneri 10. Tiger Flowers

Greb vs Tunney, Greb vs Walker, Greb vs Loughran, Greb vs Flowers, Tunney vs Loughran, Tunney vs Dempsey, Walker vs Flowers, Walker vs Britton, Pancho Villa vs McLarnin, Taylor vs McLarnin

1930s

1. Henry Armstrong 2. Joe Louis 3. Barney Ross 4. Tony Canzoneri 5. Jimmy McLarnin 6. Freddie Steele 7. Panama Al Brown 8. Benny Lynch 9. Jack Berg 10. Kid Chocolate

Armstrong vs Ross, Ross vs Canzoneri, Ross vs McLarnin, Canzoneri vs Berg, Canzoneri vs Chocolate, McLarnin vs Leonard, Berg vs Chocolate

1940s

1. Sugar Ray Robinson 2. Ezzard Charles 3. Willie Pep 4. Joe Louis 5. Ike Williams 6. Manuel Ortiz 7. Sandy Saddler 8. Billy Conn 9. Jake LaMotta 10. Marcel Cerdan

Robinson vs Armstrong, Robinson vs LaMotta, Charles vs Louis, Pep vs Saddler, Louis vs Conn, Lamotta vs Cerdan, Williams vs Gavilan

1950s

1. Sugar Ray Robinson 2. Archie Moore 3. Kid Gavilan 4. Rocky Marciano 5. Pascual Perez 6. Sandy Saddler 7. Gene Fullmer 8. Carmen Basilio 9. Joe Brown 10. Harold Johnson

Robinson vs Gavilan, Robinson vs Fullmer, Robinson vs Basilio, Moore vs Marciano, Moore vs Johnson, Gavilan vs Basilio, Marciano vs Charles, Marciano vs Louis, Saddler vs Brown, Saddler vs Elorde, Basilio vs Fullmer

1960s

1. Eder Jofre 2. Muhammad Ali 3. Carlos Ortiz 4. Emile Griffith 5. Fighting Harada 6. Nino Benvenuti 7. Vicente Saldivar 8. Ruben Olivares 9. Dick Tiger 10. Flash Elorde

Jofre vs Harada, Jofre vs Saldivar, Ali vs Moore, Ortiz vs Elorde, Ortiz vs Brown, Griffith vs Benvenuti, Griffith vs Napoles, Griffith vs Tiger, Benvenuti vs Tiger, Tiger vs Fullmer, Tiger vs Foster,

1970s

1. Roberto Duran 2. Carlos Monzon 3. Jose Napoles 4. Alexis Arguello 5. Miguel Canto 6. Wilfredo Gomez 7. Carlos Zarate 8. Muhammad Ali 9. Bob Foster 10. Yoko Gushiken

Monzon vs Napoles, Monzon vs Benvenuti, Monzon vs Griffith, Gomez vs Zarate, Ali vs Foster

1980s

1. Sugar Ray Leonard 2. Marvin Hagler 3. Salvador Sanchez 4. Michael Spinks 5. Tommy Hearns 6. Julio Cesar Chavez 7. Mike Tyson 8. Aaron Pryor 9. Larry Holmes 10. Jeff Chandler

Leonard vs Hagler, Leonard vs Hearns, Leonard vs Duran, Hagler vs Hearns, Sanchez vs Gomez, Spinks vs Holmes, Pryor vs Arguello, Tyson vs Holmes, Tyson vs Spinks, Holmes vs Ali

1990s

1. Pernell Whitaker 2. Roy Jones Jr. 3. James Toney 4. Evander Holyfield 5. Julio Cesar Chavez 6. Bernard Hopkins 7. Felix Trinidad 8. Ricardo Lopez 9. Oscar De La Hoya 10. Terry Norris

Whitaker vs Chavez, Whitaker vs Trinidad, Whitaker vs De La Hoya, Jones vs Toney, Jones vs Hopkins, Holyfield vs Tyson, Holyfield vs Holmes, Chavez vs De La Hoya, Trinidad vs De La Hoya, Hopkins vs Trinidad, Norris vs Leonard

2000s

1. Manny Pacquiao 2. Floyd Mayweather Jr. 3. Bernard Hopkins 4. Erik Morales 5. Joe Calzaghe 6. Juan Manuel Marquez 7. Roy Jones Jr. 8. Marco Antonio Barrera 9. Rafael Marquez 10. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam

Pacquiao vs Morales, Pacquiao vs Marquez, Pacquiao vs Barrera, Pacquiao vs De La Hoya, Mayweather vs Marquez, Mayweather vs De La Hoya, Hopkins vs Calzaghe, Hopkins vs Jones 2, Morales vs Barrera, Calzaghe vs Jones, Marquez vs Barrera

 

Unfortunately, it looks like the Ring rarely ranks heavyweights in the top 10 pound 4 pound; so if we go by the definition above Ali vs Frazier, Ali vs Norton, Ali vs Spinks, Ali vs Foreman, and Ali vs Liston while major fights wouldn't necessarily be super fights. This leads to weird superfights like Ali vs Foster or Louis vs Conn, which are less competitive for the champ than other fights with larger but less skilled opponents such as Joe Louis vs Max Schmeling or Max Baer. Also, some of the overlap, when top fighters of different decades squared off but one of them was well past prime may not qualify as super fights in some people's minds. For example, De La Hoya vs Chavez. But if we limit these fights to only include when both fighters were at their respective peaks very few super fights have ever happened in the history of boxing.

 

Duilio Loi is a great call. 115-3-8 with two wins and a loss against Carlos Ortiz. He sounds like the equal to Marcel Cerdan, another great European champion.

 

I guess they either forgot him, or they figured he padded his record fighting lower standard European fighters when the best in the world were over in America. Look at Ortiz record and then look at his. Sure, Ortiz has more losses but he also faced Joe Brown, Flash Elorde, Ismael Laguna, Niccolino Locche, Sugar Ramos, Ken Buchanan, and Loi himself 3 times.

If you include Loi, which fighter in the top 10 do you drop to put him there?