Debating my top ten LMW list

It’s clearly there on film to see. He lost a ton of speed, reactions/reflections went and his chin/punch resistance was gone. He was days away from his 23rd birthday and four years pro experience. He’d also beaten Winky and dominated the same Quartey who’d really beaten De La Hoya. He was in his prime. Guys prime at different times. Wilfred Benitez was better at 18 then he was at 25.

Do you think Vargas of 2002 was better than Vargas of 2000? Vargas was like Lacy in the sense that he just completely lost it. Unlike Lacy though he had great form and earned his reviews.

 

Tough division to rate because there were a lot of top fighters who spent little time there. I won't rate Emile Griffith because his peak was well before my team. I saw all the others mentioned during their prime.

I think the original poster did a reasonable job with his top ten. I thought Hearns was awesome at 154. Even if he didn't make a lot of defenses, you have to give him credit for KOing Duran and outboxing Benitez. He was terrific against Hutchings too.

I like Norris and McCallum because they seemed more dedicated to 154 than some of the others. Norris is hard to place because he was a good enough boxer/puncher to potentially beat guys rated above him but his chin would have made him vulnerable to people rated below him.

The one guy I'd like to see in the top ten is Ayub Kalule. He was very highly regarded in the late 70's and was unbeaten when he lost to Leonard. He was never the same after Leonard. But up to that fight, he was an extremely tricky southpaw who would keep you guessing all night. I appreciated Kalule in his prime, and I think a lot of people didn't give Leonard proper credit for that win.

 

Not bad in a tough gig. To murky things a bit i think Benitez would outslick McCallum, beat Wright and quite possibly Griffith as well. Mayweather would find him rather tough at that weight too. Leonard would outspeed McCallum as well but at some point his super sort resume comes into play obviously.

Duran, even off Cuevas and Moore should be at the very least an HM imo. That Duran would have beaten a few of the list but he does have two extreme losses there too.

 

Good stuff. I guess that's the thing putting a solid emphasis on H2h - there's a lot of room for interpretation on how the fights would go. I think Benitez would be a bad matchup for Mike but respect you have a differing view. It's fun going thru your lists and i look forward to the next.

 

Good stuff mate.

 

It sure is laughable. But I'm not looking forward to the next.

 

I've never done one of these before, so I'm hesitant about this list. In fact, **** it, I'm not doing an ATG list, just H2H.

#10. Julian Jackson
#9. Winky Wright
#8. Roberto Duran
#7. Tito Trinidad
#6. Mike McCallum
#5. Sugar Ray Leonard
#4. Wilfred Benítez
#3. Emile Griffith
#2. Luis Rodriguez
#1. Tommy Hearns

 

Yeah because Frankie Gavin made a top 15-20 all timer on ability in Mike McCallum look silly for six rounds while six years past his best (arguably winning by two rounds). Nice one. A Gavin type fighter dominated Joe Calzaghe or James Toney or Hopkins or someone in every minute of 11 rounds, right? Grow up little boy.

Your criteria is bizarre, your opinions poor, and your lists disgraceful.

 

You can laugh at the man all you like little boy but he's 1000x the man you are after all he's been through. Based on your criteria, yes it deserves to be recognised. Noone was beating him that night. As sad as the outcome was. It was so comprehensive, it was absolutely phenomenal