It's not hard to understand what I meant. My top three would be: #3. Yuri Arbachakov #2. Denis Lebedev #1. Kostya Tszyu
Not a huge amount of pro time for the Russians. Kostya maybe the GOAT??? Arbachakov be up there as well
Yeah, I'd probably put KT above Kovalev. Slipped my mind, and I guess you could say he was Aussie? But then by that same notion you could say Arbachakov was Japanese, so I wouldn't. Yup, editing OP.
As critical of his division (and specifically its state during BOTH of its eras that his career has straddled) as I generally am...I've gotta say that Sasha deserves a shout here. Yeah, no world title, blah-blah...look at his W column. His longevity of form. Look at how dominantly he stood above the HW rank and file of #3 or #4 on down for...like a crazy amount of time.
Oleg Saitov. Amateurs. Tszyu. Pros. I Was a huge Pirog fan too but he never reach his potential because of injury.
He never did **** all to be honest. Got a sweet KO over Jacobs, that has aged well. Not that I know much about the Russian scene, but I don´t see that putting him in the top 10. It would be insane.
It's interesting to think about all the potential talent the pro ranks missed out on tho.. men like Boris Lagutin or the aforementioned Saitov.. both of whom won two Olympic gold medals.
Are we talking on paper, achievement wise? Personally my list is 1. Beterbiev 2. Tszyu 3. Kovalev/Povetkin I just like Beterbiev and feel that with out all the problems and inactivity, late start to pro career etc, that pound for pound he's smashing everybody. Tszyu was a fav of mine and Kov was a monster in his short period of peakness. Povetkin as he's still going strong strong but the whole ped thing for me doe's put somewhat of a cloud over him.
3 different decades. There was a thread not too long ago about whether or not he gets into the HOF. Based on consistency on longevity alone I'd say he's a shoe in.