Here are my picks for the 1920s: 1. Harry Greb 2. Benny Leonard 3. Tommy Loughran 4. Gene Tunney 5. Mickey Walker 6. Tommy Gibbons 7. Jack Dempsey 8. Louis Kaplan 9. Harry Wills 10. Pancho Villa For the 1930s: 1. Henry Armstrong 2. Joe Louis 3. Tony Canzoneri 4. Barney Ross 5. Jimmy McLarnin 6. Panama Al Brown 7. Max Schmeling 8. John Henry Lewis 9. Young Corbett III 10. Maxie Rosenbloom
Looks like I was the 1/18 who left out Jimmy Wilde. Not sure how I managed that this is a tough task. IDKSAB but 1920 list incoming
1920’s 1 Gene Tunney 2 Harry Greb 3 Benny Leonard 4 Tommy Loughran 5 Mickey Walker 6 Harry Wills 7 Tommy Gibbons 8 Peter Berlenbach 9 Jack Dempsey 10 Pancho Villa 11 Fidel La Barba 12 Mike McTigue 13 Jack Delaney 14 Battling Ski 15 Jack Sharkey
This is my list for the 1930`s 1 Henry Armstrong 2 Joe Louis 3 Benny Lynch 4 Barney Ross 5 Tony Canzoneri 6 Jimmy McLarnin 7 Jackie Brown 8 John Henry Lewis 9 Panama Al Brown 10 Maxie Rosenbloom
IV. 1920s 1.Harry Greb 2.Gene Tunney 3.Benny Leonard 4.Jack Dempsey 5.Tommy Loughran 6.Mickey Walker 7.Toney Canzoneri 8.Pancho Cilla 9.Panama Al Brown 10.Jimmy Mclarnin V. 1930s 1.Joe Louis 2.Henry Armstrong 3.Barney Ross 4.Toney Canzoneri 5.Jimmy Mclarnin 6.Kid Chocolate 7.John Henry Lewis 8.Freddie Steele 9.Maxie Rosenbloom 10.Max Schmeling VI. 1940s 1.Ray Robinson 2.willie Pep 3.Ezzard Charles 4.Joe Louis 5.Ike Williams 6.Manuel Ortiz 7.Sandy saddler 8.Beau Jack 9.Charley Burly 10.Bob Montgomery VII. 1950s 1.Ray Robinson 2.Archie Moore 3.Rocky Marciano 4.Pascual Perez 5.Kid Gavilan 6.Joe Brown 7.Floyd Patterson 8.Harold Johnson 9.Sandy saddler 10.Carmen Basilio VIII. 1960s 1.Muhammad Ali 2.Eder Joefry 3.Emile Griffith 4.Carlos Ortiz 5.Vincent Saldivar 6.Nino Benvenuti 7.Sonny Liston 8.Dick Tiger 9.Bob Foster 10.Fighting Harada IX 1970s 1.Roberto Duran 2.Muhammad Ali 3.Carlos Monzon 4.Jose Napoles 5.Joe Frazier 6.Miguel Canto 7.Alexis Arguello 8.Wilfredo Gomez 9.George Foreman 10.Wilfred Benitez X. 1980s 1.Marvin Hagler 2.Ray Leonard 3.Mike Tyson 4.Tommy Hearns 5.Michael Spinks 6.Larry Holmes 7.Roberto Duran 8.Julio Cesar Chavez 9.Aaron Pryor 10.Salvador Sanchez XI. 1990s 1.Roy Jones Jr 2.Pernell Whitaker 3.Lennox Lewis 4.Evander Holyfield 5.James Toney 6.Oscar de la Hoya 7.Ricardo Lopez 8.Felix Trinidad 9.Bernard Hopkins 10.Shane Mosley XII. 2000s 1.Manny Pacquiao 2.Floyd Mayweather Jr 3.Bernard Hopkins 4.Joe Calzaghie 5.Juan Manuel Marquez 6.Winky Wright 7.Shane Mosley 8.Marco Antonio Barrera 9.Oscar De La Hoya 10.Miguel Cotto XIII. 2010s 1.Floyd Mayweather Jr 2.Manny Pacquiao 3.Andre Ward 4.Canelo Alvarez 5.Vasily Lomachenko 6.Roman Gonzales 7.Oleksander Usyk 8.Wladimer Klitchko 9.Gennady Golovkin 10.Naoya Inoue Hope I made it in time for the 1920s deadline.
Before starting the 1920s list I was really expecting to have Benny Leonard top 2 or maybe even 1. I guess I never realized how early into the decade he retired. Still being top 5 for the 1920s while retiring in 1924 is extremely impressive.
Don't beat yourself up. It's a mighty difficult task, and your contributions are most appreciated. The more of these surveys I do, the more I realize that you're always going to have things like accidental omissions and where certain guys are inadvertantly overlooked, and such. I've tried my best to come up with a scoring system that helps even out these anomalies.
Yeah Leonard suffers due to his work being split between the 10's & 20's. Bar far the bulk of his work was done in the 10's (138-20-8), where I ranked him #6 and where he ended the decade 60-1-1 and went 3-0 in LW WT fights. What he lacks in quantity, he makes up for in quality in the 20's, where I ranked him #3. He was only 23-1, but that included 7-0 in LW WT fights. The sole loss was a DQ against my #5 all time WW Jack Britton for hitting on the floor after he scored a KD. He beat Lew Tendler x 2, Rocky Kansas x 3, Ritchie Mitchel, Ever Hammer, Charley White, Frankie Britt & Johnny Dundee. i.e. he obliterated one of the stronger LW divisions in history. On top of that he beat the 14lbs heavier Soldier Bartfield (who holds a win over the 14.5lbs heavier Harry Greb). The more I researched Benny's career the more I became convinced he's the GOAT at LW. In fights contested in & around LW, from the age of 20 following his loss to Johnny Dundee (who he also beat 5 times), he went 81-0, beating some brilliant fighters, such as those listed above.
Hi Buddy. The breakdown of Leonard's career ( neatly done ) is posing real questions as to why I have Duran as my No 1, mitigating circumstances might be the era of 69/77 have and will always be my favourite, so I sort of grew up with Duran myself being a callow youth of 16 when I first got into boxing, the years of his dominance, the multiple title defenses, just his aura, was spellbinding, the emerging goatee beard just added to the menace of Duran, I would dare to venture very few fighters carried that sort of fear and respect from fellow boxers. For all the 30 years or so, I have steadfastly stood my choice of Duran as the best, but the more Leonards resume is highlighted, the more doubts creep in, I spoke to his son Morton many years ago at LEBA meeting and the obvs was asked by me, Morton said his dad always had the utmost respect for Leonard, and maintained their 8 round draw was a education, lest we forget Benny was outweighed by 6lb or so, but still gave a ATG welterweight all the trouble he could handle, if you then concede he threw the Britton fight, this lightweight could and did hold his own with 2 great champs, and had the beating of 1 until the " foul " so Greg, you have put a doubt in my mind, and Duran's position is in jeopardy....... stay safe buddy.
Hi Mike, Thanks for the reply. As you know, rankings depend on criteria. Duran on his best night may well be the best & most complete LW of all time, even allowing for evolution in boxing & sports science. Even on greatness, I have Duran higher P4P, he's my #7 & B.Lenoard my #8, as Duran did more impressive work above LW against naturally bigger men. However, based on greatness of records in & around (i.e. allowing up to 139.5lbs for non-title fights) LW, I'm comfortable Leonard is ahead. When ranking, once I'd compiled all my data, where it wasn't obvious at 1st glance who should be ranked the higher, I did comparions similiar to the below (again based only on fights contested at & around LW): Overall record - RD = 36-1; BL = 141-9-5 (note, Leonard went 81-0 after losing to Johnny Dundee age only 20) WT record - RD = 13-0 during 7-year reign; BL = 10-0 (arguably 9-0 as he was 1lbs overweight in a defence vs Freddie Welsh) during 8-year reign Losses during or close to prime - RD = x 1, twice avenged, vs De Jesus (2-1); BL = x 2, Freddie Welsh avenged (2-1) & Johnny Dundee avenged (5-2-2), both aged 20 (he was experienced enough & picking up wins that contribute to his win resume at this stage, so I think it's reasonable to classify him as close to prime, even though he clearly won't have absolutely peaked at only 20-years old). Best wins comparison (I'm not comfortable in the ordering of Duran's 4th best wins below, I've not given them much thought as I don't think they impact where I award the points): 1 & 2) RD = De Jesus x 2; BL = Welsh x 2- 10 & 9-points to BL 3) RD = Buchanan; BL = Tendler - 8-points RD 4) RD = Lampkin; BL = Tendler - 7-points BL 5) RD = Kobayashi; BL = Britton - 6-points to BL 6-9) RD = Viruet x 2, Thompson & Fernandez; BL = Kansas x 4 - 5, 4, 3 & 2-points to BL 10) RD = Bizzaro; BL = Duffy - 1-point to BL Total = BL = 46 vs RD = 8 Tbf, this sort of system favours fighters from previous eras in the win resume comparison, as they fought so much more often, both in general and against the best other fights of their day. So, I also deduced points for prime loses to try and take account of that, and not inherently favour previous eras. When I created my rankings I included Gans (initially at first glance, I couldn't separate these 3 and had a similiar points system, as above, for their combined top 40 wins). Leonard edged Gans into a close 2nd, Duran was way behind in 3rd. In summary, I can easily see Duran as being the best LW ever, in absolute terms and relative to the evolution of his era, and he's the LW I rank highest on my p4p list. However, based on the greatness of their records solely in fights contested in & around LW, there's no way I can see him ranked ahead of Duran. I have the upmost respect for your opinon though Mike, this lengthly post is just to explain the logic of my thinking. Cheers
Hi Buddy. Thanks Greg, and pretty much unarguable logic it is, not sure many posters would have the inclination to sit down and and delve into a fighters career and resume, as you do on a regular basis, in fact none would be a accurate figure, for that we all should show thanks. stay safe buddy, chat soon.
The following 1920s lists have been officially logged. I'm going to allow any late arrivals in the next few days, and will announce when it is officially closed for good. 1. Austinboxing @Austinboxing 1. Gene Tunney 2. Harry Greb 3. Tommy Loghran 4. Benny Leonard 5. Mikey Walker 6. Jack Dempsey 7. Tommy Gibson 8. Harry Wills 9. Pancho Villa 10. Fidel Labarba 2. Rubber Glove Sandwich @Rubber Glove Sandwich 1. Harry Greb 2. Gene Tunney 3. Mickey Walker 4. Benny Leonard 5. Tommy Loughran 6. Harry Wills 7. Jimmy McLarnin 8. Pancho Villa 9. Frankie Genaro 10. Sammy Mandell 3. Greg Price99 @Greg Price99 1. Harry Greb 2. Gene Tunney 3. Benny Leonard 4. Mickey Walker 5. Tommy Laughran 6. Sammy Mandell 7. Jackie Fields 8. Jack Delaney 9. Jimmy McLarnin 10. Frankie Genaro 11. Tommy Gibbons 12. Tiger Flowers 13. Pancho Villa 14. Sid Terris 15. Kid Norfolk 16. Lew Tendler 17. Newsboy Brown 18. Joe Dundee 19. Panama Al Brown 20. Bud Taylor 21. Kid Chocolate 22. Midget Wolgast 23. Young Corbett III 24. Rocky Kansas 25. Willie Davies 4. White Bomber @White Bomber 1. Jack Dempsey 2. Harry Greb 3. Gene Tunney 4. Benny Leonard 5. Mickey Walker 6. Tommy Laughran 7. Tommy Gibbons 8. Pancho Villa 9. Tiger Flowers 10. Jimmy McLarnin 5. Jason Thomas @Jason Thomas 1---Harry Greb 2---Benny Leonard 3---Gene Tunney 4---Mickey Walker 5---Harry Wills 6---Tommy Loughran 7---Kid Chocolate 8---Jack Dempsey 9---Jack Delaney 10-Paul Berlenbach 6. Joe Grantham @Joe Grantham 1. Harry Greb 2. Gene Tunney 3. Benny Leonard 4. Tiger Flowers 5. Jack Dempsey 6. Harry Wills 7. Pancho Villa 8. Tommy Loughran 9. Mickey Walker 10. Young Stribling 11. Maxie Rosenbloom 12. Battling Levinsky 13. George Carpentier 14. Tommy Gibbons 15. Billy Miske 16. Jack Sharkey 17. Cuban Bobby Brown 18. Johnny Dundee 19. Rocky Kansas 20. George KO Chaney 7. BoxingFanOfIranianDescent @BoxingFanOfIranianDescent 1. Jack Dempsey 2. Harry Greb 3. Gene Tunney 4. Tommy Gibbons 5. Benny Leonard 6. Tommy Loughran 7. Harry Wills 8. Jack Delaney 9. Micky Walker 10. Kid Norfolk 8. Gudetama @Gudetama 1. H Greb 2. B Leonard 3. M Walker 4. T Loughran 5. G Tunney 6. J McLarnin 7. J Dempsey 8. T Gibbons 9. T Flowers 10. J Sharkey 11. H Wills 12. Kid Norfolk 13. F Labarba 14. Bud Taylor 15. Kid Chocolate 16. P Villa 17. J Delaney 18. P Berlenbach 19. M Rosenbloom 20. S Mandell 21. Young Stribling 22. L Kaplan 23. F Genaro 24. G Carpentier 25. J Britton 9. DanTheBoxingFan69 @DanTheBoxingFan69 1) Gene Tunney 2) Harry Greb 3) Benny Leonard 4) Tommy Loughran 5) Jack Dempsey 6) Pancho Villa 7) Tommy Gibbons 8) Mickey Walker 9) Fidel LaBarda 10) Harry Willis 10. Ih8ohio @Ih8ohio 1. Benny Leonard 2. Gene Tunney 3. Pancho Villa 4. Mickey Walker 5. Tommy Loughran 6. Harry Greb 7. Jack Dempsey 8. Jack Sharkey 9. Harry Wills 10. Louis Kaplan 11. Lee Hyett @Lee Hyett 1) Tod Morgan 2) Tommy Loughran 3) Benny Leonard 4) Pancho Villa 5) Harry Greb 6) Mickey Walker 7) Mushy Callahan 8) Gene Tunney 9) Jack Dempsey 10) Fidel LaBarba 12. Gui Dosnera @Gui Dosnera 1: Harry Greb 2: Tommy Loughran 3: Maxie Rosenbloom 4: Benny Leonard 5: Mickey Walker 6: Sammy Mandell 7: Tiger Flowers 8: Benny Bass 9: Dave Shade 10: Jack Delaney 11: Pete Latzo 12: Jimmy McLarnin 13: Jackie Fields 14: Joe Glick 15: Joe Dundee 16: Young Stribling 17: Kid Norfolk 18: Jimmy Slattery 19: Mike McTigue 20: Gene Tunney 21: Fidel La Barba 22: "Bud" Taylor 23: Jack Dempsey 24: Pancho Villa 25: Len Harvey 13. LXG @LXG Benny Leonard Harry Greb Tommy Loughran Jack Dempsey Mickey Walker Gene Tunney Jack Britton Poncho Villa Lew Tendler Harry Wills Johnny Dundee Louis “Kid” Kaplan Charles Bernard “Bud” Taylor Jimmy McLarnin 14. Noel857 @Noel857 1 Gene Tunney 2 Harry Greb 3 Tommy Loughran 4 Benny Leonard 5 Mickey Walker 6 Jack Dempsey 7 Pancho Villa 8 Tommy Gibbons 9 Harry Wills 10 Young Stribling 15. SwappanDutta @SwappanDutta 1. Jack Dempsey 2. Harry Greb 3. Gene Tunney 4. Tommy Loughran 5. Micky Walker 6. Tommy Gibbons 7. Benny Leonard 8. Battling Ski 9. Harry Wills 10. Jack Sharkey 16. themostoverrated @themostoverrated 1. Harry Greb 2. Benny Leonard 3. Tommy Loughran 4. Gene Tunney 5. Mickey Walker 6. Tommy Gibbons 7. Jack Dempsey 8. Louis Kaplan 9. Harry Wills 10. Pancho Villa 17. Del Boy @Del Boy 1 Gene Tunney 2 Harry Greb 3 Benny Leonard 4 Tommy Loughran 5 Mickey Walker 6 Harry Wills 7 Tommy Gibbons 8 Peter Berlenbach 9 Jack Dempsey 10 Pancho Villa 11 Fidel La Barba 12 Mike McTigue 13 Jack Delaney 14 Battling Ski 15 Jack Sharkey 18. Kell Macabe @Kell Macabe 1.Harry Greb 2.Gene Tunney 3.Benny Leonard 4.Jack Dempsey 5.Tommy Loughran 6.Mickey Walker 7.Toney Canzoneri 8.Pancho Cilla 9.Panama Al Brown 10.Jimmy Mclarnin
19 Mike Cannon @Mike Cannon 1/ Harry Greb 2/Benny Leonard 3/Gene Tunney 4/Mickey Walker 5/Jack Dempsey 6/Jimmy McLarnin 7/Tony Canzoneri 8/Pancho Villa 9/Tommy Loughran 10/Kid Chocolate.
The 1920s Survey is officially closed! Get your lists in for the 1930s, 1940s, etc, all the way through the 2010s. A very special thanks to the 19 volunteers who participated in the 1920s edition. 1. Austinboxing @Austinboxing 1. Gene Tunney 2. Harry Greb 3. Tommy Loghran 4. Benny Leonard 5. Mikey Walker 6. Jack Dempsey 7. Tommy Gibson 8. Harry Wills 9. Pancho Villa 10. Fidel Labarba 2. Rubber Glove Sandwich @Rubber Glove Sandwich 1. Harry Greb 2. Gene Tunney 3. Mickey Walker 4. Benny Leonard 5. Tommy Loughran 6. Harry Wills 7. Jimmy McLarnin 8. Pancho Villa 9. Frankie Genaro 10. Sammy Mandell 3. Greg Price99 @Greg Price99 1. Harry Greb 2. Gene Tunney 3. Benny Leonard 4. Mickey Walker 5. Tommy Laughran 6. Sammy Mandell 7. Jackie Fields 8. Jack Delaney 9. Jimmy McLarnin 10. Frankie Genaro 11. Tommy Gibbons 12. Tiger Flowers 13. Pancho Villa 14. Sid Terris 15. Kid Norfolk 16. Lew Tendler 17. Newsboy Brown 18. Joe Dundee 19. Panama Al Brown 20. Bud Taylor 21. Kid Chocolate 22. Midget Wolgast 23. Young Corbett III 24. Rocky Kansas 25. Willie Davies 4. White Bomber @White Bomber 1. Jack Dempsey 2. Harry Greb 3. Gene Tunney 4. Benny Leonard 5. Mickey Walker 6. Tommy Laughran 7. Tommy Gibbons 8. Pancho Villa 9. Tiger Flowers 10. Jimmy McLarnin 5. Jason Thomas @Jason Thomas 1---Harry Greb 2---Benny Leonard 3---Gene Tunney 4---Mickey Walker 5---Harry Wills 6---Tommy Loughran 7---Kid Chocolate 8---Jack Dempsey 9---Jack Delaney 10-Paul Berlenbach 6. Joe Grantham @Joe Grantham 1. Harry Greb 2. Gene Tunney 3. Benny Leonard 4. Tiger Flowers 5. Jack Dempsey 6. Harry Wills 7. Pancho Villa 8. Tommy Loughran 9. Mickey Walker 10. Young Stribling 11. Maxie Rosenbloom 12. Battling Levinsky 13. George Carpentier 14. Tommy Gibbons 15. Billy Miske 16. Jack Sharkey 17. Cuban Bobby Brown 18. Johnny Dundee 19. Rocky Kansas 20. George KO Chaney 7. BoxingFanOfIranianDescent @BoxingFanOfIranianDescent 1. Jack Dempsey 2. Harry Greb 3. Gene Tunney 4. Tommy Gibbons 5. Benny Leonard 6. Tommy Loughran 7. Harry Wills 8. Jack Delaney 9. Micky Walker 10. Kid Norfolk 8. Gudetama @Gudetama 1. H Greb 2. B Leonard 3. M Walker 4. T Loughran 5. G Tunney 6. J McLarnin 7. J Dempsey 8. T Gibbons 9. T Flowers 10. J Sharkey 11. H Wills 12. Kid Norfolk 13. F Labarba 14. Bud Taylor 15. Kid Chocolate 16. P Villa 17. J Delaney 18. P Berlenbach 19. M Rosenbloom 20. S Mandell 21. Young Stribling 22. L Kaplan 23. F Genaro 24. G Carpentier 25. J Britton 9. DanTheBoxingFan69 @DanTheBoxingFan69 1) Gene Tunney 2) Harry Greb 3) Benny Leonard 4) Tommy Loughran 5) Jack Dempsey 6) Pancho Villa 7) Tommy Gibbons 8) Mickey Walker 9) Fidel LaBarda 10) Harry Willis 10. Ih8ohio @Ih8ohio 1. Benny Leonard 2. Gene Tunney 3. Pancho Villa 4. Mickey Walker 5. Tommy Loughran 6. Harry Greb 7. Jack Dempsey 8. Jack Sharkey 9. Harry Wills 10. Louis Kaplan 11. Lee Hyett @Lee Hyett 1) Tod Morgan 2) Tommy Loughran 3) Benny Leonard 4) Pancho Villa 5) Harry Greb 6) Mickey Walker 7) Mushy Callahan 8) Gene Tunney 9) Jack Dempsey 10) Fidel LaBarba 12. Gui Dosnera @Gui Dosnera 1: Harry Greb 2: Tommy Loughran 3: Maxie Rosenbloom 4: Benny Leonard 5: Mickey Walker 6: Sammy Mandell 7: Tiger Flowers *8: Jimmy Slattery* 9: Dave Shade 10: Jack Delaney 11: Pete Latzo 12: Jimmy McLarnin 13: Jackie Fields 14: Joe Glick 15: Joe Dundee 16: Young Stribling 17: Kid Norfolk *18: Benny Bass* 19: Mike McTigue 20: Gene Tunney 21: Fidel La Barba 22: "Bud" Taylor 23: Jack Dempsey 24: Pancho Villa 25: Len Harvey 13. LXG @LXG Benny Leonard Harry Greb Tommy Loughran Jack Dempsey Mickey Walker Gene Tunney Jack Britton Poncho Villa Lew Tendler Harry Wills Johnny Dundee Louis “Kid” Kaplan Charles Bernard “Bud” Taylor Jimmy McLarnin 14. Noel857 @Noel857 1 Gene Tunney 2 Harry Greb 3 Tommy Loughran 4 Benny Leonard 5 Mickey Walker 6 Jack Dempsey 7 Pancho Villa 8 Tommy Gibbons 9 Harry Wills 10 Young Stribling 15. SwappanDutta @SwappanDutta 1. Jack Dempsey 2. Harry Greb 3. Gene Tunney 4. Tommy Loughran 5. Micky Walker 6. Tommy Gibbons 7. Benny Leonard 8. Battling Ski 9. Harry Wills 10. Jack Sharkey 16. themostoverrated @themostoverrated 1. Harry Greb 2. Benny Leonard 3. Tommy Loughran 4. Gene Tunney 5. Mickey Walker 6. Tommy Gibbons 7. Jack Dempsey 8. Louis Kaplan 9. Harry Wills 10. Pancho Villa 17. Del Boy @Del Boy 1 Gene Tunney 2 Harry Greb 3 Benny Leonard 4 Tommy Loughran 5 Mickey Walker 6 Harry Wills 7 Tommy Gibbons 8 Peter Berlenbach 9 Jack Dempsey 10 Pancho Villa 11 Fidel La Barba 12 Mike McTigue 13 Jack Delaney 14 Battling Ski 15 Jack Sharkey 18. Kell Macabe @Kell Macabe 1.Harry Greb 2.Gene Tunney 3.Benny Leonard 4.Jack Dempsey 5.Tommy Loughran 6.Mickey Walker 7.Toney Canzoneri 8.Pancho Cilla 9.Panama Al Brown 10.Jimmy Mclarnin 19. Mike Cannon @Mike Cannon 1/ Harry Greb 2/Benny Leonard 3/Gene Tunney 4/Mickey Walker 5/Jack Dempsey 6/Jimmy McLarnin 7/Tony Canzoneri 8/Pancho Villa 9/Tommy Loughran 10/Kid Chocolate.
