-Nino Benvenuti -Jimmy McLarnin -Jimmy Wilde -Oleksandr Usyk My Mount Rushmore .. What would be yours?
I'll help u .. Benvenuti was an Olympic gold medalist (val barker trophy winner also) & both an undisputed WW & MW champion. Had an ATG trilogy with Emile Griffith. McLarnin? 2x world champion, had wins over HOF'ers - Fidel LaBarba, Pancho Villa, Bud Taylor, Louis 'Kid' Kaplan, Sammy Mandell, Billy Petrolle, Benny Leonard, Young Corbett III, Barney Ross, Tony Canzoneri and Lou Ambers. That's one of the greatest resumes in boxing history.. Surely you know who Jimmy Wilde is? Probably the greatest Flyweight ever. Calzage was a fantastic fighter but not on this level IMO.
Retired fighters only: 1. Bob Fitzsimmons 2. Jimmy Wilde 3. Jimmy McLarnin 4. Ted Kid Lewis 5. Lennox Lewis 6. Jim Driscoll 7. Benny Lynch 8. Freddie Welsh 9. Joe Calzaghe 10. Jack Kid Berg HMs Marcel Cerdan, Owen Moran, Duilio Loi, Nino Benevuti, Salvatorre Burruni
Hi Greg. Pretty much closed the topic down with your list ( not the first time ) what are your thoughts on two other very good European fighter's they being Carpentier and Arcari, both champions, and Arcari reigned for a long time in the 70s. Thanks buddy, chat soon.
Hi Mike, Thank you. Both had fine careers and could warrant spots in the honourable mentions along with Buchanan and Conteh.
Thank you. Thil had a decent career, though I'd probably rank Randy Turpin and Marcel Cerdan higher, as MWs that didn't make my top 10 list.
Benvenuti was WBC champion ,and at Middle and Light Middle.he was never Welterweight champion. McLarnin was something of a weight bully,check out his weight against; Labarba Villa Mandell Petrolle Corbett Ross Canzoneri Ambers
The was a typo .. & Benvenuti was WBA champion at both weights too, not just WBC champion .. Yes I'm aware of the recorded weights of many of his fights also.. 7/8lb difference for Canzoneri, 6lbs for Villa etc... but he did come all way up from flyweight himself.. albeit he was very young.. but still.. he was a world class flyweight or bantamweight as early as 1925.. Consider that he had wins over La Barba , Taylor and Pancho Villa before he was even eighteen years old.. That is insane.. regardless of the extra few pounds he had .. if u want to label him as a weight bully that's your prerogative but for me his achievements & resume are second to none.. I'd also add he wasn't always the bigger man, young Corbett III was a WW who went on to fight at MW.. that first round KO for McLarnin is one of the greatest wins in the history of boxing .. considering Corbett was WW champion & would go on to beat MW great Mickey Walker, Gus lesnevich a future LHW champion, LHW great Billy Conn & the #1 rated MW Fred Apostoli.
Incidentally, I almost included YCIII in my list of top 10 European boxers of all time, assuming he was officially Italian, given he was born there, before checking Wiki and discovering his official nationality was that of his adopted United States. Regardless of nationality, I consider him very underrated, the run he went on, including the wins you mention, after losing his WW crown to McLarnin was remarkable for a 5ft 5ins fighter who was never anything more than a natural LMW, at most.
Lewis, Calzaghe, Wilde for UK No mention of Klitschko bros? Bivol, Beterbiev gotta be in it now too. Lomachenko for amateur career too.
Astounding really.. I'm not as cluded up on Corbett as the likes of McLarnin but the more i research Corbett the more i realise what a fantastic fighter he was in his own right.. when he beat Apostoli, Apostoli had just beaten Marcel Thil.. & Conn & Lesnevich would go on to fight a who's who... corbett also beat the #2 rated Welterweight Bep Van Klaveren twice after McLarnin.. BVK was an Olympic gold medalist btw.. Not bad eh