Benny Leonard Willie Pep Jim Driscoll Tommy Loughran Pernell Whitaker Miguel Canto Harold Johnson Ray Robinson
Langford duran ray leonard toney byrd orlin norris pacquiao (maybe , or is it just because his trainer?)
Wow, lots of votes for Benny Leonard and RJJ. I probably should have made this more official, as in pick a Top 5 or Top 10, and in order. Maybe this should be started over.
Ayala was never, ever on the level of a truly elite fighter. He was good at what he does, which was to bully people, but if he was truly talented, he would have had a title by the time of his incarceration.
Ever since age 8, Tony had beaten everybody who came his way, a lot of these guys older (and thus bigger) and more experienced, and some even amateur champions. He wouldn't be able to beat guys like that on just bullying alone. What he did have though is freakish power. Ask Lamont Kirkland....or Bobby Czyz....or Pipino Cuevas....or Roger Leonard... Tony was scheduled to fight Duran November 1982, but got into trouble instead. Lucky for Duran.
Depends how you define talented. Most people you speak to will automatically choose speed demons, and relate that to 'talent', but so many other guys that lacked speed are just as talented at the art as those guys, just more so in other attributes.
I so regret Duran didn't get chance to expose him And the answer to the thread is Roy Jones by an absolute land slide.
At 154, Duran would've been the one exposed-as an old, blown up lightweight. No way he would've stopped a much stronger man. As for Davey Moore, he just had the misfortune of a thumb in the eye.
I could see Tony Ayala up there because of his ability to put the hurt on opponents. and of Course Terry Norris
Yes, Terry Norris... and Camacho, too. Hector was to speed what Tony was to power. A sidenote about Texas....Terry Norris is from Lubbock.