For me, It's Joe Louis. In addition to the other fighters that were mentioned, Flash Elorde should also be mentioned. He held his title for quite sometime, I believe.
Benny Leonard ,held the lightweight championship for SEVEN years, against the greatest lightweight contenders ever at one time...Leonard reigned from 1917 to 1924, and retired UNDEFEATED, as lightweight champion...He completely dominated his talent rich division... Joe Louis ,among the heavyweights was champion for 12 years, and completely dominated hius division until Louis first retired...A great,great fighter and gentleman was THE BROWN BOMBER, JOE LOUIS...
Out of the fighters listed in the poll, I'd have to go with Leonard. He beat a host of top fighters and HOFers from FW to WW, some by KO, over a number of years and never was beaten for his title.
Well, 18 defences is great longevity. It doesn't matter all those fights happened in three years imo. Monzon for me, closely followed by Joe Louis.
Ali quite easily, arguably 3 top10 at his weight, arguably 5 top, 2 of the hardest hitters ever at the weight and beating all manner of styles. Then theres the fact his reign lasted the 16years. No one else comes close Anyone picking Monzon is nuts/biased, with his resume of past it WWs and plodding B class middles, he doesnt even have the best MW title run
I expected his name to be mentioned, but for me Louis just isn't in the running. I don't think his resume is good enough. He's clearly behind Leonard and Pep amongst others IMO.
Just another little fact that wasn't in the "Child's Primer of Boxing"..the basis of powerpuncher's boxing knowledge.
Benny Leonard for me, fought in a truly great erra of lightweights. Monzon also had a brilliant reign but second would probably be Joe Louis, thats the top 3 anyway.
he's not a douche but that was a bit harsh on Monzon. For me I will say Benny Leonard followed by Ray Robinson
That's one criterion. You mentioned three others. "Quality of Performance" - Louis knocked most of his challengers for six within a handful of rounds, including some very good (if not great) opponents. At his best, he looked virtually unbeatable, with precise range control like nothing before and speedy combinations, not to mention having a punch like a freight train. He showed a versatile arsenal of skills, and dealt with big guys, small guys, inside fighters, outside fighters, guys that moved, guys that came straight in: the lot. "Examination of Losses" - Louis had none; his reign was uninterrupted. There was one seemingly dubious decision, but how many others on the list didn't have the odd close shave, let alone the odd loss? "Longevity" - 25 title defences, longest reigning champion etc. For every category of those three, one can construct a decent argument for Louis being the number 1. He is most certainly "in the running".