Who are the greatest 15 fighters of the past 30 years??

I'd put Salvador Sanchez and Tyson on the list. I'm not going to penalize Sanchez for his short career, nor can I penalize Tyson for not moving up in weight.

 

I'll post the same thing I did in the General Forum.

Since 1978, based ONLY on their careers past this point, therefore a guy like Duran gets the short end of the stick due to having almost his entire LW career cut out, as well as other fighters. If you have questions about certain fighters placing, make sure to take into account the above criteria:

1. Ray Leonard
2. Pernell Whitaker
3. Marvin Hagler
4. Roy Jones Jr.
5. Julio Cesar Chavez
6. Tommy Hearns
7. Floyd Mayweather
8. Evander Holyfield
9. Michael Spinks
10. Alexis Arguello
11. Bernard Hopkins
12. Lennox Lewis
13. Larry Holmes
14. Roberto Duran
15. Salvador Sanchez

HM: Aaron Pryor, Mike McCallum, Oscar De La Hoya, Felix Trinidad, Azumah Nelson, Ricardo Lopez

 

Good topic and hard choices to make... (Ranking based on Head-to-head, pure objective skills, and their level of dominance in their respective primes and at a lesser extend, accomplishments a.k.a quality wins, longevity and title reign)


The 15 Greatest fighters from 1978-2008

1-Sugar Ray Leonard (Great blend of speed, defense, mobility, killer instinct, power and toughness, got the best record of the Fab 4)
2-Pernell Whitaker (The best pure boxer since... Willie Pep ?) :think
3-Roy Jones Jr. (The most amazing prime fighter I've ever seen)
4-Marvin Hagler (A switch hitting complete package. Agressive, mean and always in your face, he's also impossible to KO which is a probable nightmare for an opponent)
5-Salvador Sanchez (Short career but put a great title run and is very strong Head-to-head, could almost adapt to any style)
6-Floyd Mayweather Jr. (Could be as good as Pernell with a few more names on his resume)
7-Ricardo Lopez (The perfect fighter)
8-Alexis Arguello (A silent killer and a complete fighter)
9-Michel Spinks (Rangy and very adaptable boxer-puncher. Tough match for any 175 lber ever)
10-Larry Holmes (One of the best jabs ever, all weightclasses included)
11-Julio Cesar Chavez (Tough guy and so skilled and effective at what he did : Bring the opponent down)
12-Bernard Hopkins (As smart and wily as you can find)
13-James Toney (A real badass old-school fighter. Mad counter-punching skills)
14-Thomas Hearns (The most explosive 147\154-lbs punching machine ever alongside a guy named Walker Smith)
15a-Mike Tyson (Just for his prime skills, he deserves a spot.. Incredible to see him just blow away some alphabet champs and title contenders)
15b-Mike McCallum (Tough, smart and well-schooled. Wicked body puncher, maybe the best ever, he showed no real weakness)


Honorable mentions:

Evander Holyfield
Lennox Lewis
Aaron Pryor
Roberto Duran
Oscar Dela Hoya
Felix Trinidad

 

Not particularly. I know how great Pea was in terms of what he could do in the ring, so rankings based on accomplishments(even though his were great) don't fully do him justice. Though, even in that sense, it's not like it'd be an easy case to rate him over Leonard.

I think Lennox has the better resume as well, but not the better skillset at all. Few Heavyweights do have the skillset of the smaller guys, if any.

 

Duran #14??? :huh

 

Well I'd have to say that logically he has the better power, yes. He doesn't have the variety in his offense that Bernard does though, nor the defense, nor the chin, nor the versatility, even though he was very effective with his style.

 

Did you read the list?

 

Snorlaaaaxxx!

 

Are you simple? I said: Duran #14??? :huh

 

But not as versatile a fighter is my point. And allowing for the use of his size is one of the reasons I consider Hopkins better P4P. He was a pretty big MW, but no Lennox Lewis in comparison to most Heavyweights.