Fighters of the Century per Futch/Dundee/Clancy/Duva/Chargin - The Welterweights.

Hearns's resume at WW is fine. He's 5-1 against guys who are interesting, basically.

If you want to compare him to Basilio, he only really has three ranked guys who matter - but they really matter. These are Billy Graham (2), Johnny Saxton (ch), Tony DeMarco (ch.). You also want to give him guys like Ike Williams, that definitely qualifies as "interesting" Overall, that's exceptional but two of these guys beat him, as well. He also lost at the weight. He couldn't beat Chuck Davey in two efforts. He's 5-2 in title fights. Ross Virgo outthought him and beat the crap out of him. Johnny Cesario and Eddie Giosa beat him. These guys aren't mugs; Giosa beat some really good fighters, for example, But they weren't special, either and my impression is that Hearns would use splinters of Giosa's bones to pick meat out of his teeth.

I also believe that Chuck Davey couldn't get a win against Hearns without Hearns blowing out a knee, or tearing a hamstring or breaking an ankle; he would go 50-0 with Davey in fifty fights.

This is the least of the considerations though and I don't insist upon it as a mitigating factor. I ranked Hearns above Mayweather though, for example, despite Mayweather's better resume as I that I think it is almost impossible for Mayweather to beat Hearns in a real fight - I feel that way.

IN the end, i'm more impressed by the Hearns "how". He beat Cuevas easily. It was easy. Clyde Gray was Commonwealth champ when Hearns dusted him easily, and it was Hearns' fifteenth fight (Basilio lost to a professional loser named Johnny Cunnigham at the same stage of his career). Former beltholder Angel Espada, just felt like sparring such was Hearns' excess, he was really that much better than the competion.

When he gets sparked by Leonard, certainly one of the twenty and maybe one of the ten very best in history head-to-head, it was in a competitive fight he very easily could have won.

What are you being directed to? Who are you being directed there by? In a "list of wins" sense, there is no argument for Hearns at WW to be ranked above Basilio. But there is a lot more information out there. Basilio didn't make my top twenty, for the record, but it's a stacked division.