50 greatest boxers of all time!

lamotta above hagler...........no no no no

 

hmm says... this is the criteria used for the "experts'" selection. If you go by the various criteria, the list makes a little more sense... They really need to update the list though and perhaps change the whole criteria.


The fighters in this list have been assessed on four main criteria:

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: A subjective measure and, to some degree, unquantifiable, but an important one. There's more to being considered a great fighter than compiling wins and collecting championship belts. There's also the manner in which the fights are fought and the wins are won -- the skill, the talent, the heart. Muhammad Ali brought a whole new style and panache to heavyweight boxing. Rocky Marciano and Evander Holyfield each defined fighting heart. Roy Jones Jr. and Floyd Mayweather Jr. at times displayed flashes of skill and superiority of a kind rarely seen in a boxing ring. At his peak, Mike Tyson didn't so much knock out his opponents as send them flying across the ring.

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: Blistering power or silky smooth boxing moves aren't enough. Boxing's landscape is littered with fighters whose achievements did not end up matching their skill or talent. Almost all the fighters on this list fought at or near the pinnacle of the sport for years -- most either won multiple world titles or defended one title multiple times. Stanley Ketchel defended his middleweight championship 11 times in a short life that ended at 24. Harry Greb won the middleweight title despite being half blind in one eye, and went on to fight light heavyweights and heavyweights. George Foreman won the heavyweight championship of the world, lost it, retired, came back 10 years later and regained the crown at age 45. Henry Armstrong held world championships at three weights at the same time.

The exceptions all have good reasons for being so. Sam Langford, for example, was denied the opportunity to ever contest a world championship bout. Marcel Cerdan was injured during the first defense of his middleweight title and died in a plane crash before he could win back his crown.

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: A factor that arguably works against those from eras with deeper talent pools, but one which rewards those who stood out from among their peers. Joe Louis was heavyweight champion for 11 years. Robinson suffered just one defeat in his first 123 bouts. Cerdan lost only four times in 110 fights, and each of them was due to disqualification, dodgy judging or injury. Pep allegedly once won a round without throwing a punch.

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: This is the wild-card element. It's a disadvantage for most modern fighters, who compete in a time when boxing is no longer a mainstream sport, but it also conversely greatly boosts the candidacies of those few contemporary boxers who have achieved crossover recognition. In particular, it substantially elevates De La Hoya and Tyson, two boxers who might otherwise not be as high on this list -- or even on it at all. De La Hoya is perhaps the only active boxer with widespread name recognition outside of boxing circles, and nobody brought a buzz to the sport in recent decades to anything like the degree of Tyson -- who, for better or worse, remains synonymous with modern boxing in the public mind.

This list, then, is not just the 50 greatest fighters of all time. It is the 50 fighters who were the greatest in their time. It is a tribute to the boxers who have gone before, and to those who have strived to reach the standard their predecessors have set.

 

better than bert sugar's list

 

dont care how the list,as long as joe calzaghe isnt in there,o wait a min!!?? hes not in there!! hahaha,I told ya dat overrated bum is not great!!

 

Calzaghe easily makes top 50.

 

Here's a sane arguement to keep Ezzard Charles out of the top ten (I wouldn't deny that he's a lock for the top twenty).

10.)Joe Gans
9.)Pernell Whitaker
8.) Muhammad Ali
7.) Joe Louis
6.) Roberto Duran
5.) Jimmy Wilde
4.) Sam Langford
3.) Willie Pep
5.) Sugar Ray Robinson
4.) Henry Armstrong

 

Regardless of where you think Ezzard Charles belongs, I think we can agree that George Foreman is rated much too high here.

 

I think that Pernell Whitaker should be alot higher. In fact, a few years ago, Ring magazine had him ranked 10th for the greatest fighters of the last 80 years. Also, Tunney and Morales should not make this list. Pacquiao should be somewhere in the top 30.

 

reminded me of bert sugar's list.

 

This is a popularity list - it lacks depth...

 

No Wilfredo Benitez??? WTF!

:huh

 

Sugar Ray Leonard is WAY too high. Who did he beat? Has a great win vs hearns (as does iran barkley), a very lame win against hagler. 1 loss and 1 win (and a suspicious win at that) against Duran. A good win against Benitez. That's pretty much his a-list resume. SRL is consitantly one of the most over rated ATG. he's 25-50 range for me.

 

oh yeah and in his comeback years he lost a fight to hearns, got ktfo by norris and whipped by camacho