All time fighter rankings on ESB

To be honest I have no idea where to start. I have seen it attempted many times and eventually holes are found. It all depends who you talk to and their own personal opinions on who is better

 

You should judge ATG rankings on an era-by-era basis.

Dominance for their era(but always taking into consideration how strong the era was)

Resume/Accomplishments, which is taking into account the list of fighters beaten and if neccessary, the belt or weight class

Dominance for era is one trait that puts someone like Floyd up there, but not in the sense of having a strong era, or at least not a very strong resume. And most of all, his best challenges still await him. That happens with quite a few of them.

As for lists, I had a top 35 but lost it in the crash of my computer, but I should be able to come up with something soon anyway.

 

Good luck, I dont think theres a science to it, everybody got there own opinions and proof to back up there claims most of the time, it's just too tough for everyone to come together and agree on a list IMO.

 

My top 35 of all time as of now.

1. Ray Robinson
2. Harry Greb
3. Henry Armstrong
4. Sam Langford
5. Muhammad Ali
6. Ezzard Charles
7. Mickey Walker
8. Roberto Duran
9. Benny Leonard
10. Barney Ross
11. Willie Pep
12. Ray Leonard
13. Pernell Whitaker
14. Tony Canzoneri
15. Barbados Joe Walcott
16. Bob Fitzsimmons
17. Joe Gans
18. Joe Louis
19. Carlos Monzon
20. Archie Moore
21. Gene Tunney
22. Emile Griffith
23. Alexis Arguello
24. Carlos Ortiz
25. Kid Gavilan
26. Ike Williams
27. Roy Jones Jr.
28. Eder Jofre
29. Marvin Hagler
30. Jimmy Wilde
31. Julio Cesar Chavez
32. Sandy Saddler
33. Thomas Hearns
34. Charley Burley
35. Jose Napoles

 

You have to take everything into consideration.

Armstrong won titles at 126, 135, and 147 in his day, all in the span of one brilliant year(the best single year for any fighter in the history of the sport). That is 3 original weight classes, and he would've had a 4th at 160 had he not been robbed with a Draw against Ceferino Garcia.

In today's game, he has 130, 140, and 154 to go through, winning titles at each possibly. That would be 7 weight classes, and not to mention, back in the day they only had one major titlist, not 4 or so as they do today. Should be considered a much better accomplishment than any weight jumping a guy like Mayweather or De La Hoya has ever done.

 

ATG list by MSTR:

1. Roy Jones Jr
2. Miguel Cotto

That is all.

 

I definitely agree with that.

I like the idea of evaluating on the basis of dominance within era's as well, since it evens the playing field for modern fighters, who will never compete strictly on resume with some of the fighters from the early era's.

 

Duran had a more dominant LW run than Saddler ever had at FW, and even though Saddler had the better wins(over Pep), Duran had the better dominance, consistency, and better wins at higher weights, including arguably the greatest win ever in the first Leonard fight. Saddler wasn't as successful at higher weights as Duran, and overall, Duran's resume is more stacked, though Saddler's top wins are just as good or better.

Duran had a fuller resume, a more dominant run, a much better record at higher weights, and if neccessary to be said, an even more impressive skill-set.

 

I think boxing would have more worldwide competitors in the modern era as well, and more competitors overall. Although i don't have any stats to back that up with.

 

You make a good point there, but even so, the fighters Armstrong beat for the titles were better for their era, and were he in today's era, he'd have won titles in 7 weight classes, compared to 5 by Floyd, and against better competition.