Best era for MW contenders?

Hi Buddy.
The early to late 60s produced some fine contenders, in their own right :
Laurent Dauthuille, Eugene Hairston, Robert Villeman, Walter Cartier, Dave Sands, Rocky Castellanii, Charles Humez, Norman Hayes, Joey Giambra, Holly Mims, Rubin Carter , Pierre Langlois, Eduardo Lausse, Tiberio Mitri, Ralph Jones, Spider Webb, Rory Calhoun.
Would the above fit the bill ?
stay safe buddy, chat soon.

 

The 40s is very impressive if you look at the end of year rankings.

 

The late 80s, early 90s was pretty great, as well. Hagler, Leonard, Jones, Nunn, Toney, Julian Jackson, Mike McCallum, Sumbu Kalambay, Tommy Hearns, Iran Barkley, Nigel Benn, Gerald McClellan, Bernard Hopkins, Jorge Castro, John David Jackson. Even guys like Thomas Tate and Lamar Parks looked promising. It was a very stacked era.

 

Nothing beats the early 90's. I will die on that hill.

1992 Ring Annual Ranking

1. Julian Jackson
2. James Toney
3. Reggie Johnson
4. Roy Jones Jr.
5. Mike McCallum
6. Sumbu Kalambay
7. Gerald McClellan
8. Lamar Parks
9. Bernard Hopkins
10. Thomas Tate

 

“Silent” Eugene Hairston could really fight, good bout he had with LaMotta.

 

Mike, I agree that was a great era, but your timeline is a bit off. Listed fighters 1-8 and 12-15 were factors in the division during the '50s but not the '60s. Jones, Webb, and Calhoun's best years were in the '50s though their careers continued into the early 60s. Mims and Giambra had good years in both the 50s and 60s. Carter is definitely a product of the '60s.

 

I am tempted to pick the 30s right after the time Mickey Walker vacated the title to move up in weight class, because most of the contenders ended up being titlists due to (1) lack of a dominant champion and (2) titles being splintered (yes, all the way back in the 30s!).

Gorilla Jones, Dave Shade, Eddie Risko, Al Hostak, Seferino Garcia, Marcel Thil, Freddie Steele, Fred Apostoli, Lou Brouillard, Ben Jeby, Solly Krieger, Vince Dundee, Teddy Yarosz, Ron Richards and Ken Overlin.

It was a great time for MW contenders because you could become a titlist very easily in that era - at least relative to the eras that preceded and especially those that followed.

 

1910s. They probably had more concurrent world title claimants then any division has ever had in the aftermath of Stanley Ketchels untimely death. LHW was also not a division/barely existant which made MW the 2nd biggest division in boxing.

They might not be appreciated today Al McCoy isn't even the best Al McCoy but there were a lot of champions thats for sure. Here is a list of title claimants.

Papke
Klaus
Clabby
McCoy
Dave Smith
Carpentier
Cyclone Thompson
Jack Dillon
Frank Mantell
McGoorty
Jeff Smith
Mick King
Les Darcy
Mike Gibbons
Young Ahearn
George Chip
Leo Houck
Harry Lewis
Mike O Dowd

These are titlists not contenders titlists.

 

What an era!

 

The 40s were pretty stacked
Zale, Graziano, Williams, Burley, Moore, Charles, Booker, Chase, SRR, LaMotta, Cerdan, Lytell. Probably missing a lot too

 

I think you meant to say the 50's?

 

I must say I totally forgot about the 40s and the murderer's row. However, I would call this a dark era for contenders since they (the murderer's row) were never given a title shot which some of them richly deserved.

 

Hi Buddy.
Sorry, I meant the 50s, you and @mcvey are right to correct me, thanks .
stay safe KK, chat soon buddy.

 

We all make errors.