In the past 20 years .. at HW its between 4 fighters... K2, Fury, Usyk.. & Povetkin isn't far off either... but who would u consider #1? Same with each division... I'd like to hear your arguments..
I'm going to change "best" to "greatest". Minimum: This content is protected It could be Wanheng, but KO is close enough to the threshold while still reigning that I'll choose him) Junior-fly: This content is protected Fly: This content is protected Super-fly: This content is protected Out of the big three, Wangek scored the best H2H in their little round robin, and I personally like him the most. Bantam: This content is protected To an unbiased fan, Inoue would have to be in conversation as maybe the greatest bantamweight ever, based on sheer dominance and his clearing of the division. Super-bantam: This content is protected Feather: This content is protected He reigned for a decade and beat Marquez. I shouldn't have to defend this one. Super-feather: This content is protected Light: This content is protected I guess Floyd again. It's not my fault, it's lightweight's fault. No champion has stuck it around and made it their own. If we got Haney vs Loma, maybe we could have a different guy. Super-light: This content is protected Welter: This content is protected Junior-middle: This content is protected I know. I know. But let's be honest, he schooled Canelo, Cotto and Maidana. Did Winky do that? Nope. Should have Floyd fought Winky? Yep. Did he? Nope. Middle: This content is protected This content is protected Super middle: This content is protected Light-heavy: This content is protected I wanted to pick Dmitry Bivol, so don't be mad at me for tying Beterbiev and Kovalev. Kovalev has a good resume. But so does Beterbiev, and I don't think Ward would KO Beterbiev, low-blows or no. If Bivol schools Zurdo, he could have a mention here too. Imagine that, three runners, and they're all Russian. Cruiser: This content is protected The greatest cruiser ever. By far. No dispute is valid. If you don't believe me at my word, check out the facts: https://www.boxingforum24.com/threads/cw-oleksandr-usyk-vs-evander-holyfield.687349/ Heavyweight: This content is protected If you don't think Floyd is in the running for GOAT, you are wrong.
I guess I'll give this a shot. Greatest boxer at each weight class from the years 2000-2022 Minimumweight: Waheng Menayothin Light Flyweight: Kenshiro Teraji Flyweight: Pongsaklek Wonjongkam Super-Flyweight: Juan Francisco Estrada (Sorry Rungvisai) Bantamweight: Naoya Inoue (Sorry Yamanaka) Super Bantamweight: Guillermo Rigondeaux Featherweight: This is a tough one. I remember hearing that John's win over Marquez was controversial but I never got around to watching that one. Maybe I'll come back to this question someday. Super Featherweight: Manny Pacquiao Lightweight: Floyd Mayweather Super Lightweight: Josh Taylor?? Welterweight: Pacquiao/Mayweather. Flip a coin, I don't feel like starting world war 3. Super Welterweight: Floyd Mayweather Middleweight: Bernard Hopkins Super Middleweight: Joe Calzaghe EDIT: (I knew I forgot something) Light Heavyweight: Bernard Hopkins. Maybe I'm crazy but Hopkins had a lot of crazy moments in light heavyweight. Tarver and Wright are really good wins considering the context and how dominant the performance was. Plus you have Hopkins breaking Foreman's record twice and going the distance with Kovalev while being almost 50! I'm totally ok with people having Kovalev higher but Hopkins was something special. Cruiserweight: Oleksandr Usyk. Maybe the easiest pick on the list. Heavyweight: Wladimir Klitschko.
I'd like to comment on Chris John since several people voted for him here. John is far from being the best boxer in history. However, since the question is about 'best in the last 20 years', he is probably most successful since 2000, this division has not been really competitive as most of best boxers such as Mikey, Loma, Gamboa don't stay long in this division. He was also the reigning WBA champion for ten long years with 18 title defenses. He never become Ring champion since he never face and beat the #2 guy, but he sit on top featherweight guy in Ring rating for probably 6-7 years. Personally, I consider John to be exceptionally gifted intelligent boxer with great technical prowess. He was very good in his first ten title defenses (including victories over Marquez and Gainer), but poor in later ones. His last best performance was against Piriyapinyo which I have the opportunity to watch it live on Marina Bay, Singapore. He was poor against Saucedo, Merdov, Hosono and Vetyeka. He lost against Vetyeka simply because it was time for him to retire.
