Best fighters of the 1970s, 1-10

Discussion in 'Classic Boxing Forum' started by Jel, Jul 17, 2018.


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  1. red cobra

    red cobra Loyal Member Full Member

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    Divisional:
    01. Heavyweights - Ali, Frazier
    02. Lightheavyweight - Foster, Galindez
    03. Middleweight - Monzon
    04. Welterweight - Napoles
    05. Junior Welterweight - Locche
    06. Lightweight - Duran
    07. Junior Lightweight - Alexis Arguello
    08. Featherweight - Marcel, Arguello, Pedroza
    09. Junior Featherweight - Wilfredo Gomez
    10. Bantamweight - Olivares, Zarate
    11. Flyweight - Canto

    P4P:
    01. Monzon
    02. Duran
    03. Ali/Napoles
    04. Gomez
    05. Arguello
    06. Olivares
    07. Zarate
    08. Foster
    09. Canto
    10. Pedroza
     
    Last edited: Jul 19, 2018
    red cobra, Jul 19, 2018
    red cobra, Jul 19, 2018
    #16
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  2. Jel

    Jel Obsessive list maker Full Member

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    Many, many points...
    1. Sal Sanchez didn't win a world title till early 1980 so how he could be considered one of the best of the 70s is not clear.
    2. Zamorano is presumably Alfonso Zamora? If title defenses and kos are the criteria then Duran, with 12 defenses and 11 kos over 6 years could be above Zarate. By comparison, Zarate made 9 defenses (9 kos) across 3 years.
    3. Is ''Maciel" Ernesto Marcel?
    4. Other than stating Ali beat Foreman (which only confirms my initial question) you don't give any reason for Foreman to be ahead of Ali.
    5. Monzon better in the 1960s?! Based on what? He was world middleweight champ from 1970-1977. His most significant victories against world class opposition (Benvenuti, Griffith, Napoles, Valdez) came in the seventies. Prior to that most of his fights were against lower level opposition, which is why his initial win over Benvenuti was such a shock. Of course, he proved his greatness over the next 6 or so years beyond a doubt.
     
    Jel, Jul 19, 2018
    Jel, Jul 19, 2018
    #17
  3. Jel

    Jel Obsessive list maker Full Member

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    1. No, he was WBC featherweight world champion 1980-82
    2. Ok, respectfully disagree.
    3. Yep, Ernesto Marcel, WBA featherweight world champion, 1972-74
    4. Not really.
    5. No, he was World middleweight champion 1970-77. Stripped of the WBC version of the title in 1974 (Rodrigo Valdez won the vacant belt) before reunifying it in 1976 by beating Valdez and retiring as undefeated champ after defeating Valdez in a rematch.
     
    Jel, Jul 19, 2018
    Jel, Jul 19, 2018
    #18
  4. Jel

    Jel Obsessive list maker Full Member

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    Was looking forward to seeing who you came up with!

    Noticed you have Locche as the top jnr welter for the 70s. You rank him higher for that era than Cervantes?
     
    Jel, Jul 19, 2018
    Jel, Jul 19, 2018
    #19
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  5. Jel

    Jel Obsessive list maker Full Member

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    Ok, my turn:

    1. Duran
    2. Monzon
    3. Ali
    4. Arguello
    5. Napoles
    6. Foster
    7. Olivares
    8. Gomez
    9. Zarate
    10. Canto

    Happy with my top 3, 4-7 could have been in almost any order, 8-10 was tough - had to leave out Cervantes in the end, which was painful. Could revise this again and again. What an era it was.
     
    Jel, Jul 19, 2018
    Jel, Jul 19, 2018
    #20
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  6. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    My points are irrefutable Ali was champion for 5 years of the 70's , number 1 contender for 2 more years, and number 3 for 2 years the only year of the decade he was not ranked in the top 3, he was retired!
     
    mcvey, Jul 19, 2018
    mcvey, Jul 19, 2018
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  7. red cobra

    red cobra Loyal Member Full Member

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    Yes...Cervantes was a great fighter, but he lost to an already old Locche, and won by tko....a cut... over an even older, defrocked champion on the slide. Hell, he had over 100 bouts at the time. Others may disagree with me concerning Locche, but I think he was an amazing fighter,...arguably the greatest defensive fighter of all time...certainly one of the top 5.
     
    red cobra, Jul 19, 2018
    red cobra, Jul 19, 2018
    #22
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  8. red cobra

    red cobra Loyal Member Full Member

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    Honorable mentions:
    Heavyweight - Foreman
    Lightheavyweight - John Conteh
    Middleweight - Rodrigo Valdez (would have been undisputed and dominant middleweight champ were it not for Monzon.)
    Welterweight - Sugar Ray Leonard
    Lightweight - Esteban DeJesus
    Featherweight - Well, I have Marcel and Pedroza already listed(?)
    Bantamweight - Al Zamora
    Flyweight - Betulio Gonzales
     
    red cobra, Jul 19, 2018
    red cobra, Jul 19, 2018
    #23
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  9. Jel

    Jel Obsessive list maker Full Member

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    Good call on Betulio Gonzalez! There was also Masao Ohba at flyweight in the early 70s who I'd completely forgotten about! Both added to my original post in this thread.

    Just shows the remarkable number of truly world class fighters during that era.
     
    Last edited: Jul 19, 2018
    Jel, Jul 19, 2018
    Jel, Jul 19, 2018
    #24
  10. Rumsfeld

    Rumsfeld Moderator Staff Member

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    For what it's worth, these were the results from the 1970s for the recent ranking experiment I did. Not saying I even personally agree with the results - just that this is how things added up.

    RANK POINTS NAME DECADE DIVISIONS
    1 86 Muhammad Ali 1970s HEAVY
    2 81 Roberto Duran 1970s LW-135, WW-147
    3 76 Antonio Cervantes 1970s JWW-140
    4 70 Carlos Monzon 1970s MW-160
    5 66 Miguel Canto 1970s FLY-112
    6 61 Betulio Gonzalez 1970s FLY-112
    7 60 Esteban De Jesus 1970s LW-135, JWW-140
    8 (tie) 58 John Conteh 1970s LHW-175
    8 (tie) 58 Jose Napoles 1970s WW-147
    8 (tie) 58 Victor Emilio Galindez 1970s LHW-175
    11 57 George Foreman 1970s HEAVY
    12 55 Danny Lopez 1970s FW-126
    13 54 Alexis Arguello 1970s FW-126, JLW-130
    14 53 Joe Frazier 1970s HEAVY
    15 50 Samuel Serrano 1970s JLW-130
    16 (tie) 49 Ben Villaflor 1970s FW-126, JLW-130
     
    Rumsfeld, Jul 19, 2018
    Rumsfeld, Jul 19, 2018
    #25
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  11. Jel

    Jel Obsessive list maker Full Member

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    Oh yeah, no argument about Locche himself. His may not be my favourite type of fighter to watch (although it's hard not to admire the skill), but I respect nothing more than a guy who didn't have a punch but could rack up that number of decision wins. He has to be among the greatest defensive fighters in history, along with Willie Pep and another one you've already mentioned, Miguel Canto.

    You can certainly make the point that Locche is overall the greater jnr welter and fighter than Cervantes. My only question was whether his work in the 70s alone was greater than that of Cervantes. I'd suggest not, but you were around in that era and I wasn't so totally respect your point of view on this.
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2018
    Jel, Jul 19, 2018
    Jel, Jul 19, 2018
    #26
  12. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    The fact is that Ali was the champion for half the decade,[5 years]the number 1 challenger for 2 of the remaining years and the number 3 challenger for 2 of the others .There is but one year he was not, either champion,or 1/2 challenger and that is when he was retired.
    It doesn't matter how you wriggle or try to spin this, these are the cold hard facts! Now that's enough of wasting my
    time, talking to a fool.
     
    mcvey, Jul 20, 2018
    mcvey, Jul 20, 2018
    #27
  13. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    Was Ali champion for 5 of the 10 years of the 1970's?Yes or No!
     
    mcvey, Jul 20, 2018
    mcvey, Jul 20, 2018
    #28
  14. mcvey

    mcvey VIP Member Full Member

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    Ali not only successfully defended his title 10 times in those 5 years ,he did what no one had ever done before he regained the title for the third time!Foreman was champ for one year defending it just twice!
     
    mcvey, Jul 20, 2018
    mcvey, Jul 20, 2018
    #29
  15. Jel

    Jel Obsessive list maker Full Member

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    How do you feel about Ali KO'ing Foreman in 8 then?
     
    Jel, Jul 20, 2018
    Jel, Jul 20, 2018
    #30
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