I,d say from the modern era Its defo ali. No one comes close as well. Anyone that has liston, frazier and foreman on their record is hard to match imo. Add to that...the amount of good fighters on his record he made to look average. Guys like floyd patterson we,re good fighters...hes practically made him look average at best. I dont think theres been another guy thats put three guys that should have dominated a division for years down to second place. Liston would have and should have dominated for longer if there was no ali. Same with frazier and foreman. I m not sure anyone could have stopped them apart from each other eventually without ali. Who would have beat liston without ali? Same with frazier and foreman barring each other. Unbelievable record. Cant think of anyone in the modern era thats been able to stop 3 guys as good as them in their tracks like that.
To be fair, he didn’t stop Frazier in his tracks. Foreman did. He beat a shopworn Frazier a year later. Still, he beat 3 fighters who were arguably top 10 of all time in the same division. Not sure who else can lay claim to that.
Sugar Ray Leonard is up there. He was a guy who fought some many greats and had such a great reputation early that he could retire just a few years after his first title win and he was a solid great. Many other guys could not do that.
Fair point regarding frazier. Forgot that foreman had got to him first. Even just looking down his list of names outwith them 3 as well. His cvs full of guys who could really fight a lot of them guys he made to look totally average as well.
Like Mayweather he got several decisions he did not deserve. Also he is not the most fan friendly boxer. I've heard he's not too well liked in texas to say the least, & that he deserved. To me personally he is not Sugar Ray he is Saccharin Ray merely a substitute. Only one Sugar Ray for me Mr Robinson
Alexis Arguello has to be up there with the best legacies ever. He's unanimously respected; his country's GOAT; literally never seen anybody hate him; heaps of people's favourite and one of regarded by everyone as one of the best of both his era and all-time. From a perspective of having basically no haters, he has to be the guy among ATGs.
Low key AJ if he beats Fury. Could be on his way into the convo... 2x unified & undisputed heavyweight champ and he's pretty squeaky clean and presentable, which seems to be in your criteria
Fear, Discomfort, Denial & Shameful Admiration It was an Anti-human force, which helped Edwin Valero to destroy humans who don't do exactly what he wants, including the destruction of Edwin Valero when he started catching on to what is going on... 27-0-0-0 (KO 27), 100% KO Ratio undefeated World Champion Easy to pad up prospects to get ranked with a 100% KO Ratio Very hard to keep a 100% KO ratio into the world Champion reign Much harder to stay Undefeated champion with a 100% Even much harder to retire without cashing out the impressive record His KO1 record was barely broken and it was done outside world rankings, his main record is so hard to break, because it was legitimate & earned with his skull exposed and the soul of a World champion consumed Live on TV, That undefeated 100% KO record is Edwin Valero final kick in the mouth of his enemies, a challenge to all future boxing champions who think they can punch...
Edwin Valero................Humans hate him, because he was dedicated to harming humans Muhammad Ali.............Close call, but lots of Ls Floyd............................Close call, but Castillo, Margarito Rocky Marciano............Floyd Manny...........................Floyd Calzaghe......................Sven Ottke Salvador Sanchez........Azumah Nelson Lennox Lewis...............Rahman, McCall Oscar............................Felix Trinidad & Hopkins RJJ...............................Antonio Tarver & beyond JCC Sr..........................Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker & JCC Jr
Ali, Armstrong, Duran, Hagler, Jones, Leonard, Louis, Marciano, Moore, Pep, Robinson all have great legacies I'll even throw in Tyson, Walcott, Foreman, Lewis, Holyfield, Charles, Chavez, Hearns and maybe Pacquiao for having decent legacies I don't think anyone really cares about Calzaghe or rates him high ... He was a slap boxer with fast hands ... Nice record but he's in the same category as Mayweather for me ... Barely squeaked by an overrated Hopkins and Jones when Jones was finished. He's an ATG but certainly not the best legacy.
The best resume in the last 25 years has to go to Pacquiao... his title wins, divisional climbing and resume is impressive. Then you have a guy like Harry Greb who beat more hall of famers then any other fighter in history, went 45-0 in 1919, and fought from 140 to heavyweight. Then you have other guys like Robinson,Pep, Langford, Ali, Louis, Armstrong etc... best legacy ever is hard to narrow down to one because there are a lot of guys who can have an argument.
There's a bit of a taboo about the guy named Edwin valero-. It's because of the scarey way he went out of this world. People don't like women beaters, and Valero on top of that had a sniff coke problem. It really is a shame. I have no opinion I'm just trying to stay neutral.