Evander Holyfield would certainly make the top 10, but if the time period was 30 years back to 1986 he'd probably be #1.
1. Roy Jones Jr 2. Vasyl Lomachenko 3. Pernell Whitaker 4 = Manny Pacquiao 4 = Floyd Mayweather Roy Jones Jr is the best ever. Lomachenko is in the same echelon as Jones Jr. This content is protected Whitaker had one of the very, very highest fluid intelligence of any fighter across all combat sports. If one fighter never had to watch a single tape of his opponent, it's Whitaker. Prime Manny was in the lower weight classes - people always think of him as the welterweight version for some weird reason. He was a Golovkin-esque monster puncher before, with unbelievable athletic ability and size.
Undisputed, undefeated cruiserweight champion. Unified all three belts. Undisputed heavyweight champion. Twice lineal heavyweight champion. Won his first 'world title' in his 12th fight, over the old school 15-round distance, against a terrific fighter. Remained a world class fighter for almost the next 15 years. Defeated ranked men and champions who outweighed him immensely.
No, because even from 2001 it's still too obvious. 70-89 is the obvious suspects. 00-16 is the same old. But between 90-16, there's a TON of talent that were ATG material AND in their primes. ;-)
Great post! Evander should be in there. Fantastic fighter who gave serious value for money whilst having ATG skills.
That is two weight classes, which of one is new. There is no exact science to this, but to me it doesn't measure up to Pac being world class from FW to WW and beating the **** out of guys like Barrera and Morales as well a less talented but much bigger guys like Clottey, Margarito etc. If you had said when Pac was still a FW title holder that he'd beat the holy crap out of a future lineal MW champion you'd be taken for a troll or a crazy person. It was an inconceivable achievement (and try and imagine a terrific fighter like Choclatito doing it even now) before Pac actually did it. That's ranks very highly for me. Also Mayweather being the best at every weight from 130 to 147 lbs, while hardly being touched, ranks higher for me than what Evander did. Dito Pea's work at LW and WW, two classic divisions, and Jone's winning titles from MW to HW. Important here for me is also how dominant they often were against the very best. No else that I've seen has made opponents looks as ordinary as Jones did. Holyfield, on the other hand, had pretty tough fights even against the likes of Stewart, Dokes, old Holmes, old Foreman and Cooper while in his prime.
Holyfield fought and beat fighters (highly-ranked heavyweights) who outweighed him by 15 - 30 and more pounds in the ring in the open weight class. Dangerous fighters. Pacquiao, whose achievements I admire including the Cotto win, actually took Cotto down from 147 to 145 for the fight. Yes, Pacquiao is a marvel, but while he went from flyweight to welterweight, he also was knocked out at flyweight twice. He struggled with Marquez at 126, 130, 144 and was KO'd at 147 (while the heavier man still). He went 1-2 with a Morales who was actually past his best. None of this defines Pacquiao but it does put the weight-jumping in context. He did amazing things against bigger men but sometimes struggled and lost to men his own size. I'm not saying Holyfield's achievements are definitely greater, I'm sure he has similar holes in fact, but the case for Holyfield is very strong. Holyfield was dominant against all his opponents at cruiserweight, Qawi was the only close one, and he destroyed Qawi in the rematch. He destroyed the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world in 3 rounds too, something that probably gets overlooked or dismissed too easily.
Holy probably has a strong case for the top 5, and the top 3 is reasonable too, even though I myself probably would prefer Pea and RJJ. But for me Pac and Floyd are in a class of their own. Floyd for almost flawlessly meeting great challenges and Pac for achieving the almost unthinkable.
Fair enough. I'd probably rate Holyfield ahead of both if we include his whole career. I'd probably rate Whitaker above Mayweather Jr. I'd probably rate DeLa Hoya above Mayweather Jr. too. Mayweather would probably end up bottom half of the top 10. His greatness is undeniable.
I love Pea Whitaker, I think skills-wise he's one of the greatest ever but I don't see how anyone could rate him over Mayweather Jr. Now Pernell has arguably the best win between the 2 men with a victory over Chavez Sr (although he wasn't awarded the fight officially,) but he also has a steep drop off in competition level after Chavez compared to Mayweather's resume. Floyd's longevity has to be factored in here. Aside from the fact he crossed over more weight divisions than Pernell did, he also took on more HOF/HOF-bound fighters than Pea did, was considered a P4P stalwart for a much longer period of time, and beat more champions in his career than Sweet Pea. I get Mayweather isn't a fan favorite with a lot of boxing fans (which is perplexing given people's infatuation with guys like Pep,) but his resume can't be denied. I think him and Pea would be closer in rankings if Whitaker didn't lead such a sedentary lifestyle outside of the ring. His troubles with cocaine really shortened his lifespan as a boxer.