Harry Greb, Bob Fitzsimmons, and Sugar Ray Robinson are all top 10 P4P (IMO) and spent large parts of their career as middleweights.. Sam Langford & Ezzard Charles also fought at the weight.. then you have the likes of Walker, Hagler, Toney, Steele, Monzon, Zale, Tiger etc.. Conn, Duran, RJJ all had stints there too.. It's surely the most stacked division in the sport?
It's sort of the whole 147-160lbs bracket, tons of cross over. I'd elect 147lbs 160lbs and maybe 135lbs??? those three stand out to me, Welter is probably #1.
The most stacked division in boxing is 135 …If you are a top 50 all time at lightweight…then you are an excellent fighter
IMO, no … because there are very few true middleweights who were among the greats. As many were welterweights like Ray Robinson who moved up later in their careers. Yet very few great middles became great light heavyweights. Hagler and Monzon were career middleweights. Greb’s hard to figure because he moved up and down so much, but it seems his best weight may have been light heavy (a rare breed to move up from middleweight champ with major success). Robinson wasn’t even a true middle until much later on and ranks in everyone’s top three to five at middle. Mickey Walker was a welter who ranks in most top tens at middle. Jake LaMotta was top 10 but was losing regularly to Robinson whilst holding a weight advantage of 10 pounds or more in several of their bouts. Marvin Hagler’s one of the best middles ever but got outfoxed by a welter who had barely fought in five years. Etc. I don’t think it’s the best division because many of its top guys weren’t even middleweights for much of their careers, and some of those who moved up from welter to rule it are considered better welters than middles, so the top guy at 160 wasn’t even the best version of himself. In the original eight weight classes — and correct me if I’m wrong — there aren’t nearly as many ATGs who were considered their best versions at a lighter division and there aren’t nearly as many who were losing to guys from the next class down whilst holding a major weight advantage: you don’t see the greatest lightweights losing to feathers who were weighing 129, nor among the greatest welters do you find many who were better at lightweight, and so on. This seems singular to middleweight.
Its has the most diverse list of alumni from other weight classes. But a large percentage of this lists were cameos at MW or combo fighters who fought in other divisions. A lot of cups of coffee drank in the MW division. The list of legends with at least a regional MW belt is quite something. Your post has 15 names think theres like 4 of them who didn't win something in another weight class?
Welterweight is bursting at the seams with quality fighters. It seems in basically every era you have some pretty decent ones if not great ones. It can be particularly difficult to win titles there and hold onto them.
But this is if we look at prime weight for fighters. If we just loook at who fought at MW as pros we have SRR, Greb, Langford, Fitzimmons, Charles, Armstrong, Moore, SRL, Duran, Hearns, Napoles, Griffith, McCallum, Toney, RJJ, DLH, Canelo etc apart from the more career MWs. So that's a very deep list.
I think maybe Lightweight, but Welterweight I would maybe have above Middleweight too. I will say it's not about the top twenty, the stackdness, must go deeper.