Kid Gavilan rated No.37 in a list of the greatest fighters in the last 50 years 1996

Was Gavilan the best fighter that Robinson met at welter? Probably.

Gavilan lost in 10 to SRR; and then in 15 for the WW Championship.

But the first fight may have been closer:

"Although most sportswriters agreed that Robinson had won, the fans "disagreed violently with the verdict in Robinson’s favor" and "set up such a roar of disagreement that the introduction of the championship principals was delayed until order was restored." (James P. Dawson, New York Times)"

 

I love watching this guy let his hands go. He handed out ass whippings

 

The best prime fighter I would say. Henry Armstrong was probably the greatest name Robinson fought at welterweight but he was a good 3 or 4 years past his peak when they met, unfortunately.

 

This list is making me remember why it's so hard to position fighters after the first 20 or so places and tends to become a bit arbitrary.

Certain names and their positions come automatically because the level of their greatness is hard to dispute but once you get into places from the low 20s on, there's a lot less to distinguish one fighter from another, I'd say.

So on this list a fighter like Gavilan is a couple of places lower than Aaron Pryor and more than 10 places below Salvador Sanchez (both of whom I love by the way). But if you asked me who was the greatest of those three fighters, I'd say Gavilan, followed closely by Sanchez and then Pryor.

It shows that lists like this one are always a reflection of the time they were written in and that the perceived status of a fighter can change over time. Ultimately, though, it shows that no matter what the rationale for the positioning, these lists can never be more than just a highly subjective sequence of fighters' names.

Still enjoy reading them though so keep 'em coming!