Monte Cox: Top 50

As someone said earlier, these lists are very subjective.

Personally I think Ali, Cerdan and Ketchel are too high.

Moore, Charles and Barbados Joe Walcott are too low.

In fact this list has inspired me to finally get back to compiling my own list.

 

Whitaker's resume is most likely the drawing line as to why he gets ranked so low on some of these lists. Its a great resume no doubt, but lacking of that one huge win, even though he arguably has wins over the big stars on his resume (DLH,JCC). Personally, Whitaker is 10-15 on my list, and sometimes I try to squeeze him at top 10 if I feel like it. His high ranking from me has really little to do with his resume and more to the fact that hes the ATG H2H fighter for me.

 

At a quick glance, IMO:

Too low:

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(Top 4 lock),

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(Top 6/7 lock),

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(Top 15 lock),

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(Top 30 lock),

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(Top 30 lock),

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(Top 30 lock),

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(Top 25 lock),

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(Top 35/40),

Too high:

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(Over-rated again like Dempsey, shouldn't be here),

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(Hilarious. Shouldn't be here) ,

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(I think 20 is too high, at least 10 places lower for me),

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(Probably shouldn't be here, if he is it's at the bottom end),

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(Shouldn't be here),

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(Way too high, should he even be on here either),

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(My favourite all-time fighter, but too high),

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(30 is a little too high for me, I'd have him in the 40's at best),

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(Shouldn't be on here)

 

I've never agreed with Monte's analysis much, though i respect him of course.Writes some great articles on fighters he has an interest in but that's where it ends for me.

Too much of the "feinting is a long lost art etc" mindset for me.

 

Cox seems to have factored in impact on the sport as one of his criteria. That would help explain why he has so many heavyweights hanging around the top of his list. Delete the career long heavyweights (which can leave Charles, Tunney and Fitz remaining) from his selection, and you have a pretty reasonable P4P ranking order.

 

Has anyone ever watched Jimmy Wilde's footwork?

 

:nut

 

It never ceases to amaze, or amuse me, that Jack Dempsey is rated #11 or thereabouts, because he beat a 37 year old, overweight champion who merely held the title because of unlimited number of rounds, who never beat anyone of note otherwise, but happened to have a 50 lbs weight advantage.

Hell, Dempsey might not even be top10 in the heavyweight division, but he's #11 when the talent pool is literally multiplied by a factor of 10? Name me top30, no, anyone from that top50 list who did a more blatant job of ducking the #1 contender for 7 years. Or someone who never beat the best heavyweights AND lightheavyweights of his time?

 

Just been reading some Cox as i have never really read him before, like Mante says he is abit old fashioned. And by god does he love Robinson and not like Ali.

 

Just reading though another Cox article about the IBRO top 25 which is

# Sugar Ray Robinson



# Harry Greb


# Henry Armstrong



# Muhammad Ali


# Joe Louis



# Sam Langford


# Roberto Duran



# Benny Leonard


# Willie Pep


# Bob Fitzsimmons



# Joe Gans

# Ezzard Charles



# Ray Leonard



# Jimmy Wilde


# Eder Jofre


# Mickey Walker


# Archie Moore


# Jack Dempsey


# Jack Johnson



# Gene Tunney


# Stanley Ketchel


# Barbados Joe Walcott


# Rocky Marciano


# Tony Canzoneri


Barney Ross

This is Cox's comments at the bottom, so obviously his lists change from time to time

My personal top 25 varied a little leaving off a couple of the heavyweights in the lower portion of the list and included Alexis Arguello, Thomas Hearns and Julio Cesar Chavez.

 

Any top 50 that doesn't include Gavilan is preposterous, despite any of the other placings being decent

 

I personal dont think Jones Jr is a lock for 15.

 

If Cox is this fond of heavyweights, where the hell is Lennox Lewis on the list?

 

This is why I speculated that Cox is using impact on boxing (and social influence) as one of his criteria. He has Jack Johnson ahead of Dempsey, and Ali only behind Robby. I have a very hard time accepting heavyweights for top ten P4P consideration, no matter how good. I don't buy Dempsey over Gans (and neither did Dempsey admirer Langford), nor do I buy Louis over Pep, Duran or the Leonard boys. It's just one person's subjective opinion though, not a surveyed consensus.

 

He might share my 15 round bigotry, or the same sharp disdain for the nature of Lennox's one punch defeats. It also bears endless repeating that he completely omitted Gavilan, a weird absence for a historian supposedly so biased towards old timers.