My list includes only those fighters who had fights after 1920's Walker Law. Thus Gans is out, and a doddering Langford is in though he is ranked according to his whole career. 1. Ray Robinson 2. Harry Greb 3. Sam Langford 4. Willie Pep 5. Henry Armstrong This content is protected 7. Ezzard Charles 8. Benny Leonard 9. Barney Ross 10. Archie Moore ah what the hell........... 11. Muhammad Ali 12. Charley Burley
Most seem to have him somewhere 5-7 and that seems pretty fair to me. He's at least top 10 I'd say, but he has too many clear losses not too far from his prime to tangle with the likes of Robinson.
I was comparing him to Robinson, the very highest order of fighter. Robinson had over 100 fights before retiring the first time and had no losses as clear/embarrassing as Duran's to Leonard, Hearns, Benitez and Laing. The only opponent Robinson hadn't bested before his first lay-off was Maxim, the LHW champ. I think that's a clear difference in itself between him and Robinson, who I'd probably have as nr. 1.
I'm in love to your list. Where do you rate McLarnin? I'd be interested in hearing from others, too, apologising for the hijack.
1. Sugar Ray Robinson 2. Muhammad Ali 3. Willie Pep 4. Henry Armstrong 5. Roberto Duran 6. Sugar Ray Leonard 7. Joe Louis 8. Julio Cesar Chavez 9. Pernell Whitaker 10. Roy Jones jr :good
Cheers... I only ever include fighters Ive seen enough footage of, its the way Ive always done it. No disrespect to Greb & co tho, none at all. :good
Oh nah, he's not up there with Robinson, but I still don't like this near-prime loss thing. He was clearly a completely different fighter by '81/'82. I'd describe the Leonard fight as a near-prime loss, but no others except De Jesus (I). He had a similar type of career to Carlos Monzon's until he moved up in weight.