Wilfred Benitez deserves a mentio here: 1st professional fight one month after turning 15 In his 19th fight beat Angel Robinson Garcia who fought some incredible opponents 26th fight aged 17 won the World title from an ATG At aged 23 won his 3rd World title only 5 men before had done this.
Depends if you look at his pro career as having a ATG resume. Stepped up to a good level of competition but not sure i would class him as a great. Easier to judge when the career is over though
Rigondeaux and Lomachenko were certified early, but it never would’ve been without 100s of an fights so it’s a catch 22, whether you weigh in am careers or not.
I’m not entirely sure to be honest but if I were forced to guess than probably not. I’m not even sure what the amateur boxing seen of the 19th century even looked like. Apparently there were accounts of Jim Jeffries having some unrecorded bouts but with no solid evidence I just have to conclude that he only had around 20 pro fights
At the pro level Ray Leonard. He beat 3 atg's when they were still relevant and had world title wins IN THEIR FUTURE when he fought them . And Hagler probably could've regained at least a portion of a world championship if he continued. He beat a lot of very goods on his way to his 1st championship win. He wasn't given many easy fights on his way to his 1st title. He was the 1st to stop Benitez, Hearns , Duran,Kalule and Lalonde. At multiple weight classes . When considering he did all that in less than 37 fights ( When he was actually relevant , the Norris, Camacho and the 3rd Duran fights were actually shadows of what he was) Leonard is the poster child for this topic.
According to Lomachenko fans just a few years ago, you can become a hall fo Fame worthy all time great with a record of 8-1.
I really don't consider Jeffries that great. He's not in my Top 25 heavies. Joe Frazier comes to mind otherwise. Kostya. And of course, Gentleman Henry Maske.
I think Michael Spinks deserves an honourable mention. Won his first world title in only his 16th fight, defended it successfully numerous times before becoming undisputed LHW World champ, all by his 25th(I think) fight, beating dangerous and highly rated guys like Qawi and Johnson amongst others, on the way. I think that would have been enough to elevate him into greatness but Jinx was not satisfied with all that, and he then had the audacity to go and topple the unbeaten Larry Holmes, to become the WorldHeavyweight champion, and therefore a two weight World champ by his 27th fight. And then he only went and beat Holmes again in the rematch for good measure! Not the quickest route to greatness of all time, but pretty fast nonetheless and very impressive.
Usyk Leon Spinks got the championship in 1 year and 1 month if you wanted a time record, but he wasn't good.
