Sugar Ray Leonard, Roy Jones Jnr, Pernell Whitaker, Floyd Mayweather

Actually, Jones started at 154....not for very long mind you, but it is true. Your comparison is valid, since losing to Louis is perhaps not as great as beating Ruiz, and easily.

For the thread...

1. Leonard
2. Whitaker
3. Jones
4. Mayweather

 

jones,whittaker, leonard,mayweather...this is off the top of my head...

 

What's with heaps of people putting Jones first in terms of skill? Get this distinction straight: speed and skill are NOT the same thing.

Jones is probably last in terms of skill. In terms of athletic ability he is miles ahead of the rest.

Anyway, my overall list:

1. SRL
2. Whitaker
3. Jones
4. Mayweather

Oh and bigtime, the reason Whitaker got knocked down is because he actually stood in front of fighters and dared them to hit him, he didn't stand outside on the periphery and pot shot with thirty punches per round. :good

 

who are you referring to:smoke if you're talking about floyd then you need glasses. whitaker was down on several occassions:deal floyd has never been down from a punch in his reign. sweet pea had reflex defense. floyd has reflex and technique defense hence the reason he very rarely gets caught flush:good

once sweet pea got hold of that coke his defense pretty much went downhill. watch the dioblys, oscar, and tito fights.

 

I guess I am old fashion....I put far more weight to the qaulity of competition that your are willin to face rather than pick and choose your opponent that will be taylor made for you style..a slow lumbering Ruiz...nope I guess I will give credit where credit is do, Conn beat the No.2 Top HW ATG in in for 12 rounds.....also for the record, in my ATG list of LHW is have Conn ahead of RJJ and also Bob Foster....you guys have to put more weight on what those guys like Conn , Moore and Foster did as LHW's...eventhough they lost, hell Archie had Marciano in dire straits......not forget that

 

KG choices...I don't agree at all but I know how KG fills about the fellow Floridian RJJ

 

I am glad you said this:deal

how many world champions did conn and foster beat during their careers:deal

 

Shame isn't it

 

I agree with this list but I would probally put Leonard at 4 and Roy at 3. We are talking skill set here, not with intangables like chin and heart. If that was the case then Ray Leonard would probally be #1, but just pure speed, defense, ability to throw fluid combinations, footwork, stamina. Overall natural abilities. You could argue the chin but I am thinking "boxing ability" the I would have to put Pernell at #1. Only Duran rivals him in that category in the last 50 years.

This is so hard though. A case can be made for any of these fighters.

 

How many more paper champions are there in boxing today? How many divisions did Mayweather unify? Gatti the champ at 140, no way. That was Hattons and Zoo's territory. 154, nah never that DLH while still very good was not "the man" there. See we can be picky but there were not many belts back then they could pick and choose from. There was one beast at the top and you had to dethrone him to call yourself the man. :good Same with Roy, son he was NOT the heavyweight champ he was a beltholder. Lewis was the CHAMP, as gifted as Roy was at 160 he was not the "man" there were others there.

 

Leonard
Whitaker
Jones Jr
Mayweather

Thats my list off the top of my head (without going too far in-depth). Mayweather still has the ability to climb higher....but for right now he sits at the bottom of my list

 

Conn fought the best cometition of his time, he fought all the top fighter and challege Joe Louis at HW...challenging Ruiz please...

Foster was so dominant for 6 year defeating a tough opponent in Dick Tiger...fought Frazier, Zora Foley, Ali, Ernie Terrel ....at HW's

 

McGrain, you need watch more Whitaker if thats your assumption. Whitaker was better across the board at 135lbs, especially when it comes to quickness and agility. His mobility around the ring was much better. He had to stand his ground at times against Chavez at welterweight because he couldn't quite sustain that bounce on the balls of his feet to move as effectively. Altough Chavez did give him a target to sit down on his punches.

You may well be saying he was simply better than Mayweather up at welterweight rather than himself soley being better up there. No worries.