Everything is ok, thank you. It's just there are a lot of fighters that I think could be candidates for a top 35 but I've only watched a few times, or haven't watched recently and need to review them. Probably if I did this list now it would consist of a lot of heavyweights since that is where my primary knowledge lies, although I know that a top 35 list should be a lot more diverse than to have mostly heavyweights.
I thought the same way and decided to mix it. I also have some fighters i used to watch a lot of fights but in the last 2-3 years maybe only highlight videos or 1-2 fights. The places of ~20-35 are also partly dependent on the daily moods. Some fighters might rank higher if there was more footage available or better quality. Maybe you don't watch a SRR fight every week, but if you randomly find a highlight video and watch it, you just admire him. But i also have had other conflicts as well. To show my inner conflict...my disruption: Larry Holmes was an icon. He had style, elegance, heart and resistance. But to be honest I don't like outside boxers that much. And also his behavior in parts...especially after the Spinks fight. But I have a lot of respect for the fact that old Larry still gave great performances (Mercer, Holyfield). Ofc this boosts my sympathy for him.
Nah this isn’t your ranking of ATGs. You can’t be wrong nor can your choices be debated. If all 35 of your favorites are South African flyweights, those are your favorites. If they’re all heavyweights from a certain era, that’s what it is. I could honestly have put 3-4 more 1970s/80s light heavies in mine and may yet add Yaqui Lopez for instance. Because I loved that era.
Here are my top 35 boxers. Boy this was a tough list to rank. Some of them could be interchanged but these are the boxers I love for one reason or another. Mostly heavyweights I guess which is a surprise to me, but I love the history of the heavyweight division. Not many that are current, but that is ok, I feel that there are great fighters out there, just the older ones have a bigger spot in my heart. The criteria that I had in ranking my favorites really falls under a few categories: Historical significance, entertainment factor, heart, passion, and icon status. Sure there are some that are ranked higher than others, but I have to say, I feel soundly about this, and I enjoy a lot of boxers in this sport. I know I have biases, the fact that I am a boxing fan born in the 90s, a historian, and from Michigan would explain a lot of this list lol. But my FAVORITE is what is the key, not just GOAT status. I've met about a 1/3rd of people on this list, and that's cool to acknowledge, and it is great for people having their own reason for being their "favorite" but this really should be an epic list since it is based on a group sampling data, so I am excited to see where this goes from here. Thanks again @Rumsfeld ! 1. Joe Louis 2. Muhammad Ali 3. Roy Jones Jr 4. George Foreman 5. Thomas Hearns 6. Marvin Hagler 7. Jack Johnson 8. Mike Tyson 9. Manny Pacquiao 10. Larry Holmes 11. Sugar Ray Robinson 12. Rocky Marciano 13. Joe Frazier 14. Arturo Gatti 15. Lennox Lewis 16. Jack Dempsey 17. James "Lights Out" Toney 18. Pernell Whitaker 19. Claressa Shields 20. Tyson Fury 21. Jake LaMotta 22. Roberto Duran 23. Henry Armstrong 24. Alexis Arguello 25. Juan Manuel Marquez 26. Sergio Martinez 27. Julio Cesar Chavez 28. Miguel Cotto 29. Evander Holyfield 30. Bernard Hopkins 31. Micky Ward 32. David Tua 33. Ray "Boom Boom" Mancini 34. Diego Corrales 35. Marcos Maidana
Ok. I will do it then. I just want everyone to know that my list would drastically change over the next year or two as I watch and familiarize with a lot more fighters.
While all are worthy of being in my top 35, please guys, don't hold me to this. It was a damn hard list to complete and I'll disagree with it within a couple of months. 1. Roberto Duran 2. Matthew Saad Muhammad 3. Sugar Ray Robinson 4. Marvin Hagler 5. Benny Paret 6. Larry Holmes 7. Bob Foster (the best one-punch KO artist of all time) 8. George Benton (only the greatest defensive fighter of all time) 9. Dick Tiger 10. Joe Frazier 11. Muhammad Ali 12. George Foreman 13. Kid Gavilan 14. Evander Holyfield 15. Trevor Berbick 16. Eddie Machen 17. Zora Folley 18. Carmen Basilio 19. Gene Fullmer (he's crude, and I'm not fond of the fighter, but every fight he was ever in was a war!) 20. Johnny Bratton 21. Jersey Joe Walcott 22. Tony Canzoneri 23. Carlos Monzon 24. Emile Griffith 25. Harold Johnson 26. Victor Galindez 27. Bennie Briscoe 28. Sonny Liston 29. Joe Louis 30. Bobby Chacon 31. Ken Norton 32. Leon Spinks (no ATG, but he had one of the most insane work rates of any fighter alive) 33. Ezzard Charles (one slick *******) 34. Cleveland Williams 35. Jimmy Ellis (he's just so unpredictable)
That is more for patriotic reasons. He was in the first boxing documentary, which I saw as a kid (about Ali). I also read an interview with him at an early age. He was a very pleasant and modest guy, I know his hometown, he was part of my favorite heavyweight decade, gave Muhammad Ali perhaps his toughest title fight since Sonny Liston in Frankfurt's Waldstadion, European Heavyweight Champion for 4 years, southpaw ...For me, he deserves a mention.
1. Floyd Patterson 2. Yaqui Lopez 3. Marvelous Marvin Hagler 4. Alexis Arguello 5. Lennox Lewis 6. Larry Holmes 7. Salvador Sanchez 8. Muhammad Ali 9. Pernell Whitaker 10. Gerry Cooney 11. Roy Jones Jr. 12. Carlos Palomino 13. Bernard Hopkins 14. Rocky Marciano 15. Joe Louis 16. Ken Norton 17. Michael Spinks 18. George Foreman 19. Roberto Duran 20. Sugar Ray Leonard 21. Vitali Klitschko 22. Tyson Fury 23. Max Baer 24. Archie Moore 25. Cornelius Boza-Edwards 26. Chris Byrd 27. Gerrie Coetzee 28. Joe Frazier 29. Jerry Quarry 30. Earnie Shavers 31. Randall Cobb 32. Max Schmeling 33. Ingemar Johansson 34. Tim Tomashek 35. Evander Holyfield edit: First and last name? Rob Christensen
