going by your recent avvys ray leonard and marvin hagler the best fighter i have ever seen is Floyd Mayweather Jr i have followed his career and think he is amazing especially destroying Gatti and Corrales and Hernandez
My avatars can be somewhat decieving when it comes to my personal fav's. I recently had one of Frazier, and he's not one of my fav's. I just happened to like the picture more than anything else. Hagler is among my fav's, Leonard isn't.
I added a part into the message before or around the time you replied it seems. Probably posting at the same time.
Arguello: an artist and master craftsman. Duran: at 135 he was like a wild demon from hell. Prime Haglar: One of the very best boxer-puncher types who ever lived. SRL: not a fan, but he was about as close to a complete fighter as you'll ever get. Tommy "Somebody is Gettin' Knocked The **** Out" Hearns. Salvador Sanchez: For such a young guy he was so calm in the ring it was amazing. Like when he fought the guy in my avatar. He did not look like a young kid in the ring with arguably the hardest banging 126 pounder ever. He looked more like a guy who was ordering a freaking pizza! Simply amazing. As you can see, I can't really name just one. I have to give different fighters credit for different things.
I'd assume the man in my avatar would be one of the choices, Rob. Duran would have to be the other. It's possible they're my two choices as well.
The two best fighters I've ever seen are Pernell Whitaker and Bernard Hopkins. The way they went about their business impresses me imensely. Hopkins is probably the best technical fighter I have ever seen. Always in position to punch, well balanced, and extremely precise across the board with everything he does. Virtually flawless fundementals. If I was to sum him up briefly with a phrase it would be "he plays the percentage game very well" He's not reckless technically or mentally when making decisions. Although at times he's made tactical errors, especially against Taylor when they squared off the second time. He's not flawless, as sometimes he has let himself down by being overly cautious when he needed to spark fire within himself. Hopkins has the type of style that would be almost impossible to convincingly dominate at his absolute best. I don't believe any middleweight in history beats him handily. And I include Robinson and Monzon. All his punches, even his hooks, are delivered close to his body. He's just a tidy fighter when it comes to punching with either hand. He suckers opponents into making mistakes, and picks his possible opportunities to capitalise effectively. He's also a fighter who's multi-dimensional when using the full ring. Defensively he's not quite as complex or varied as Whitaker or Locche, but you could argue that he's equally as effective when making opponents miss.
Wow. I honestly think someone like Duran was a full level above Hopkins, who I feel gets overrated. Excellent fighter, but he wouldn't make the top 10 that I've seen.
I mentioned these two, along with Leonard and Hagler as possibilities, and I felt Duran would be one of them, but still...I was right.
Duran is my personal fav of all-time. But he's a little too rough around the edges for my liking compared to Hopkins and Whitaker. His whole career impressed me more than the other two's, also throw in his excellent skills, and he gets my vote for #1. But I don't think when it comes to sheer precision and refinedness he's as good as someone like Hopkins. It's just a matter of taste and I'm being very specific here in what really stands out for me to the core. If Duran and Whitaker were in there with Arguello at lightweight, I'd like the way Whitaker dominates him more than the manner in which Duran does. I'm sure you agree that Arguello would come off second best against them both.