1970s 1.) Roberto Duran 2.) Muhammad Ali 3.) Carlos Monzon 4.) Alexis Arguello 5.) Wilfredo Gomez 6.) Antonio Cervantes 7.) Carlos Zarate 8.) Jose Napoles (could arguably be rated higher but he retired halfway through the decade) 9.) Joe Frasier 10.) Bob Foster
1960s 1.) Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali 2.) Eder Jofre 3.) Ruben Olivares 4.) Carlos Ortiz 5.) Jose Napoles 6.) Fighting Harada 7.) Bob Foster 8.) Emile Griffith 9.) Floyd Patterson 10.) Dick Tiger
1950s 1.) Sugar Ray Robinson 2.) Ezzard Charles 3.) Rocky Marciano 4.) Charley Burley 5.) Archie Moore 6.) Jake LaMotta 7.) Lloyd Marshall 8.) Harold Johnson 9.) Carmen Basilio 10.) Joe Brown
Charles, Moore, Burley, and Marshall were all primed in the 40's, along with all of the Murderer's Row (although a few of them did their best work in the 30's as well). The latter two hardly accomplished anything and retired very early in the 50's.
I wrote these a few years back and do not necessarily agree with them now, but they have a bit relevance to this: Top 10 fighters from 1891-1900 10 Pedlar Palmer 9 Jack Dempsey 8 James J Corbett 7 Peter Jackson 6 Young Griffo 5 Terry McGovern 4 James J Jeffries 3 Jack McAuliffe 2 Bob Fitzsimmons 1 George Dixon Mentions: Billy Plimmer, , Billy Murphy, Ben Jordan, George Lavigne, Joe Walcott, Tommy Ryan, Mysterious Billy Smith, Kid McCoy and John L Sullivan Top 10 fighters from 1901 to 1910 10 Tommy Ryan 9 Jim Driscoll 8 James J Jeffries 7 Joe Walcott 6 Stanley Ketchel 5 Terry McGovern 4 Jack Johnson 3 Sammy Langford 2 Abe Attell 1 Joe Gans Mentions: Owen Moran, Jimmy Walsh, Ben Jordan, Young CorbettII, Battling Nelson, Jack Sullivan, Billy Papke, Bob Fitzsimmons, Jack O’Brien and Tommy Burns Top 10 fighters 1911 to 1920 10 Jim Driscoll 9 Harry Wills 8 Jack Johnson 7 Benny Leonard 6 Freddie Welsh 5 Jack Britton 4 Ted Lewis 3 Georges Carpentier 2 Johnny Kilbane 1 Jimmy Wilde Mentions: Kid Williams, Pete Herman, Abe Attell, Ad Wolgast, Dixie Kid, Mike Gibbons, Les Darcy, Mike O’Dowd, Sammy Langford, Jack Dillon, Battling Levinsky, Sam McVey, Joe Jeanette and Jack Dempsey Top 10 fighters 1921 to 1930 10 Sammy Mandell 9 Harry Wills 8 Jack Dempsey 7 Al Brown 6 Tommy Loughran 5 Gene Tunney 4 Pancho Villa 3 Harry Greb 2 Mickey Walker 1 Benny Leonard Mentions: Jimmy Wilde, Fidel la Barba, Johnny Kilbane, Johnny Dundee, Kid Kaplan, Benny Bass, Tony Canzoneri, Bat Battalino, Pinkey Mitchell, Jackie Berg, Jack Britton, Joe Dundee, Jackie Fields, Tiger Flowers, Georges Carpentier, Jack Delaney and Maxie Rosenbloom Top 10 fighters 1931 to 1940 10 Jimmy McLarnin 9 Jackie Berg 8 Benny Lynch 7 Billy Conn 6 Tony Canzoneri 5 Mickey Walker 4 Barney Ross 3 Maxie Rosenbloom 2 Joe Louis 1 Henry Armstrong Mentions: Midget Wolgast, Jackie Brown, Little Dado, Al Brown, Kid Chocolate, Baby Arizmendi, Freddie Miller, Joey Archibald, Jackie Fields, Lou Ambers, Fritzie Zivic, Charley Burley, Gorilla Jones, Marcel Thil, Freddie Steele, John Henry Lewis, Max Schmeling, Max Baer and James J Braddock Top 10 fighters 1941 to 1950 10 Jake LaMotta 9 Rinty Monaghan 8 Sandy Saddler 7 Manuel Ortiz 6 Joe Louis 5 Ezzard Charles 4 Ike Williams 3 Charley Burley 2 Willie Pep 1 Ray Robinson Mentions: Jackie Paterson, Vic Toweel, Sammy Angott, Beau Jack, Bob Montgomery, Tippy Larkin, Fritzie Zivic, Red Cochrane, Tommy Bell, Tony Zale, Rocky Graziano, Marcel Cerdan, Gus Lesnevich, Freddie Mills, Archie Moore and Billy Conn Top 10 fighters 1951 to 1960 10 Floyd Patterson 9 Carmen Basilio 8 Jimmy Carruthers 7 Kid Gavilan 6 Rocky Marciano 5 Pascual Perez 4 Joe Brown 3 Sandy Saddler 2 Archie Moore 1 Ray Robinson Mentions: Dado Marino, Alphonse Halimi, Willie Pep, Hogan Kid Bassey, Davey Moore, Carlos Ortiz, Don Jordan, Bobo Olson, Gene Fullmer, Joey Maxim, Harold Johnson, Jersey Joe Walcott and Ingemar Johansson Top 10 fighters 1961 to 1970 10 Dick Tiger 9 Nicolino Loche 8 Bob Foster 7 Jose Napoles 6 Vicente Saldivar 5 Muhammad Ali 4 Nino Benvenuti 3 Carlos Ortiz 2 Eder Jofre 1 Emile Griffith Mentions: Pone Kingpetch, Fighting Harada, Lionel Rose, Ruben Olivares, Davey Moore, Sugar Ramos, Flash Elorde, Ismael Laguna, Duilio Loi, Benny Paret, Luis Rodriguez, Curtis Cokes, Ki-Soo Kim, Joey Giardello, Carlos Monzon, Willie Pastrano, Floyd Patterson, Sonny Liston and Joe Frazier
Continuing: Top 10 fighters 1971 to 1979 10 Eder Jofre 9 Ruben Olivares 8 Alexis Arguello 7 Antonio Cervantes 6 Bob Foster 5 Jose Napoles 4 Carlos Zarate 3 Muhammad Ali 2 Carlos Monzon 1 Roberto Duran Mentions: Yuko Gushiken, Alfonso Zamora, Lupe Pintor, Wilfredo Gomez, Ernesto Marcel, Danny Lopez, Ken Buchanan, Esteban DeJesus, Guts Ishimatsu (Suzuki), Nicolino Loche, Wilfred Benitez, Pipino Cuevas, Carlos Palomino, Ray Leonard, Rodrigo Valdez, John Conteh, Victor Galindez, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Larry Holmes and Ken Norton Top 10 fighters 1980 to 1989 10 Roberto Duran 9 Aaron Pryor 8 Eusebio Pedroza 7 Julio Cesar Chavez 6 Larry Holmes 5 Michael Spinks 4 Tommy Hearns 3 Mike Tyson 2 Marvin Hagler 1 Ray Leonard Mentions: Alexis Arguello, Hector Camacho, Lupe Pintor, Sot Chitalada, Michael Nunn, Jeff Fenech, Myung Woo Yuh, Jung Koo Chang, Mike McCallum, Evander Holyfield, Pernell Whitaker, Jeff Chandler, Khoasio Galaxy, Salvador Sanchez and Azumah Nelson Top 10 fighters 1990 to 1999 10 Julio Cesar Chavez 9 James Toney 8 Felix Trinidad 7 Naseem Hamed 6 Terry Norris 5 Pernell Whitaker 4 Evander Holyfield 3 Ricardo Lopez 2 Roy Jones Jr 1 Oscar de la Hoya Mentions: Virgil Hill, Nigel Benn, Saman Sorjaturong, Kostya Tszyu, Azumah Nelson, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Marco Antonio Barrera, Bernard Hopkins, Shane Mosley, Riddick Bowe, Brian Mitchell, Dariusz Michalczewski, Khaosai Galaxy, Orlando Canizales and Lennox Lewis
