co-sign...but he still hasn't really beatin any1 outside of Vic so i didn't mention him, thought it was a bit soon
I had considered him, but in the end left him out because I haven't really seen enough tapes of him to make an accurate judgement. It also left out obvious candidates like Toney, Casamayor and Barrera because, although they can still mix at the top level, I think they are definetly on the slide in their careers (don't let this dissuade anyone else from putting them in - this was just my personal choice and, on reflection I may have been wrong to do so; its not as if any of those three can be considered outright shot). Winky Wright, although inactive as hell, gets in basically because of that reason: he hasn't fought, but I give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he is still as good as I remember (Rafael Marquez gets in under the same kind of criteria, if not as exagerated; he hasn't fought since Vasquez III). This was just a personal list and I didn't think it looked that good; I'm glad some people liked it, but I know that some of the posters out there can do a better one.
Roy Jones??? Seriously??? I've always thought of him as ring ******ed. Great physical tools, but because he took advantage of them for so long, he never really developed ring smarts, which is why he hasn't been able to adjust once he lost his speed. He probably hasn't been around long enough to put him up with the elite, but I'll give a shout out to Carlos Quintana, who seems to have great ring smarts. He's already beaten two fighters with superior talent through smart use of tactics. Other than his completely boneheaded moment against Robbie Peden, Nate Campbell would be another good one as well. Toney and Hopkins are a clear 1-2 in my mind though.
#1 Hopkins is obviously the most intelligent in the ring its not even debatable the 9 spots after that are debateable. Vitali is a good one that hasn't been mentioned.
Unfair to say that. Ali lost 5 times, does that take away from his ring generalship? I don't think so. Bernard wasn't able to beat Calzaghe with the ring smarts, but made him look damn shitty (in comparison with JC's other fights) and dropped him on his ass with a perfect right hand.
I further vote for Hopkins as the nr 1. I also agree with Philla with the mention of Vitali... maybe not better than some names mentioned but he uses the ring well and actually fights in a pretty clever way.