What made SRR the greatest?

It's difficult to put a greatest of all time tag on any fighter,but if you're going to he has to be the man to me.
Apart from his numbers, he just looks absolutely sensational on film, and you can't always say that about the old timers.

 

there are lots really, Greb, SRR, PEP, Gans, Ali and so on.

as I have always stated there are far, far more greats than people credit or realise with LITTLE between them.

this Achievement measuring stick is so far of the mark it isn't funny, and as someone else has stated when trying to make such lists at some point it becomes pointless and futile, to say nothing of grossly inaccurate for a variety of reasons.

for me Top Men are just that, TOP men, and with TRUE TOP men it can go back and forth on any given night. there is the Elite, then the Great, followed by great with a small g, and there really is little between them all things fair & equal.

Boxing has given us HUNDREDS of ATGs and equally Dozen's of inaccuracies too.

but because of his unbelievable record and aesthetic STYLE the Sugarman not only has it all, but 'looks' it all too and that will always help!!!

 

Joe Gans, Benny Leonard, Harry Greb, Sam Langford, Henry Armstrong ... those are five straight off the top who you could easily argue being as great as Sugar Ray Robinson.

Willie Pep & Bob Fitzsimmons possibly don't get as much credit around here, but they come to mind for me as other alternatives too. There are probably others.

 

He could out box the boxers...and out punch the punchers...'nuff said...

 

Ray Robinson who I was lucky to see in his WW prime was simply the greatest
"all around" fighter ever to grace the ring. Was he the greatest fighter in accomplishments
and ability to tackle much BIGGER men repeatedly and win.? NO. This distinction must go to Harry Greb surely as his record shows. Along with Fitz, Gans, Langford, Walker, Armstrong ,these men had the ability to overcome heavier men and win.
But Benny Leonard at just 5ft6" was as beautiful to watch as a LW as the almost 6ft
Welterweight SRR was.
As far as Willie Pep goes, Willie was the best featherweight I saw in his pre airplane crash
period. But I recall never once did the Will of The Wisp consider tackling the vicious
punching LW champion Ike Williams or Beau Jack. Willie knew his limitations...The other
above fighters headed by Fitz, Greb ,etc, didn't...

 

All of the fighters we discuss here did at least one or two things very well. Some more. He did all the things well, including intangibles, which are so important in boxing. It's more than him being able to hook off the jab so well, or move as well as he did, or have such great handspeed. Lots of fighters could do all those things. When things got rough, he could be rougher and more determined than just about anyone, and he had the mindset that he simply could not lose a fight and wouldn't allow it to happen.

 

Well said S...

 

I agree with every word of this.