Which fighter of ",your"generation do you believe to be the greatest ? Myself, getting into boxing in the late 70 s ,it's Roberto Duran .Not many other s come close IMO . So ,which is your Generation s best ?
It's between three fighters in the 90s - Chavez, Whitaker and Jones. I got into the sport properly in 1993. At that precise point there was no question who the best p4p fighter in the world was - Julio Cesar Chavez. By the end of that year, Chavez had fought to a draw with Pernell Whitaker and Whitaker then became the choice as no.1. In November 94, Roy Jones beat James Toney and from that point on and for the next 18 months it was between Whitaker and Jones for the no. 1 spot. By early 1997 and for the rest of that decade (and into the early 2000s) Jones was indisputably the p4p best in the sport. Jones had an aura of invincibility that I don't think Whitaker had but then Chavez was 87-0 up to the Whitaker fight so he was considered pretty untouchable. The most naturally gifted was definitely Jones but he didn't challenge himself as much as he should have in his prime. Chavez and Whitaker ducked no-one, including each other, so they edge it in terms of the challenges they faced. If I was ranking them in an all-time list they'd all be in the lower half of the top 30 but in the 90s alone I'll go for... Chavez... no... Whitaker... no... Jones. I don't know.
As for best, I'd say RJJ. I've never seen a fighter as (literally) untouchable in his prime as Jones was. Would liked to have seen him fight more of the other top guys (McClellan and Eubank would perhaps be especially intriguing opposition), but he met good quality as it was. Greatest is harder to say. Probably Pac or Floyd. Jones is in the discussion as well. Perhaps Holy also.
Sugar Ray Leonard easily. He fought and BEAT them all. He was incredible the different ways he beat great fighters. He didn't have a long career, but those top wins were better than most guys who ever fought.
Came into boxing in the 80s. Lots of good fighters. SRL, Hagler, Pryor, Holmes and one that always gets forgotten: Michael Spinks.
