My father liked Sugar Ray Robinson the best. He told me they used to listen to the fights live on the radio and then a month later go to the theater to watch the fights. My dad knew Carl "Bobo" Olson back when they were kids growing up in Hawaii. It really bugged him that Robinson beat the heck out of Olson all the times they fought.
My grandfather's favorites were Marciano and Patterson, and he handed his regard for those men down to his sons. My uncle and some of his buddies actually ran into Floyd in New Paltz, brief encounter that affirmed the inherited respect he had for the guy.
My dad always told me that Dave Sands was the best fighter we ever had so him. Muhammad Ali later in life.