Willie Pep was rated 4th by Ring magazine in `96 in a list of the best 50 fighters

I'm going to have to let this sit for at least a day, Pep was something else, he did things I've never seen another emulate, he lacked absolutely nothing skill wise but a ko punch, if Sweet Pea was the greatest defensive fighter from the waist up Pep was the greatest with his legs. Both Burt and the scribes who saw his prime say his great win over Saddler was a lesser version of it...still number 4?

 

Yes. Pep cleaned out a good featherweight division in the 40s beating top tier contenders Demarco, Joyce, Stolz, bartolo, Sierra, famechon, Leslie, and terranova. Also defeated hall of famers Manuel Ortiz and Chalky Wright multiple times. He also had an all time great win over Saddler post plane crash

 

I would think most people would feel 4 seems a bit high as his competition level was not as good as Langford, Greb, Robinson, Charles, Ali, or Armstrong. Compounding this, he couldn't go the distance in 3 of 4 against Saddler. Granted these were a diminished post crash version, AND he was leading on points in fights 3 and 4, but at the end of the day the Saddler series makes it hard for me to put him in the top 4. Anywhere from 5- 9 seems reasonable.

 

4 is about right. 230 wins

 

With all due respect, I think it was Locche who was the best from the waist up...Unlike Whitaker, Locche never had to practically kneel on the floor to avoid punches...all his brilliance was generated through slipping punches with the head and subtle upper body shifts.

 

If we're only talking about the last 50 years, then sounds about right to me.