Your ATG top 25???

It's pretty difficult to judge active fighters. With Floyd, there has been the impression for more or less a decade now that he was something special, but frustration mounted when he didn't always take on the greatest challenges when he became a bigger name, and this is further compounded by the hate and negativity that surrounds Floyd, where people refuse to give him credit because he's a safety first fighter. When he's retired and the dust has settled, we'll be able to collectively judge Mayweather's and Pacquiao's accomplishments more objectively.

One big thing in Mayweather's favour is his undeniably longevity. Max Kellerman put it best here ----- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5nX7YfCqvs

"He might not hit 50-60 home runs a year, but he's hitting 45 home runs every year for 20 years."

Both fighters have been the defining P4P kings of the last decade, and so there are arguments for both to appear in the top 25 if we were to assume that each era is more or less equally good — with some pros and cons, but equally good more or less. The popular perception though is that it's a weak era, and many argue that neither Floyd nor Pac should be in the top 25-30 or so. This may or may not be true.

 

I dont have a list but i personally would never have Louis above Ali. Ali has better wins, was just as dominant and is more impressive on film/in head to head matchups

 

Max is typically very abrasive, even in just the way he looks at people.

 

Just my opinion.

Louis was a great combination puncher, had ATG technique and amazing timing, 1 punch ko power, but he still was never better than Ali.

Ali's wins over foreman, liston, frazier, patterson, lyle, norton, shavers, terrell etc trump Louis' best wins.

And i think Ali proved himself to be a more versatile fighter.

I suppose in your heavyweight list you'd have louis above Ali also?

 

This is an excellent thread and an excellent list. I'm not sure if I'm qualified to chime in but I'll give it some more thought.

SRL is pretty hard to rank. The International Boxing Research Organization (IBRO), who's work I admire, has ranked SRL 2nd all time in the w.w. division.
and skill wise I think he's a good as anyone I've seen in my lifetime. He's sort of comparable to Mayweather, with more offense, more power, and more fighting spirit.

As for Ali/Louis, I too rate Louis higher. I think he's technically a much better fighter.

Ali was more of an extraordinary athlete who could box, as was to a less extent was Jones. I think RJJ was a better boxer than Ali, (I've never seen Ali crack a guys ribs with a body punch for example) but again Ali was an extraordinarily athlete and his desire to sustain punishment was off the charts. (not sure if that's a good thing or not, good for winning fights, bad for health reasons).

As for Hagler, I started watching boxing because of him, so I consider him quite special. But I reserve my highest respect for Duran, he was the very definition of a fighter.

 

Roughly this:

Robinson
Whitaker
Jones Jr
Armstrong
Duran
R Leonard
Pep
Ali
Hagler
B Leonard
Chavez
Hearns
Louis
Monzon
Jofre
Burley
Marciano
Langford
Charles
Moore
Wilde
Saddler
Ross
Mclarnin
Canzoneri

 

RJJ is #3 on your list?

 

He is

 

It is