Your Top Ten Middleweights.

10 Roy Jones Jr
9 Jack Dempsey
8 Harry Greb
7 Marvin Hagler
6 Bernard Hopkins
5 Mickey Walker
4 Charley Burley
3 Stanley Ketchel
2 Ray Robinson
1 Carlos Monzon

 

good list, glad to see steele in there. also glad not to see lamotta. you'll get stick, as everyone does, for having roy jones.

 

People forget Bob Fitzsimmons was a MW Champ.

He might have knocked all those guys out.

 

his ranking depends on how highly you rate dempsey and fitz's win imo

 

01 Greb
02 Hagler
03 Monzon
04 Fitzsimmons
05 Hopkins
06 Burley
07 SRR
08 Walker
09 Ketchel
10 Tiger

 

Just outside for me.....

11 H Williams
12 Lamotta
13 Nonpareil
14 Langford
15 RJJ
16 Steele
17 Cerdan
18 Flowers
19 Giardello
20 Toney

ESB classic did a consensus a few years ago and Steele came in at 17.....12-18 seems about right for Steele.

http://www.eastsideboxing.com/forum/showthread.php?t=164758&page=14

 

can't see SRR any lower than 4th to be honest. Fitz lacks the depth of resume for me to justify a top 5 placement. Hopkins is always a tricky placement a case can be made for 5th. Like the list other than that.

 

Most people see SRR as clear top 5....I disagree and am aware that, that makes me the minority....I just don't buy into him at MW as most others do....At WW he is my clear number w/ #2 distant at best!

 

his record isn't stellar on numbers alone at MW but he beat soooo many top 20 middles and HOFs at 160. fullmer, basilio, lamotta, olson, graziano...great names and i can't look past that record

 

I am not in any way shape or form trying to discredit SUGAR (Blasphame, LOL), and recognize his greatness and love his skills and have spent days hidden in a cave watching footage of him....I am only disagreeing on the degree of greatness proportionate with other greats. By a consensus, am on an Island with only a few others...but at least the waves are good here!

 

ONLY H2H, who's proven in Battle & Longeviety against fellow top men and especially heavier bigger men. NO Achievement points here.

Many are left out like Marshall (my favourite) because for my money he's a L-HW, and the real oldtimers because I think they were a little too crude for the eventual evolution of the sport culminated by the mid 30s.

In the reverse, guys like LaMotta feasted on too many WWs, STILL a Great fighter, just not the same as the toughest hardest men in the divsion.

Fighters in the last 30 years just aren't as good. IF they had to keep the same sort of scheduals and actually fight the best regularily, they wouldn't themselves have been around as long as they were!

1) Harry Greb - record speaks for itself in & out of the division, historical favourite.
2) Sugar Ray Robinson - arguable THEE BEST!
3) Marvelous Marvin Hagler - tough _ucker. BUT is he better than the other tough _uckers? I can't say forsure, he gets the popular vote.
4) Mickey Walker - Proven Little BIGman.
5) Jock McAvoy - arguably Britains Best, Proven against American MWs, L-HW & HWs and denied a world MW title shot.
6) Carlos Monzon - boring, systematic spoiler, tough souless predator who always won.
7) Charley Burley - IF he was given his shot, he MIGHT have shown better than many others.
8) Marcel Cerdan - France's Best and on his best night capable of beating any MW.
9) Freddie Steele - straight forward, crisp, hardhitting boxer, overlooked and defo a great.
10) ??? was it Holman Williams, Fred Apostili, Jack Chase, SRL, Darcy or Sands, Gibbons or Dillon?

I don't know, WHO? you tell me?

so many are equal or not far out of the mix, it really boils down to how people grade or favour.

I always try and figure Who is actually Better, Tougher and can be Proven against their longeviety and opposition, especially out of said division.

 

Being in the top 20 for middleweights is an astounding accomplishment. Being number 20 at middle is better than landing at number 10 for a heavy. So much rich history at middleweight. I'm also glad you guys included steele.

 

ESB classic results from spetember 2009