Lightweights

[Ezzard]

What an impossible job fitting but 10 into the list... Please feel free to vote for Ambers, Holly, Montgomery, DeJesus, Arguello, Chavez, etc by listing their name in the post. Interested to see how the board goes...

[harrygreb]

duran tops the list for me - williams is top 5, but i need more time to really focus on this

[elmersalsa]

The great Roberto Duran...No doubt about that for me.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Whitaker is my top pick.

[p4p1]

duran is my pick

[vagabundo55]

Duran all the way baby.

[Seamus]

No LW in the history of boxing defeated as many world class opponents as Benny Leonard. I lean toward Henry Armstrong as my number 2.

[Martin Sosa Cameron]

This is an excellent topic!

1/2 Roberto Duran

1/2 Benny Leonard

I'm allways in doubt between this greatests

[Goodnight, Irene]

I'd go along with...

1. Whitaker
2. Leonard
3. Duran

Of the three, it's Leonard who plainly is the most under-estimated.

[dempseyfire]

Benny Leonard

Whitaker, as great as he was, clearly doesn't have the resume of Duran, Leonard or Ike Williams.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Agreed, I'm going on-head-to-head. I'd bank on Whitaker as the most likely man to best all others, though it is an extremely contested field.

[dempseyfire]

I would definitely disagree there, I don't see Whitaker beating any of those 3, and the likes of Ortiz,Gans, and Armstrong are not sure bets either. Who did Whitaker beat at 135? Ramirez, Haugan, and Nelson were all very good fighters but not in the class of the guys the aformentioned were fighting and beating.

But Whitaker is definitely up there with the very very best, don't get me wrong. I just think his status was perhaps a little inflated due to the Chavez robbery (in what should have been his biggest win), and I don't rank Chavez nearly as highly all-time as some do.

[theone]

Whitaker beat at 135? Ramirez, Haugan, and Nelson were all very good fighters but not in the class of the guys the aformentioned were fighting and beating

Please elaborate. For instance, Duran fought alot more people but most of them were just record padding with horrible records.
His best comp at lightweight was Buchanan who is at least as great as Nelson. Who else did Duran beat at lightweight that was so much better than those three?

[Minotauro]

I voted for Gans, who voted for Mosley?

[ringsider]

Whitaker is my top pick.

How & why?

Some guys just don't know a good fighter.

He does not even belong in the same building with Duran.

[elmersalsa]

Whitaker beat at 135? Ramirez, Haugan, and Nelson were all very good fighters but not in the class of the guys the aformentioned were fighting and beating

Please elaborate. For instance, Duran fought alot more people but most of them were just record padding with horrible records.
His best comp at lightweight was Buchanan who is at least as great as Nelson. Who else did Duran beat at lightweight that was so much better than those three?

Duran fought excellent competition at lightweight, theone: Ken Buchanan, Esteban De Jesus, Ray Lampkin, Vilomar Fernandez, Edwin Viruet and Hector Thompson were very good...It is that Duran just anhiliated them.

I pick Duran because the way how he anhiliated and decimated the lightweight class...He totally cleaned up that division. By 1979, he did not had no opponents to fight, so he went up to welterweight.
If we are gonna pick the greatest fighter at lightweight just because of quality of opposition, then, NO LIGHTWEIGHT IN HISTORY had a better class of opponents than Ike Williams. Williams beat the top lightweights of his era: Beau Jack, Bob Montgomery, Sammy Angott, Willie Joyce, Enrique Bolanos, Lew Jenkins, Wesley Mouzon and others that I cannot think out of my head. That class alone was better than what Duran or Whitaker ever beat, but Williams was not as dominant as Duran and Sweet Pea.

[My2Sense]

The Ghetto Wizard.

[theone]

Whitaker beat at 135? Ramirez, Haugan, and Nelson were all very good fighters but not in the class of the guys the aformentioned were fighting and beating

Please elaborate. For instance, Duran fought alot more people but most of them were just record padding with horrible records.
His best comp at lightweight was Buchanan who is at least as great as Nelson. Who else did Duran beat at lightweight that was so much better than those three?

Duran fought excellent competition at lightweight, theone: Ken Buchanan, Esteban De Jesus, Ray Lampkin, Vilomar Fernandez, Edwin Viruet and Hector Thompson were very good...It is that Duran just anhiliated them.

I pick Duran because the way how he anhiliated and decimated the lightweight class...He totally cleaned up that division. By 1979, he did not had no opponents to fight, so he went up to welterweight.
If we are gonna pick the greatest fighter at lightweight just because of quality of opposition, then, NO LIGHTWEIGHT IN HISTORY had a better class of opponents than Ike Williams. Williams beat the top lightweights of his era: Beau Jack, Bob Montgomery, Sammy Angott, Willie Joyce, Enrique Bolanos, Lew Jenkins, Wesley Mouzon and others that I cannot think out of my head. That class alone was better than what Duran or Whitaker ever beat, but Williams was not as dominant as Duran and Sweet Pea.

Though I still believe Whitaker (who was as dominated in the division as Duran, but different) was the best ever, I like and agree with the point you made about Williams.

[ringsider]

Though I still believe Whitaker (who was as dominated in the division as Duran, but different) was the best ever, blah, blah, blah.......

Get off the crack pipe.......

[theone]

Though I still believe Whitaker (who was as dominated in the division as Duran, but different) was the best ever, blah, blah, blah.......

Get off the crack pipe.......

Yeah yeah we get it you hate southpaws hahaha..

Get a new gimmick already.

[ringsider]

For you to say he was as dominant as Duran....shows you are on crack.

[vagabundo55]

Agreed, I'm going on-head-to-head. I'd bank on Whitaker as the most likely man to best all others, though it is an extremely contested field.

Without a doubt it would be an interesting match up between Duran and Whitaker, but I can honestly say I don't see Whitaker beating Duran at lightweight. At lightweight Duran was a monster, perhaps Whitaker was able to beat other greats such as Julio Cesar Chavez, but Duran was on a different level than Chavez. Though one could argue Chavez had more heart, it is fairly clear Duran was the more skilled, more naturally talented fighter between the two and thus a Chavez vs Whitaker comparison is a sense voided, not to mention I believe Duran would have fought a completely different fight, eventually cutting off the ring and forcing Whitaker to the ropes. One thing most people forget about Duran is that he could box with the best of them. The man could move around the ring, make it small for the opponent, throw strong, powerful blows from odd angles. That's exactly what it takes to beat someone who often ducks below the waist like Whitaker. I'd be so bold to say that I believe Duran might stop Whitaker whom was great in his own right, just that Duran was on a different plane. Whitaker outclassed great opponents, Duran completely broke them down. Both were able to be competitive with fighters above their optimum weight, Duran managed to get some very respectable wins from lightweight to middleweight. Though the one sure thing is that we may never know who's style would make the fight, but my logic indicates it would be Duran's.

[Ambling Alp]

A very tough weight class to pick a guy as #1. A major problem is that there was never a period when the division was strong and someone came in and clearly was the best of that period.

Probably goes down to Gans,Leonard,Armstrong, and Duran, and there are several guys not that far behind.
The difference between #1 and say #10 is probably less than just about any weight class.

[Senya13]

Joe Gans easily had a better lightweight competition than Ike Williams.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Agreed, I'm going on-head-to-head. I'd bank on Whitaker as the most likely man to best all others, though it is an extremely contested field.

Without a doubt it would be an interesting match up between Duran and Whitaker, but I can honestly say I don't see Whitaker beating Duran at lightweight. At lightweight Duran was a monster, perhaps Whitaker was able to beat other greats such as Julio Cesar Chavez, but Duran was on a different level than Chavez. Though one could argue Chavez had more heart, it is fairly clear Duran was the more skilled, more naturally talented fighter between the two and thus a Chavez vs Whitaker comparison is a sense voided, not to mention I believe Duran would have fought a completely different fight, eventually cutting off the ring and forcing Whitaker to the ropes. One thing most people forget about Duran is that he could box with the best of them. The man could move around the ring, make it small for the opponent, throw strong, powerful blows from odd angles. That's exactly what it takes to beat someone who often ducks below the waist like Whitaker. I'd be so bold to say that I believe Duran might stop Whitaker whom was great in his own right, just that Duran was on a different plane. Whitaker outclassed great opponents, Duran completely broke them down. Both were able to be competitive with fighters above their optimum weight, Duran managed to get some very respectable wins from lightweight to middleweight. Though the one sure thing is that we may never know who's style would make the fight, but my logic indicates it would be Duran's.

It's an awful long stretch, IMO, to say Whitaker's near-effortless schooling of Chavez is, "voided." I'll happily make the following concessions...

A) Chavez was coming up in weight, which didn't suit him. Although it wasn't Whitaker's best weight, either, he did have more time to acclimate to it.

B) Chavez was getting up there in wear-&-tear.

C) Even at the peak of his powers, Chavez wasn't quite what Duran was.

Now, that said, Chavez & Duran are obviously similar. Many parallels apply, & they cannot be denied. Whitaker handled him with ludicrous ease. Duran would be a significantly tougher opponent, but the comparison is more than valid, Vagabundo. Had these two met, I've no doubt a very plausible outcome is that Duran could best Whitaker. Here's what's equally likely --- Whitaker wins the fight, but gets jobbed on the cards because Duran, "forced the fight." We all know that's the most eye-pleasing style, even if the opponent is hitting air. I think Duran'd be chewing the top rope in his corner in frustration trying to get at Whitaker (a man who did things in there Duran never dreamed of, much less saw), & he'd never quite catch him.

Chavez is closer to Duran as a fighter, by a hell of a lot, than anyone Duran fought who could be stylistically compared with Whitaker.

Leonard is probably the best quiet bet to sneak up on either of these men & win, though.