1959-2009: The Greatest Fighter of the Last 50 Years

[elmersalsa]

Who in your opinion, is the greatest fighter, pound per pound of the last 50 years since 1959?

[dempseyfire]

My vote goes to Manos de Pierdra.

[Seamus]

No, Mayweather or PacMan ?

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Duran, and it isn't close.

[raylawpc]

Duran, and it isn't close.

You might be absolutely right about Duran - a truly phenominal fighter. But when you say it "isn't close," tells me you were too young to have seen the ring artistry that was Eder Jofre.

[kikibalt]

Too many other greats left out of this poll.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Duran, and it isn't close.

You might be absolutely right about Duran - a truly phenominal fighter. But when you say it "isn't close," tells me you were too young to have seen the ring artistry that was Eder Jofre.

I never saw him live, but have seen the available film on him. He was very good, but Duran was in a difference class imo.

[Goodnight, Irene]

I am tempted to say Ali, though I have been enjoying the mastery of Jofre of late (this guy, Jesus, was he ever something). I'd say they are my stand-outs on this list.

[Ezzard]

Surprised not to see Emile Griffith on the list.

It's a good poll. It was hard to come to a decision.

[Goodnight, Irene]

In the end, I went with Ali.

[HenryK]

I voted Sugary Ray II, but it's a close call.

[BoxBuzz]

It was tough for me between Monzon, Duran and Ali...I can't honestly choose. I see they are the top vote getters.

In the end I voted for Monzon.

[JC]

I voted Duran. But really, how do you compare Ali to Holyfield to Whittaker?

I like the question though Elmer, interesting in that it excludes Robinson, Pep, Armstrong, Langford and unnameable others from the debate.

Ray Leonard certainly had the talent to be the best in my view, but his later career is quite patchy, a bit like Tyson's.

[actjac]

Ali would beat any of them. How many think that he would not kick Duran's butt? Who cares about weight classes? We are all equal human men. In one on one hand-to-hand combat Muhammad wins.

[Rossman]

Ali

[Idisagree]

Ali

[raylawpc]

Ali would beat any of them. How many think that he would not kick Duran's butt? Who cares about weight classes? We are all equal human men. In one on one hand-to-hand combat Muhammad wins.

If you are talking about a streetfight in a dark alley at 1 o'clock in the morning, I change my vote to Monzon. According to what I've read, boxing wasn't just a sport to Monzon; Monzon enjoyed hurting other human beings. He was a vicious, deadly man.

[Goodnight, Irene]

^^^A mighty pleasant street crew he & Duran would've made.

[Djanders]

I voted for Muhammad Ali.

[elmersalsa]

I gotta go with the great Roberto Duran here. The best fighter that I have ever seen in my lifetime.

[yiddle]

hagler

[Elton John]

Hagler because he was too dominant and only lost because he was shot at the end

[Deno1986]

Reggie Strickland anyone-he had one of the best records Ive ever seen W66(KO14) L276

Only jokin, I would have to go for Monzon personally, he owned the middleweight division!

[I Feel Fine]

I think its clearly Ali. I am also a big Duran fan but I can't rate him ahead of Ali. Duran's best achievement was his Lightweight title reign but Ali's defenses were against better fighters for the most part, Ali has about as many solid wins in non-title fights as Duran does, and Ali has fewer losses. Duran has longevity, his career lasted half a lifespan and he was a champion and contender for a good many of those years, but I don't think that is enough... though he's close, I wouldn't rank him much behind Ali, maybe one or two slots. Ali had more defenses than Monzon, had a longer career, and beating Liston, Patterson, an out-weighed Foster, Frazier and Foreman ranks ahead of beating Benvenuti, an old Griffith, an out-weighed Napoles, Briscoe and Valdez.
Robinson, Pep, Armstrong, Greb, Langford, Charles all rank ahead of Ali in my book, but when you take them out of the picture it clearly has to be Ali in my view. Ali is the best fighter who we have full visual coverage of, we can see him from his first fight to his last fight on film, which we cannot do for those others, we can't see anything of Greb's or Langford's and we can only see the others mostly in their later years, with only some exceptions. Among fighters who we can objectively watch and judge for ourselves without having to read other people's reports, from the beginning to the end of their careers, Ali is the greatest of all time.

[elmersalsa]

Ali lost 3 times with the same guy...Ken Norton. It is obvious that he could not be the best of the last 50 years. He never beat Joe Frazier in his prime and the most anticipated fight in history (The Fight of the Century), he lost clearly.

He was helped by the media circus surrounding him....Plus, he was a heavyweight, which gets more attention than any other boxer from lightheavyweight on down.