Your Greatest Fighter Since You've Been Following Boxing

[Seamus]

So for me, that means since about 1970, and I'm going with

1.Sugar Ray Leonard

[Goodnight, Irene]

So for me, that means since about 1970, and I'm going with

1.Sugar Ray Leonard

Such a grand, grand topic. I've started one or two identical to this before. It really, really makes you think. Luckily, I've gone over it carefully before.

My nominees, as a fight fan since 1994, are as follows...

Pernell Whitaker
Ricardo Lopez
Floyd Mayweather
Manny Pacquiao

& the winner is...Ricardo Lopez!

"If you could make a 160lb. version of him, he would beat any fighter, in any weightclass." - A friend, on Lopez at the height of his powers.

[Seamus]

Sorry, thought your's was just "When Did You Start Following Boxing"

[Goodnight, Irene]

Sorry, thought your's was just "When Did You Start Following Boxing"

That, too. It was a long time ago I did a thread like this one. I think it's a great topic, & never gets old!

As someone who's followed longer than I, where would you place my top choice on your list, Seamus?

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Lopez wouldn't hit my top 40.

Duran for me, followed closely by Ali, leonard, Whitaker, Hearns, hagler & Holmes.

[Seamus]

G,I

From your group I'd have Floyd at 1 and Pac-Man at 2. Lopez is in interesting choice that I still have to give more consideration. He had a mix of some very solid opponents along with several who probably shouldn't have been fighting for a title.

[Ezzard]

Whilst I didn’t appreciate him when I first started following the sport I would have to say Duran.

I would have him closely followed by Holmes, Lewis, Holyfield, Leonard, Whittaker, Sanchez, Hagler, Hopkins, Spinks, Chavez, Nelson, Fenech, Pacquaio and Hearns (my favourite from a pure entertainment POV).

[Goodnight, Irene]

Lopez wouldn't hit my top 40.

Duran for me, followed closely by Ali, leonard, Whitaker, Hearns, hagler & Holmes.

& chavez wouldn't hit your top-1,000. What of it? Nobody was talking to you, pal D

(Kidding, but I think you're also kidding to dismiss Lopez so cavalierly).

Seamus, I admit Lopez suffers next to some great names of my time on resume. I base a lot on what I saw, & what I saw...man alive...

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Lopez wouldn't hit my top 40.

Duran for me, followed closely by Ali, leonard, Whitaker, Hearns, hagler & Holmes.

& chavez wouldn't hit your top-1,000. What of it? Nobody was talking to you, pal D

(Kidding, but I think you're also kidding to dismiss Lopez so cavalierly).

Seamus, I admit Lopez suffers next to some great names of my time on resume. I base a lot on what I saw, & what I saw...man alive...

Nah, I was totally serious. I rate chavez well ahead of Lopez. I've been watching 2 decades longer so that's where I threw out 40. It might be 50, he wouldn't hit top 20 for me in your era.

At least I deleted the LOL I started it with.

Edit: Let me put it this way, Gushiken, Yuh, Chang, Carbajal, Canto & Gonzalez all rate ahead of Lopez imo.

[Goodnight, Irene]

Not even top-20 from '94-onward? I know his competition is a little thin on the ground next to other greats, but that's as close as you can get to knocking the man, IMO. I just barely spot a single flaw in his game, & that's said with very little or no exaggeration.

Whitaker is my number-two.

[SaadOffTheDeck]

Not even top-20 from '94-onward? I know his competition is a little thin on the ground next to other greats, but that's as close as you can get to knocking the man, IMO. I just barely spot a single flaw in his game, & that's said with very little or no exaggeration.

Whitaker is my number-two.

Not trying to knock him, that's my opinion of his accomplishments. There has been a lot of great fighters in that time span and most of them did a lot more.

[yancey]

Frazier, Holmes, Hearns, Duran.

[Bricks]

George Foreman mk II.

[jimglen]

such a hard thing to truely come up with, consensus can influence the way we think and at times not always be 100% right, i.e ALI was not/is not the greatest HW, never mind fighter...

anyhow I tend to give equal respect to other TOP men who didn't or don't get the same ink and perhaps should.

in my life was it Ali, or perhaps does Chuvalo deserve a bit of accolade as being "a great" (?)
how about Camacho whom many recognise but quickly exclude - what about one of his nemises Greg Haugan, a worthy combatant for sure, Michael Carbajal always impressed...

was Duran better than Leonard, overall probably, I loved Hearns, but many would place Hagler above them all.

what about Floyd or Sweet Pea whom used to bother me, ODH never stuck me as special as he was said to be. There have been so many top men very good and great, I can't say one over the other and many more lesser fighters I can't even bring to mind, as well as say nothing of the many more I know little or nothing about.

but to give an answer I'd have to say Tyson - the saying "the badest man on the planet" was probably true for Tyson at a stage, and while at his peak he was as good or capable of beating any HW in history. Now thats not to say that some wouldn't have beaten him, "they would have", but again talking peak, I say Iron Mike stood a 50/50 chance with any of them!!!

so in my lifetime it'd have to be the peak perfect Tyson.

[Darling]

[ThatOne]

[milmascaras1]

joe frazier was my 1st favorite fighter. then it was bobby chacon. followed by roberto duran, salvador sanchez, julio cesar chavez, and now juan manuel marquez.

[elmersalsa]

It got to be the great Roberto Duran. The first fight I saw of him was when he lost for the first time to Esteban De Jesus.

But my interest in boxing started fully in 1978, when the great Muhammad Ali beat Leon Spinks for the WBA World Heavyweight Title rematch in New Orleans, LA.

It was a night to remember of a great night in boxing. The fighters that fought in the undercard of that fight were:

Jorge Lujan vs Albert Davila
Danny Lopez vs Juan Domingo Malvarez
Mike Rossman vs Victor Galindez I

Ali and Duran were my first 2 favorite fighters. Then came Sugar Ray Leonard, Bobby Chacon, Eusebio Pedroza, James Toney, Julio Cesar Chavez, and Mike Tyson also as my dear favorites

[p4p1]

i started following boxing in 2000 so the easy answer has to be pac-man

[gambler49]

CLAY

[jaclem2]

..can't narrow it down to one...so...joe louis, ezzard charles, ray robinson and willie pep.

[Sweet P]

i started following boxing in 2000 so the easy answer has to be pac-man

Floyd

[p4p1]

i started following boxing in 2000 so the easy answer has to be pac-man

Floyd

7 weight division says otherwise DD

[jaclem2]

...no fighter yet has ever held titles in seven legitimate weight divisions and it is highly unlikely any one ever will...

[Seamus]

They are legitimate, just not original.