Who are the "best ever" in every division?

[Chepppaaa]

Heavyweight-Mike Tyson
Cruiserweight-Juan Carlos Gomez
Light Heavyweight-Roy Jones Jr.
Super Middleweight-Roy Jones Jr.
Middleweight-Roy Jones Jr.
Super Welterweight-Sugar Ray Robinson
Welterweight-Sugar Ray Robinson
Super Lightweight-Manny Pacquiao
Lightweight-Manny Pacquiao
Super Featherweight-Manny Pacquiao
Featherweight-Salvador Sanchez
Super Bantamweight-Guillermo Rigondeaux
Bantamweight-Eder Jofre
Super Flyweight-Khaosai Galaxy
Flyweight-Roman Gonzales
Light Flyweight-Michael Carbajal
Minimumweight-Ricardo Lopez

[jezzamundo]

h-lewis
c-gomez
l-jones jr
s-jones jr
m-jones jr
s-robinson
w-leonard
s-pacquiao
l-pacquiao
s-pacquiao
f-?
s-rigondeaux
b-jofre
s-galaxy
f-gonzales
l-?
m-Lopez

Surely this belongs in Boxers of the Past? Oh well, I'll bite...

HW - Ali
CW - Holyfield
LHW - Charles
SMW - Jones Jr
MW - First really tough call - Greb has the best resume but hard to say he was best without footage. I'll go with Monzon.
LMW - Robinson (the division didn't exist in his time, but it was his natural weight for much of his career. Otherwise Hearns.
WW - Robinson

My historical knowledge below welterweight is thin, so hard to comment with any confidence there.

[Taki...]

The PBF fanboys are coming for you.

I'd plump for
Louis at HW
Holyfield at Cruiser
Robinson at super welterweight is a perplexing choice. SWW (or LMW if you prefer) wasn't even a recognised weight class until the early sixties. And as far as I'm aware Robinson never officially fought at the weight.

[Tony1244]

Heavyweight-Ali
Cruiserweight-Holyfield
Light Heavyweight-Archie Moore
Middleweight-Monzon
Welterweight-Robinson
Lightweight-Duran

I don't really go under lightweight.

Honorable Mention: Joe Louis, Jack Johnson, RJJ, B. Foster, Conn, SR Leonard, Benny Leonard, Greb, Mayweather (hate to say).

[ElJefe]

Can only go by who I've actually a decent number of fights of.

HW - Ali
CW - Holyfield
LHW - Jones Jr.
SMW - Calzaghe (Not the best to fight at 168 but others didn't stay long enough)
MW - Hagler
LMW - Hearns
WW - Robinson
LWW - Chavez
LW - Duran
SFW - Arguello

Not sure on many below that, other than Ricardo Lopez at strawweight.

[man]

Heavyweight-Ali
Cruiserweight-Holyfield
Light Heavyweight-Archie Moore
Middleweight-Monzon
Welterweight-Robinson
Lightweight-Duran

I don't really go under lightweight.

good list. for me RJJ has a slight edge
at LH and hagler at MW.

[man]

h-lewis
c-gomez
l-jones jr
s-jones jr
m-jones jr
s-robinson
w-leonard
s-pacquiao
l-pacquiao
s-pacquiao
f-?
s-rigondeaux
b-jofre
s-galaxy
f-gonzales
l-?
m-Lopez

no offense, but you must be born
after 1990 ...

[Chepppaaa]

h-lewis
c-gomez
l-jones jr
s-jones jr
m-jones jr
s-robinson
w-leonard
s-pacquiao
l-pacquiao
s-pacquiao
f-?
s-rigondeaux
b-jofre
s-galaxy
f-gonzales
l-?
m-Lopez

no offense, but you must be born
after 1990 ...

robinson and prime leonard were so 90's

give me an oldschool boxer and i name you a newschool 90+ who will beat him.

athletes in every sport become better with time, nutrition + new training +genetics become better over time. in every sport, yes, also boxing. their are exceptions like robinson or clay, both those super rare talent get only born every 50 years.

[stevedoc]

I have never seen a cruiser weight rating that didn't have holyfield top ...........

[gilgamesh]

Heavyweight - Ali
Cruiserweight - Holyfield
Light Heavyweight - Ezzard Charles
Super Middleweight - Roy Jones Jr.
Middleweight - Harry Greb
Jr. Middleweight (I'm sure with this one)
Welterweight - Sugar Ray Robinson
Jr. Welterweight - Aaron Pryor
Lightweight - Roberto Duran
Jr. Lightweight - Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Featherweight - Willie Pep
Jr. Featherweight - Wilfredo Gomez
Bantamweight - Carlos Zarate
Jr. Bantamweight - Khaosai Galaxy
Flyweight - Jimmy Wilde
Jr. Flyweight (I don't know)
Strawweight - Ricardo Lopez

[gilgamesh]

I have never seen a cruiser weight rating that didn't have holyfield top ...........

Basically because the division is so young that he's pretty well hands down the best talent to have ever come out of the weight class. The best argument you could make against it is that he accomplished more as a Heavyweight, which I'd agree...but still he beat a very dangerous run of guys at Cruiserweight too and became Undisputed Cruiserweight Champion before moving up to Heavyweight.

[Chepppaaa]

Heavyweight - Ali
Cruiserweight - Holyfield
Light Heavyweight - Ezzard Charles
Super Middleweight - Roy Jones Jr.
Middleweight - Harry Greb
Jr. Middleweight (I'm sure with this one)
Welterweight - Sugar Ray Robinson
Jr. Welterweight - Aaron Pryor
Lightweight - Roberto Duran
Jr. Lightweight - Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Featherweight - Willie Pep
Jr. Featherweight - Wilfredo Gomez
Bantamweight - Carlos Zarate
Jr. Bantamweight - Khaosai Galaxy
Flyweight - Jimmy Wilde
Jr. Flyweight (I don't know)
Strawweight - Ricardo Lopez

great list

jr midds, you're not sure about them? prime tito, hearns, mccallum come to my mind

[Tony1244]

Heavyweight-Ali
Cruiserweight-Holyfield
Light Heavyweight-Archie Moore
Middleweight-Monzon
Welterweight-Robinson
Lightweight-Duran

I don't really go under lightweight.

good list. for me RJJ has a slight edge
at LH and hagler at MW.

I almost gave RJJ honorable mention. Hagler was very good but overall didn't have great opposition. Actually, I'll go put RJJ in there now.

[Chepppaaa]

I have never seen a cruiser weight rating that didn't have holyfield top ...........

all i know is that holyfield would have mayor problems with guys like juan carlos gomez, david haye or usyk. holyfield had like 18 fights at cruiserweight. even hucks cw resume is better than holyfields.

[gilgamesh]

Heavyweight - Ali
Cruiserweight - Holyfield
Light Heavyweight - Ezzard Charles
Super Middleweight - Roy Jones Jr.
Middleweight - Harry Greb
Jr. Middleweight (I'm sure with this one)
Welterweight - Sugar Ray Robinson
Jr. Welterweight - Aaron Pryor
Lightweight - Roberto Duran
Jr. Lightweight - Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Featherweight - Willie Pep
Jr. Featherweight - Wilfredo Gomez
Bantamweight - Carlos Zarate
Jr. Bantamweight - Khaosai Galaxy
Flyweight - Jimmy Wilde
Jr. Flyweight (I don't know)
Strawweight - Ricardo Lopez

great list

jr midds, you're not sure about them? prime tito, hearns, mccallum come to my mind

Yeah I was torn between who I wanted at Jr. Middle. I'd probably have to go with Hearns.

[Chepppaaa]

Heavyweight - Ali
Cruiserweight - Holyfield
Light Heavyweight - Ezzard Charles
Super Middleweight - Roy Jones Jr.
Middleweight - Harry Greb
Jr. Middleweight (I'm sure with this one)
Welterweight - Sugar Ray Robinson
Jr. Welterweight - Aaron Pryor
Lightweight - Roberto Duran
Jr. Lightweight - Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Featherweight - Willie Pep
Jr. Featherweight - Wilfredo Gomez
Bantamweight - Carlos Zarate
Jr. Bantamweight - Khaosai Galaxy
Flyweight - Jimmy Wilde
Jr. Flyweight (I don't know)
Strawweight - Ricardo Lopez

great list

jr midds, you're not sure about them? prime tito, hearns, mccallum come to my mind

Yeah I was torn between who I wanted at Jr. Middle. I'd probably have to go with Hearns.

yeah hearns was brutal at 154

[ikorolev]

There is no such thing as the "best ever". It is even more imaginary than best p4p.

You can't compare fighters from 70s with current boxers who are bigger and use better PED technologies.

[martinmrts]

h-lewis

lennox lewis tbe ? really ?

[Chepppaaa]

There is no such thing as the "best ever". It is even more imaginary than best p4p.

You can't compare fighters from 70s with current boxers who are bigger and use better PED technologies.

sure you can compare them. they are bigger like you said more athletic and therefore better, simple.

ped wouldnt not make a prime mike tyson out of joe frazier. tyson > frazier

genetics become better over time, thats why elite 100 m sprinter were running 10-11 secondes back in the days and today 9:58

[Boxing Writer]

My top-3 in each division from HW to LW:

HW - 1. Ali; 2. Louis; 3. Holmes
CW - 1. Holyfield; 2. Qawi; 3. Haye
LHW - 1. Charles; 2. Moore; 3. Spinks
SMW - 1. RJJ; 2. Calzaghe; 3. Ward
MW - 1. SRR; 2. Greb; 3. Hagler
LMW - 1. Hearns; 2. Norris; 3. Trinidad
WW - 1. SRR; 2. SRL; 3. Floyd
SLW - 1. Pryor; 2. Whitaker; 3. Cervantes/Chavez
LW - 1. Duran; 2. Armstrong. 3. Benny Leonard/Joe Gans

[Chepppaaa]

My top-3 in each division from HW to LW:

HW - 1. Ali; 2. Louis; 3. Holmes
CW - 1. Holyfield; 2. Qawi; 3. Haye
LHW - 1. Charles; 2. Moore; 3. Spinks
SMW - 1. RJJ; 2. Calzaghe; 3. Ward
MW - 1. SRR; 2. Greb; 3. Hagler
LMW - 1. Hearns; 2. Norris; 3. Trinidad
WW - 1. SRR; 2. SRL; 3. Floyd
SLW - 1. Pryor; 2. Whitaker; 3. Cervantes/Chavez
LW - 1. Duran; 2. Armstrong. 3. Benny Leonard/Joe Gans

also, good list

[King Carlos]

How is that a good list? Like you said, elite track and field athletes today are running 9.58, whereas Jesse Owens was running 10.3 seconds. Therefore, Danny Garcia>Ray Robinson in boxing.

[sucracristo]

Featherweight - Willie Pep

head to head you have to go saddler over pep, but then saddler lost to terranova who got
spanked by bartolo and pep, and so many others who the top feathers dominated, so
on resume yeah pep. the new england fighters of that era were dominant in many
classes. arguello in modern times.

welters would be henry armstrong or srr, and armstrong was better as a lightweight.

a few things i don't like about trying to pitt people from different eras head to head in
theoretical fights in order to argue for "best ever" are:
1) can't do it
2) if the prior era fighter lived in later era, they would be different fighters, and vice versa
3) just pulling them from their respective eras and placing them head to head ends in bias to more recent era,
especially with respect to fighters you grew up watching.
4) i don't buy into the argument that the training is so much better at the lighter weights these days
to outweigh the experience and skills of earlier eras if you pluck them from their primes, head to head.
i still box sometimes and i'm relatively old, and i can tell you emphatically that the skills are not better
today at the same competition levels as they were in the late 80's, and i knew older guys who fought
pro in the 60's and 70's who still boxed in the 80's who would tell you the same thing, and i've seen
how they compare albeit at different ages over the decades. maybe a 100m runner or nba/nfl/nhl/mlb/
premier league/atp, etc etc are bigger stronger more athletic than before, but we are talking boxing
here, not team sports without weight classes. we also don't know how many of the old timers would
have fought in the newer divisions if they existed back then.

all we can do is compare what they were to their eras and what their contributions to the sport
earned them compared to others in different eras.

[Ricky_]

I have never seen a cruiser weight rating that didn't have holyfield top ...........

Nearly as bad as ommitting Duran.

[ikorolev]

There is no such thing as the "best ever". It is even more imaginary than best p4p.

You can't compare fighters from 70s with current boxers who are bigger and use better PED technologies.

sure you can compare them. they are bigger like you said more athletic and therefore better, simple.

ped wouldnt not make a prime mike tyson out of joe frazier. tyson > frazier

genetics become better over time, thats why elite 100 m sprinter were running 10-11 secondes back in the days and today 9:58

That's exactly why you can't compare them. When put in the ring, modern top boxers will almost always be better than boxers from 50th or 70th, so some kind of relativity needs to be introduced the same way as in p4p lists.