The 10 Best Fighters of the 1960s

[elmersalsa]

Salute to all my friends. Today, I got my personal list of the greatest boxers of probably the most turbulent decade of all in the 20th century: The 1960s.

Boxing was changing. It was going internationally global outside American soil. At one time, some anti-boxing activists wanted the sport to be abolished. The cause of the deaths in the ring of boxing champions like Davey Moore and Benny "Kid" Paret on national tv called for great media attention. And boxing began to be broadcast by closed circuit theaters. It was until the next decade of the 1970s, that boxing was again brought back on the main U.S. tv networks.

But in all, one man, a Black American, was the total face of the sport of boxing. He was the first world Superstar in the history of sports: Muhammad Ali. He changed the world of sports inside out. He didn't had an equal. Great boxers like Jose "Mantequilla" Napoles, Emile Griffith, Carlos Ortiz, Eder Jofre, Vicente Saldivar and Ruben Olivares for example, suffered of not being in the spotlight. There was no room for them as long as Ali was the headline of the news. And when The Greatest said "I ain't got no quarrel with them Vietcong" made things worse for the rest of the best fighters of the world. All the media attention and spotlight was on him. There was not another athlete in the world, maybe with the exception of footballer great Pele, that was in even ground with him worlwide. Everyone else in the 60s, especially in the sports world, were secondary to this brash and controversial figure.

Not only Ali was the heavyweight champion of the world, he was probably the face of the decade marred by the civil rights movement in America and big time political assassinations of John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Ironically, only two of the ten best boxers of the 1960s decade were Americans. Boxing was changing dramatically outside the U.S.

Here are the best 10 boxers of that decade. The decade that changed the world forever:
1. Muhammad Ali
2. Emile Griffith
3. Eder Jofre
4. Fighting Harada
5. Vicente Saldivar
6. Dick Tiger
7. Carlos Ortiz
8. Luis Manuel Rodriguez
9. Joe Frazier
10. Jose "Mantequilla" Napoles

Honorary mention:

Nino Benvenutti: Became the best fighter in the history of Italian boxing. Was the most outstanding boxer of the 1960 Olympic Games of his native country in Rome, even with Cassius Clay withstanding! Won the olympic gold medal and didn't disappoint at the pro level, winning his first 65 pro bouts and won the world Jr middleweight and middleweight titles. His loss to unknown Korean Kim Ki Soo hurt his ranking in the decade. It was the ironic defeat that equaled Italy losing to North Korea in the upset of the 1966 Football World Cup. Losing to Soo is one of boxing's top 10 greatest upsets ever.

Bob Foster: Was a sensational puncher that decapitated the great Dick Tiger of Nigeria on May 24, 1968 in 4 rounds at MSG in NYC. It was Foster's greatest win. He held the world light-heavyweight crown for 6 years with 14 defenses after that. But, we cannot dismiss his losses to Mauro Mina of Peru, and to American heavyweights like Doug Jones, Zora Folley and future WBC/NBA World Heavyweight champion Ernie Terrell. Ironically, at 175lbs, he was the boss. But, at heavyweight, even in the 1960s, Foster couldn't hang with the BIG DOGS, the heavyweights.

Floyd Patterson: Became the first boxing champion to recapture the world heavyweight crown on June 20, 1960 by knocking out champ Ingemar Johansson of Sweden. It was Patterson's greatest win of his career. He redeemed himself after losing the title to Johansson the year before when Johansson brutalized him in three rounds. After that, the great Sonny Liston, ducked for years, became his nightmare by knocking him out twice in the very first round. And then, to make matters worse, the great Ali embarrassed him in 12 when he tried to regain the crown for the third time.

Sonny Liston: By the year 1960, he cleaned up the heavyweight division. The only hurdle in his way was a fight for the heavyweight title held by Ingemar Johansson or Floyd Patterson. Patterson became the victim in one round, and again the same way in the rematch. After that, Liston was considered by the boxing writers as "Invincible". One brash and young cocky fellow named Cassius Marcellus Clay beat him twice in controversial circumstances, and Liston NEVER AGAIN fought for a world title.

[davie]

Good list

I like Bob Foster on there though (don't ask me who he replaces though )

And I'd sneak Ortiz up a place and Frazier up 3. but that's just nit picking


Edit, In fact ignore all of that, much of Fosters best work came after 70 and Joe was almost all 70's

Very good list

Edit again - Just noticed Joe never made your 70s list but is on this one
Say it ain't so, Joe?

[elmersalsa]

Good list

I like Bob Foster on there though (don't ask me who he replaces though )

And I'd sneak Ortiz up a place and Frazier up 3. but that's just nit picking


Edit, In fact ignore all of that, much of Fosters best work came after 70 and Joe was almost all 70's

Very good list

Edit again - Just noticed Joe never made your 70s list but is on this one
Say it ain't so, Joe?

The great Joe Frazier was undefeated in the decade. Won the NY World Heavyweight Championship in 1968 destroying Buster Mathis. He also was The Ring Fighter of the Year in 1967 and won the Olympic gold medal in '64. Among other fighters Smokin' Joe beat were Jerry Quarry, Doug Jones, and George Chuvalo

[elmersalsa]

Smokin' Joe also beat Eddie Machen and Oscar Bonavena in the 60s decade

[davie]

Good list

I like Bob Foster on there though (don't ask me who he replaces though )

And I'd sneak Ortiz up a place and Frazier up 3. but that's just nit picking


Edit, In fact ignore all of that, much of Fosters best work came after 70 and Joe was almost all 70's

Very good list

Edit again - Just noticed Joe never made your 70s list but is on this one
Say it ain't so, Joe?

The great Joe Frazier was undefeated in the decade. Won the NY World Heavyweight Championship in 1968 destroying Buster Mathis. He also was The Ring Fighter of the Year in 1967 and won the Olympic gold medal in '64. Among other fighters Smokin' Joe beat were Jerry Quarry, Doug Jones, and George Chuvalo

You think his achievements in the 60's topped his achievements in the 70s?

[elmersalsa]

Good list

I like Bob Foster on there though (don't ask me who he replaces though )

And I'd sneak Ortiz up a place and Frazier up 3. but that's just nit picking


Edit, In fact ignore all of that, much of Fosters best work came after 70 and Joe was almost all 70's

Very good list

Edit again - Just noticed Joe never made your 70s list but is on this one
Say it ain't so, Joe?

The great Joe Frazier was undefeated in the decade. Won the NY World Heavyweight Championship in 1968 destroying Buster Mathis. He also was The Ring Fighter of the Year in 1967 and won the Olympic gold medal in '64. Among other fighters Smokin' Joe beat were Jerry Quarry, Doug Jones, and George Chuvalo

You think his achievements in the 60's topped his achievements in the 70s?

I believe that in the 70s decade, Smokin' Joe had much better achievements, but, in the 60s decade, he was undefeated. After he beat the great Muhammad Ali in FOTC in '71 he didn't do much at all. He also was The Ring Fighter of the Year in '70 and '71 and unified the world heavyweight crown by defeating champion Jimmy Ellis in brutal fashion. He also decapitated the great Bob Foster in 2 rounds in Detroit in '70.
But he got thrashed BIG TIME by the great George Foreman in 2, dropping him like a bouncing ball 6 times in Jamaica in '73. The was the BEGINNING OF THE END for Joe. Then, he lost twice to Ali, and again to Foreman by KO. Well, by 1972, he wasn't the same fighting machine of the late 60s and early 70s

[elmersalsa]

The great Emile Griffith was triple crown champion winning titles @ welterweight (three times: 1961, 1962-63, 1963-66), Jr. Middleweight (1962), and middleweight (1966-67, 1967-68). Was The Ring Fighter of the Year in 1964. What an underrated and fantastic fighter he was that should get much more credit than he deserves. A top 25 ATG, a borderline top 20 in my view. A great boxer.

[PredatorHayds]

The great Emile Griffith was triple crown champion winning titles @ welterweight (three times: 1961, 1962-63, 1963-66), Jr. Middleweight (1962), and middleweight (1966-67, 1967-68). Was The Ring Fighter of the Year in 1964. What an underrated and fantastic fighter he was that should get much more credit than he deserves. A top 25 ATG, a borderline top 20 in my view. A great boxer.

X2

He gets into my top 20 all time. He lost his edge after the Paret tragedy but still put in some fantastic results.

[elmersalsa]

The great Emile Griffith was triple crown champion winning titles @ welterweight (three times: 1961, 1962-63, 1963-66), Jr. Middleweight (1962), and middleweight (1966-67, 1967-68). Was The Ring Fighter of the Year in 1964. What an underrated and fantastic fighter he was that should get much more credit than he deserves. A top 25 ATG, a borderline top 20 in my view. A great boxer.

X2

He gets into my top 20 all time. He lost his edge after the Paret tragedy but still put in some fantastic results.

A very great fighter! That Emile Griffith was something!

[elmersalsa]

The great Vicente Saldivar was one of my favorite fighters ever from Mexico. The other was the great Julio Cesar Chavez. Saldivar's three fights with underrated Welshman Howard Winstone were classics. A great treat for any boxing fan.

Even though he is top 5 in the decade, in my all time pound per pound 100 greats rankings, he is way behind at #98. Maybe it was because he didn't had a long career, but, what he did in his short career was remarkable:
Two-time World Featherweight Champion (1964-67, 1970)

Made 8 successfully title defenses in the first reign, retiring undefeated champ. Came back in '69 after resting for a year in '68.

Won 34 of first 35 bouts. Only loss in the decade was by DQ against country man Baby Luis in '62, but, avenged the defeat by KO in 8 in '63.

Beat Ismael Laguna of Panama (W10) in a close fight in Tijuana that could've gone either way.

Made SUGAR CANES out of hall of fame boxer Sugar Ramos of Cuba in Mexico City in 12 for the featherweight crown. Ramos never asked for a rematch.

Beat future champion Winstone 3 times, the last one by KO.

Beat Raul Rojas of California by KO in 15. Rojas later became world champion.

Beat highly rated contender Mitsunori Seki of Japan twice for the featherweight title.

Eliminated top ranking contender Floyd Robertson of Ghana in two rounds.

And beat former WBC world champ Cuban-born Spaniard Jose Legra (W10), in '69

Man, this little giant made noise in the 60s decade. But, the great Muhammad Ali was the superstar of them all.

[elmersalsa]

Smokin' Joe Frazier was 24-0, with 22KOs in the 60s decade. Beat Oscar Bonavena twice, George Chuvalo, Jerry Quarry, Eddie Machen, Doug Jones, Buster Mathis, and Manuel Ramos. He beat all of them, with the exception of Bonavena, by knockout!

One of the best of the '60s? Definitely a yes!

[elmersalsa]

The great Jose "Mantequilla" Napoles was ducked for years before getting a title shot. The champion at lightweight and at jr welterweight didn't want nothing to do with him. Many boxing experts of the Mexican press thought that at 29, got a title shot a little too late when he challenged welter king Curtis Cokes of Dallas, TX. It was a brutal massacre! Cokes paid the price of the anger Mantequilla had inside for being ducked for so long. His record in the '60s decade was 50-3, 36KOs! He was the first Latin fighter to be The Ring Fighter of the Year in 1969. He beat Cokes again much worse in the rematch, Emile Griffith, Eddie Perkins, Baby Vazquez, L.C. Morgan (2nd bout), Carlos "Morocho" Hernandez, Alfredo Urbina in the rematch, Eugenio Espinoza, Angel Robinson Garcia and Bunny Grant. He only had one loss in 37 bouts from '63 to the end of the decade. A great champ indeed.

[elmersalsa]

Fighting Harada of Japan was special in the 1960s decade. He should have been a triple crown division champion if it weren't because of the terrible scoring of referee, the great champ Willie Pep, in the fight against champion Johnny Famechon of Australia.

Harada dropped Famechon 3 times in the fight and still, didn't get the decision. One of the greatest injustices in the history of boxing.

[Ambling Alp II]

Overall, no problem with the Top 10 guys picked.
The rankings though, are certainly debatable.
Obviously, Ali has to be #1.
Emile Griffith at #2? No. He had no few than 9 losses in the 1960s. He had a least another 12 fights where he got a decision that could have gone the other way. He very easily could have had 21 losses in that time.

Griffith should be about 9th or 10th. And no, he was not world champion at jr. middleweight.

Interesting point about Harada not getting the decision against Famechon. Famechon did knockdown Harda once.
The fight was on a 5 point must system. Just those fours round where there was a knockdown Harda would presumably have a 18-14 edge in those rounds. Which means that Famechon would have to had a 5-point edge in the other 11 rounds. (i.e, Famechon would have had to have won 8 of the other 11 rounds.) Possible, though not probable.

[goose 5]

I'd rank Napoles, Ortiz and Rodriguez above Saldivar.

[elmersalsa]

I ranked Carlos Ortiz above Vicente Saldivar in the top 100 pound per pound all time rankings.

Ortiz fought in two decades in the 1950s and 60s. He won a world title (World Jr Welterweight Crown) in 1959.

But, in the 1960s, Saldivar was much more consistent. He only lost one fight in the 60s decade, and that was by a bizarre and unexplained disqualification loss to Baby Luis in 1963. Until this day, the public that saw that fight, don't understand why El Zurdo de Oro got DQ'd.

Ortiz lost 4 fights in the 60s decade.

[elmersalsa]

Overall, no problem with the Top 10 guys picked.
The rankings though, are certainly debatable.
Obviously, Ali has to be #1.
Emile Griffith at #2? No. He had no few than 9 losses in the 1960s. He had a least another 12 fights where he got a decision that could have gone the other way. He very easily could have had 21 losses in that time.

Griffith should be about 9th or 10th. And no, he was not world champion at jr. middleweight.

Interesting point about Harada not getting the decision against Famechon. Famechon did knockdown Harda once.
The fight was on a 5 point must system. Just those fours round where there was a knockdown Harda would presumably have a 18-14 edge in those rounds. Which means that Famechon would have to had a 5-point edge in the other 11 rounds. (i.e, Famechon would have had to have won 8 of the other 11 rounds.) Possible, though not probable.

Emile Griffith was a triple crown division world champion in the 60s decade. And his quality of opposition in the decade was one of the very best of all time: Benny "Kid" Paret, Luis Manuel Rodriguez, Dick Tiger, Nino Benvenutti, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, Denny Moyer, Gaspar Ortega, Gipsy Joe Harris, Stan Harrington, Yama Bahama, Isaac Logart, Jorge Fernandez, Florentino Fernandez, Ralph Dupas, Willie Toweel, Don Fullmer, Holly Mims, Stanley "Kitty" Hayward, and Jose "Mantequilla" Napoles. Uuufff! That's a lot of great opposition. They all fought Griffith. The only man missing on that resume of fighters was the great Gene Fullmer.

That's why he had borderline decisions. You can't beat everybody. And you can't fight everybody. But, Griffith almost fought them all! Let's give credit to the man. The guy was a great champion. A great fighter that fought the very best, and beat almost 90% of the fighters mentioned above.

To tell everyone the truth, he had the toughest and toughest opposition of the 60s decade.

Anyone that wants to disagree, wave your hand!

[elmersalsa]

In the 60s decade:

The most complete boxer: Eder Jofre
The most famous: Muhammad Ali
The fighter that had the toughest opposition: Emile Griffith
The best fighter pound per pound: Muhammad Ali.
The best champion: Muhammad Ali

Eder Jofre of Brazil, would have been the best fighter pound per pound and probably the best champion of the decade. But, his 2 losses to the great Fighting Harada of Japan drops him to #3.

Ali didn't lose a fight (29 of them) in the decade.

[Ambling Alp II]

Overall, no problem with the Top 10 guys picked.
The rankings though, are certainly debatable.
Obviously, Ali has to be #1.
Emile Griffith at #2? No. He had no few than 9 losses in the 1960s. He had a least another 12 fights where he got a decision that could have gone the other way. He very easily could have had 21 losses in that time.

Griffith should be about 9th or 10th. And no, he was not world champion at jr. middleweight.

Interesting point about Harada not getting the decision against Famechon. Famechon did knockdown Harda once.
The fight was on a 5 point must system. Just those fours round where there was a knockdown Harda would presumably have a 18-14 edge in those rounds. Which means that Famechon would have to had a 5-point edge in the other 11 rounds. (i.e, Famechon would have had to have won 8 of the other 11 rounds.) Possible, though not probable.

Emile Griffith was a triple crown division world champion in the 60s decade. And his quality of opposition in the decade was one of the very best of all time: Benny "Kid" Paret, Luis Manuel Rodriguez, Dick Tiger, Nino Benvenutti, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, Denny Moyer, Gaspar Ortega, Gipsy Joe Harris, Stan Harrington, Yama Bahama, Isaac Logart, Jorge Fernandez, Florentino Fernandez, Ralph Dupas, Willie Toweel, Don Fullmer, Holly Mims, Stanley "Kitty" Hayward, and Jose "Mantequilla" Napoles. Uuufff! That's a lot of great opposition. They all fought Griffith. The only man missing on that resume of fighters was the great Gene Fullmer.

That's why he had borderline decisions. You can't beat everybody. And you can't fight everybody. But, Griffith almost fought them all! Let's give credit to the man. The guy was a great champion. A great fighter that fought the very best, and beat almost 90% of the fighters mentioned above.

To tell everyone the truth, he had the toughest and toughest opposition of the 60s decade.

Anyone that wants to disagree, wave your hand!

He was not a triple crown division champion. The Jr middleweight title was only recognized by the Austrian Board of Control, whatever that is. The only reason and only you count it is because you like him. If you didn't, you would not count it. It was not a lineal title or even recognized by the WBA or WBC. I have checked multiple record books and none of them recognize this as a world title.

Griffith did fight some very good competition. No doubt about it. He should get credit for that.

I was just pointing out that he lost 9 fights in the decade. He also got a ton of decisions going his way that could have gone the other way. Therefore, he is not deserving of being the #2 fighter of the decade. If he really was #2, he would have had nearly as many losses and not nearly as many dubious decision wins.

You can't make a big deal about one your guys (Harada) losing a close decision and then pretend that it doesn't count when Griffith got one after another. Ranking Griffith #9 or #10 is more than fair.

[elmersalsa]

And ranking the great Emile Griffith at #9 or #10 is not fair, but ridiculous.

Emile Griffith was three times the World Welterweight Champion (1961, 1962-63, 1963-66), World Jr Middleweight Champion (1962) his trainer Gil Clancy recognized it. And he was also the World Middleweight Champion (1966-67, 1967-68).

That if he had dubious decisions on his favor, it depends on who you ask. He also had some dubious losing decisions like the second Benny "Kid" Paret fight. I don't know where in my view the judges were looking at, to me, Griffith won all three encounters. He was better than Paret outright.

He fought the VERY BEST FIGHTERS of the decade. No fighter had better competition than he did through the decade. The only fighter that he missed in his weight range was the great Gene Fullmer. Why they didn't fight? I don't know. (Somebody in this forum could tell us why).

He is the only boxer in that decade to win 3 world titles in 3 different weight classes. He just didn't defend the crown. The reason? I don't know (Again, somebody in this forum could explain).

Plus, Griffith had more wins in the decade fighting rematches with 10-5-1 record. The second time around, he was better.

Only the greats Carlos Ortiz and Muhammad Ali had better records in the second time around fights. Ortiz was 9-1 and Ali was 2-0. That's it.

If someone could argue that he should be at #3. It's fine. He's top 4 at least in the decade. Not #9 or #10. That's a disrespectful for someone that gave boxing history so much and dedication to it.

The great Emile Griffith probably had more fights in the decade than any other boxer, I believe.

[elmersalsa]

I mean, Griffith had more world championship fights than any other boxer in the 60s decade.

The fighter with more professional fights in the decade of the 60s, in my research, so far is Nicolino Locche. He had 101 fights in the 1960s decade.

[elmersalsa]

Andres Selpa of Argentina, had 113 fights in the 1960s decade. He probably got the record of most fights in the 1960s.

[elmersalsa]

Now, it's Jose Legra of Cuba/Spain as the record holder for most fights in the decade of the 1960s with 120 fights!


Most fights in the 1960s decade (minimum 50 fights)

Jose Legra (CUB/SPA).......................120fights
Andres Selpa......(ARG)...…..................113 fights
Nicolino Locche (ARG)........................101 fights
Nino Benvenutti (ITA)….…...………..........84 fights
Luis Manuel Rodriguez (CUB)...........82 fights
Eugenio Espinoza (ECU)…....................78 fights
Carlos Monzon (ARG)….........................74 fights
Antonio Aguilar (ARG)..........................67 fights
Ismael Laguna (PAN).............................66 fights
Fighting Harada (JAP)...........................61 fights
Emile Griffith (USV)..................................57 fights
Jose "Mantequilla" Napoles (CUB)..54 fights

Is there any fighter that has more fights than the two-time WBC World Featherweight Champion, Jose Legra of Spain throughout the 60s decade?

[elmersalsa]

Now, it's Jose Legra of Cuba/Spain as the record holder for most fights in the decade of the 1960s with 120 fights!


Most fights in the 1960s decade (minimum 50 fights)

Jose Legra (CUB/SPA).......................120fights
Andres Selpa......(ARG)...…..................113 fights
Nicolino Locche (ARG)........................101 fights
Nino Benvenutti (ITA)….…...………..........84 fights
Luis Manuel Rodriguez (CUB)...........82 fights
Eugenio Espinoza (ECU)…....................78 fights
Carlos Monzon (ARG)….........................74 fights
Antonio Aguilar (ARG)..........................67 fights
Ismael Laguna (PAN).............................66 fights
Curtis Cokes (USA)..................................62 fights
Fighting Harada (JAP)...........................61 fights
Emile Griffith (USV)..................................57 fights
Jose "Mantequilla" Napoles (CUB)..54 fights
Horacio Accavallo (ARG)......................51 fight


Is there any fighter that has more fights than the two-time WBC World Featherweight Champion, Jose Legra of Spain throughout the 60s decade?

[elmersalsa]

Now, it's Jose Legra of Cuba/Spain as the record holder for most fights in the decade of the 1960s with 120 fights!


Most fights in the 1960s decade (minimum 50 fights)

Jose Legra (CUB/SPA).......................120fights
Andres Selpa......(ARG)...…..................113 fights
Nicolino Locche (ARG)........................101 fights
Nino Benvenutti (ITA)….…...………..........84 fights
Luis Manuel Rodriguez (CUB)...........82 fights
Eugenio Espinoza (ECU)…....................78 fights
Carlos Monzon (ARG)….........................74 fights
Antonio Aguilar (ARG)..........................67 fights
Ismael Laguna (PAN).............................66 fights
Curtis Cokes (USA)..................................62 fights
Fighting Harada (JAP)...........................61 fights
Sandro Mazzinghi (ITA)..........................60 fights
Emile Griffith (USV)..................................57 fights
Jose "Mantequilla" Napoles (CUB)..54 fights
Horacio Accavallo (ARG)......................51 fights


Is there any fighter that has more fights than the two-time WBC World Featherweight Champion, Jose Legra of Spain throughout the 60s decade?