Ring Magazine's Eighty Greatest Boxers

[TheOneIsHere2008]

ESPN Rates The Fifty Greatest Boxers Of All Time

Ring Performance: Boxing skill, ability to adapt to different styles, titles in multiple weight classes


Achievements: Titles won, championship fights, overcoming adversity


Dominance: Length of time holding a championship. Ability to win when not at his best.


Mainstream Recognition: How perceived by his peers and the public


IN ORDER

Sugar Ray Robinson
Muhammad Ali
Henry Armstrong
Joe Louis
Willie Pep
Roberto Duran
Benny Leonard
Jack Johnson
Jack Dempsey
Sam Langford
Joe Gans
Sugar Ray Leonard
Harry Greb
Rocky Marciano
Jimmy Wilde
Gene Tunney
Mickey Walker
Archie Moore
Stanley Ketchel
George Foreman
Tony Canzoneri
Barney Ross
Jimmy McLarnin
Julio Cesar Chavez
Marcel Cerdan
Joe Frazier
Ezzard Charles
Jake LaMotta
Sandy Sadler
Terry McGovern
Billy Conn
Jose Napoles
Ruben Olivares
Emile Griffith
Marvin Hagler
Eder Jofre
Thomas Hearns
Larry Holmes
Oscar De la Hoya
Evander Holyfield
Ted Lewis
Alexis Arguello
Marco Antonio Berrera
Pernel Whitaker
Carlos Monzon
Roy Jones Jr.
Bernard Hopkins
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Erik Morales
Mike Tyson

Let the debate begin!!

[elmersalsa]

Ring Performance: Boxing skill, ability to adapt to different styles, titles in multiple weight classes


Achievements: Titles won, championship fights, overcoming adversity


Dominance: Length of time holding a championship. Ability to win when not at his best.


Mainstream Recognition: How perceived by his peers and the public


IN ORDER

Sugar Ray Robinson
Muhammad Ali
Henry Armstrong
Joe Louis
Willie Pep
Roberto Duran
Benny Leonard
Jack Johnson
Jack Dempsey
Sam Langford
Joe Gans
Sugar Ray Leonard
Harry Greb
Rocky Marciano
Jimmy Wilde
Gene Tunney
Mickey Walker
Archie Moore
Stanley Ketchel
George Foreman
Tony Canzoneri
Barney Ross
Jimmy McLarnin
Julio Cesar Chavez
Marcel Cerdan
Joe Frazier
Ezzard Charles
Jake LaMotta
Sandy Sadler
Terry McGovern
Billy Conn
Jose Napoles
Ruben Olivares
Emile Griffith
Marvin Hagler
Eder Jofre
Thomas Hearns
Larry Holmes
Oscar De la Hoya
Evander Holyfield
Ted Lewis
Alexis Arguello
Marco Antonio Berrera
Pernel Whitaker
Carlos Monzon
Roy Jones Jr.
Bernard Hopkins
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Erik Morales
Mike Tyson

Let the debate begin!!

George Foreman is too high.

Marcel Cerdan should not be in the list. There is nothing extraordinary he has done, even though his record is impressive.

Mike Tyson is not a top 50 great fighter....Neither is Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones, Jr., Oscar De La Hoya, Jake LaMotta, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera nor Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

You don't have Kid Gavilan nor Panama Al Brown nor Pascual Perez nor Dick Tiger in the list? It is MIND BOGLING

What happened to the Barbados Demon Joe Walcott?...A top 50 fighter in any list.

Pernell Whitaker, Carlos Monzon, Evander Holyfield and Alexis Arguello are too low.

Jake LaMotta's career does not impress me. He is not a top 50 all-time great fighter.

Sandy Saddler, Ezzard Charles and Archie Moore should be over Sugar Ray Leonard....Also Tony Canzoneri should be in top of Leonard

Ali at #2? Not a chance.

Henry Armstrong should be #1.

[TheOneIsHere2008]

Ring Performance: Boxing skill, ability to adapt to different styles, titles in multiple weight classes




Achievements: Titles won, championship fights, overcoming adversity


Dominance: Length of time holding a championship. Ability to win when not at his best.


Mainstream Recognition: How perceived by his peers and the public


IN ORDER

Sugar Ray Robinson
Muhammad Ali
Henry Armstrong
Joe Louis
Willie Pep
Roberto Duran
Benny Leonard
Jack Johnson
Jack Dempsey
Sam Langford
Joe Gans
Sugar Ray Leonard
Harry Greb
Rocky Marciano
Jimmy Wilde
Gene Tunney
Mickey Walker
Archie Moore
Stanley Ketchel
George Foreman
Tony Canzoneri
Barney Ross
Jimmy McLarnin
Julio Cesar Chavez
Marcel Cerdan
Joe Frazier
Ezzard Charles
Jake LaMotta
Sandy Sadler
Terry McGovern
Billy Conn
Jose Napoles
Ruben Olivares
Emile Griffith
Marvin Hagler
Eder Jofre
Thomas Hearns
Larry Holmes
Oscar De la Hoya
Evander Holyfield
Ted Lewis
Alexis Arguello
Marco Antonio Berrera
Pernel Whitaker
Carlos Monzon
Roy Jones Jr.
Bernard Hopkins
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Erik Morales
Mike Tyson

Let the debate begin!!

George Foreman is too high.

Marcel Cerdan should not be in the list. There is nothing extraordinary he has done, even though his record is impressive.

Mike Tyson is not a top 50 great fighter....Neither is Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones, Jr., Oscar De La Hoya, Jake LaMotta, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera nor Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

You don't have Kid Gavilan nor Panama Al Brown nor Pascual Perez nor Dick Tiger in the list? It is MIND BOGLING

What happened to the Barbados Demon Joe Walcott?...A top 50 fighter in any list.

Pernell Whitaker, Carlos Monzon, Evander Holyfield and Alexis Arguello are too low.

Jake LaMotta's career does not impress me. He is not a top 50 all-time great fighter.

Sandy Saddler, Ezzard Charles and Archie Moore should be over Sugar Ray Leonard....Also Tony Canzoneri should be in top of Leonard

Ali at #2? Not a chance.

Henry Armstrong should be #1.

That's ESPN's list...The mod chopped that part off when they moved my post

:(

And when you look at their criterion Ali at #2 makes sense:



Achievements: Titles won, championship fights, overcoming adversity.

Winning the heavyweight title three different times...Coming back from a three and one half year layoff...Going 5-1 against three other top ten heavyweights


Dominance: Length of time holding a championship. Ability to win when not at his best.

Beating George Foreman when Foreman was in his prime (40-0 -37 KO) and he was past it...

Mainstream Recognition: How perceived by his peers and the public

No boxer alive or dead is more famous than Ali, and most peer polls have him in the top ten...


Ring Performance: Boxing skill, ability to adapt to different styles, titles in multiple weight classes

Ali beat two of the greatest sluggers of all time (Liston and Foreman), the greatest pressure fighter of all time (Frazier) and some great boxers in Floyd Patterson, Jimmy Ellis, and Zora Folley...

[elmersalsa]

Ring Performance: Boxing skill, ability to adapt to different styles, titles in multiple weight classes




Achievements: Titles won, championship fights, overcoming adversity


Dominance: Length of time holding a championship. Ability to win when not at his best.


Mainstream Recognition: How perceived by his peers and the public


IN ORDER

Sugar Ray Robinson
Muhammad Ali
Henry Armstrong
Joe Louis
Willie Pep
Roberto Duran
Benny Leonard
Jack Johnson
Jack Dempsey
Sam Langford
Joe Gans
Sugar Ray Leonard
Harry Greb
Rocky Marciano
Jimmy Wilde
Gene Tunney
Mickey Walker
Archie Moore
Stanley Ketchel
George Foreman
Tony Canzoneri
Barney Ross
Jimmy McLarnin
Julio Cesar Chavez
Marcel Cerdan
Joe Frazier
Ezzard Charles
Jake LaMotta
Sandy Sadler
Terry McGovern
Billy Conn
Jose Napoles
Ruben Olivares
Emile Griffith
Marvin Hagler
Eder Jofre
Thomas Hearns
Larry Holmes
Oscar De la Hoya
Evander Holyfield
Ted Lewis
Alexis Arguello
Marco Antonio Berrera
Pernel Whitaker
Carlos Monzon
Roy Jones Jr.
Bernard Hopkins
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Erik Morales
Mike Tyson

Let the debate begin!!

George Foreman is too high.

Marcel Cerdan should not be in the list. There is nothing extraordinary he has done, even though his record is impressive.

Mike Tyson is not a top 50 great fighter....Neither is Bernard Hopkins, Roy Jones, Jr., Oscar De La Hoya, Jake LaMotta, Erik Morales, Marco Antonio Barrera nor Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

You don't have Kid Gavilan nor Panama Al Brown nor Pascual Perez nor Dick Tiger in the list? It is MIND BOGLING

What happened to the Barbados Demon Joe Walcott?...A top 50 fighter in any list.

Pernell Whitaker, Carlos Monzon, Evander Holyfield and Alexis Arguello are too low.

Jake LaMotta's career does not impress me. He is not a top 50 all-time great fighter.

Sandy Saddler, Ezzard Charles and Archie Moore should be over Sugar Ray Leonard....Also Tony Canzoneri should be in top of Leonard

Ali at #2? Not a chance.

Henry Armstrong should be #1.

That's ESPN's list...The mod chopped that part off when they moved my post

:(

And when you look at their criterion Ali at #2 makes sense:



Achievements: Titles won, championship fights, overcoming adversity.

Winning the heavyweight title three different times...Coming back from a three and one half year layoff...Going 5-1 against three other top ten heavyweights


Dominance: Length of time holding a championship. Ability to win when not at his best.

Beating George Foreman when Foreman was in his prime (40-0 -37 KO) and he was past it...

Mainstream Recognition: How perceived by his peers and the public

No boxer alive or dead is more famous than Ali, and most peer polls have him in the top ten...


Ring Performance: Boxing skill, ability to adapt to different styles, titles in multiple weight classes

Ali beat two of the greatest sluggers of all time (Liston and Foreman), the greatest pressure fighter of all time (Frazier) and some great boxers in Floyd Patterson, Jimmy Ellis, and Zora Folley...

That is depending how do everyone view his career. Me, personally, he was the greatest heavyweight. But he had lots of BREAKS...Maybe more than any other fighter in history and that should count against him.

Sam Langford had more fights and beat more HOFs from welterweight to heavyweight.
Henry Armstrong did INCREDIBLE THINGS in a 3-year span never seen from any other boxer.
Roberto Duran was another INCREDIBLE fighter
Willie Pep won 230 fights...That is AMAZING
Sugar Ray Robinson alone at welterweight was BETTER than what Ali was at heavyweight.

What amazing stuff the great Muhammad Ali has done inside the ring?

[elmersalsa]

ESPN Rates The Fifty Greatest Boxers Of All Time

Ring Performance: Boxing skill, ability to adapt to different styles, titles in multiple weight classes


Achievements: Titles won, championship fights, overcoming adversity


Dominance: Length of time holding a championship. Ability to win when not at his best.


Mainstream Recognition: How perceived by his peers and the public


IN ORDER

Sugar Ray Robinson
Muhammad Ali
Henry Armstrong
Joe Louis
Willie Pep
Roberto Duran
Benny Leonard
Jack Johnson
Jack Dempsey
Sam Langford
Joe Gans
Sugar Ray Leonard
Harry Greb
Rocky Marciano
Jimmy Wilde
Gene Tunney
Mickey Walker
Archie Moore
Stanley Ketchel
George Foreman
Tony Canzoneri
Barney Ross
Jimmy McLarnin
Julio Cesar Chavez
Marcel Cerdan
Joe Frazier
Ezzard Charles
Jake LaMotta
Sandy Sadler
Terry McGovern
Billy Conn
Jose Napoles
Ruben Olivares
Emile Griffith
Marvin Hagler
Eder Jofre
Thomas Hearns
Larry Holmes
Oscar De la Hoya
Evander Holyfield
Ted Lewis
Alexis Arguello
Marco Antonio Berrera
Pernel Whitaker
Carlos Monzon
Roy Jones Jr.
Bernard Hopkins
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Erik Morales
Mike Tyson

Let the debate begin!!

The great Bob Fitzsimmons is not on the list either?

[TheOneIsHere2008]

What amazing stuff the great Muhammad Ali has done inside the ring?

Beat three top ten heavyweights of all time (Frazier, Foreman, and Liston) though Liston doesn't make as many top ten lists as he used to , getting edged out by Holyfield and Lewis...But Liston is still an elite heavyweight...

Is the only boxer to knock George Foreman out in his eighty one bouts and he was past his prime (32) when Big George was right smack in it, (24)...Plus Big Georg was 40-0 with 37 kos!!! and he was coming off annihilating Ken Norton and Joe Frazier...

Has no defeats in his prime....Has no unavenged defeats in his post prime...Has one avenged defeat when he was done (Spinks)....The only unavenged defeats he had in 61 fights was Holmes and Berbick when he was well done or shot...

I can't think of too many fighters whose greatest successes were after their prime...

edited for spelling

[p4p1]

What amazing stuff the great Muhammad Ali has done inside the ring?

Beat three top ten heavyweights of all time (Frazier, Foreman, and Liston) though Liston doesn't make as many top ten lists as he used to , getting edged out by Holyfield and Lewis...But Liston is still an elite heavyweight...

Is the only boxer to knock George Foreman out in his eighty one bouts and he was past his prime (32) when Big George was right smack in it, (24)...Plus Big Georg was 40-0 with 37 kos!!! and he was coming off annihilating Ken Norton and Joe Frazier...

Has no defeats in his prime....Has no unavenged defeats in his post prime...Has one avenged defeat when he was done (Spinks)....The only unavenged defeats he had in 61 fights was Holmes and Berbick when he was well done or shot...

I can't think of two many fighters whose greatest successes were after their prime....

[Seamus]

Joe Frazier at 26 ahead of Charles, Conn, Napoles, Hagler, Jofre, Hearns, Lewis, Arguello, Whitaker, Monzon, Jones and Mayweather. DAMN, why isn't Renaldo Snipes on this list too.

[theone]

What amazing stuff the great Muhammad Ali has done inside the ring?

Elmer I'm curious. If you really need an answer to the question above then what is it about Ali that makes him supposedly one of your favorite fighters of all time?

[Cap]

special report to the Evening World:

Boston.-Jack Johnson the colored heavyweight of Galveston won the decision over Sam Langford in their 15-round bout at the Lincoln Club, Chelsea, last night. Outweighed by at least 40 pounds, and a head shorter than Johnson, the Boston man was good and strong when the bout ended.

The sports generally, as well as Johnson, believed Langford would be down and out before ten rounds, and it looked in the sixth round as if they had guessed right, for Langford was sent to the floor for a count. He came back quickly, and when the round ended Johnson was in as bad a way as Langford.

(Johnson very likely did to Langford in that round what he later did to Tommy Burns in the first round of their fight two years later, wrassling and pushing him to the canvas.)-Editor's note.

Imagine Floyd Maywether at 150 going 15 rounds with 190-lb cruiserweight Evander Holyfield.

At his peak, Sam Langford of Weymouth, Nova Scotia, Canada was the greatest glove fighter at any weight in the history of boxing.

Cap

[I Feel Fine]

Yeah, but what about Larry Holmes asking for his "blue bottle" in that one fight?

True or not, what fight was John referring to here? Does anyone know?

As for top ten lists... is it just me, or does Ezzard Charles belong in every top ten list? I often see him excluded, and no one ever says why. I think he should be automatic.

[Cap]

I'd definitely put him in a top ten list of light heavies. His problem as a heavy was coming along between two dominant champions: Louis and Marchigano. He and Walcott were pretty colourless as far as the press was concerned.

Cap

[I Feel Fine]

I should just clarify, I meant pound for pound top ten, not top ten among Heavyweights.

[man]

Any list that puts Michael Spinks over Joe Frazier should automatically be shit-canned without further study.

i am not so sure about that. spinks lost a lot of credit
for the way his loss happened. hew was very impressive
at light heavy ...

[Ambling Alp]

The big flaw in ESPN's criteria is Mainstream Recognition: How perceived by his peers and the public.
That shouldn't be included be taken into account at all. This is naturally going to favor heavyweights over fighters in lower weights, Americans over fighters from other countries, and more recent fighters over fighters from long ago. How a fighter is percieved shouldn't be a factor when rating a fighter.

Still the rest of the criteria was good and the list isn't that bad. Almost every in the Top 50 is atleast reasonable.
Of course several guys are a few places too high or too low.
As already mentioned Fitzimmons should be in the Top 50 and Ezzard Charles is way too low at #27.

Salvador Sanchez was a major oversight. He was certainly one of the Top 50 of All-Time.
Lou Ambers wasn't on this list or even on Ring Magazines list of the Top 80!