The 50 Greatest Fighters of the Last 50 Years: 1964-2014
Posted: 04 Nov 2013, 19:36
The 50 Greatest Fighters of the Last 50 Years
1964-2014
While presenting this post, it would be a treat for me to select the boxing fans of this forum, subjectively, the 50 greatest fighters that entered the ring and fought for pay of the last 50 years. It is a great pleasure, but, it is also a hard task, because some fighters in this list were not included. Some were flat out not included because there was not room for them. And some did not make the list due to the fact indeed, that, in the following days and weeks, maybe a year or years, in discussing them one by one, that even though they were so good in their own right, the ones included and selected had some exceptional and remarkable careers in this period that were difficult to ignore. They are the last and latest of the modern era of greats that captivated millions in their performances.
While some of them included, are not in my top personal list of the 100 greatest boxers ever pound per pound of boxing, they are included in this group, not because I like them or not, but it was because of their own achievements that deserved them to be in this group. And why selected them from 1964 to a year that has not come yet? First of all, I wanted to be from 1960 up to now. But then again, probably I did not have time. And no matter if pick 1960 or 1964, the list would not be much different than the other. I wanted to pick from 1960 because, first, it was a beginning of a new decade and era in boxing. A time that the sport was in serious trouble. Boxing back then, especially in the time frame of 1960 to 1963, was in full scrutiny: Suspected fixed fights in the earlier decades, and ring deaths, especially the prolific fights of Emile Griffith vs Benny “Kid” Paret rubber match, and the Sugar Ramos vs Davey Moore that brought lots of eyebrows and criticism of the sport that for many, it was too brutal to watch on television. Boxing was on the crossroads. I wanted to start from 1960 also because it was the beginning of a career of one of the greatest fighters in history, a young and brash Olympic gold medalist named Cassius Clay, that in the years after his introduction to the world of boxing, changed the sport forever, and to some extent, change the perception and thoughts and the political views of the US government; a nation divided.
John F. Kennedy became US president, but shot to death in November 1963 in a Friday afternoon.
The year 1960 in boxing was also the start of closed circuit television bouts and for the first time in boxing, Floyd Patterson made history when he recaptured the world heavyweight championship by knocking out cold his former conqueror Ingemar Johansson in their rematch. And of course, my Pittsburgh Pirates beat the New York Yankees in a dramatic 7-game world series ending it with hall of famer Bill Mazeroski’s home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. The year 1960 was somewhat special.
If I had started from 1960, it would have been much difficult to select the very best. Guys like Gene Fullmer, Pascual Perez, Sonny Liston, Sugar Ray Robinson, Joey Giardello, Harold Johnson, Duilio Loi, Archie Moore, Joe Brown and Carmen Basilio although they fought beyond the year 1960, were at their end of their primes and careers.
But, then again, it could be said that if I start from 1964 up to now, it would meant much more. And why? The year 1964 for many people was the beginning of the end of the innocence. US troops went to Vietnam, Clay “Shook Up the World” when he dethroned the great Sonny Liston in a bizarre bout that until this day, people still talk about that fight. It was a fight like no other in the state of events before or after its occurrence for a world heavyweight title. And of course, four lads from Liverpool, England, John, Paul, George and Ringo, The Beatles, that’s right, The Beatles!, conquered America and entertained us on the Ed Sullivan Show in that same year, not to mention in fact that it was also on the same month when Clay beat Liston. Everything in Rock and Roll changed. Maybe everything changed. Even in sports, politics, religion and values. Drugs, sex and violence went to another level. Also in ’64 Martin Luther King, Jr., won the Nobel Peace Prize and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 took effect. And the New York Yankees’ World Series dynasty ended in ’64 when they lost in 7 games to the St Louis Cardinals. It was also the last year that a professional sport franchise in the city of Cleveland ever tasted a world championship when the NFL Cleveland Browns were the best in the world…So maybe, 1964, was a great year.
By selecting these fighters, I would start from the 50th position all the way to number one. We would argue a lot, (yes!, we will!) in why this guy is not better than that guy, and so on. Believe me, it was a hard task putting them in order, and it would have been hard for anybody else’s. The criteria I came up with were historical impact, achievements and dominance in each fighter’s division. Not to mention the contribution and influences to the sport of these last 50 years. Wow, how time flies!
Also, other guys that did not make this list, even though they were terrific were Ken Buchanan, Ismael Laguna, Danny Lopez, Lupe Pintor, Hector “Macho” Camacho, Winky Wright, James Toney, Joe Calzaghe, Jeff Fenech, Brian Mitchell, Hilario Zapata, Jung Koo Chang, Myung Woo Yuh, Ken Norton, Ernesto Marcel, Bobby Chacon, Esteban DeJesus and Floyd Patterson were classic examples. For some of you, some of them should be in. Some of them should not be even mentioned. But, I tell you, it was hard to pick them out. It was very difficult.
Now, of the 50 selected, I would write a short commentary of each fighter. Some will have excerpts from boxing experts like William Dettloff, writer of The Ring Magazine, Bert Sugar and Monte Cox to name a few. I will mention about their rank in the division they participated in, and also where they rank in other magazine publications.
I will also mention their highlights and their achievements, which in any other era, would have been impressive. And since from that time on, in order to be great, you had to become a world champion, there were no room for great contenders like in earlier decades like Cocoa Kid, Harry Wills, Billy Graham, Charley Burley, Holman Williams and Sam Langford. Those days are gone now. Hey, sometimes greatness comes from different angles. This is a great forum. We should be the best. Thanks.
And I would start first, at #50…..Felix “Tito” Trinidad.
50. Felix “Tito” Trinidad: In boxing, when we talk about Puerto Rico, we talk about their great boxing tradition of this small Island that has produced excellent and exceptional fighters through the years: Sixto Escobar, Wilfredo Gomez, Carlos Ortiz, Pedro Montanez, Esteban De Jesus, Hector “Macho” Camacho and a teenager that became world champion at just 17 years of age: The great Wilfred Benitez. They were all great, but the most adored, beloved and highly revered is this guy from Cupey Alto. His name? Felix “Tito” Trinidad. Tito’s popularity in the Island was never seen before or after. Not because he was the most skilled, It was because of the great discipline and respect he brought to the sport. Anybody from any country would love that. He probably would not be in my personal or anybody’s list of the greatest 100 pound per pound of all time, but to dismiss or exclude him of the very best of the last 50 years would be mindboggling at least. In Puerto Rico, there was not a bigger superstar. Tito won 3 world crowns in 3 different weight classes and made 15 world title defenses as king of the welters of the 90s decade. Before losing for the first time as a pro, he was 40-0, with 33 KOs! Not to mention that he won 20 world title bouts in a row. That is impressive. He must be doing something right here and there, right?
Well, why he is not in my personal list of the 100 greatest boxers ever? My answer would be, first, in the biggest fight of his career versus Oscar De La Hoya, in the so hyped “Fight of the Millenium” in 1999, he simply did not performed as advertised. It was a fight that he should have shined the brightest. In my eyes, and many others, he lost. He was exposed by Oscar. He showed that he could be outboxed outright. But he got the decision.
My second answer would be that after he got smacked around by the great Bernard Hopkins two years later, Tito, at just 29 and in his total prime, retired afterwards. When he came back two years later after his retirement to “avenge” his only loss, he did not “search” for the Executioner at all. He went the other way, first, by beating Ricardo Mayorga by knockout and then, got ouboxed by Winky Wright with ONLY one hand…END OF STORY. It seems that he retires every time he loses? Is that a mark of a top 100 fighter? I don’t think so. You should taste the bitter with the sweet. Not everything will come your way. Now third, in his “second” retirement, he came back to fight the great Roy Jones, Jr. A fight that did not meant nothing for neither of the two. What happened? Jones embarrassed him, and now is THE END OF STORY.
Maybe he knew that he was not a match for BHop. Sometimes is better to stay away from danger. You catch my grip? And he did stay away indeed, for good.
Record: 42-3, 34Kos
Career: 1990-2008
World Titles: IBF World Welterweight (1993-99), WBC World Welterweight (1999), WBA World Jr. Middleweight (2000-2001), IBF World Jr. Middleweight (2000-2001) and WBA World Middleweight.
Highlights: Won 3 world crown in 3 different weight classes. The Ring Fighter of the Year in 2000. Only Puerto Rican fighter in history to win the award. Won 20 straight world championship bouts and defended IBF welter crown 15 times in 6 years. Won first 40 bouts. Beat 12 world champions and 3 hall of famers.
Defining Fight: WKO12 Fernando Vargas….December 2, 2000…Awesome display of power in a thrilling fight was the best in the 154lbs division history.
Other Defining Fights: W12 Oscar De La Hoya, WKO2 Maurice Blocker, W12 Pernell Whitaker, WKO4 Yory Boy Campas, W12 David Reid, WKO5 William Joppy and LTKO12 Bernard Hopkins
Ranked #51 by The Ring Magazine list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years
Ranked #27 by The Ring Magazine list of the 100 Greatest Punchers of All Time
I ranked him at #15 of the list of the greatest welterweights ever
I do not have him ranked in my personal list of the 100 Greatest Boxers of All Time
I welcome your comments.
1964-2014
While presenting this post, it would be a treat for me to select the boxing fans of this forum, subjectively, the 50 greatest fighters that entered the ring and fought for pay of the last 50 years. It is a great pleasure, but, it is also a hard task, because some fighters in this list were not included. Some were flat out not included because there was not room for them. And some did not make the list due to the fact indeed, that, in the following days and weeks, maybe a year or years, in discussing them one by one, that even though they were so good in their own right, the ones included and selected had some exceptional and remarkable careers in this period that were difficult to ignore. They are the last and latest of the modern era of greats that captivated millions in their performances.
While some of them included, are not in my top personal list of the 100 greatest boxers ever pound per pound of boxing, they are included in this group, not because I like them or not, but it was because of their own achievements that deserved them to be in this group. And why selected them from 1964 to a year that has not come yet? First of all, I wanted to be from 1960 up to now. But then again, probably I did not have time. And no matter if pick 1960 or 1964, the list would not be much different than the other. I wanted to pick from 1960 because, first, it was a beginning of a new decade and era in boxing. A time that the sport was in serious trouble. Boxing back then, especially in the time frame of 1960 to 1963, was in full scrutiny: Suspected fixed fights in the earlier decades, and ring deaths, especially the prolific fights of Emile Griffith vs Benny “Kid” Paret rubber match, and the Sugar Ramos vs Davey Moore that brought lots of eyebrows and criticism of the sport that for many, it was too brutal to watch on television. Boxing was on the crossroads. I wanted to start from 1960 also because it was the beginning of a career of one of the greatest fighters in history, a young and brash Olympic gold medalist named Cassius Clay, that in the years after his introduction to the world of boxing, changed the sport forever, and to some extent, change the perception and thoughts and the political views of the US government; a nation divided.
John F. Kennedy became US president, but shot to death in November 1963 in a Friday afternoon.
The year 1960 in boxing was also the start of closed circuit television bouts and for the first time in boxing, Floyd Patterson made history when he recaptured the world heavyweight championship by knocking out cold his former conqueror Ingemar Johansson in their rematch. And of course, my Pittsburgh Pirates beat the New York Yankees in a dramatic 7-game world series ending it with hall of famer Bill Mazeroski’s home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. The year 1960 was somewhat special.
If I had started from 1960, it would have been much difficult to select the very best. Guys like Gene Fullmer, Pascual Perez, Sonny Liston, Sugar Ray Robinson, Joey Giardello, Harold Johnson, Duilio Loi, Archie Moore, Joe Brown and Carmen Basilio although they fought beyond the year 1960, were at their end of their primes and careers.
But, then again, it could be said that if I start from 1964 up to now, it would meant much more. And why? The year 1964 for many people was the beginning of the end of the innocence. US troops went to Vietnam, Clay “Shook Up the World” when he dethroned the great Sonny Liston in a bizarre bout that until this day, people still talk about that fight. It was a fight like no other in the state of events before or after its occurrence for a world heavyweight title. And of course, four lads from Liverpool, England, John, Paul, George and Ringo, The Beatles, that’s right, The Beatles!, conquered America and entertained us on the Ed Sullivan Show in that same year, not to mention in fact that it was also on the same month when Clay beat Liston. Everything in Rock and Roll changed. Maybe everything changed. Even in sports, politics, religion and values. Drugs, sex and violence went to another level. Also in ’64 Martin Luther King, Jr., won the Nobel Peace Prize and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 took effect. And the New York Yankees’ World Series dynasty ended in ’64 when they lost in 7 games to the St Louis Cardinals. It was also the last year that a professional sport franchise in the city of Cleveland ever tasted a world championship when the NFL Cleveland Browns were the best in the world…So maybe, 1964, was a great year.
By selecting these fighters, I would start from the 50th position all the way to number one. We would argue a lot, (yes!, we will!) in why this guy is not better than that guy, and so on. Believe me, it was a hard task putting them in order, and it would have been hard for anybody else’s. The criteria I came up with were historical impact, achievements and dominance in each fighter’s division. Not to mention the contribution and influences to the sport of these last 50 years. Wow, how time flies!
Also, other guys that did not make this list, even though they were terrific were Ken Buchanan, Ismael Laguna, Danny Lopez, Lupe Pintor, Hector “Macho” Camacho, Winky Wright, James Toney, Joe Calzaghe, Jeff Fenech, Brian Mitchell, Hilario Zapata, Jung Koo Chang, Myung Woo Yuh, Ken Norton, Ernesto Marcel, Bobby Chacon, Esteban DeJesus and Floyd Patterson were classic examples. For some of you, some of them should be in. Some of them should not be even mentioned. But, I tell you, it was hard to pick them out. It was very difficult.
Now, of the 50 selected, I would write a short commentary of each fighter. Some will have excerpts from boxing experts like William Dettloff, writer of The Ring Magazine, Bert Sugar and Monte Cox to name a few. I will mention about their rank in the division they participated in, and also where they rank in other magazine publications.
I will also mention their highlights and their achievements, which in any other era, would have been impressive. And since from that time on, in order to be great, you had to become a world champion, there were no room for great contenders like in earlier decades like Cocoa Kid, Harry Wills, Billy Graham, Charley Burley, Holman Williams and Sam Langford. Those days are gone now. Hey, sometimes greatness comes from different angles. This is a great forum. We should be the best. Thanks.
And I would start first, at #50…..Felix “Tito” Trinidad.
50. Felix “Tito” Trinidad: In boxing, when we talk about Puerto Rico, we talk about their great boxing tradition of this small Island that has produced excellent and exceptional fighters through the years: Sixto Escobar, Wilfredo Gomez, Carlos Ortiz, Pedro Montanez, Esteban De Jesus, Hector “Macho” Camacho and a teenager that became world champion at just 17 years of age: The great Wilfred Benitez. They were all great, but the most adored, beloved and highly revered is this guy from Cupey Alto. His name? Felix “Tito” Trinidad. Tito’s popularity in the Island was never seen before or after. Not because he was the most skilled, It was because of the great discipline and respect he brought to the sport. Anybody from any country would love that. He probably would not be in my personal or anybody’s list of the greatest 100 pound per pound of all time, but to dismiss or exclude him of the very best of the last 50 years would be mindboggling at least. In Puerto Rico, there was not a bigger superstar. Tito won 3 world crowns in 3 different weight classes and made 15 world title defenses as king of the welters of the 90s decade. Before losing for the first time as a pro, he was 40-0, with 33 KOs! Not to mention that he won 20 world title bouts in a row. That is impressive. He must be doing something right here and there, right?
Well, why he is not in my personal list of the 100 greatest boxers ever? My answer would be, first, in the biggest fight of his career versus Oscar De La Hoya, in the so hyped “Fight of the Millenium” in 1999, he simply did not performed as advertised. It was a fight that he should have shined the brightest. In my eyes, and many others, he lost. He was exposed by Oscar. He showed that he could be outboxed outright. But he got the decision.
My second answer would be that after he got smacked around by the great Bernard Hopkins two years later, Tito, at just 29 and in his total prime, retired afterwards. When he came back two years later after his retirement to “avenge” his only loss, he did not “search” for the Executioner at all. He went the other way, first, by beating Ricardo Mayorga by knockout and then, got ouboxed by Winky Wright with ONLY one hand…END OF STORY. It seems that he retires every time he loses? Is that a mark of a top 100 fighter? I don’t think so. You should taste the bitter with the sweet. Not everything will come your way. Now third, in his “second” retirement, he came back to fight the great Roy Jones, Jr. A fight that did not meant nothing for neither of the two. What happened? Jones embarrassed him, and now is THE END OF STORY.
Maybe he knew that he was not a match for BHop. Sometimes is better to stay away from danger. You catch my grip? And he did stay away indeed, for good.
Record: 42-3, 34Kos
Career: 1990-2008
World Titles: IBF World Welterweight (1993-99), WBC World Welterweight (1999), WBA World Jr. Middleweight (2000-2001), IBF World Jr. Middleweight (2000-2001) and WBA World Middleweight.
Highlights: Won 3 world crown in 3 different weight classes. The Ring Fighter of the Year in 2000. Only Puerto Rican fighter in history to win the award. Won 20 straight world championship bouts and defended IBF welter crown 15 times in 6 years. Won first 40 bouts. Beat 12 world champions and 3 hall of famers.
Defining Fight: WKO12 Fernando Vargas….December 2, 2000…Awesome display of power in a thrilling fight was the best in the 154lbs division history.
Other Defining Fights: W12 Oscar De La Hoya, WKO2 Maurice Blocker, W12 Pernell Whitaker, WKO4 Yory Boy Campas, W12 David Reid, WKO5 William Joppy and LTKO12 Bernard Hopkins
Ranked #51 by The Ring Magazine list of the 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years
Ranked #27 by The Ring Magazine list of the 100 Greatest Punchers of All Time
I ranked him at #15 of the list of the greatest welterweights ever
I do not have him ranked in my personal list of the 100 Greatest Boxers of All Time
I welcome your comments.