BoxRec

I mean like before 1940

A list of my favourite:

Willie Pep
Benny Leonard
Mickey Walker
Jack Dempsey
Gene Tunney
Tony Canzoneri
Tony Zale
Jimmy Wilde
Jim Driscoll

I don't know a top 30, but many here will I'm no expert. All I know is guys like Stanley Ketchel and Jack Johnson I don't like because they were too boring to watch. Anyone who claims to be a "fan" of them is obviously more interested in the history than the fighting. There is a lot of grabbing, wrestling and "pacing" for the long fights. Why be a fan of boring Ketchel when there's so many more entertaining fighters. Not that I don't admire skill(hence Pep and Leonard) but I admire boxing skill not pulling and pushing skill.

Greb is near the top but I can't say I'm a fan because I haven't seen any footage of him. Probably exciting but we'll never know.

Bob Fitzsimmons
Barbados Joe Walcott
Sam Langford
Jack Johnson
John L Sullivan
Jack Dempsey
Harry Greb
Ted "Kid" Lewis
Jakie "Kid" Berg
"Sailor" Tom Sharkey

How many Ketchel fights have you seen to label him as boring?
I do not think there are that many about, but reports on his fights would give the impression he was far from a boring fighter, read up his fight with Jack O`Brien.
There are no known fights of Greb but the reports of his fights are good, so maybe you should dp a little research up on Ketchel also.

I think Jack Johnson was the best fighter of all time before WWII. He had it all for a heavyweight and seems to be AHEAD OF HIS TIME!!!

Willie Pep was defensive master, maybe the best there ever was, but he does not belong before 1940 since his career started in that same year.

My top 12 before WWII:

Jack Johnson
Henry Armstrong
Harry Greb
Jack Dempsey
Benny Leonard
Sam Langford
Jimmy Wilde
Terry McGovern
Joe Gans
Gene Tunney
Mickey Walker

After that, I do not know much of them at all.