BoxRec

I am fortunate to have witnessed the greatest generation of boxers during my lifetime. . . . List the most impressive, effective and successful boxers whose career occurred during your lifetime and especially that you had the opportunity to witness.

Here is my list though I had to struggle to leave a few off (Camacho, Chavez Sr., Duran, Ward, Jones Jr., Calzaghe, Canelo, Pacquiao)
Sugar Ray Leonard
Salvador Sanchez
Muhammad Ali
Terrence Crawford
Oleksandr Usyk
Floyd Mayweather
Vasiliy Lomachenko
Marvin Hagler
Aaron Pryor
Carlos Monzon

Leonard
Duran
Hearns
Chavez
Hagler
Mayweather
Roy Jones
Lomochenko
Manny pac
Holyfield

I could easily add Tyson, Terry Norris, Lennox Lewis,Shane Mosley, Oscar deal hoya,azumah Nelson ,, Roman Gonzalez

Mid 1990's Roy Jones Jr at his apex was the greatest fighter I've ever seen. Imagine what his legacy would be considered if he got the hell out of the sport after winning the heavyweight title before his reflexes started to erode?

diddy wrote: ↑12 Dec 2018, 03:21 Mid 1990's Roy Jones Jr at his apex was the greatest fighter I've ever seen. Imagine what his legacy would be considered if he got the hell out of the sport after winning the heavyweight title before his reflexes started to erode?

Truth

diddy wrote: ↑12 Dec 2018, 03:21 Mid 1990's Roy Jones Jr at his apex was the greatest fighter I've ever seen. Imagine what his legacy would be considered if he got the hell out of the sport after winning the heavyweight title before his reflexes started to erode?

Agreed. He seemed superhuman in his prime his speed and reflexes were just incredible, godlike in his pomp.

I couldn't begin to formulate a list of just ten fighters. The OP lists Usyk who is a great fighter but how can you have Usyk but no Holyfield?

All I can do is add a few personal favourites as honourable mentions, not saying any should usurp any of the guys mentioned previously but ... Carlos Zarate, Wifredo Gomez, Reuben Olivarez, Matthew Saad Muhammed, Jose Napoles, Azumah Nelson, Larry Holmes, oh ferkit, I could be here all day.

Been witnessing boxing since about 1999

Here is my rough list

Roy jones
Mosely
Oscar
Manny
Lennox lewis
Marquez
Floyd
Andre ward
Kovalev
Vernon forrest
Tito Trinidad
James toney
Loma
Hopkins
Inoue
Kostya
Barrera
Vitali
Morales

Too many names to pick from. Hard to have a top 10

1.-2. Ali, Teofilo Stevenson
3. Lewis
4.-5.-6. Foreman, Holyfield, Tyson
7.-8.-9.-10. Klitschko brothers, Mayweather, Pacquiao

Duran, Ali, Leonard, hearns, Whitaker, hagler, Floyd, PAC, holmes & Hopkins off the top of my head

In no particular order:

Monzon
Calzaghe
Mike Tyson
Gatti
Tszyu
The Klitschkos particularly Vitali
GGG
Roberto Duran
Pirog (Pity he didn’t continue)
Lomachenko
RJJ

No particular order and really hard considering I started watching in 1970.

Eder Jofre
Alexis Arguello
Ruben Olivares
Ali
Lennox Lewis
Carlos Monzon
Roberto Duran
Marvin Hagler
Sugar Ray Leanard
Joel Calzaghe

I'm certain I missed several at the least.

From 1991
Roy Jones
Floyd
Lewis
VItali
Loma
Manny
Hopkins
Oscar
Gatti
Calzaghe

klitoris wrote: ↑12 Dec 2018, 15:22 From 1991
Roy Jones
Floyd
Lewis
VItali
Loma
Manny
Hopkins
Oscar
Gatti
Calzaghe

Gatti wouldn't be top 10 in any division since then.

Well, my "most exciting" list is as follows:

( Not in any particular order )

"Iron" Mike Tyson
Evander "The Real Deal" Holyfield
Tommy "The Duke" Morrison
Arturo "Thunder" Gatti
Julian "The Hawk" Jackson
Gerald "The G-Man" McClellan
John "The Beast" Mugabi
Riddick "Big Daddy" Bowe
Donovan "Razor" Ruddock
Roy "Junior" Jones

Chavez, Holyfield, Hopkins, RJJ, Wlad Klit, Finito Lopez, Mayweather, Terry Norris, Pacquaio, and Whitaker.

I remember being a kid and staying up late to watch Tyson at family parties, but nobody in my family was anything more than a casual (at best). I became a more dedicated follower of the sport at the tail end of Lennox Lewis career - so i feel significantly more qualified to rate fighters of this millenium. As great as Hearns, Duran, Hagler etc were, imo its hard to get a true sense of a fighters ability and achievements if you didn't actively follow their careers.

I'm not going to rank a top 10 for now, but a few standouts;

Probably cliche but the 2 best fighters I've seen in my time following the sport are Pacquiao and Mayweather - by a distance.
Others in the mix for me; SSM, JMM, Morales, Barrerra, RJJ, Lomachenko, Lewis, Calzaghe, Golovkin, Kovalev, Canelo, Ward, Usyk.

diddy wrote: ↑12 Dec 2018, 03:21 Mid 1990's Roy Jones Jr at his apex was the greatest fighter I've ever seen. Imagine what his legacy would be considered if he got the hell out of the sport after winning the heavyweight title before his reflexes started to erode?

He wasn't as great as Whitaker.

Duran
Hagler
SRL
Hearns
Holyfield
PBF
Manny Pac
Sweet Pea
SOG
Lewis