BoxRec

1700 to the dawn of the gloved era?

I'd love to see everyone's opinions on this, as this set of rules or 'era' is rarely ever touched upon in this forum unless its about John L. Sullivan or guys in that same time period when The Boston Strong Boy was around.

For me, the greatest of all these, was Jem Mace who boxed from welterweight to heavyweight up into his mid 60's, and even then, he was considered one of the perennial great contenders of the time.

I think the peak bare fist era was turn of the 19th century, and the best fighter of that period was Tom Cribb. The guy was a monster, only lost one fight when he was drunk. To me hes the greatest bare knuckle fighter of all time. Mace might have been technically better, i dont know. But the halcyon period was turn of the 19th century, and guys like Cribb, Belcher and Molyneux were tremendous atheletes and fighters.