BoxRec

By peak I don't mean simply in their primes, but at the absolute best of their best.

For example, Carlos Monzon was a great, dominant champion for a long time, but I think he performed at his absolute best from the 2nd Benvenuti fight through to the Briscoe rematch.

I think Joe Frazier hit the top of his game in the first Ellis fight, and was at his peak through the Foster fight to the first Ali fight. After that, he gained a lot of weight for a couple of years, then got crushed by Foreman, and even though he got his weight back down, he never fully regained his absolute best form.

Some others -

Muhammad Ali - vs. Williams and Terrell
Lennox Lewis - vs. Grant, Botha, Tua
Julian Jackson - from In Chul Baek to Terry Norris
Kid Gavilan - late '52, vs. Gil Turner and Billy Graham IV
Ken Norton - Quarry, Garcia II, Stander
Roberto Duran - Viruet II, DeJesus III
Saad Muhammad - Conteh II, Yaqui Lopez II, Mwale
Ray Leonard - Duran II to Bruce Finch
Hopkins - Tito through Joppy? (questionable)
Mayweather Jr. - Manfredy to Corrales
Holyfield - vs. Douglas and Foreman
Winky Wright - Keith Mullings to McKart III
Dick Tiger - Rocky Rivero, Ruben Carter, Giardello IV
Alexis Arguello - early '78, Escalera I to Alcala
Michael Nunn - vs. Tate, Roldan, Kalambay
Lloyd Honeygan - Curry to Hatcher

Do you agree/disagree with the above? What examples of your own do you have?

Two more -

Pernell Whitaker - Ramirez II through Nazario
JC Chavez - Martinez, Castillo, Mayweather I

Marciano vs Matthews through Moore, imo

Two more -

Azumah Nelson - vs. Rovere, Martinez II, McDonnell
Jeff Fenech - vs. Payakaroon and Zarate

I'd say Holyfield, as a fighting machine, peaked as a Cruiserweight, but you can make the case for some time during his Heavyweight reign, given the extra experience he had over his Cruiser counter-part.

Oscar DeLaHoya - Hernandez through Gonzales

Goodnight, Irene wrote:I'd say Holyfield, as a fighting machine, peaked as a Cruiserweight, but you can make the case for some time during his Heavyweight reign, given the extra experience he had over his Cruiser counter-part.

Yeah, that's basically what I was thinking.

Still, if you look at his cruiser reign, I'd say his peak there was Qawi II and DeLeon.

My2Sense wrote:Oscar DeLaHoya - Hernandez through Gonzales

Many will overlook this timeframe in favour of De La Hoya's tenure as a Welterweight, in which he accomplished more, stayed longer, twice held the title, & had the bulk of his biggest bouts --- however, I'm with you.

De La Hoya, IMO, peaked as a Jr. Welterweight. Lethal at Jr. Light & Lightweight, superb at Welter, & still world-class at Jr. Middle until the post-Mosley II stages of his career --- but never so cumulatively potent as at 140lbs.

I think a similar case is what I'd make with one of his contemporaries in Felix Trinidad --- a fighter best known for his time at Welterweight who, IMO, hit the crest of his fighting prowess as a Jr. Middleweight.

Holyfield was more dominant as a Cruiserweight, but I'd say he was a better boxer at HW. At CW, no one could really hurt him, and he didn't seem to care that much about getting hit. At HW he was a better tactician.