Thread: The Top 50 Middleweights Of All Time - Results

Taken from The Times Newspaper, interesting:

Top 50 middleweights ever - the final list

For the sake of a bit of good housekeeping, I thought I would round off this series with a full top 50 and a few observations.

My first feelings looking back at the list are that Roy Jones Jr is a bit high. This is mostly due to his comparison with Hopkins and Toney, but a boxer who spent such a short part of his career at middleweight, shouldn't really turn up at No 7 on the list. Likewise, Ray Leonard is probably a bit lucky to be in the top 20. Marcel Cerdan could be a bit low, but his loss to LaMotta, who I don't feel really deserves a higher spot is dragging him back. Emile Griffith, Dick Tiger and Bob Fitzsimmons probably have claims to step up a bit too.
I feel it is very likely, if this list was done in 2-3 years time, that Kelly Pavlik will be entering the upper reaches of the list. That in turn would drag Jermain Taylor up a bit. Certainly, should Pavlik and Arthur Abraham meet, the winner of that would be worth of, at the very least, a top 20 spot.
I'll be starting another list in the next few days, which will give us the chance to debate a whole new division, as well as my latest pound-for-pound rankings, which I'm sure will feature Pavlik.


1. Harry Greb
2. Sugar Ray Robinson
3. Marvin Hagler
4. Carlos Monzon
5. Bernard Hopkins
6. Stanley Ketchel
7. Roy Jones Jr
8. Mickey Walker
9. Gene Fullmer
10. Tony Zale
11. Jake LaMotta
12. Marcel Cerdan
13. Charlie 'Kid' McCoy
14. Gerald McClellan
15. Carl 'Bobo' Olson
16. Freddie Steele
17. James Toney
18. Mike McCallum
19. Randolph Turpin
20. Ray Leonard
21. Nino Benvenuti
22. Laszlo Papp
23. Joey Giardello
24. Dick Tiger
25. Carmen Basilio
26. Bob Fitzsimmons
27. Michael Nunn
28. Rocky Graziano
29. Sumbu Kalambay
30. Marcel Thil
31. Mike O'Dowd
32. Tommy Ryan
33. Emile Griffith
34. Paul Pender
35. Billy Papke
36. Alan Minter
37. Julian Jackson
38. Kelly Pavlik
39. Jermain Taylor
40. Chris Eubank
41. Hugo Corro
42. Rodrigo Valdes
43. Vito Antuofermo
44. Tiger Flowers
45. Terry Downes
46. Charley Burley
47. Nigel Benn
48. Iran Barkley
49. Herol Graham
50. Thomas Hearns

Originally Posted by Conrad

Taken from The Times Newspaper, interesting:

Top 50 middleweights ever - the final list

For the sake of a bit of good housekeeping, I thought I would round off this series with a full top 50 and a few observations.

My first feelings looking back at the list are that Roy Jones Jr is a bit high. This is mostly due to his comparison with Hopkins and Toney, but a boxer who spent such a short part of his career at middleweight, shouldn't really turn up at No 7 on the list. Likewise, Ray Leonard is probably a bit lucky to be in the top 20. Marcel Cerdan could be a bit low, but his loss to LaMotta, who I don't feel really deserves a higher spot is dragging him back. Emile Griffith, Dick Tiger and Bob Fitzsimmons probably have claims to step up a bit too.
I feel it is very likely, if this list was done in 2-3 years time, that Kelly Pavlik will be entering the upper reaches of the list. That in turn would drag Jermain Taylor up a bit. Certainly, should Pavlik and Arthur Abraham meet, the winner of that would be worth of, at the very least, a top 20 spot.
I'll be starting another list in the next few days, which will give us the chance to debate a whole new division, as well as my latest pound-for-pound rankings, which I'm sure will feature Pavlik.


1. Harry Greb
2. Sugar Ray Robinson
3. Marvin Hagler
4. Carlos Monzon
5. Bernard Hopkins
6. Stanley Ketchel
7. Roy Jones Jr
8. Mickey Walker
9. Gene Fullmer
10. Tony Zale
11. Jake LaMotta
12. Marcel Cerdan
13. Charlie 'Kid' McCoy
14. Gerald McClellan
15. Carl 'Bobo' Olson
16. Freddie Steele
17. James Toney
18. Mike McCallum
19. Randolph Turpin
20. Ray Leonard
21. Nino Benvenuti
22. Laszlo Papp
23. Joey Giardello
24. Dick Tiger
25. Carmen Basilio
26. Bob Fitzsimmons
27. Michael Nunn
28. Rocky Graziano
29. Sumbu Kalambay
30. Marcel Thil
31. Mike O'Dowd
32. Tommy Ryan
33. Emile Griffith
34. Paul Pender
35. Billy Papke
36. Alan Minter
37. Julian Jackson
38. Kelly Pavlik
39. Jermain Taylor
40. Chris Eubank
41. Hugo Corro
42. Rodrigo Valdes
43. Vito Antuofermo
44. Tiger Flowers
45. Terry Downes
46. Charley Burley
47. Nigel Benn
48. Iran Barkley
49. Herol Graham
50. Thomas Hearns

Harry Greb....the best ever.

I would definitly do some tweeking to that list,but at least they got most of the right names on there

Can it really be accurate if you include fighters that are still active within the division though, or even ones (like Taylor) that have moved on but are still in the midst of a career?

I find Leonard at 20 and Hearns at 50 a bit strange, when they fought to a draw at MW.
I also find it strange how nearly all boxing lists have older fighters first. I ahve no doubt that Greb was a great fighter and he has a tremendous record, but the guy finished fighting in the 20's so how do any of the guys writing the list really know how good he was?
The other problem with these lists are do u go for best record or best fighter?

Example being that Hopkins had a better record than Jones at MW but Jones was the better fighter prime for prime. You could argue a prime Jones deserves to be top 3 cos he'd beat almost everyone on the list. You could also argue his career at MW was not that long and he should be far further down the list.

Hearns is a strange one cos you could argue that at his prime he could have beaten 40 of those 50 but his record at MW was not that great so maybe 50 is right?
These lists need to be more specific. You could do 2.
Best MW records of all time and Best MW fighters of all time, this list is a mixture of both.

Leonard vs Hearns 2 was at Super Middleweight not Middleweight, and i'll say it again Robinson's record at Middleweight in title fights is only like 8-6 or something like that if i remember right no way should Robinson be higher than Hagler or Monzon. And why is Jones Jr that high ?? i find that quite strange. The list for certain needs some work.

Originally Posted by ICB

Leonard vs Hearns 2 was at Super Middleweight not Middleweight, and i'll say it again Robinson's record at Middleweight in title fights is only like 8-6 or something like that if i remember right no way should Robinson be higher than Hagler or Monzon. And why is Jones Jr that high ?? i find that quite strange. The list for certain needs some work.

In Hearns v Leonard 2 Leonard was 160 and Hearns was 162. Officially it was a SMW fight but both were closer to MW.

Having SRR higher than Hagler and Monzon always confuses me. Didn't he lose the title 4 times at Middle, whereas others have reigned supreme? undoubtedtly the GOT p4p, but not at Middle for me!

Wheres Les Darcy

Nigel Benn should be further up the chain, he beat McClellen and defended more times than most of the above.......Michael Watson should be on that list also....he beat Benn and ran McCallum and Eubank close in title fights.....I think Watson would have been a champion if not a great champion...in my oppinion

Job Biscuit (In my onions that is)!!!


eh eh!!

I love Michael Watson, but I think he would always have just fallen short of being 'Great' The fight against McCallum being case in point, at that level he was taken to bits

Originally Posted by Otley

Nigel Benn should be further up the chain, he beat McClellen and defended more times than most of the above.......Michael Watson should be on that list also....he beat Benn and ran McCallum and Eubank close in title fights.....I think Watson would have been a champion if not a great champion...in my oppinion

Job Biscuit (In my onions that is)!!!


eh eh!!

Nigel Benn beat Gerald McClellan at Super Middleweight not Middleweight, remember Gerald McClellan moved up in weight to fight Benn, Michael Watson never gave McCallum a close fight. He took a sustained beating and was totally out classed in that fight, the KO was brutal as well because McCallum actually got momentum into his punch when Watson bounced off the ropes. I think Watson beat Eubank in the 1st fight and was outclassing him in the 2nd fight, but close fights that you lost should not rank you higher IMO. BIG H i agree look at my statement above Robinson was only like 8-6 in Middleweight title fights, he was too hot and cold to be rated higher than Monzon or Hagler who dominated the Middleweight division for years.

I would always put Hagler number 1 he was a animal and would fight anybody but that my opinion.

julian jackson above eubank ? no no y is pavlik there? cum on

Carlos Monzon #1 by miles