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From the ancient roots of boxing—a discipline that scholars estimate dates back some 7,000 years, with its presumed origins in Abyssinia, present-day Ethiopia in Central Africa—to the emergence of modern boxing just over a century ago (if we take September 7, 1892, in a New Orleans venue where the Marquess of Queensberry rules were first applied as the starting point), tens of millions of fighters have climbed into a ring. That is precisely why it commands attention and sparks amazement that, across such a vast span of time, only thirteen gladiators managed to complete their careers without ever tasting the bitter sting of defeat.
Among them are Floyd Mayweather, who reigned as a world champion at super featherweight, lightweight, super lightweight, welterweight, and super welterweight between 1998 and 2015 before hanging up the gloves with a pristine 50-0 record; Namibia’s Harry Simon, the former IBF super welterweight champion who retired at 30-0 with 22 knockouts; American standout Andre Ward, who finished with 32 victories; Ireland’s Jack McAuliffe, “The Napoleon of the Ring,” the lightweight king from 1886 to 1893, who went 27-0; and Russia’s Dmitry Pirog, who closed his career at 20-0 with 15 KOs.
Within this exclusive group, one name stands out with particularly striking overtones: Venezuelan Edwin “El Inca” Valero, who tragically passed away at just 28 years of age on April 19, 2010, under painful circumstances. Valero remains the only fighter among them to have ended all of his bouts inside the distance—27 fights in total, 18 of them in the opening round. That world record was surpassed nearly 16 years ago by middleweight Tyrone Brunson, who stopped 19 opponents in a row between April 22, 2005, and March 29, 2008.
What follows are the names of the remaining eight fighters on this rare list, with their knockouts in parentheses, ranked from highest to lowest based on total victories:
1.) Ricardo “Finito” López, Mexico, minimumweight and light flyweight: 51 (38)-0-1.
2.) Rocky Marciano, United States, heavyweight: 49 (43)-0-0.
3.) Joe Calzaghe, England, super middleweight: 46 (32)-0-0.
4.) Sven Ottke, Germany, super middleweight: 34 (6)-0-0.
5.) Michael Loewe (Mihai Leu), Romania, welterweight: 28 (10)-0-0.
6.) Terry Marsh, England, super lightweight: 26 (10)-0-1.
7.) Pichit Sitbangprachan, Thailand, flyweight: 24 (16)-0-0.
8.) Ji Won Kim, South Korea, super bantamweight: 18 (7)-0-0.
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