The coalminer's daughter was so good, they put on her primetime o a Tyson card. That's how good she was and how long. I'd consider a tossup between Lucia Ryjker/Clarissa Shields, Sumya Anani and Ann Wolfe to vie for the 2nd, 3rd ,4th, & 5th spots
From 89-2003 she lost 2x & drew 2x- 3she avenged in fashion. Anani the one who beat her 36-1-2 vs just 11-0... would lose just once in 8 years- she avenged that loss. Anani retiret at 25-3, lost her last 2 fight, meaning she was a winner throughout her whole career. All of these women never had financial haggling in their careers- that would be Laila Ali.
Ali wanted credit for being a 5'10 SMW/LHW taking on a 5'4 Superlight weight in Martin who had been in the game for 14 years. I kinda want to put Vonda Ward ahead of Laila, but that is the bias in me. Vonda actually fought on after her loss to Ann Wolfe- not only did she go on to win the WH title, but she retired holding 3 belts.
Women's best?
1. Martin
2. Wolfe
3. Ryjker
4. Shields
5. Brækhus (most rank her #1--I haven't seen enough of her to prove/dispute)
6. Anani
7. Ali
8. Ward
9. Taylor
10. J. Frazier---I rank Jackie here because she never wanted to box- just fight Laila- a 40 year old woman broke Laila's nose- went toe to toe- had Laila stating post fight- I don't feel good about this win at all. Jackie fought like she never seen gloves, and just took a hit of the crack-pipe and went out swinging like a ghetto girl in a closed-circle school yard brawl...at times inspiring other times funny to see a 20 something year old Laila unable to control this 40 year old chick!
Brækhus
In boxing she has reigned as the undisputed female welterweight champion since 2014, and is the first woman in any weight class to hold the WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO titles simultaneously. She is also one of only seven boxers in history, female or male, to hold all four major world titles simultaneously, along with Bernard Hopkins (2004–2005), Jermain Taylor (2005), Terence Crawford (2017), Oleksandr Usyk (2018–2019), Claressa Shields (2019–), and Katie Taylor (2019-). In 2016, she captured the IBO title, becoming the first ever boxer to hold five world titles from sanctioning bodies simultaneously.
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