First off EVERYBODY counts. Born in the UK, boxed out of the UK, claimed the UK as home etc. since 1882 (the rise of the Marquess of Queensbury Rules).
General Criteria
1. Beating other great fighters
2. Being a THE MAN champion
3. Beating THE MAN champions
4. Beating ranked fighters
5. Overall record
6. Bad losses, losses in prime to non-great fighters count against.
1. Bob Fitzsimmons-The sport's first three division THE MAN champion. Think of him as kind of a Tommy Hearns. 6'1, thin legs, a powerful upper body and a sledgehammer puncher. When you look at Fitz understand that in those days fighters weighed in minutes before stepping into the ring. Won the 175 crown at forty years of age. Ruby Robert defeated ATG Non-Pareil Jack Dempsey, Jim Corbett, Peter Maher, Tom Sharkey, Philadelphia Jack O'Brien and despite giving up forty pounds gave Jim Jeffries hell twice.
2. Jimmy Wilde-The Ghost With A Hammer In His Hand is one of the few fighters who more or less had a division created for him. Arguably the best p4p puncher in history and had 100 recorded knockouts. Wilde routinely weighed in under 100 pounds (often while dressed), giving up 10-15 pounds to his foe. Lost only once in his prime and while he has over 130 recorded wins, Wilde credibly claimed to have fought over 400 times. The greatest flyweight of all time and a good case can be made that he deserves the top slot.
3. Ted "Kid" Lewis- Over 200 career wins, three-time 147 THE MAN champion, fought fellow ATG Jack Britton twenty times (6-9-4)! An all-action fighter, most of his losses occurred to Britton or when when fighting larger men. Another big puncher. Lewis is also responsible for bringing the mouthpiece into boxing. In his career he fought 2600 rounds. That is more than the p4p top ten today have fought combined.
4. Freddie Welsh-The Welsh Wizard won the undisputed lightweight championship and defended it nine times. Has wins over HOFers Jim Driscoll, Abe Attell, Pal Moore, Johnny Dundee, Ad Wolgast, Benny Leonard, Battling Nelson, in some cases multiple times. Over 125 career wins. This time period is generally scene as THE golden age of the lightweight division and Welsh was one of the slickest.
5. Jimmy McLarnin-The Belfast Spider is the fighter from the past whose resume most closely resembles Manny Pacquiao's. He defeated great fighters from flyweight to welter and though a big puncher, his hands kept his total number of bouts to around seventy. He defeated Pancho Villa, Fidel LaBarba, Bud Taylor, Kid Kaplan, Billy Petrolle, Benny Leonard, Barney Ross, Young Corbett III, Tony Canzoneri and Lou Ambers, HOFers all. McLarnin was THE MAN champion at 147 twice.
6. Ken Buchanan-Undisputed lightweight king with two defenses. Wins over HOFer Ismael Laguna twice, Carlos Hernandez and Carlos Ortiz. A marvelous technician but not a huge puncher. Became a fan favorite at MSG. He was being beaten by Roberto Duran when Duran hit him below the belt to win the 135 crown.
7. Lennox Lewis-Britian's greatest Heavyweight. A two-time THE MAN heavyweight champion with eight total defenses. Beat the following probable HOFers. Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Vitali Klitschko. That last win becomes more impressive over time as Klitschko's own resume grows. About the only falw in Lewis' armor is he was KO'd by two mediocrities while in his prime. When we are discussing ATG's, that just doesn't happen. The argument he "avenged" them holds no water. ATG's generally don't have to avenge KO losses to mediocrities and how exactly did he avenge the McCall loss? The guy had a nervous breakdown. Lewis really is a transitional figure as the division moves from historically sized heavyweights to the giants of today. A huge puncher.
8. Howard Winstone-Lose parts of three fingers and still become a THE MAN champion? THAT's pretty good! Resume looks a lot like Ken Buchanan's except he had the misfortune to have to deal with HOFer Vincente Saldivar who defeated him in three title shots. While he defeated a raft of ranked contenders, he doesn't have that big signature win to put him with Buchanan.
9. Joe Calzaghe-THE MAN at 168 and one of the unique fighters we'll see. A transcendent athlete and I think a genuinely tough guy. Unbeaten in his pro career. He is limited on a list like this by the quality of his competition faced. His biggest win is an impressive one over probable HOFer BHOP. But after that the competition falls dramatically compared to the others on this list. Would have been a handful for any 168 who's ever stepped in the ring.
10. There are just too many guys I am going to leave off. So for this spot a hat tip to Benny Lynch, Jackie Kid Berg, Randy Turpin, Jim Driscoll, Barry Mcguigan and the late Henry Cooper.
Where am I wrong and waddya got?
