Who's Number 1? ESPN Counts Down the 20 Greatest Boxers of All Time

[BIG H]

Never miss a chance for a list

1 Sugar Ray Robinson
2 Henry Armstrong
3 Willie Pepp
4 Muhammad Ali
5 Roberto Duran
6 Julio Cesar Chavez
7 Benny Leonard
8 Jimmy Wilde
9 Billy Conn
10 Harry Greb

[SweetPea]

I never got to see a lot of the old fighters, so I won't even attempt to make a full list.
I think the clear top 2 should be Ray Robinson and Muhammad Ali. After the top 2, you can make a ton of arguments for who should be 3-20.

I think the two guys from recent decades who should be locks for the top 20 are Whitaker and Jones. After that, the other great boxers from this era could be argued both ways. Whitaker and Jones are the two sure things.

[price.pittsburgh]

1. Muhammed Ali
2. Cassius Clay
3. "The Greatest"

[Puerto Rican Punch]

For me # 1-pound-for-pund": Ray Robinson, followed by Ali. I just can not think about Jones as # 1 as I read in some posts with all the other names such as Henry Armstrong, Louis, Willie Pep, Sadler, Leonard, Whitaker, (not necessarily in that order) just to mention a few. Jones has great skills, but there are many others.

[Biceberg]

My list

1. Sugar Ray Robinson
2. Joe Louis
3. Sugar Ray Leonard
4. Henry Armstrong
5. Muhammed Ali
6. Floyd Maywether Jr.
7. Archie Moore
8. Willie Pep
9. Julio Ceasar Chavez
10. Rocky Marciano
11. George Foreman
12. Oscar De Lahoya
13. Marvin Hagler
14. Jack Dempsey
15. Roberto Duran
16. Gene Tunney
17. Mike Tyson
18. Larry Holmes
19. Thomas Hearns
20. Evander Holyfield

[Biceberg]

This list above was compiled by Bryan Berg

[CutMeMick]

My list

1. Sugar Ray Robinson
2. Joe Louis
3. Sugar Ray Leonard
4. Henry Armstrong
5. Muhammed Ali
6. Floyd Maywether Jr.
7. Archie Moore
8. Willie Pep
9. Julio Ceasar Chavez
10. Rocky Marciano
11. George Foreman
12. Oscar De Lahoya
13. Marvin Hagler
14. Jack Dempsey
15. Roberto Duran
16. Gene Tunney
17. Mike Tyson
18. Larry Holmes
19. Thomas Hearns
20. Evander Holyfield

Welcome to Saddos, where your opinion is sure to be crushed by some drunk. (WackOf3205 or SalTheButcher)

Heres Cool Click #1 for you...

Nice list, though I think PBF is too high.
Roberto Duran is too low.
ODLH is waaay to high as HUGE of a fan that I'am hes not better then Hearns or Duran all time I think hes closer to 20 - 25 rather then 15-20....

But overall nice list and hope you enjoy! your saty here.....
Who are your favorite fighters?

[albsur2006]

This is mine....

1. Ray Robinson
2. Muhammad Ali
3. Willie Pep
4. Henry Armstrong
5. Benny Leonard
6. Gene Tunney
7. Joe Louis
8. Stanley Ketchel
9. Lou Ambers
10. Archie Moore
11. Pernell Whitaker
12. Carlos Monzon
13. Alexis Arguello
14. Emile Griffith
15. Kid Chocolate
16. Ray Leonard
17. Roberto Duran
18. Jack Dempsey
19. Oscar De La Hoya
20. Julio Cesar Chavez

Not the best list and I'm sure it could use some fine tuning, bit of era-clumping in there but I like it. And as always, I will gladly defend each fighter's spot on the list.

CC for your list. I really like it. The only bad things are having ODLH ahead of JCC is insane. JCC DOMINATED during his prime, he was freaking unbeatable, ODLH didn't dominate in his prime, he was simply really competitive. SRL really shouldn't be that low and Benny Leonard IMO shouldn't be on the list. Also, there is no Hagler and Arguello should be lower because he was outclassed twice by Pryor when Arguello was still a "young" fighter.

[Taeth]

Mine is off the top of my head
Roy Jones Jr
Floyd Mayweather Jr
Pernell Whitaker
Muhammad Ali
Willie Pep
Ray Robinson
Mike Tyson
Ray Leonard
Roberto Duran
Gene Tunney
Archie Moore
James Toney
Marvin Hagler
Winky Wright
Bernard Hopkins
Joe Louis
Lennox Lewis

Other guys are Hearns, JCC, Aaron Pryor, Arguello, Larry Holmes, Frazier, Holyfield, Ezzard Charles

[Purist]

cc.

i will be honest and admit i cant do a list of 20 as my knowledge of older boxers isnt that of most on here so i wont even try but i think maybe RJJ and Hopkins could squeeze in.

Jones I disagree on, but Hopkins could very well slide into 20-15, I would have him at about 21

Dear me amat? Is you crazy?? i mean alot of people are not fans of roy but he does slip easily into the top ten i mean, four weight division champion, and middle to heavy is a huge stretch over a career, he had skills and characteristics that had been unseen and thats what is all about baby he did it his own way. gotta disagree brother.

IMO, from the years 96 to 06, his career only had a couple high spots with a bunch of fights that should have been used to just keep busy instead of being main eventers. I mean, as spectacular as the guy was, he just didn't fight strong enough competition to be considered the greatest fighter of all time. It's a shame, but Roy never had that one career defining fight that set him head and shoulders above the other greats of his era, much less all time.

Why punish a fighter by history if they did the best they could against "their era" Roy ruled "an era" it wasn't the BEST Era but it was "An era" And he shouldn't be punished for not being 20 in the 70's should he?

[amat]

cc.

i will be honest and admit i cant do a list of 20 as my knowledge of older boxers isnt that of most on here so i wont even try but i think maybe RJJ and Hopkins could squeeze in.

Jones I disagree on, but Hopkins could very well slide into 20-15, I would have him at about 21

Dear me amat? Is you crazy?? i mean alot of people are not fans of roy but he does slip easily into the top ten i mean, four weight division champion, and middle to heavy is a huge stretch over a career, he had skills and characteristics that had been unseen and thats what is all about baby he did it his own way. gotta disagree brother.

IMO, from the years 96 to 06, his career only had a couple high spots with a bunch of fights that should have been used to just keep busy instead of being main eventers. I mean, as spectacular as the guy was, he just didn't fight strong enough competition to be considered the greatest fighter of all time. It's a shame, but Roy never had that one career defining fight that set him head and shoulders above the other greats of his era, much less all time.

Why punish a fighter by history if they did the best they could against "their era" Roy ruled "an era" it wasn't the BEST Era but it was "An era" And he shouldn't be punished for not being 20 in the 70's should he?

He shouldn't neccesarily be punished but you can't deny, he does not have one major victory past Hopkins and Toney. I guess the Ruiz fight too. That's 3 good wins. Just good because he never beat a great fighter in the prime or at least near it. Still, RJJ is one of the few fighters who cracks the top 25 just by being really really good. When you talk about the all time greats, very few make it because of their skills even without a heap of great victories. Pernell is another one. He didn't exactly have bigger wins then ODLH or SLR but he is still ranked with them.

But I still think Pernell did have better wins then RJJ. He's top 25 of all time. When people look back on that era I think they will remember the great fights of other fighters in his era like DLH, Lewis, Trinidad and others. Mybe I was off in saying he wouldn't be remembered as a great. That's just not true but I don't think he'll be remembered as a top 10 ATG like a lot on this board seem to think he will be.

This is mine....

1. Ray Robinson
2. Muhammad Ali
3. Willie Pep
4. Henry Armstrong
5. Benny Leonard
6. Gene Tunney
7. Joe Louis
8. Stanley Ketchel
9. Lou Ambers
10. Archie Moore
11. Pernell Whitaker
12. Carlos Monzon
13. Alexis Arguello
14. Emile Griffith
15. Kid Chocolate
16. Ray Leonard
17. Roberto Duran
18. Jack Dempsey
19. Oscar De La Hoya
20. Julio Cesar Chavez

Not the best list and I'm sure it could use some fine tuning, bit of era-clumping in there but I like it. And as always, I will gladly defend each fighter's spot on the list.

CC for your list. I really like it. The only bad things are having ODLH ahead of JCC is insane. JCC DOMINATED during his prime, he was freaking unbeatable, ODLH didn't dominate in his prime, he was simply really competitive. SRL really shouldn't be that low and Benny Leonard IMO shouldn't be on the list. Also, there is no Hagler and Arguello should be lower because he was outclassed twice by Pryor when Arguello was still a "young" fighter.

BIG fights from DLH. Honestly, love him or hate him he has had more mega fights then any non heavyweight in a long time. Carr, Quartey, Trinidad, Whitaker, Chavez, Vargas ect

No Hagler? Well I just disagree entirely. Not beat in 11 years and some huge victories. I couldn't possibly stomach leaving Hagler out of the top 20. In hindsight I would probably move Arguello and Griffith outside of the top 20 now that I know a lot more about boxing's history and great fighters. But Arguello was a great fighter, I've never seen a sharper punch.

And yeah I would probably move Leonard up the list considerably aswell. CC 168, liked the input.

[p4pking]

cc.

i will be honest and admit i cant do a list of 20 as my knowledge of older boxers isnt that of most on here so i wont even try but i think maybe RJJ and Hopkins could squeeze in.

Jones I disagree on, but Hopkins could very well slide into 20-15, I would have him at about 21

Dear me amat? Is you crazy?? i mean alot of people are not fans of roy but he does slip easily into the top ten i mean, four weight division champion, and middle to heavy is a huge stretch over a career, he had skills and characteristics that had been unseen and thats what is all about baby he did it his own way. gotta disagree brother.

IMO, from the years 96 to 06, his career only had a couple high spots with a bunch of fights that should have been used to just keep busy instead of being main eventers. I mean, as spectacular as the guy was, he just didn't fight strong enough competition to be considered the greatest fighter of all time. It's a shame, but Roy never had that one career defining fight that set him head and shoulders above the other greats of his era, much less all time.

Why punish a fighter by history if they did the best they could against "their era" Roy ruled "an era" it wasn't the BEST Era but it was "An era" And he shouldn't be punished for not being 20 in the 70's should he?

He shouldn't neccesarily be punished but you can't deny, he does not have one major victory past Hopkins and Toney. I guess the Ruiz fight too. That's 3 good wins. Just good because he never beat a great fighter in the prime or at least near it. Still, RJJ is one of the few fighters who cracks the top 25 just by being really really good. When you talk about the all time greats, very few make it because of their skills even without a heap of great victories. Pernell is another one. He didn't exactly have bigger wins then ODLH or SLR but he is still ranked with them.

But I still think Pernell did have better wins then RJJ. He's top 25 of all time. When people look back on that era I think they will remember the great fights of other fighters in his era like DLH, Lewis, Trinidad and others. Mybe I was off in saying he wouldn't be remembered as a great. That's just not true but I don't think he'll be remembered as a top 10 ATG like a lot on this board seem to think he will be.

This is mine....

1. Ray Robinson
2. Muhammad Ali
3. Willie Pep
4. Henry Armstrong
5. Benny Leonard
6. Gene Tunney
7. Joe Louis
8. Stanley Ketchel
9. Lou Ambers
10. Archie Moore
11. Pernell Whitaker
12. Carlos Monzon
13. Alexis Arguello
14. Emile Griffith
15. Kid Chocolate
16. Ray Leonard
17. Roberto Duran
18. Jack Dempsey
19. Oscar De La Hoya
20. Julio Cesar Chavez

Not the best list and I'm sure it could use some fine tuning, bit of era-clumping in there but I like it. And as always, I will gladly defend each fighter's spot on the list.

CC for your list. I really like it. The only bad things are having ODLH ahead of JCC is insane. JCC DOMINATED during his prime, he was freaking unbeatable, ODLH didn't dominate in his prime, he was simply really competitive. SRL really shouldn't be that low and Benny Leonard IMO shouldn't be on the list. Also, there is no Hagler and Arguello should be lower because he was outclassed twice by Pryor when Arguello was still a "young" fighter.

BIG fights from DLH. Honestly, love him or hate him he has had more mega fights then any non heavyweight in a long time. Carr, Quartey, Trinidad, Whitaker, Chavez, Vargas ect

No Hagler? Well I just disagree entirely. Not beat in 11 years and some huge victories. I couldn't possibly stomach leaving Hagler out of the top 20. In hindsight I would probably move Arguello and Griffith outside of the top 20 now that I know a lot more about boxing's history and great fighters. But Arguello was a great fighter, I've never seen a sharper punch.

And yeah I would probably move Leonard up the list considerably aswell. CC 168, liked the input.

Yea I like your list too Amat, but uhh, you did leave Hagler out of the top 20 unless I can't read.. He isn't on your list :P

[BoomBoom]

This is mine....

1. Ray Robinson
2. Muhammad Ali
3. Willie Pep
4. Henry Armstrong
5. Benny Leonard
6. Gene Tunney
7. Joe Louis
8. Stanley Ketchel
9. Lou Ambers
10. Archie Moore
11. Pernell Whitaker
12. Carlos Monzon
13. Alexis Arguello
14. Emile Griffith
15. Kid Chocolate
16. Ray Leonard
17. Roberto Duran
18. Jack Dempsey
19. Oscar De La Hoya
20. Julio Cesar Chavez

Not the best list and I'm sure it could use some fine tuning, bit of era-clumping in there but I like it. And as always, I will gladly defend each fighter's spot on the list.

Good list with the exception of Duran being a little low and Whitaker being a little high

[amat]

Well...I'm sure there has been some sort of mistake...I mean surely...

Maybe I should have looked over the list before posting? CC 347 for that....I made that in August. But leaving Hagler out is inexcusable, kind of surprising since I went over that list thousands of times until I liked it. Now I see a lot of things I don't like about it. I put Ketchel in there despite not knowing nearly enough about him. I have Kid Chocolate on there a little high I think. I was really high on him about the time I made the list. Like I said I would raise Leonard probably to 11. I'm going to have to make another one of these one days...

[Purist]

cc.

i will be honest and admit i cant do a list of 20 as my knowledge of older boxers isnt that of most on here so i wont even try but i think maybe RJJ and Hopkins could squeeze in.

Jones I disagree on, but Hopkins could very well slide into 20-15, I would have him at about 21

Dear me amat? Is you crazy?? i mean alot of people are not fans of roy but he does slip easily into the top ten i mean, four weight division champion, and middle to heavy is a huge stretch over a career, he had skills and characteristics that had been unseen and thats what is all about baby he did it his own way. gotta disagree brother.

IMO, from the years 96 to 06, his career only had a couple high spots with a bunch of fights that should have been used to just keep busy instead of being main eventers. I mean, as spectacular as the guy was, he just didn't fight strong enough competition to be considered the greatest fighter of all time. It's a shame, but Roy never had that one career defining fight that set him head and shoulders above the other greats of his era, much less all time.

Why punish a fighter by history if they did the best they could against "their era" Roy ruled "an era" it wasn't the BEST Era but it was "An era" And he shouldn't be punished for not being 20 in the 70's should he?

He shouldn't neccesarily be punished but you can't deny, he does not have one major victory past Hopkins and Toney. I guess the Ruiz fight too. That's 3 good wins. Just good because he never beat a great fighter in the prime or at least near it. Still, RJJ is one of the few fighters who cracks the top 25 just by being really really good. When you talk about the all time greats, very few make it because of their skills even without a heap of great victories. Pernell is another one. He didn't exactly have bigger wins then ODLH or SLR but he is still ranked with them.

But I still think Pernell did have better wins then RJJ. He's top 25 of all time. When people look back on that era I think they will remember the great fights of other fighters in his era like DLH, Lewis, Trinidad and others. Mybe I was off in saying he wouldn't be remembered as a great. That's just not true but I don't think he'll be remembered as a top 10 ATG like a lot on this board seem to think he will be.

You could make a case and say that Oscar only beat one fighter in their prime(Quartey and thats questionable)

But you have Oscar on that list.

And it would be punishing a fighter, when you consider on his era that Eric Lucas, Clinton Woods, Virgil Hill, John Ruiz, James Toney and bernard hopkins went on to become champions after Roy beat them. James Toney and Hopkins hall of fame ones, Virgil Hill too will be HoF in my opinion.