The 20 Greatest Fighters of the 20th Century

[bklynboy]

I was talking to someone the other day, and have heard others use the idea, of 'greater' vs. 'better'. I don't always agree, but it's not invalid. Part of sporting greatness is what people remember, and Dempsey's impact on the game was greater than all but a handful (and we're not talking about okay Heavyweight fighters versus great ones. Dempsey and Rock were certainly great Heavies).

I'm struggling for an answer. My first thought is "In that case should Greb & Ketchel be there at all?" I understand you're not saying that great = famous and that skill and accomplishment are part of greatness. However I don't like including fame and historical signifance in judging how good a boxer was.

Joe Louis was the first black heavyweight in a generation and helped to break the color barrier. The Louis - Schmelling fight had HUGE historical significance. We had the irony of white Americans, including many racists, rooting for a black man who was fighting a symbol of Aryan supremacy. So, off course the extra-boxing significance counts in what we think of the man.

I suppose we need to have another thread of who were the 20 "best" fighters of the 20th C, as opposed to who were the "greatest". And, I guess, that would be problematic too as we could parse the word "best" in the same way we parse "great."

Let's play with history for a while and go back to the Gatti / Mayweather fight. Imagine that Gatti had a better chin (how is that possible?) and let's say that Mayweather punished Hatton for 11+ rounds and get's KOed in the 12th.

I would say that Mayweather was the better fighter but guts, willingness to take punishment, determination, and extraordinary stamina won the fight for Gatti. I'm a big Gatti fan and don't like Mayweather's public persona but who in the world could possibly say, even in the above scenario, that Gatti was a better boxer than Mayweather?

I guess that's enough rambling for the moment. And I don't even have alcohol as an excuse.

[boxingbuff]

Is Muhammad Ali the greatest fighter ever?

Well.it depends on how you look at it.....One day Ali was really bragging how great he was to a reporter.More than usual.Going on and on he was the greatest of all times etc. etc. Then the reporter said to Ali "What about SRR? Ali responded "I never said I was the greatest p4p,I said I was the greatest fighter of all-times"

So if you rank Ali the #1 Heavyweight of all-time,you would have to agree with him that he is the greatest fighter of all-times!! Lol

[crold1]

Is Muhammad Ali the greatest fighter ever?

Well.it depends on how you look at it.....One day Ali was really bragging how great he was to a reporter.More than usual.Going on and on he was the greatest of all times etc. etc. Then the reporter said to Ali "What about SRR? Ali responded "I never said I was the greatest p4p,I said I was the greatest fighter of all-times"

So if you rank Ali the #1 Heavyweight of all-time,you would have to agree with him that he is the greatest fighter of all-times!! Lol

In a literal sense, if one rates Ali #1 then that would be the case. The best heavyweight of them all is literally better than the best featherweight (for instance) because, in the non-myth world of P4P, the best Heavyweight should walk through the best feather.