There was Ali in the 70's and Sugar Ray Leonard in the early 80's then Tyson in the Late 80's. Who was the superstar in the 90's.
Roy Jones was the best fighter in that era but he wasnt loved by the fans like Ali, Tyson and Leonard were.So was the superstar of the 90's in boxing?
hmm
Depends on the criteria...
If you go by accomplishments it's hard to deny Whitaker. In fact, you can't. If you do, you probably don't like his style or never seen him beat great fighters in his prime. So number one goes to Whitaker, then the rest. The rest for me goes something like Roy, Holyfield, Oscar, and so forth. There are a bunch of fighters who could take the remaining spots.
popular fighters vs the elite of the elite?
so your saying a fighter is great because of how many tickets he sells?
YES!!! listen, every boxer wants to get to the top, every boxer wants a belt. and if you prove yourself and get to that level than YES your gonna sell tickets. any 'popular' boxer I know was THE elite of the elite in his time, how do you think he got there?
people pay to watch the best go toe to toe, how could you be the best and NOT sell tickets or be popular?
Yea right Holyfield, he lost to Bowe twice & won a close decision to Bowe, which he could've lost easily. Why don't you go with Bowe he was pretty much undefeated.
Holyfield is my favorite Heavyweight ever and he had great wins over that guy that beat tyson for the championship. He beat 2 legends Holmes and Foreman.Lost to Bowe in a great fight then avenged that defeat and got his belts back. He had a classic war with bert cooper the best heavyweight fight ever.Had one of the biggest hearts in boxing and he whooped Tyson twice. All of this in the 90's.
Bowe gave up his belt cause he was scared of Lewis.Holyfield fought everyone without a second thought.
There was Ali in the 70's and Sugar Ray Leonard in the early 80's then Tyson in the Late 80's. Who was the superstar in the 90's.
Roy Jones was the best fighter in that era but he wasnt loved by the fans like Ali, Tyson and Leonard were.So was the superstar of the 90's in boxing?
Roy, Tito and Oscar were HUGE in the 90's, all had their fair share of haters and nuthuggers.
That was a sad fight. That damned coke got a hold of him and his reflexes started to go and I knew Trinidad was going to beat him up. It was hard for me to watch.
Dont listen to this copy and paste machine og.
It was nearly a year later when Trinidad returned to Madison Square Garden to face welterweight icon Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker. The six-time world champion came in with stellar credentials, including a controversial split-decision setback to Oscar De La Hoya. Despite the long layoff and rumors that Trinidad was struggling to make the 147-pound limit, Whitaker was over-matched from the start. Trinidad floored Whitaker in the second with a straight right hand and wobbled the challenger several times with hard, crisp combinations. At the end of 12 rounds, Trinidad's dominance was illustrated in the punch-stat numbers that had him connecting on 54 percent of punches thrown (278 of 512) to a paltry 23 percent for Whitaker (234-749).
I think the 90's will be remenbered by Trinidad most, he has almost as many haters, as fans, but still the haters dream of him everynight :D .
That was a sad fight. That damned coke got a hold of him and his reflexes started to go and I knew Trinidad was going to beat him up. It was hard for me to watch.
Pernell Whitaker is a good choice
I would say not a single man defines the entire decade but my list of fighters who defined the 90's
Evander Holyfield
Pernell Whitaker
Felix Trinidad
Oscar De La Hoya
Mike Tyson
Lennox Lewis
Riddick Bowe
Dariusz Michalzewski
Roy Jones Jr
Whitaker clearly beat Oscar, it wasn't even close, it was bullshit decision, Whitaker got robbed against Chavez, Jose Luis Ramirez & Oscar. He clearly beat these 3 fighters, it wasn't even close. As for Tito beating him, that was not the same Whitaker, he was a cocaine addicts at the time Tito beat him. Whitaker in his prime would've beat Tito in his sleep. Whitaker started taking cocaine after the lost to Oscar. That was the end of Whitaker.
this thread clearly reads best fighter of the 90's not best sniffer.
Im goin with Holyfield after everything ive read and then tito.
Whitaker could win best defensive fighter clearly, watching him was like watching womens golf.
There was Ali in the 70's and Sugar Ray Leonard in the early 80's then Tyson in the Late 80's. Who was the superstar in the 90's.
Roy Jones was the best fighter in that era but he wasnt loved by the fans like Ali, Tyson and Leonard were.So was the superstar of the 90's in boxing?
I'd say Holyfield.
yeah i think Oscar without a doubt is the fighter of the decade. He sold more tickets than any fighter (besides Tyson). He defeated alot of Contenders and was loved by most people. Roy Jones was the best talent wise as Bernard Hopkins but Roy Jones was never loved like Oscar and B-Hop just recently have exploded onto the picture
So selling tickets makes you the best?
Whitaker was easily the best fighter of the 90's.
-Titles in 4 divisions
Prime Nelson
Diaz
Ramirez (it was at the end of 89 but I'm counting it)
Paez
McGirt x2
Pineda
Chavez (thats right everyone knows it was a blatant robbery)
Vazquez at 154
Rivera x2
KOed 20-0 Hurtado
Lost a close but questionable fight to DLH, and hung in with Trinidad even when he was coming off a long layoff, was shot, and was using coke.
Greatest defensive fighter ever (arguably, but I haven't seen nearly enough of Pep to put him above Whitaker)
I think some people are thinking of popular fighters as opposed to the elite of the elite.
1993 - KO Maurice Blocker 34-3-0 in the second round for the IBF welter title at the age of 20.
1994 - Beats Camacho 44-2-0, Oba Carr 32-0-0, and Campas 56-0-0 (50kos)
1999 - Beats Whitaker 40-2-1 and DLH 31-0-0 (like it or not)
He made 15 defenses of his welter title from 1990-1999 (still a record)
Nuff said. :D
A shot, coked out Whitaker, a B level fighter in Campas who was severely overrated, and a bullshit decision over DLH...don't think so. :eek:
yeah i think Oscar without a doubt is the fighter of the decade. He sold more tickets than any fighter (besides Tyson). He defeated alot of Contenders and was loved by most people. Roy Jones was the best talent wise as Bernard Hopkins but Roy Jones was never loved like Oscar and B-Hop just recently have exploded onto the picture
new to this site but a crazy box fan. glad I found this joint.
I cant believe alot of the things I'm hearing
first off I think holyfield WILL be the boxer MOST remembered from the 90's, it may seem unfair but heavyweights hold peoples attention. in 2010 you really think people are gonna be in awe of trindad? foreman or chavez?!?! no way. the boxer that sold seats and pushed PPV into peoples homes was holyfield. I WOULD hold jones a close second BUT truthfully he didnt gain alot of noteriety until
he stepped up to the WBC light heavy in 1996. his wins over toney and hopkins before that date wernt even a flash in the pan
compared to the media attention he got post 99. 4 years of fighting dont make him the big man of the 90's.he is one of the best middle weights of all time BUT the 90's didnt shine like the early 00's for him when he stepped up to light heavyweight.
Foreman was one of the greatest of all time, and ya he wrote the books with his win at 45 but it was short lived at the end of a Loong career. and he will go down in history for his accomplishments in the pre 90's days, but of course there will always be an honourable mention for that moorer win. holyfield is far from perfect, his 2 losses to bowe, letting
holmes and foreman take him the distance with out a KO. and the moore deal. holyfield wasnt perfect as far as legends go but hell even louis, frazier, and foreman had there embarassing losses so its all good. overall he will be remembered in history and thats why I placed him 1st. I wanna defend tito here for a second, he had some GREAT fights in the 90's but really he's not gonna be remembered for defending that IBF belt 16 times in the 90's. like jones he's gone go down for his wars in the 00's against reid, vargas, joppy and of course that one fight of the 90's de la hoya. now this may sound funny, I hate hoya. I dont like his style, I dont like his personality. and I sure as hell dont think he'l be remembered as great simply because of his style. (maybe as a promoter since all he thinks about is money) but he took down some big PPV numbers, more than jones and trinidad put togethor in the 90's and thats why I gotta place this bastard at 2nd behind holyfield.
so a bit long and confusing my top 4 is
1 Holyfield
2 De La Hoya
3 Jones
4 Trinidad
dont forget
he deserves recognition for roy ducking him too
I think the reason Roy was reluctant to fight Benn after the McClellan fight was because it would recieve the wrong publiclity as a 'revenge mission' seeing as Jones and McClellan went back a long way and were good friends. And let's be honest, Benn wouldn't of stood much hope against Jones if it took place Post-McClellan because McClellan literally punched the fight out of Benn.
But there is absolutely no doubt about it that Jones did indeed duck Benn back in 1993, Jones had won the WBC continental americas super-middleweight title in 1992 while Benn was already the main WBC super-middleweight champion, Jones soon became the mandatory contender for Benn's title and Benn rubbed his hands together for a "tear-up" with Jones. What happened? Jones chickened out of it and dropped back down to 160 instead to fight for the vacant IBF 160 title against Hopkins (Hopkins wasn't even ranked in the top five at 160 at the time). So yes, Jones ducked Benn in 1993, that is almost a fact really.
As for Nigel Benn, he was clearly a shadow of his former self after the McClellan fight in Feb 95, he had an x-ray and there was a shadow on the brain. Benn was in hospital for ages, he had no end of injuries and was stupid to resume his boxing career. Against Nardiello and Perez later on in 95 he looked awful compared to how good he used to be, he appeared slow, easy to hit and his punches were often depressingly out of range - it was only his 'whacking' ability that allowed him to scrape through and get those couple of wins Post-McClellan. So you cannot really count his three losses in 96, he was totally done over a year before that. His couple of legendary fights with Eubank force him into recognition, knocking out DeWitt and Barkley in their backyard of America in 1990 to win World titles also deserves recognition, making 10 defences of his WBC crown probably deserves recognition too, and the McClellan win tops it all off nicely ;) Legend.
dont forget
he deserves recognition for roy ducking him too