ESPN Top 20 Fighters of All Time!

Someone please come up with a top 20 P4P list that everyone will agree with. ACTLY... No one is going to so quit sounding like you can make a list that is perfect. There is a difference between a okay list that some would agree on and a just plain bad list . This list was called The list did not reflect traditional boxing skill , It did not reflect the impact the boxers had on the sport it was just a group of big names put togeather. This is one of the biggest problems with the sport and it's fans . They see a list like this and come in thinking because the TV said so that these are the only fighters to watch .

Someone please come up with a top 20 P4P list that everyone will agree with. EXACTLY... No one is going to so quit sounding like you can make a list that is perfect.

The Heavyweights are the best of the best: Could Ray Robinson beat Ali, Tyson, Foreman, Holyfield, etc.? NO That is exactly why the "Heavyweight" Champion is looked at with more awe...If Ray Robinson walked in a room through door A, Joe Louis through door B, take a guess who is going to receive more of the people...I bet Louis caught more beaver than Robinson, especially since he most likely didn't have to do any hunting. Lighter weight guys may look better, but a lot has to do with the ability to move around a lighter weight/frame body...that is why when fighters like Ali and Tyson came along it was pretty amazing. I like watching lighter weight guys fight a lot more than a lot of these boring heavyweights, but if I had a choice to watch one of the great heavyweights in his prime vs one of the greats of the lighter weight, I choose the heavyweights.

Can someone tell me who was the guy from BoxingScene that appeared in that special?...Damn it! most of the ppl i saw were the espn regs like tony atles and bert

Joke of a list but what do you expect from ESPN. It was all heavyweights.

Roy Jones should not be ahead of the likes of Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, Pernell Whitaker, Ezzard Charles, Stanley Ketchel, Julio Cesar Chavez, Eder Jofre, Carlos Monzon, Ricardo Lopez, etc.

I have one question, RJJ 14 Roberto Duran 15. You cannot take such a list seriously. Roberto Duran dominated a division for a decade, split two bouts with the naturally bigger sugar ray past his prime and was still competitive even as he moved ridiculously high up. The guy was incredible. Best pressure fighter of all time. No way is Jones even close to him. I think Jones was in the right place though. Instead of having Duran top ten like they should have, they loaded it with heavyweights.

Also, no Monzon, he only went a decade as middleweight champion and beat Benvenutti and Griffith. I dont think you could have argued if he had been top 5.

I have one question, RJJ 14 Roberto Duran 15. You cannot take such a list seriously. Roberto Duran dominated a division for a decade, split two bouts with the naturally bigger sugar ray past his prime and was still competitive even as he moved ridiculously high up. The guy was incredible. Best pressure fighter of all time. No way is Jones even close to him.

By that logic, Dempsey, Louis, and Marciano should be on the list and higher than Ali as they consistently beat larger opponents then themselves. Ali should not even make the top ten as he had a size advantage against most of his opponents, or at worst was an equal weight to them. To say that P4P lists should exclude heavyweights is as shortsighted a comment I've heard regardless of your definition of P4P. Think of it this way: Louis and Dempsey proved themselves to be p4p better than almost any smaller fighter by actually knocking out top fighters who had 50 or more pounds on them. Look what happened when SRR, one of the greatest fighters ever, attempted to move from middleweight to light heavyweight, a 15 pound jump. I'ts not easy to beat guys who are both good and much bigger than you and many heavyweights did it. In fact, the heavyweight division is one of the ONLY divisions where a fighter can prove his "p4p worth" by fighting much heavier men. That is, if that's your definition of the term. In fact, Fitzsimmons, Dempsey, and Louis would all have to be in your top five all time p4p lists as they all beat much, much larger men than themselves, which is apparently your definition of p4p if you're going to exclude the big heavyweights. Or you could do what makes sense, include heavyweights, and have p4p be a list of the guys who best dominate their division, regardless of what it is. I mean, hell, Hearns and Monzon shouldn't even be top ranked p4p guys either since they had sizeable height advantages on their opponents, right? By your logic. Look, P4P these days is meant to be used as a level playing field to see who best dominates their division. To exlude heavyweights is just ridiculous. I don't think many heavyweights should be included, as most heavyweights just aren't that dominate for very long before they get picked off in a division where one good punch can spell doom for anyone. But to say that Ali, Marciano, Dempsey, Holmes, and Louis, dominating the heavyweight division as they did, were not p4p greats is just absurd. I'm not saying they all belong on the top ten, I don't think they do, but you can't exclude someone from the list for fighting in the heavyweight division. What a great fucking post... So true...

By that logic, Dempsey, Louis, and Marciano should be on the list and higher than Ali as they consistently beat larger opponents then themselves. Ali should not even make the top ten as he had a size advantage against most of his opponents, or at worst was an equal weight to them. To say that P4P lists should exclude heavyweights is as shortsighted a comment I've heard regardless of your definition of P4P. Think of it this way: Louis and Dempsey proved themselves to be p4p better than almost any smaller fighter by actually knocking out top fighters who had 50 or more pounds on them. Look what happened when SRR, one of the greatest fighters ever, attempted to move from middleweight to light heavyweight, a 15 pound jump. I'ts not easy to beat guys who are both good and much bigger than you and many heavyweights did it. In fact, the heavyweight division is one of the ONLY divisions where a fighter can prove his "p4p worth" by fighting much heavier men. That is, if that's your definition of the term. In fact, Fitzsimmons, Dempsey, and Louis would all have to be in your top five all time p4p lists as they all beat much, much larger men than themselves, which is apparently your definition of p4p if you're going to exclude the big heavyweights. Or you could do what makes sense, include heavyweights, and have p4p be a list of the guys who best dominate their division, regardless of what it is. I mean, hell, Hearns and Monzon shouldn't even be top ranked p4p guys either since they had sizeable height advantages on their opponents, right? By your logic. Look, P4P these days is meant to be used as a level playing field to see who best dominates their division. To exlude heavyweights is just ridiculous. I don't think many heavyweights should be included, as most heavyweights just aren't that dominate for very long before they get picked off in a division where one good punch can spell doom for anyone. But to say that Ali, Marciano, Dempsey, Holmes, and Louis, dominating the heavyweight division as they did, were not p4p greats is just absurd. I'm not saying they all belong on the top ten, I don't think they do, but you can't exclude someone from the list for fighting in the heavyweight division.

I really missed Valuev and Butterbean in this list! Other than that it's a pretty good parody!

Is it based on fan votes or expert opinions? The factor of name recognition (in marketing also called, "brand recall") is a huge factor in polls where fans are random respondents. The influence even becomes greater if a large part of the respondents are casual fans whose familiarity with fighters throughout history is cursory, at best. They can only vote for fighters they know or can quickly recall, thereby slanting poll results in favor of more recent greats.

Wow. What a horrendous list. I have so many qualms with this ranking i don't know where to start. Firstly, Jones, Tyson, Holyfield, and probably Foreman, Holmes, and Frazier aren't even in my top 30. And so many worthy fighters have been left off: Sam Langford, Harry Greb, Eder Jofre, Ezzard Charles, Carlos Monzaon, Sandy Saddler, Benny Leonard, Joe Gans, Bob Fitzsimmons. Do these "experts" have any sense of history? At least they didn't have De La Hoya on the list...

the title said "best boxers" so idk about what they based it on...

20. Holmes 14. Jones Jr. 8. Leonard 19. Chavez 13. Pep 7. Jack Johnson 18. Holyfield 12. Moore 6. Henry Armstrong 17. Tunney 11. Frazier 5. Dempsey 2. Louis 16. Tyson 10. Foreman 4. Marciano 1. ALI 15. Duran 9. Hagler 3. Robinson ok thanks i thought i might have the last few in the wrong order

20. Holmes 14. Jones Jr. 8. Leonard 19. Chavez 13. Pep 7. Jack Johnson 18. Holyfield 12. Moore 6. Henry Armstrong 17. Tunney 11. Frazier 5. Dempsey 2. Louis 16. Tyson 10. Foreman 4. Marciano 1. ALI 15. Duran 9. Hagler 3. Robinson

The Espam fans voted 1. ali 2.Joe Louis 3.ray robinson 4.Hagler 5.frazier

and a lot of ppl over Holmes

20.Holmes. 19. Tunney. 18. JCC 17. Holyfield 16 .Tyson 15.Duran, 14, Roy Jones 13. pep, 12. a.moore, 11. frazier 10. foreman ,9. Hagler 8. SRL 7. Jack Johnson 6. Henry Armstrong 5. Jack Dempsey 4. Marciano 3. OMFG NUMBER #3 ?????? Ray Robinson #2 Joe Louis ok # 1 will be ALi thanks man, i wouldve given you good k but i cant il give you some when i can