Greatest 40 fighters of the last 40 years?

[Shazam!]

I'd definitely have Barrera ahead of Marquez. And Morales probably ahead of him too.

[mhager91490]

I wouls take kalambay or chang off and replace them with pryor! leonard and whitaker are way to low! frazier is way to high! Calzaghe has no place on this list, oscar is way to high and so is morales.

Why Pryor though, I think Chang was a superior fighter ability wise and his resume is way better than Pryor's IMO. Kalambay I would say is about on par with Pryor but then again I am no expert and haven't seen many of his fights.

[HaglerSteelChin]

I would give HM to guys like Terry Norris, and Kostya Tszyu, Ivan Calderon and Esteban Dejesus. People make a big stink that Lamotta was the first to beat SRR, than Dejesus should get some props for being the first to beat Duran.


Masamori Tokuyama possibly one of the most bizarre bio's in boxing history. He fought with a japanese name but really was korean- but hated south korea and pledged his support to the North Korean communist government and Kim Jong IL. The guy beat guys like in joo cho twice and gerry penalosa twice.

Juan Martin Coggi although not as great of a LWW as Pryor, he is among the best for that division.


Gerald Mcellelan- the guy had great talent and we all know what happened. Roy Jones loss to him as an amateur and their big fight didn't happen.


It's important to measure fighters against their peers and not over represent one era when doing P4P lists. Modern fighters don't fight the same opponent like 4-5 times as they use to and don't fight over 100 bouts, but they fight a more broad base opposition. Boxing pre-1950 didn't have the international competition as today. There were less latin and asian champions back than. In addition, there were still the segregation factor where many white fighters didn't fight or refused to be in the ring with a black boxers. Sure there were exceptions, but the fact is today modern fighters have more broad base competition with less restrictions.

[mickey malone]

Wow, and I have Ricky Hatton somewhere in the TOP 100 of the past 10 years. I haven't seen Pryors fights for quite a while but I remember him being a little better than Hatton. :-)

Speaking of Hatton -- Kostya Tszyu deserves honorable mention as well. Hmmm, perhaps comparing Pryor to Tszyu would not be too far off.

So you could say that Hatton has every chance of being around no50 over the last 50 years, with Pryor at around no 45 would be about right in my opinion..

Not being able to remember everyone (which is why i created this thread) the following fighters are all up for consideration..

Esteban De Jesus
Kostya Tszyu
Pongsaklek Wonjonkam
Veerapol Sahaprom
Yoki Gushiken
Hector Camacho
Carlos De Leon
Jeff Fenech
Sven Ottke
Dariusz Michalczewski
Gerald McClellan
Fabrice Tiozzo
Terry Norris
Ivan Calderon
Masamori Tokuyama

Who would you guys narrow this lot down to?

[mickey malone]

I would give HM to guys like Terry Norris, and Kostya Tszyu, Ivan Calderon and Esteban Dejesus. People make a big stink that Lamotta was the first to beat SRR, than Dejesus should get some props for being the first to beat Duran.


Masamori Tokuyama possibly one of the most bizarre bio's in boxing history. He fought with a japanese name but really was korean- but hated south korea and pledged his support to the North Korean communist government and Kim Jong IL. The guy beat guys like in joo cho twice and gerry penalosa twice.

Juan Martin Coggi although not as great of a LWW as Pryor, he is among the best for that division.


Gerald Mcellelan- the guy had great talent and we all know what happened. Roy Jones loss to him as an amateur and their big fight didn't happen.


It's important to measure fighters against their peers and not over represent one era when doing P4P lists. Modern fighters don't fight the same opponent like 4-5 times as they use to and don't fight over 100 bouts, but they fight a more broad base opposition. Boxing pre-1950 didn't have the international competition as today. There were less latin and asian champions back than. In addition, there were still the segregation factor where many white fighters didn't fight or refused to be in the ring with a black boxers. Sure there were exceptions, but the fact is today modern fighters have more broad base competition with less restrictions.

Terrific post!.. I'd never seen it explained that way before..

[bklynboy]

So you could say that Hatton has every chance of being around no50 over the last 50 years, with Pryor at around no 45 would be about right in my opinion..this lot down to?

Hmmm. Maybe my attempt at humor did not go over well. I have nothing against Hatton but I don't rate him highly at all.

As with the quote:

I have Ricky Hatton somewhere in the TOP 100 of the past 10 years.

I don't see Hatton remembered by anyone who wasn't actively following him while he was active.

[BennyST]

I wouls take kalambay or chang off and replace them with pryor! leonard and whitaker are way to low! frazier is way to high! Calzaghe has no place on this list, oscar is way to high and so is morales.

Jung Koo Chang off? Dude was very arguably the greatest ever Flyweight and was an incredible fighter with a massive string of accomplishments. More than Pryor certainly. He also fought more champions over a longer career, and apart from Arguello, the guys he beat were also better. I don't really count the Cervantes win that much for Pryor. Good win certainly but no better than any normal champion by that stage of his career. He was done.

I would put Tszyu above a number of guys in that honourable mentions list, Hatton being the first. Overall though, a great list Mick.

I would also put Buchanan in the top 40. Hugely underrated champion and accomplishments. The guys he beat and what he did over his career would trump some of the fighters on that list and the 'honours' too.

[BennyST]

I would give HM to guys like Terry Norris, and Kostya Tszyu, Ivan Calderon and Esteban Dejesus. People make a big stink that Lamotta was the first to beat SRR, than Dejesus should get some props for being the first to beat Duran.

Not to mention having his own great run as the lightweight champion in the era when it was still actually difficult to become a champion. Just being a champion then is like having unified a division and beaten the top contenders/champions of each governing body.

Great fighter. Norris is another definite. One of, if not the best at 154 ever along with Hearns. Some weird losses and that chin of his make him hard to really categorise but he was a hell of a fighter and at his best gives anyone serious problems.....except Julian Jackson maybe.

Well, I would put guys like Fenech, Kostya, Norris, De Jesus, Buchanan, etc above fighters like David Haye, Ricky Hatton, Jeff Chandler, Nigel Benn etc. That's just me though.

[mickey malone]

Ok, i've taken everyone's opinions on board, and for those i've agreed with, i've altered the list to suit..

Just to fine-tune things, i thought it a good idea to match the bottom 30 with the best of the honourable mentions ???????

1. Ali
2. Duran
3. Monzon
4. Jones
5. Arguello
6. Pacquiao
7. Hagler
8. Chavez
9. Leonard
10. Whitaker

11. Hearns vs Kalamby
12. Sanchez vs Hamed
13. Foreman vs Vitaly
14. Holyfield vs Wlad
15. Mayweather vs Camacho
16. Napoles vs Palomino
17. Benitez vs Jackson
18. Morales vs Pedroza
19. Spinks vs Haye
20. Mosley vs Starling
21. De La Hoya vs Curry
22. Marquez vs Fenech
23. Toney vs McClellan
24. Holmes vs Wlad
25. Nelson vs Mitchell
26. Barrera vs Pintor
27. Lewis vs Byrd
28. Olivares vs Chandler
29. Trinidad vs Palomino
30. Tyson vs Quarry
31. Hopkins vs Hill
32. Frazier vs Bowe
33. McCallum vs Eubank
34. Gomez vs Espinoza
35. Zarate vs Sahaprom
36. Chang vs Calderon
37. Buchanan vs De Jesus
38. Norris vs Winky Wright
39. Tszyu vs Pryor
40. Michalczewski vs Foster

Other HM's who i can't find a match for can be faced off for a potential placing:-

Khoasai Galaxy vs Gilberto Roman
Ricardo Lopez vs Yuh Myung Woo
Pipino Cuevas vs Marlon Starling
Joe Calzaghe vs Nigel Benn
Dwight Quawi vs Carlos DeLeon
Steve Collins vs Michael Nunn

Who wins these?... and who are we missing now??....

[mickey malone]

........................................Bump????.. ........................................