The 20 Greatest Fighters Since 1985

[BuddyChacon]

Good list where is Khasai Galaxy his deserves to be on the list or at least an honorable mention. McCallam and Nelson should be higher.

[yrrej]

I don't understand what is the love affair with Holyfield? He was only an average heavyweight champ on the all-time scale.....

[flipside]

The Greatest Fighters Since 1985 by talking boxing
20. Shane Mosley
Shane Mosley makes my list because he was such a dominant and dynamic lightweight. And his title winning performance over Oscar De La Hoya in 2000 was special as well. The reason he doesn’t make it higher is because of his losses to Winky Wright and Vernon Forrest

19. Ricardo Lopez
Ricardo was a brilliant technician. He really had no weakness. I would have ranked him higher, But he never really had a career defining performance.

18. Azumah Nelson
There will never be another Professor. He was a great boxer, and he knew when to go in for the kill. Who could forget his destructive victory over an excellent Jeff Fenech in their 2nd fight?

17. Erik Morales
The man has never given us a bad fight. He owns wins over fighters like Marco Antonio Barrera, Junior Jones, and Manny Pacquiao. He was perhaps the most exciting fighter of the last 20 years.

16. Marco Antonio Barrera
Barrera is a brilliant prizefighter; his 2 wins over Morales demonstrate his greatness. And nobody will forget his dominating performance over The Prince Naseem Hamed.

15. Kosta Tszyu
Tszyu is one of the most dominating Jr. Welterweight’s of the last 20 years. His laser like right hand is one of boxing best punches. The win that defined his career was his concussing knockout over current undisputed welterweight champion Zab Judah.

14. Meldrick Taylor
Experts would say I have Meldrick way too high...Oh what could have been though, and what a magical fighter he was before he got in there with Chavez in 1990. Meldrick Taylor had the fastest hands I had ever seen. That includes Sugar Ray Leonard, Roy Jones Jr. and Sugar Shane Mosley among others. He gave us the best fight of the 1990’s with his masterpiece against Julio Cesar Chavez. He was robbed of missing out of an opportunity to finish the fight on his feet that night. And after that his career was never the same.

13. Michael McCallum
Yes the original Body Snatcher. The man was explosive inside the ring. Everybody talks about his body attack. But he was a masterful boxer as well. His win over Donald Curry was an example of his mastery.

12. Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson once was the biggest and baddest man on the planet. He was knocking everybody out. And he became one of the most popular sports figures in the world. In 1990, Buster Douglas knocked him out, in the biggest upset in boxing history. After that he was never the same. He would reclaim his crown, but Evander Holyfield knocked him out again in 1996. He is still a viable PPV fighter only because there are still Tyson die hards out there.

11. James Toney
James “Lights Out” Toney is the fighter every other fighter admires. He is one of the most skillful fighters of the past 20 years, and he is also one of the most accomplished. He would win titles in 3 different weight divisions, and on April 30th of this year he has a chance to be a 4-division champion. His propensity to get out of shape moves him down a little on my list.

10. Lennox Lewis
Lennox never gets his due. He was the best Heavyweight fighter of the 1990’s. He had it all from power to excellent boxing skills. He would have ranked higher had he not been knocked out twice by Hasim Rahman and Oliver McCall

9. Sugar Ray Leonard - Marvelous Marvin Hagler
Yeah this may seem a bit low for both of these guys. But we are going from 1985 on, not 1978 on. So this is a good spot for both of these guys. Their 1987 fight was stuff of legend. And Hagler’s victory of Hearns in 1985 was one of the greatest fights in boxing history.

8. Tommy Hearns
Hearns above both of the guys who beat him, you may ask what the heck am I talking about. But remember that Hearns beat Sugar Ray Leonard in 1989, no matter what the judges said. And his victory over Virgil Hill to win the Light Heavyweight crown was stuff of legend.

7. Oscar De La Hoya
Oscar haters are going to be mad at me for this. But Oscar was a legitimate 4-division champion who fought the best fighters of his era. And while doing this he won more then he lost. His combination of speed and grace made him a fan favorite and his Hollywood looks made him a favorite of women fight fans. Regardless of what you think he will go down as a first ballot Hall of Famer.

6. Felix Trinidad
Perhaps the greatest Puerto Rican fighter ever, he has one of the best-left hooks I have ever seen. He is a destructive force, whose relentlessness is 2nd to none. Nobody will forget his crushing win over Fernando Vargas. People should not forget he was one of the greatest welterweights ever as well.

5. Julio Cesar Chavez
The greatest Mexican fighter of all time, to me he was just like Trinidad, except he had a better chin, but not as big a punch. He will be forever remembered for his comeback victory over Meldrick Taylor in 1990. But it was his work at 130 and 135 that made him a legend.

4. Bernard Hopkins
Bernard does everything right, give or take a few bad management decisions. He lives right, he fights right, and he understands the fight game better then any fighter I ever saw. He cares only about winning, and that is what he has done since he won the Middleweight title in 1995. His wins over Felix Trinidad and Oscar De La Hoya have defined his career.

3. Roy Jones Jr.
If you had asked me before beginning of last year, I would have told Roy was the best fighter of the past 20 years. He went through his career basically unchallenged, beating great fighters on this list like James Toney, Mike McCallum and Bernard Hopkins. But after his knock out loses to Antonio Tarver and Glen Johnson, he has lost some of his luster. But regardless, you can’t take away what the man accomplished. He was the most talented fighter I had ever seen.

2. Pernell Whitaker
Whitaker was the Willie Pep of our generation. He was so good he barely lost any rounds in his prime. In my opinion he is the greatest lightweight of all-time, and he was a damn good welterweight too. He boxed circles around, Azumah Nelson and Julio Cesar Chavez and everybody else. Even when he was way past his prime, he fought a prime Oscar De La Hoya even up. The man was just amazing.

1. Evander Holyfield
The Real Deal was the best fighter of this generation. It is not because of what he did at heavyweight. It was because of what he did at heavyweight and cruiserweight. He destroyed the cruiserweight division, and he went on to become the most exciting heavyweight fighter since Muhammad Ali. Yeah he didn’t win all of his heavyweight title fights, but he won a lot more then he lost. And he pretty much beat every bigger fighter he ever fought, besides Lennox Lewis. For sheer excitement, heart, and passion there will never be another Evander Holyfield.


Honorable Mention:


Winky Wright


Manny Pacquaio


Terry Norris


James “Buddy” McGirt


Riddick Bowe


Virgil Hill


Hector Camacho


Roberto Duran


Iran Barkley


Marlon Starling


Julian Jackson


Gerald McClellan


Floyd Mayweather Jr.


Jeff Fenech


Orlando Canizales


Daniel Zaragoza


Michael Moorer, The Light Heavyweight Version


Michael Carbajal


Humberto Gonzales


Ike Quartey


Fernando Vargas


Michael Nunn

where's marvin hagler?

[flipside]

Good list where is Khasai Galaxy his deserves to be on the list or at least an honorable mention. McCallam and Nelson should be higher.

i remember him being KO'd by espinosa

[machotime]

Give iwatchboxing credit, this is his opinion and many different people look at different things when deciding who have been the best boxers.

Some of us focus on accomplishments, while others focus on entertainment value, or caliber of competition.

I myself cannot agree with any of you that consider Tyson in the top 5. Yes he was exciting, but the caliber of his opponents was weak, and he did not perform well when faced with substantial opposition.

I would personally rank Erik Morales, SRL, Hagler, and Nelson Higher than what they are. I also would not rank RJJ as high as he is, he was maybe top 10 but not top 5.

[Hydro]

Holyfield shouldn't be #1, he is not even the greatest fighter to come out of the 1984 U.S. Olympic team.

I enjoyed the read though.

[Verstyle]

Give iwatchboxing credit, this is his opinion and many different people look at different things when deciding who have been the best boxers.

Some of us focus on accomplishments, while others focus on entertainment value, or caliber of competition.

I myself cannot agree with any of you that consider Tyson in the top 5. Yes he was exciting, but the caliber of his opponents was weak, and he did not perform well when faced with substantial opposition.

I would personally rank Erik Morales, SRL, Hagler, and Nelson Higher than what they are. I also would not rank RJJ as high as he is, he was maybe top 10 but not top 5.

what does that have to do with his accomplishments in the ring. he beat those guys.enough said. i dont care if they were midgets,he beat them

[wpink1]

I would rank Mayweather clealry as #1, he has moved up from 130 and beaten everyone he has faced...Sluggers, boxers, legends..bigger men..etc... He has done in theire own backyard, own their own terms...etc.. Who else can say that they have moved up from 130 to 154 remained unbeaten, won WBC titles, not ibf, IBO, WBO...but WBC titles the official and most accliamed title in boxing. Who else can say that they moved up 24 pounds and beat a fighter the quality of DLH...who can say that since 1985. Ray Leonard (my favorite) got great kudos for his win vs Hagler when he moved u 13 pounds (yes he was also retired too). Love him or hate him, he is doing it all.

People jump on him because he is not the most exciting fighter at the higher wieghts. However they fail to realize he is fighting much bigger men, most of the time. He is doing this, and miracoulusly he is the one who has all the energy at th end of the fight to win almost every late round of any fight he is in. Generally gaining weight slows down a fighter and tires them out..Not Mayweather!

Give him his due, the man ( oh i forgot to say I dislike him) is simpy the best we have seen since leonard, and the best with skills since Roy Jones.

Roy Jones IMO is 2nd, and the only reason he is 2nd is because he did not have the quality of fights that a Mayweather has. However, the man made mistake after mistake, but you know what he was fast enough so that no one could make him pay for it, with a loss on his resume until he was 35. WOW. He did beat Hopkins and Toney in their peak years and at effective fighting weights. He should have fought Benn, McCllellan (but he became paralyzed)Jackson, DM, etc...This would have solidified him. Skill wise if you factor in his speed was soooooo overwhelming, I rank him skill wise the best since young Ali or Robinson, even over Leonard. Yes over Leonard, skill wise, but what made Ray was skill, speed, combined with heart...and smarts.

[Verstyle]

at Trinidad in the top 5 of his list.

[butterfly1964]

I would rank Mayweather clealry as #1, he has moved up from 130 and beaten everyone he has faced...Sluggers, boxers, legends..bigger men..etc... He has done in theire own backyard, own their own terms...etc.. Who else can say that they have moved up from 130 to 154 remained unbeaten, won WBC titles, not ibf, IBO, WBO...but WBC titles the official and most accliamed title in boxing. Who else can say that they moved up 24 pounds and beat a fighter the quality of DLH...who can say that since 1985. Ray Leonard (my favorite) got great kudos for his win vs Hagler when he moved u 13 pounds (yes he was also retired too). Love him or hate him, he is doing it all.

People jump on him because he is not the most exciting fighter at the higher wieghts. However they fail to realize he is fighting much bigger men, most of the time. He is doing this, and miracoulusly he is the one who has all the energy at th end of the fight to win almost every late round of any fight he is in. Generally gaining weight slows down a fighter and tires them out..Not Mayweather!

Give him his due, the man ( oh i forgot to say I dislike him) is simpy the best we have seen since leonard, and the best with skills since Roy Jones.

Roy Jones IMO is 2nd, and the only reason he is 2nd is because he did not have the quality of fights that a Mayweather has. However, the man made mistake after mistake, but you know what he was fast enough so that no one could make him pay for it, with a loss on his resume until he was 35. WOW. He did beat Hopkins and Toney in their peak years and at effective fighting weights. He should have fought Benn, McCllellan (but he became paralyzed)Jackson, DM, etc...This would have solidified him. Skill wise if you factor in his speed was soooooo overwhelming, I rank him skill wise the best since young Ali or Robinson, even over Leonard. Yes over Leonard, skill wise, but what made Ray was skill, speed, combined with heart...and smarts.

It was a close fight the DLH fight and plus Oscar was past his prime, so I don't see how that justifies Mayweather as being number 1.