Who Is The Greatest Boxer Of Alltime

[Da Iceman]

As someone who had the audacity to question Sam Langford's greatness (yes, there is footage of him available and he looks ****ing spectacular!) and then proclaims Joe Louis as the greatest fighter of all-time, you might be just a little bit pissed when you read this opinion from Dan Morgan, who's a former boxing manager inducted into the Hall-of-Fame;

"Langford, who was a scientific knocker-outer, would crowd Louis, either lead to him or counter him, and take whatever Joe could dish out. I think Sam would finish Joe in about six or seven rounds of real slugging." - (quote from John McCallum's book 'The Enclyclopedia of World Boxing Champions')

that is one mans opinion, just because hes a hall of fame manager that doesnt mean he knows how it would go down in the ring.they thought ali was going to get killed by foreman. but did he ? no, that just goes to show you things dont always happen the way you thought they would

[krtbuckeye]

The fact f the matter is that Ali is not even seen in the eyes of some boxing historians as the best heavyweight of all-time, some say Ali while others legitimately argue it is Joe Louis. But since this thread is not solely concerned with heavyweights....this is my p4p ranking

Sugar Ray Robinson
Billy Conn
Archie Moore
Gene Fullmer
Henry Armstrong

[Yogi]

that is one mans opinion, just because hes a hall of fame manager that doesnt mean he knows how it would go down in the ring.they thought ali was going to get killed by foreman. but did he ? no, that just goes to show you things dont always happen the way you thought they would

That's only one opinion of a mythical matchup, yes, but's it's just a small example of how highly Langford was thought of during his fighting days. And those highest opinions of Langford are shared by MANY who were around during including writers, promoters, managers, trainers, etc...Charley Rose, for one, ranked Langford as the greatest Heavyweight of all-time. Heck, there's even quotes from some of the fighters who were around during Sam's time, like Harry Wills considering Langford to be "unbeatable in his prime" or Joe Jeannette considering Sam to be the "best all-around Heavyweight ever"...****, even one of the greatest Heavyweights of all-time, Jack Dempsey, is quoted as saying in 1970, "I think Sam Langford was the greatest fighter we ever had. Even at my best I don't know whether I could lick him or not."

That's only a couple of tiny examples of how highly Langford was thought of during his time, but there's plenty of info available on him if you are willing to do some reading...quotes from his time by those who saw him, fight reports, record (which two-thirds of those losses that you questioned earlier came after Sam was in his mid 30's and had already gone blind in his left eye...you conviently forgot to mention his 20+ victories against fellow HOF'ers or his numerous other wins against champions and/or top contenders who didn't make the HOF), and yes, like I said earlier there is some footage that's available of him and I also stated my opinion that he looked "spectacular!" in it. In fact, I believe I stated in another thread my opinion of Langford being the most talented/greatest looking fighter on film from the pre 1940's era (and I've seen quite a bit from before that time) and that's an opinion I will hold to.

Anyways, what's the deal with you bringing up the Ali/Foreman upset? Yeah beforehand most thought Foreman was going to win that fight and win big, so they were obviously proven wrong in that one. But, so what...I know I could, as I'm very sure you could as well, think of many different examples where the boxing "experts" predicted correct outcomes to a fight (much more often than not the pre-fight favourite usually wins), but is that really making a point?

[Da Iceman]

can you tell me where i can see the fights? the point of that ali/foreman upset was to show you that langford might not beat joe like you think, it could be another upset

[Yogi]

can you tell me where i can see the fights?

You mean on the internet?

If so, I wouldn't have any clue where to find them on the net. I have them on tape myself.

[butterfly1964]

louis and langford would be a very good fight.

[gilturnerson]

Henry armstrong is the only man to hold 3 titles in 3 different weight classes at the same time.Yes, Robinson did beat him but he beat a somewhat over the hill armstrong. But I would have to go with what my father always say's. And he would probably know better than me(Gil Turner) and he says Robinson. I am really stuck between armstrong and Robinson

[BKM-]

As far as GREATEST OVERALL and not prime i know who's the greatest.

Joe Louis.

[hellfire508]

The fact f the matter is that Ali is not even seen in the eyes of some boxing historians as the best heavyweight of all-time, some say Ali while others legitimately argue it is Joe Louis. But since this thread is not solely concerned with heavyweights....this is my p4p ranking

Sugar Ray Robinson
Billy Conn
Archie Moore
Gene Fullmer
Henry Armstrong

Billy Conn and Gene Fullmer?!?!

How come you rank them so high? Conn in number 6 on my light-heavy list, which was his best weight.

Fullmer was a great middleweight - barely top 10 though.

What did they do to make them rank higher than - for example, Roberto Duran?

[hellfire508]

Frazier hates Ali to this day. Ali wants to be friends with Joe, and had apologized many times.