Greatest multi weight world champion?

[MickyHatton]

Which champion has moved through the weights with the most ease, class and impact?

SR Leonard, Hearns, Duran, ODH, SS Mosley, Trinidad, JCC, SR Robinson etc etc

For me I will always look no further than Tommy Hearns, OK he was well beaten by Hagler but fought the wrong yet brave fight against the stronger Hagler but I still think he was unlucky with both the Leonard fights, the first he was winning comfortably and was stopped way too early the second for me he won comfortably. He destroyed Duran beat Benitez, and has won a version of the world crown at Welter, L/Mid, Mid, S/Mid, L/Heavy and Cruiserweight.

Thoughts and reason why you pick who you pick!

[LondonRingRules]

Which champion has moved through the weights with the most ease, class and impact?

SR Leonard, Hearns, Duran, ODH, SS Mosley, Trinidad, JCC, SR Robinson etc etc

** Henry Armstrong. Probably never heard of him, but nobody will ever surpass his achievements.

Barney Ross, Harry Greb and Bob Fitzsimmons could fight multi divisions most any time also back when it was no big deal. Study up.

[MickyHatton]

** Henry Armstrong. Probably never heard of him, but nobody will ever surpass his achievements.

Barney Ross, Harry Greb and Bob Fitzsimmons could fight multi divisions most any time also back when it was no big deal. Study up.

Don't need to study up my friend I have read about most of these fighters however as with many of the 'old time greats' I do not have personal experience of watching them and forming my own opinion, now unless you are around 100 years old then I would guess you have the same problem.

Therefore your opinion must be based on hearsay or documentation or perhaps the odd piece of film footage, I personally would not allow anyone else make my mind up for me therefore I will cast my opinion on fighters I have seen and experienced!

But that's just me!

[joeytrimble]

ohh a good cat fight is a brewin ...

[BuddyChacon]

MickyHatton has a point. Alot of people talk about how great the old timers are without ever having seen them.I don't know how many times people on here talk about how great Charley Burley was without ever seeing him fight. Whatever they read becomes gospel. Another guy is Sam Langford, we have all heard how great he was. That is the problem we have heard but not saw.

[MickyHatton]

** Henry Armstrong. Probably never heard of him, but nobody will ever surpass his achievements.

Barney Ross, Harry Greb and Bob Fitzsimmons could fight multi divisions most any time also back when it was no big deal. Study up.

Also, I know that the weight standards those days where not as well documented or reported on as they are today but wasn't Harry Greb a Middleweight only?

Although following your point that they fought many times as 'catch weights' Greb did fight people like Tunney etc.

Although Tunney these days would really only be classed around Super Middle so....

[MickyHatton]

MickyHatton has a point. Alot of people talk about how great the old timers are without ever having seen them.I don't know how many times people on here talk about how great Charley Burley was without ever seeing him fight. Whatever they read becomes gospel. Another guy is Sam Langford, we have all heard how great he was. That is the problem we have heard but not saw.

I think it is a good point though because if we just look at the threads and posts on this site we can see how the opinion varies on each fighter based on numerous considerations i.e. where you are from, ethnic background, style of fighter you like so we can safely say that reports and books that cover the old fights only give the opinion of that writer therefore we shouldn't take it as gospel.
Even word of mouth is unreliable as it is a common human trait to exaggerate a story even if it is only a slight exaggeration!

[Yogi]

MickyHatton has a point. Alot of people talk about how great the old timers are without ever having seen them.I don't know how many times people on here talk about how great Charley Burley was without ever seeing him fight. Whatever they read becomes gospel. Another guy is Sam Langford, we have all heard how great he was. That is the problem we have heard but not saw.

But what I'm wondering is...When you're watching a fighter on tape or live, what you're seeing on the screen is that fighters abilities, talents, and the like...correct?

So how does fighting ability/talent (or lack of) somehow equal greatness to you?

See, I have a completely different idea on what "greatness" means to me, and fight footage is one of the least important factors in determining "greatness"...Things like historical impact, accomplishments, dominance of era, record against elite competition, standing in their era, opinions of their peers (if consistent) etc., etc., those are the things that are most important to me in determining "greatness", and if one takes the time to learn how those things relate to a particular fighter, then I firmly believe that one DOES NOT need fight footage of said fighter to determine in your own mind if or how great the fighter was/is...That is unless your compiled rankings are heavily influenced by mythical head-to-head matchups, which is something I try really hard to abstain from when I compile my own lists.


P.S. If you're curious there's fight footage of both Burley & Langford available...YouTube has one of Langford's fights (when he was prime), I believe. I also personally posted one of Burley's fight on here a few months back, and even though it was a version of Burley that was past his best, it still does give one the idea as to the style Burley used, as well as a great hint as to how good he may have been in his earlier days.

[BuddyChacon]

I guess I was speaking in general most people haven't seen them. Alot of people seem to go on and on about guys like Greb based on hearsay. I have formed alot of my opinions about fighters based on what I have read also. I am not denying they weren't great and you made some good points. I have seen Langford but I didn't know Burley footage existed. I guess if thousands of historians and writers say they were great you can't deny it.

[LondonRingRules]

OK, I can see you chaps want to limit yourselves. I've never seen Joe Calzaghe fight, so no conclusions can be drawn as to his merit according to y'all.

So instead we'll get some modern know nothing who insists that Floyd or Roy is the best ever without any basis in fact or history.

Yeah, no film footage exists of the Civil War, so we don't really know how horrible it was. No film footage = no history in the new world order.

Sho'nuff Hoss!