if these fighters retired today which ones if any would make the hall of fame

[Dave Rado]

Get real, Cotto has done and is continuing to have plenty of impact on the sport.

Not remotely comparable with McGuigan. When McGuigan fought, Catholics and Protestants in Ireland stopped fighting each other and supported him, at the height of the troubles. No other sportsman or celebrity of any description has ever had that effect on them, before or since. And he single-handedly transformed the perception of boxing in the rest of the UK as well - more than 20 million people watched each of his title fights on British television (that was one third of the population back then, and he was a Featherweight). The only fighters in the history of boxing that can be compared with McGuigan in terms of impact outside the ring are Ali, Louis, Jack Johnson, and possibly Pacquiao and Dempsey. You can't compare Cotto with those guys in terms of out of the ring impact.

[RL_GMA]

Cotto and Zab will be Hall of Famers.

[Rome-By-Ko]

They were both lineal champions, what are you talking about? De La Hoya was a three division lineal champion (see here). Mosley won the Lineal Welterweight title from De La Hoya, and successfully defended it 5 times; and Mosley was also recognised as being the #1 at Lightweight for a long time, whereas Cotto was only recognised as the #1 in any division for one fight.

I stand corrected,never knew they were the champion of the whole div I thought they only unified..I've never seen Hoya or Mosley with the Ring belt I wonder why not??Judah shows his off at the drop of a hat..

[Walt Liquor]

Cotto and Zab will be Hall of Famers.

i don't see how.

[studentofthegam]

Only Cotto right now. He has taken on the best for some years running now. He handily beat Mosley who only two other ww put a spakin on him better.

[IronDanHamza]

I stand corrected,never knew they were the champion of the whole div I thought they only unified..I've never seen Hoya or Mosley with the Ring belt I wonder why not??Judah shows his off at the drop of a hat..

Both Mosley and Oscar had The Ring Belt at 154.

But The Ring belt doesn't always mean its the Lineal Title.

For example Oscar won the Lineage from Chavez at 140 but didn't win The Ring title. And many situations throughout history the Lineage has been won without winning The Ring title.

[fightfan_79]

margarito

cotto

judah

pavlik

Out of that list....I would only say Judah

Based on accomplishments....he was a WW unified champ, had a JRWW straps too.

Cotto doesn't get in based on current accomplishments....

Margarito based on you know what will haunt him...

Pavlik...WTF has he done since besting overhyped Jermain Taylor and getting schooled by B-Hop?

Based on list given....HOFer = Judah

[Dave Rado]

I stand corrected,never knew they were the champion of the whole div I thought they only unified..I've never seen Hoya or Mosley with the Ring belt I wonder why not??Judah shows his off at the drop of a hat..

The Ring discontinued their championship policy throughout the 1990s and even when they restarted it, they lost the plot in many cases as regards to keeping track of who the lineal champion really was. Some of their mistakes from that period lingered on well into the new millennium.

At Jr Welterweight,The Ring had no champion between 1983 and 2001 - but Chavez Jr became the clear lineal champion when he beat Meldrick Taylor for the vacant lineal title in 1990 - they were the clear #1 and #2 at the time. Chavez then lost it to Randall, regained it in the rematch, then lost it to De La Hoya in 1996, who vacated soon afterwards. The Ring didn't catch up with the situation until Tszyu beat Mitchell for the vacant lineal title in 2001.

At Welterweight, The Ring had no champion between 1989 (Marlon Starling) and 2003, which was ridiculous, because the linearity went from Starling to Maurice Blocker to Simon Brown to James McGirt to Pernell Whitaker to De La Hoya to Felix Trinidad. Then it became vacant when Trinidad moved up, but when De La Hoya fought Mosley the first time, they were the clear #1 and #2 in the division so that fight was for the lineal title and Mosley became the clear lineal champion. The Ring didn't catch up with the situation until Forrest beat Mosley to become both the lineal champion and The Ring champion.

At Jr Middleweight, The Ring had no champions between 1986 and 2002. But Terry Norris became the clear lineal champion in 1995 when he beat Paul Vaden. Norris later lost it to Keith Mullings, who lost it to Javier Castillejo, who lost it to De La Hoya (at which point The Ring finally caught up and crowned De La Hoya as The Ring champion), who lost it to Mosley again.

So De La Hoya and Mosley did both hold The Ring belt, but only at Jr Middleweight: but they held the clear lineal titles at other weights, The Ring just lost the plot during the 1990s, when they had no championship policy and for several years afterwards.

And in addition to his two lineal titles, Mosley was universally recognised as the #1 Lightweight for most of his Lightweight reign as well, although he was never the lineal champion at that weight. But being the clear #1 in a division counts for a lot more than being a paper belt holder does when it comes to HoF eligibility, and Cotto was never even the clear #1 at any weight (he was only #1 in any division for one fight), never mind a lineal champion.

Wikipedia has a list of all The Ring champions in their entire history here.

Cyberboxingzone has brilliant list of all the lineal champions from the 19th century onwards here - although it's not perfect and contains a few errors, especially from 2009 onwards, where it's a mess. But it's spot on for most of the time up to 2009.

[IronDanHamza]

The Ring discontinued their championship policy throughout the 1990s and even when they restarted it, they lost the plot in many cases as regards to keeping track of who the lineal champion really was. Some of their mistakes from that period lingered on well into the new millennium.

At Jr Welterweight,The Ring had no champion between 1983 and 2001 - but Chavez Jr became the clear lineal champion when he beat Meldrick Taylor for the vacant lineal title in 1990 - they were the clear #1 and #2 at the time. Chavez then lost it to Randall, regained it in the rematch, then lost it to De La Hoya in 1996, who vacated soon afterwards. The Ring didn't catch up with the situation until Tszyu beat Mitchell for the vacant lineal title in 2001.

At Welterweight, The Ring had no champion between 1989 (Marlon Starling) and 2003, which was ridiculous, because the linearity went from Starling to Maurice Blocker to Simon Brown to James McGirt to Pernell Whitaker to De La Hoya to Felix Trinidad. Then it became vacant when Trinidad moved up, but when De La Hoya fought Mosley the first time, they were the clear #1 and #2 in the division so that fight was for the lineal title and Mosley became the clear lineal champion. The Ring didn't catch up with the situation until Forrest beat Mosley to become both the lineal champion and The Ring champion.

At Jr Middleweight, The Ring had no champions between 1986 and 2002. But Terry Norris became the clear lineal champion in 1995 when he beat Paul Vaden. Norris later lost it to Keith Mullings, who lost it to Javier Castillejo, who lost it to De La Hoya (at which point The Ring finally caught up and crowned De La Hoya as The Ring champion), who lost it to Mosley again.

So De La Hoya and Mosley did both hold The Ring belt, but only at Jr Middleweight: but they held the clear lineal titles at other weights, The Ring just lost the plot during the 1990s, when they had no championship policy and for several years afterwards.

And in addition to his two lineal titles, Mosley was universally recognised as the #1 Lightweight for most of his Lightweight reign as well, although he was never the lineal champion at that weight. But being the clear #1 in a division counts for a lot more than being a paper belt holder does when it comes to HoF eligibility, and Cotto was never even the clear #1 at any weight, never mind a lineal champion.

Wikipedia has a list of all The Ring champions here.

Cyberboxingzone has brilliant list of all the lineal champions from the 19th century onwards here - although it's not perfect and contains a few errors, especially from 2009 onwards, where it's a mess. But it's spot on for most of time up to 2009.

De La Hoya Vs Vargas was considered for The Ring title if I remember correctly.

Tszyu won the The Ring title Vs Mitchell but that wasn't for the Lineage as Zab was considered #2 and Mitchell #3.

When he beat Zab he was considered the Lineal Champion and undisputied Jr WW Champion.

But good post though. People tend to think The Ring Title means Lineage but thats not always the case.

[IronDanHamza]

The Ring discontinued their championship policy throughout the 1990s and even when they restarted it, they lost the plot in many cases as regards to keeping track of who the lineal champion really was. Some of their mistakes from that period lingered on well into the new millennium.

At Jr Welterweight,The Ring had no champion between 1983 and 2001 - but Chavez Jr became the clear lineal champion when he beat Meldrick Taylor for the vacant lineal title in 1990 - they were the clear #1 and #2 at the time. Chavez then lost it to Randall, regained it in the rematch, then lost it to De La Hoya in 1996, who vacated soon afterwards. The Ring didn't catch up with the situation until Tszyu beat Mitchell for the vacant lineal title in 2001.

At Welterweight, The Ring had no champion between 1989 (Marlon Starling) and 2003, which was ridiculous, because the linearity went from Starling to Maurice Blocker to Simon Brown to James McGirt to Pernell Whitaker to De La Hoya to Felix Trinidad. Then it became vacant when Trinidad moved up, but when De La Hoya fought Mosley the first time, they were the clear #1 and #2 in the division so that fight was for the lineal title and Mosley became the clear lineal champion. The Ring didn't catch up with the situation until Forrest beat Mosley to become both the lineal champion and The Ring champion.

At Jr Middleweight, The Ring had no champions between 1986 and 2002. But Terry Norris became the clear lineal champion in 1995 when he beat Paul Vaden. Norris later lost it to Keith Mullings, who lost it to Javier Castillejo, who lost it to De La Hoya (at which point The Ring finally caught up and crowned De La Hoya as The Ring champion), who lost it to Mosley again.

So De La Hoya and Mosley did both hold The Ring belt, but only at Jr Middleweight: but they held the clear lineal titles at other weights, The Ring just lost the plot during the 1990s, when they had no championship policy and for several years afterwards.

And in addition to his two lineal titles, Mosley was universally recognised as the #1 Lightweight for most of his Lightweight reign as well, although he was never the lineal champion at that weight. But being the clear #1 in a division counts for a lot more than being a paper belt holder does when it comes to HoF eligibility, and Cotto was never even the clear #1 at any weight, never mind a lineal champion.

Wikipedia has a list of all The Ring champions here.

Cyberboxingzone has brilliant list of all the lineal champions from the 19th century onwards here - although it's not perfect and contains a few errors, especially from 2009 onwards, where it's a mess. But it's spot on for most of time up to 2009.

Don't forget Shane had the Lineage at WW between 09-10 also.