Ali, Leonard, Whitaker, Jones, and Mayweather: Who you got???

[nachorjj]

My favorite boxers, exept Ali.

in my opinion
1. Roy Jones Jr
2. Pernell Whittaker
3. Leonard
4. Floyd Mayweather
5. Ali

[BennyST]

In their primes, only talking about skill and attributes.

Put each guy at their absolute peak and throw them in with all the greats of each guys weight class or classes, which of these 5 do you think was the best????

Not resume, purely based on skills and attributes, and how they would have done in all era's with their weight class or classes.

That doesn't work though. It's only their resumes which truly tell you how they would have faired against other greats. Some guys look amazing against certain styles, certain levels of fighters, but when they get in against other true greats, they crumble.

You cannot ever say only based on skill, because you can't prove anything that way. We can't just say "Mayeather is the most skilful" because he has shown great skill against guys who are only ok. If you show that same level of skill against greats of all styles ie. Ali, Leonard then you can talk about, but it's only resume which truly tells the story of skill.

The fact is it's not skill that gets you past certain fights. No one is going to outskill Tommy Hearns at 147. Whitaker isn't going to out skill him, and neither is Mayweather. That's what resume does though. It tells you that type of stuff that otherwise might not be thought about. Leonard couldn't use his skill, he had to use his heart, will, determination, killer instinct and simple fighting ability to beat him.

That's what resume is. It's everything when assessing fighters. If it's only based on skill, then why not bring all the great amateurs into it? Why not bring other guys that showed tremendous skill against lesser opposition and never made it much further? Resume is the only true measure of skill.

[BennyST]

I picked mayweather for the following reasons

1. Ali, great HW but overrated. Not p4p material. Picked on cruiserweights.
2. SRL, struggled with floyd's father and JR is 100x better than sr. PBF by UD
3. Whitaker. Too small, too weak. Roger was never really good. Floyd by UD
4. RJJ, great fighter great person great entertainer great athlete, look into his resume and he's overrated as well. Floyd by UD @ 154 (yes roy fought that low)

That's a bizarre one, but I'll bite.

First, in what way is utterly dominating every single round enroute to a knock out against your first world ranked opponent in your first step up with only about 10 pro fights 'struggling' against someone? Maybe you forgot to watch the fight before talking about it.....That would be like saying that Calzaghe struggled with Lacy....except that Mayweather got knocked out and Lacy didn't.

Second, Mayweather, despite not having jrs offensive skill, certainly had his defensive capabilities and what I would argue was as good as, or a better chin and as much heart. After all, he only lost to Leonard and future champion and 147 pound great Marlon Starling and highly touted, undefeated amateur Roger Turner.

Third, maybe you missed it, maybe you chose to ignore it, or maybe you're just a little too thick to recognise it, but Floyd Jr and Floyd Sr have very different body types. Leonard is 5'10-11" with a 76" reach or thereabouts. Floyd Sr is taller than Leonard. Clearly. I think he would be getting close to 6'1". He also seems to have a much longer reach. He only ever fought as a welterweight and Jr middleweight. He was much bigger than Floyd Jr. Much, much bigger. That alone changes the fight entirely. But hey, let's pretend that fighting someone as tall as Hearns is the same as fighting someone as tall as Hatton shall we?

[BennyST]

Oh, and I forgot to add....If this is your idea of someone struggling with an opponent, I'd hate to see what your idea of dominating someone consists of....

[4Corners]

Strange but the Ring magazine has about six guys ranked all time over all these guys except Ali. Funny how these people haven't heard about Sugar Ray Robinson.

Oh woe is the state of the supposed boxing fans in here.

The poll wasn't for the GOAT, but the greatest out these. Ray Robinson was great no doubt, but I decided to make a poll of my favorite fighters, and who people thought was the best out of them, based on attributes and skills.

[4Corners]

That doesn't work though. It's only their resumes which truly tell you how they would have faired against other greats. Some guys look amazing against certain styles, certain levels of fighters, but when they get in against other true greats, they crumble.

You cannot ever say only based on skill, because you can't prove anything that way. We can't just say "Mayeather is the most skilful" because he has shown great skill against guys who are only ok. If you show that same level of skill against greats of all styles ie. Ali, Leonard then you can talk about, but it's only resume which truly tells the story of skill.

The fact is it's not skill that gets you past certain fights. No one is going to outskill Tommy Hearns at 147. Whitaker isn't going to out skill him, and neither is Mayweather. That's what resume does though. It tells you that type of stuff that otherwise might not be thought about. Leonard couldn't use his skill, he had to use his heart, will, determination, killer instinct and simple fighting ability to beat him.

That's what resume is. It's everything when assessing fighters. If it's only based on skill, then why not bring all the great amateurs into it? Why not bring other guys that showed tremendous skill against lesser opposition and never made it much further? Resume is the only true measure of skill.

Hey, I voted for Ali, who probably has the best resume of all, with Leonard being right there.

[4Corners]

I picked mayweather for the following reasons

1. Ali, great HW but overrated. Not p4p material. Picked on cruiserweights.
2. SRL, struggled with floyd's father and JR is 100x better than sr. PBF by UD
3. Whitaker. Too small, too weak. Roger was never really good. Floyd by UD
4. RJJ, great fighter great person great entertainer great athlete, look into his resume and he's overrated as well. Floyd by UD @ 154 (yes roy fought that low)

So I guess Liston, Frazier, Norton, Shavers, Foreman, Lyle, were all CW???

Ali, in his prime, was the GOAT in my eyes. And if it Ali had never been forced to take a 3 1/2 year layoff from boxing, he never would have lost to Joe Frazier. Ali lost some of his speed, stamina, and ability to throw as lengthy of combinations are that layoff. Before the layoff, Ali had stamina to dance the whole night, was as quick with his feet and hands as he ever was, and could throw crazy combinations to get you out of there. After the layoff, as a result of losing a bit of speed and stamina, he fought off the ropes a lot more and was forced to take more punishment. George Chuvalo, who fought him in his prime in the mid 60's, as well as post layoff in 72', even said he wasn't nearly the same fighter. Ali was still good up until after the 3rd Frazier fight, but he wasn't prime at all.

[Sweet Pea 50]

I can see people having Pea at number 5. But his punching power is underrated sometimes on here. He wasn't a big puncher, but people seem to think he was like fucking Malignaggi or something.

[Forza]

I can see people having Pea at number 5. But his punching power is underrated sometimes on here. He wasn't a big puncher, but people seem to think he was like fucking Malignaggi or something.

What's that supposed to mean

[Sweet Pea 50]

What's that supposed to mean

I don't know. You tell me.