Top 20 Fighters Since World War II

[Tom Cruise]

i definitely agree with hopkins being higher than pacquiao and mayweather. although i'd have him above jones jr as well.

I think both Pac and Mayweather should be above Hopkins tbh. I love the old goat but i dont think he ever achieved the heights that these two did. Floyd for the consistency and level of dominance he showed throughout his career (against very good fighters) and Manny for what he achieved against the three mexican legends (plus other sub lightweight fighters) and for for his astonishing rise through the weightclasses.

His longevity is amazing though and hes definitely a great great fighter. Just think once all three are done and people look back objectively Manny and Floyd will be above the likes of Hopkins.

[soul_survivor]

2 serious questions about this list.

1. What makes Hagler rank so high? The MW division that he completely dominated wasnt exactly on fire. Yes he beat the legends who went up to fight him. Shouldnt the fact that he never went up himself be held against him?

2. Duran's greatness cant be denied. He is up there obviously. But are we stuck on 'Montreal Duran' more then we should be? Duran was superman that day. We shouldnt forget it. But I never ever see his losses held against him. Everytime he lost, except maybe against Hagler, all we talk about is Duran not being at his best for whatever 'out of the ring' reason we can come up with.

Good points, it's something I have often said about Hagler myself. His biggest wins are against Duran and Hearns, yet they are smaller guys, in Duran's case, much smaller. If he was fighting today, people would say he is cherry picking. It's like GGG fighting Mayweather or Pacquiao.

In terms of Duran, his exceptional highs at lightweight and the first Leonard fight are weighed down by some deep troughs: No Mas, the destruction by Hearns, losses to several b level fighters. But we have to keep in mind this was a small man fighting much bigger guys. So he gets credit for that and for winning a portion of the middleweight crown.

[RED REP]

In the October issue of Ring magazine, they asked 20 writers and historians to list their top 20 fighters since World War 2.
Points were awarded to each fighter : 20 points for 1st place placing, 19 points for 2nd place ect, ect.
Here is how the total came out. The number of 1st place votes are in brackets:


1. Ray Robinson - 396pts - (17)
2. Henry Armstrong - 339 - (1)
3. Muhammad Ali - 324 - (1)
4. Roberto Duran - 296
5. Joe Luis - 293
6. Ray Leonard - 258
7. Willie Pep - 246 - (1)
8. Archie Moore - 189
9. Julio Cesar Chavez - 171
10. Ezzard Charles - 164
11. Perenell Whitaker - 132
12. Floyd Mayweather Jr - 118
13. Marvin Hagler - 117
14. Carlos Monzon - 98
15. Eder Jofre - 86
16. Sandy Saddler - 82
17. Roy Jones Jr - 80
18. Rocky Marciano - 77
19. Bernard Hopkins - 66
20. Ike Williams - 55

Great list but as said before, it needs Manny pac. And i dont even like Manny!

[RED REP]

This thread was going well i thought, lot's of interesting posts. until it turned into another Mayweather vs Pacquiao thread. There is already plenty of them on the forum.


Yahoo did their own list not so long ago..i'm not sure if was posted in this thread. Their list was 'best ever' and not 'Since World War II' like the main list in this thread.

The guys voting were :
Jim Lampley, Max Kellerman, Al Bernstein, Steve Farhood, Rich Marotta, Lou DiBella, Chris Middendorf, Tim Dahlberg, Ed Schuyler Jr, Cliff Rold, Kevin Iole.




* The list was made before Mayweather Vs Pacquiao was done and dusted.

Jack Johnson over Tunney and Dempsey!!

JUST NO!

[Ahmed_Ismail]

In the October issue of Ring magazine, they asked 20 writers and historians to list their top 20 fighters since World War 2.
Points were awarded to each fighter : 20 points for 1st place placing, 19 points for 2nd place ect, ect.
Here is how the total came out. The number of 1st place votes are in brackets:


1. Ray Robinson - 396pts - (17)
2. Henry Armstrong - 339 - (1)
3. Muhammad Ali - 324 - (1)
4. Roberto Duran - 296
5. Joe Luis - 293
6. Ray Leonard - 258
7. Willie Pep - 246 - (1)
8. Archie Moore - 189
9. Julio Cesar Chavez - 171
10. Ezzard Charles - 164
11. Perenell Whitaker - 132
12. Floyd Mayweather Jr - 118
13. Marvin Hagler - 117
14. Carlos Monzon - 98
15. Eder Jofre - 86
16. Sandy Saddler - 82
17. Roy Jones Jr - 80
18. Rocky Marciano - 77
19. Bernard Hopkins - 66
20. Ike Williams - 55

This list was done before Mayweather beat Pacquiao, now I think he should be higher on the list, and even before the Pacquiao fight Mayweather should always be ranked higher than Pernell Whitaker, There's no comparison between the career accomplishments of the 2, also Julio Cesar Chavez is ranked very high imo. Ezzard Charles was a great fighter but I wouldn't have him that high on that list, he had a great career and was involved in great wars but I believe that only wins should be considered tbh, also tite fights and weight classes have to be considered as well, and according to this I don't see Ezzard Charles in the top 10, maybe top 20.

Duran and Leonard were great at their peak but they didn't have the longevity, Duran's career defining fight was against Leonard, he quit in the rematch and lost to the 2 great fighters of the era in Hagler and Hearns, his second biggest accomplishment is beating Barkley, who wasn't really an elite fighter but he was much bigger, so considering all that I wouldn't have Duran this high, I would have Leonard higher, cuz he beat Duran, Hearns and beat the lineal best middleweight in the world and probably in the last 50 years after a 5 year layoff, but I don't know if I'd have both ranked THIS high. Hagler is also ranked very high for his accomplishments tbh, his best wins were against guys who were moving up to fight him and he lost to guy who was coming off a 5 year layoff and didn't have a rematch with him.

Klitschko and Pacquiao should somehow be on the list, also Ricardo Lopez should be on the list, the man was 52-0-1 with 24-0 record in title (arguably lineal) fights.

[BrometheusBob.]

A solid list for the most part, JCC too high and Monzon too low but as long as they're both there. Would have liked to see Manny on the list but can't be mad, he'd probably be on it if this was a Top 30 list.

[The Big Dunn]

This thread was going well i thought, lot's of interesting posts. until it turned into another Mayweather vs Pacquiao thread. There is already plenty of them on the forum.


Yahoo did their own list not so long ago..i'm not sure if was posted in this thread. Their list was 'best ever' and not 'Since World War II' like the main list in this thread.

The guys voting were :
Jim Lampley, Max Kellerman, Al Bernstein, Steve Farhood, Rich Marotta, Lou DiBella, Chris Middendorf, Tim Dahlberg, Ed Schuyler Jr, Cliff Rold, Kevin Iole.




* The list was made before Mayweather Vs Pacquiao was done and dusted.

thread and this post bumped for divine hammer.

[HI-TECH Boxing]

2 serious questions about this list.

1. What makes Hagler rank so high? The MW division that he completely dominated wasnt exactly on fire. Yes he beat the legends who went up to fight him. Shouldnt the fact that he never went up himself be held against him?

2. Duran's greatness cant be denied. He is up there obviously. But are we stuck on 'Montreal Duran' more then we should be? Duran was superman that day. We shouldnt forget it. But I never ever see his losses held against him. Everytime he lost, except maybe against Hagler, all we talk about is Duran not being at his best for whatever 'out of the ring' reason we can come up with.

I never understood why people rank Hagler so high. Like you and other posters have said his best wins are against Duran and Hearns? A former Lightweight, I haven't watched the fight in years but I remember it being competitive, and a former Welterweight. Whether you think he lost or won against Leonard, one thing people never keep in mind is that Leonard was not only a former Welterweight but was three years inactive going into that fight. Sure that probably shows how great Leonard was, but if Hagler was as great as they said he would have won a clear, but maybe competitive fight. Instead he leaves it extremely close. He was almost 50 fights in to his career before he fought his first former World Champion. I heard he didn't get a shot early in his career though, so maybe that shouldn't be held against him too much.

What's his next big win after Duran and Hearns?
Vito Antuofermo, who only had one career championship win. Who's Vito's best victory?
-Alan Minter, who had two career championship wins. Best win is Vito Antuofermo?
-Fulgencio Obelmejias, only one career championship win. Who's his best win? Chong-Pal Park? I have no idea how good he was.
-Mustafa Hamsho, never won a title. Who's his best win? Alan Minter?
-John Mugabi, one career championship win. Who's his best win?

Now I'm not a boxing historian so if anyone wants to explain why Hagler is ranked so high, please do.
I'm new school, I just don't see why Hagler is rated so highly.

[SouthPawHitman]

I watch some Duran fights earlier today and he might just be the best fighter that has ever walked the face of the earth. The hand speed,that power,Panamanian stamina made him when in shape borderline unstoppable.

[MrRolltide91]

interesting list