What Does It Take To Become Greatest Boxer of All Time ?

[Tom Cruise]

only 21 championship fights though. 14-7

In an era with only 1 recognised champ per division?

Not bad if you ask me.

[Ahmed_Ismail]

There's no such thing really in an individual sport thats been around for 125+ years, there is no TBE, cuz every era is different and it's not fair to compare participants of different sports, boxing in the 40s was completely different than now not only in the ring but moreso outside the ring.

The top accomplishment a fighter can do is to be the best of his own era, ATG lists that are in order are absolute BS.

[UNBIASED BOXING]

38 years old! Who did Robinson beat at 38? hell who did Robinson defend his titles against when he was champion? believe me resume for resume they weren't much better than Berto, maybe Jake Lamotta?

*Defeated the lightweight belt holder Sammy Angott (although it wasn't on the line)
*Weltherweight / Middleweight titles
*Barely failed at Light Heavyweight title fight due to crappy conditions
*Fought 15 round fights during this era
*More fights

So:
a) He fought more
b) Fights were also 15 rounds sometimes (championship fights for instance)
c) He fought at more weight classes (technically), and moved more weight than FMjr (Lightweight - Light Heavyweight)
d) FYI, even if you don't count his Light Heavyweight title fight, he still moved 25 pounds as a professional fighter compared to 24 pounds FMjr
e) Health/Fitness/Nutrition was not as advanced as it was in that era. Remember, this was the 1940s

and:
Defeated Henry Armstrong

[Ahmed_Ismail]

In an era with only 1 recognised champ per division?

Not bad if you ask me.

not bad indeed if he had 70-80 fights, not 200.

Yeah u have now more belts and more weight classes but 26 championship fights out of 49 is also very remarkable, that's why I don't like to compare so much when there are fighters from completely different eras like that, u can maybe compare fighters from the 80s and 90s with fighters from today cuz the game is a bit similar, but to people from the 40s it's not a fair comparison to neither.

[bluzi]

In todays boxing you first need to be a small guy , the HW days are done , ppl are looking for the big "i went up divisions and won there as well" story , just dominating your division isnt enough so HW are out of the question.

If you are a HW trying to make a run for it you need :
* dominate your division.
* retire
* let some other dudes get to the top
* come back and kick their ass.
* being from a first world country wouldnt hurt....

if you just dominate those who would dominate if you are sidelined ppl wont give you credit , you can see Wlad run , he takes on all the #1 contenders and just get shat on , if he somehow retired and let povetkin rain or Wilder or Fury for a while building up hype and then come back to whoop them he wouldve get TON more credit , instead he gets "worst era".

So small guys with immaculate records going up in weights is the key to be a runner for this.

[HanzGruber]

Man you need to have everything lined up perfectly these days to compete for the #1 spot all time. You need the obvious. Talent & motivation. You need right team. Good trainers & handlers early on to get a great amateur career that'll set you up for the greatest pro career of all time. You need the right promotional team & TV channel deal. These days being with the right promotional entity is more important than its ever been. It can put you in play or outta play for those key fights you need. And you need a TV channel deal later on when you start getting big that can help build up your hype & those big fights that'll make you bigger. I think the structure is hard to setup these days. From the structure I think there are a lot of roads that could get a fighter in that number #1 spot. A long reign, multiple titles in multiple divisions, lotsa wins, lotsa KO's, big ratings, big PPV's, etc & so on, but that structure is the key part & is work & a fair amount of luck these days to put together.

This. It's not even just about boxing skills and resume, if you're not a hero or figure then the masses won't put you over a guy like Ali.

[Doctor_Tenma]

Fight 200 times, with about 15 meaningful fights, 155 tomato cans, 30 top 10 contenders.

And make sure no color T.V exists or footage

(I'm in the mood to troll)

[Doctor_Tenma]

yeah beating a washed andre berto via UD is what it takes to become the greatest boxer of all time

da ***

It's too easy, too easy.

[////]

In an era with only 1 recognised champ per division?

Not bad if you ask me.

Yeah. Basically multiply that by 10 to compensate for all the titles in circulation nowadays

And he fought til he was 44 years old so I'm not sure why 38 was mentioned.

Yes his record was padded with bums but he also had nearly 4 times as many fights and fought 9 times in a year at 41. Probably against mediocre, Berto level opposition though.

It was different. You found out who was the best by just throwing everyone at each other then calculating who won the most after the dust settled 100 fights later.

There's no way that's feasible now. A lot of whose the best now is decided visually based on who makes embarrassing mistakes the least often and little else.

I pick the modern guys in head to head fantasy fights, how can you not? They're trained better, their health is somewhat preserved, as far as heavyweights they aren't even the same species.

But finishing with a GOAT resume nowadays is very difficult.

[Ahmed_Ismail]

*Defeated the lightweight belt holder Sammy Angott (although it wasn't on the line)
*Weltherweight / Middleweight titles
*Barely failed at Light Heavyweight title fight due to crappy conditions
*Fought 15 round fights during this era
*More fights

So:
a) He fought more
b) Fights were also 15 rounds sometimes (championship fights for instance)
c) He fought at more weight classes (technically), and moved more weight than FMjr (Lightweight - Light Heavyweight)
d) FYI, even if you don't count his Light Heavyweight title fight, he still moved 25 pounds as a professional fighter compared to 24 pounds FMjr
e) Health/Fitness/Nutrition was not as advanced as it was in that era. Remember, this was the 1940s

and:
Defeated Henry Armstrong

Henry Armstrong was 12 years older at the time and he had already 150+fights, he was clearly past his prime by the time he fought Robinson.

I sparring sessions of today count as fights then fighters of today would have 200+ fights too, Robinson has fought many sparring partner level opponents in official fights and in rare cases in title defenses, he didn't have 2 months camps for his fights early in his career, he fought 2 times a month sometimes.

24-25 pounds is almost the same, also consider that better nutrition and fitness is better on all fighters today too, not just Floyd Mayweather, so his opponents were of course physically stronger than the ones from the past.