Top Five All-Time Greatest Boxers

[Daddy T]

In no particular order

Robinson
Ali
Louis
Armstrong
Duran

[mann187]

My top 5 which might change again with more insight to older fights

SRL
SRR
Henry Armstrong
Willie Pep
Floyd Mayweather

[Tom Cruise]

I know lists like this are subjective, but a top 5 list without SRR automatically loses credibility for me.

[bxr2004]

I know lists like this are subjective, but a top 5 list without SRR automatically loses credibility for me.

I indicated that Robinson would have been 6th on my list (I originally had him 3rd). When I started comparing him to some of the others.....the 16 Losses forced me to knock him down. Roy Jones Jumped in (10-years without LOSING a "SCORED ROUND"....Middle Weight to Heavy Weight Champion)

[UNBIASED BOXING]

I indicated that Robinson would have been 6th on my list (I originally had him 3rd). When I started comparing him to some of the others.....the 16 Losses forced me to knock him down. Roy Jones Jumped in (10-years without LOSING a "SCORED ROUND"....Middle Weight to Heavy Weight Champion)

Seriously?

He fought professionally FOR 25 YEARS (technically 22, he retired for about 3 years) starting back in 1940 until 1965.

He had 200 Fights (173 wins - 19 losses). He had his 1st loss at 40-1, and second loss at 128-2.

He defeated the lightweight belt holder Sammy Angott (in a non-title bout) at Lightweight
He won the welterweight and middleweight belts
He almost won the light heavyweight belt and had a lead on all three scorecards, until to succumb to fatigue/the 103 degree F temperature


If you're really going to look at the number of losses a fighter has, then how about I say SRR had a win rate of 86.5% compared to RJJ 88.6% despite the fact that SRR almost had 3x the number of professional fights.

[DreamerUSA]

I indicated that Robinson would have been 6th on my list (I originally had him 3rd). When I started comparing him to some of the others.....the 16 Losses forced me to knock him down. Roy Jones Jumped in (10-years without LOSING a "SCORED ROUND"....Middle Weight to Heavy Weight Champion)

These lists are subjective, obviously, but I'm not following the reasoning on RJJ vs SRR. Are we just going to slide RJJ's losses under the rug, but not SRR's? SRR retired in 1952 at 131-3-2. Everything after that is well past prime and him collecting paychecks. He lost to Jake Lamotta, which he avenged 5 times over. Lost to Turpin, which he avenged, and lost to Maxim for the LHW title, a fight he was winning, but had to retire due to heat exhaustion. Which btw was the only time he was stopped in his 200 fight career.

Love me some Roy. Think he is the most talented fighter I have ever personally layed eyes on, but prime vs. prime, he can't hold SRR's resume jockstrap.

[Tom Cruise]

These lists are subjective, obviously, but I'm not following the reasoning on RJJ vs SRR. Are we just going to slide RJJ's losses under the rug, but not SRR's? SRR retired in 1952 at 131-3-2. Everything after that is well past prime and him collecting paychecks. He lost to Jake Lamotta, which he avenged 5 times over. Lost to Turpin, which he avenged, and lost to Maxim for the LHW title, a fight he was winning, but had to retire due to heat exhaustion. Which btw was the only time he was stopped in his 200 fight career.

Love me some Roy. Think he is the most talented fighter I have ever personally layed eyes on, but prime vs. prime, he can't hold SRR's resume jockstrap.

Pretty much this. When he came back post retirement he was still fighting great fighters and getting great wins (Bobo Olssen, Gene Fullmer (the best KO i have ever seen), Basilio to name a few). Obviously he picked up more than a few losses from 1955-1965 too but the main body of his work was already done. This second run was the icing on the cake.

[Bald Shavers]

1. Sugar Ray Robinson
2. Muhammad Ali
3. Willie Pep
4. Henry Armstrong
5. Joe Louis
6. Sugar Ray Leonard
7. Archie Moore
8. Roberto Duran
9. Harry Greb
10. Sam Lanford
11. Benny Leonard
12. Jimmy Wilde
13. Joe Gans
14. Carlos Monzon
15. Ezzard Charles
16. Manny Pacquiao
17. Roy Jones
18. Julio Ceasar Chavez SENIOR
19. Floyd Mayweather JUNIOR
20. Pernell Whitaker
21. Bernard Hopkins
22. Gene Tunney
23. Tommy Loughran
24. Carmen Basilio
25. Tony Canzoneri
26. George Foreman
27. Marvelous Marvin Hagler
28. Jack Dempsey
29. Salvador Sanchez
30. Kid Gavilan

[rocky_balboa23]

I thought this is for top 5 greatest boxers of all time. Why is a cheat in there? This is not a list of the dirtiest of all time

[soul_survivor]

I've been in the process of changing my top 50 ATGs list overt he last 2 years or so but my top 5 has almost always been consistent:

1. "Sugar" Ray Robinson

Just can't argue with how great SRR really was, welterweight champion, multiple time mw champion and almost the lhw champion of the world. Between 1940 and 1950, Ray had everything a fighter needs, immense power, exceptional speed, quick feet and cat like reflexes. he was a league above almost everyone he faced and in that decade, he faced just about everyone who mattered. The fact that he beat top ranked contenders and HOF champions post-prime just goes to show you how good he really was.

2. Muhammad "The Louisville Lip" Ali

The only fighter who comes close to SRR in terms of all round skill, at his best, from 1964-67 Ali was as unbeatable as any fighter has ever been. The heavyweight homage to Robinson Ali had it all, a great jab, a terrific right hand, reflexes never before seen in a heavyweight and instinctive, perfectly tuned footwork. Ali of the 70s was not quite as good but he added toughness, grit and a never say die attitude to his work, along with the scalps of Foreman, Frazier, Norton, Shavers and co, the greatest resume in the division's history.

3. Willie "Will O' the Wisp" Pep

The single greatest defensive wizard in the sport, he'd make the likes of Whitaker and Mayweather look ordinary. Fleet footed and always exceptionally well conditioned, he danced rings around the featherweight division better than anyone else before or since. After his plane crash, he wasn't quite the same fighter, he was a tad slower, a little less of a dancer but just like Ali, he had to learn to go to war and he did, many, many times.

4. Henry "Homicide Hank" Armstrong

Armstrong was whirring machine of destruction, a man who never seemed to stop punching, no matter if he was fighting featherweights or middleweights. He had a great engine, exceptional power and the ability to adjust to his opponents. At his very best he almost held half the world titles on offer in the sport, a feat that would now seem impossible. He may not have been defensively savvy as Pep or as pretty to watch as Ali but he was equally as effective.

5. Benny Leonard "Ghetto Wizard" Leonard

The greatest lightweight ever? Probably. In his prime...which seemed to go on forever, Leonard seemed to be unbeatable, he has it all, sped of foot and hand as well as the ability to fight off the front and back foot. He retired as an undefeated champion but sadly, like most fighters, he couldn't stay away and returned. If you catch footage of that version of Benny, it's a sad sight, not in the same supreme condition and never again as quick as he had been in his best years. One of the top 5 best fighters ever.

Now, I can easily see Ray Leonard, Charles, Moore or Duran being in people's top 5, so I won't argue with that. But no one post the Fab Four can really be a legitimate argument for top 5 ATG.