Hola, boxing fans. It has been a dark first quarter of the year in terms of sports and with our heroes falling like dominos it is always nice to manufacture some nostalgia and good debate.
The agenda today, ladies and gents, is the age-old debate of just who is the greatest. It is very difficult as I found out to name the greatest fighter of all time due to an array of interesting factors.
I initially wanted to do a piece on the No. 1 fighter all time pound for pound but after doing my research I concluded that in order to off set the difficulty of naming one man I have reformed my initial Plan and will now name the top 10 greatest fighters of all time.
Please don’t take my judgment lightly. I spent a combined 10 hours at an old friends house watching fight film going back to the Pf flyers and based on what I saw I compiled this very gaudy list.
Keep in mind fans that each fighter is being rated thus according to work done in their prime. I don’t want any dumb fans complaining that certain fighters have too many losses or fought too long.
These rankings are based on these men being in their primes and at the height of their powers. Another important component is the fighter’s best weight.
Within the eminent analysis you will find fighters that excelled in various weights, however, I have ranked them based on how they did in their premier division and I rank them against others who were great that fought in the same division. Dive in and enjoy try and keep the arguing to a minimum (=
10. ”Sugar” Shane Mosley Lightweight 46-5
The case can be made that Shane Mosley is the greatest lightweight that ever lived. He Went to war 34 times and emerged a winner all 34 times.
Shane today has tremendous power at welterweight, as evidenced by his recent shut down of you know who. His power at 135 pounds may be unmatched in the history of boxing.
Larry Merchant calls Shane the most physically dominant lightweight he has ever covered. I cannot go that far but the numbers do not lie.
He matches up with any lightweight who has ever laced them up, therefore he is easily one of the greatest fighters of all time due to the high profile patronage that has visited the division through out the years.
9. Larry Holmes Heavyweight 69-6
The numbers that Larry amassed in boxing’s greatest division are staggering. He made 20 title defenses, second only to Joe Louis. He fought anybody and everybody while ducking nobody.
Ernie Shavers, Ken Norton, Michael Spinks, looking at his record there is really no one of any relevance who DIDN’T fight Larry Holmes in the late '70s and early '80s.
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