Ranking the Greatest Boxing Families in History

The career of Floyd Mayweather has provided a perfect illustration for how far family culture and genetics can go toward creating a near-perfect boxer. The current pound-for-pound king grew up in a boxing family, inheriting his father and uncles' physical skills and absorbing their endless boxing lessons from the time he could walk. 

But boxing has often been a family affair. Fathers train sons, and brothers spar together in the gym. 

There have been countless great boxing families in the history of the sport. But it's tough to beat these 10. 

10. Muhammad and Laila Ali

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Muhammad Ali is arguably the greatest heavyweight of all time, and you can count me as somebody who would argue on his behalf. His daughter Laila retired as an undefeated champion in her own right.

I suspect that some might rank the father and daughter higher based on Laila's undefeated record. But she only fought 24 fights. I'm a fan of women's boxing, but there simply isn't the huge talent pool there that exists in the men's ranks.

Muhammad's younger brother Rahman was also a professional heavyweight, compiling a record of 14-3-1.

9. The Hilton Family

David Hilton Sr. was a longtime contender and Canadian middleweight champion. But he became more famous as the trainer to his sons.

David Jr. was the WBC super middleweight champion, a title that was stripped when he was arrested and convicted for sexually abusing his own daughters. After a seven-year sentence, he made a brief attempt at a comeback in 2007.

Matthew Hilton was the IBF light middleweight champion and twice challenged for world titles at middleweight. Brother Alex was a Canadian champion and world contender.

A fourth brother, Stewart, had a promising amateur career but died in a car crash at 18.

8. Vazquez Family

Wilfredo Vazquez Sr. was one of the greatest champions to ever come out of boxing-rich Puerto Rico. Between 1988 and 1996, he held world titles at bantamweight, super bantamweight and featherweight.

Wilfredo Jr. is the former WBO super bantamweight world champion, although after going 20-0-1 with 17 KOs to start his career, he has lost four of his last seven fights. In June he lost a split decision to late replacement Marvin Sonsona on the Miguel Cotto-Sergio Martinez undercard.

Younger brother Israel is an undefeated prospect at light flyweight.  

7. The Gibbons Brothers

Neither Gibbons brother ever won a world title, but they fought in the rough-and-tumble early decades of the 20th century, when capturing a world title was magnitudes harder than it is under the current, alphabet-soup insanity of today.

Both brothers were shrewd, tough-nosed scientific fighters and legitimate all-time greats.

Older brother Mike is one of the top 20-25 middleweights to ever lace up the gloves. Among his accomplishments was a win over the legendary Harry Greb.

A year younger, Tommy started as a middleweight but developed up into a heavyweight contender. He is the only fighter to ever go 15 rounds with the ferocious Jack Dempsey.  

6. The Galaxy Brothers

Khaosai Galaxy of Thailand is arguably the greatest super flyweight of all time. He lost just one of his 50 professional fights and knocked out 43 opponents.

Galaxy was a word-of-mouth legend in the pre-Internet days, and fans were never disappointed when they got the chance to see highlight reels of his fights.

Brother Khaokor was a two-time world champion in his own right, holding the title at bantamweight. His first world title win came against the great Wilfredo Vazquez Sr.

Both brothers started their fighting careers as muay thai kickboxers.

5. The Chavez Family

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The Patriarch of the Chavez family, Julio Sr., is one of the great boxing legends of all time. During the 1980s and early 1990s, he was among the top-rated and most popular fighters on the planet.

His namesake, Julio Jr., is a former WBC middleweight champion, although it's a belt he was largely maneuvered into winning. I'm not a huge fan of the legend's son, yet it can't be denied that he has legitimate world-class power. His willingness to trade and ability to take a punch make him a very exciting fighter to watch at times.

Julio Sr.'s younger son, Omar, is also a professional and has compiled a respectable record to date, though he has yet to garner the attention of his older brother. Julio Sr.'s brother, Rodolfo, had a brief professional career and is involved with training his nephews.

4. The Klitschko Brothers

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The sons of a military officer, the Klitschko brothers have displayed martial discipline in their training to develop outstanding technical skills and physical conditioning. As a result, the Ukrainian giants have been able to dominate the heavyweight division over the past generation.

There's no question that the heavyweight class the Klitschko brothers ruled has been one of the weakest in history. But I also don't see how anybody can deny that both brothers match up favorably with the majority of all-time heavyweight greats. Their size, skill and athleticism would potentially overwhelm many champions from earlier eras.

Of the two, I feel older brother Vitali is the best. At 6'8", he was always enthusiastic about mixing it up. He was a nimble giant who liked to fight and was excellent at it.

At 6'6", Wladimir has one of the finest jabs in the history of the division and a crushing straight right. Under the guidance of Emanuel Steward, he was able to develop a style that has been almost impossible to beat.

3. The Marquez Brothers

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Back in May, I wrote an article similar to this one where I ranked the greatest boxing brothers. In the comment section, there was some debate over my choice of the Marquez brothers over the Klitschkos at the top of the list.

There is a good argument to make for the Klitschkos based on their dominance of the heavyweight division for a decade. But I have to give the Marquez brothers credit for reigning as world champions in far more competitive divisions.

Juan Manuel Marquez is in the conversation for the greatest Mexican boxer of all time. His one-punch knockout of Manny Pacquiao is the most iconic stoppage of recent decades.

Rafael is a two-division world champion. His rivalry with Israel Vazquez provided three of the most thrilling fights of this century.

2. The Mayweather Family

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Floyd Mayweather is undefeated and the world champion at welterweight and junior middleweight. Fans and writers will debate his place in the all-time rankings for years to come. But only the most biased observer would deny that he is in the elite class of all-time greats.

Floyd's uncle, Roger, was a world champion and trained Floyd for long chunks of his career. His father, Floyd Sr., was a crafty contender and is one of the great boxing trainers of his generation.

Roger and Floyd Sr.'s brother, Jeff, was a skilled professional and fringe contender. He is also an accomplished trainer.

1. The Spinks Family

Leon and Michael Spinks first became famous as members of the legendary 1976 Olympic boxing squad. Both brothers earned gold medals in Montreal.

In the professional ranks, Leon shot to fame in 1978 when he upset an over-the-hill and poorly prepared Muhammad Ali in just his eighth professional fight. Spinks lost the rematch and spent the rest of his career as no more than a journeyman-level fighter.

Younger brother Michael had the far more successful professional career. He ranks in the top five to 10 all-time as a light heavyweight and captured the heavyweight title from Larry Holmes in 1985, retaining it in a rematch in 1986.

I think Holmes deserved to win both those fights, especially the second one. Nevertheless, Spinks made the fights extremely competitive, after coming all the way up from the 175-pound class, where he had dominated. He's an all-time great.

Leon's son Cory was the undisputed welterweight champion and the IBF junior middleweight champ. Leon's oldest son, who fought as Leon Calvin, was a great amateur and had a 2-0 professional record as a heavyweight before being murdered in 1990. Leon's other son, Darell, was also a professional fighter.