Do you agree with this ranking of top ten boxers of all tome

portsea57 wrote:

I'm still amazed that so many people are hypnotised by this P4P nonsense. Let's try a different tack...or two. Weightlifting. Now, that is split up into divisions like boxing, but if you were rating the greatest weightlifters of all-time it would be nonsense to not have the guys who lift the greatest poundage age as the top guys. But, there will be some nutter who starts claiming that some 140pd guy is the greatest because he never lost a contest ( in his weight division ) and had an amazing technique. It's nonsense. For example, we never hear about any 140pd javelin thrower with a sublime technique because he won't be able to thrown anywhere near as far as the big lads.

You can't compare weightlifting and boxing. Luke most people, find weightlifting to be boring and a smaller guy lifting less weight seems kind of meaningless.

I'm boxing, the difference in hand speed between the weight classes is significant. If you didn't like watching Leonard fight, you're not a boxing fan. As a 147lb welterweight, Hearns had a 78" reach and 15 inch biceps. He would end fights with right hand punches thrown from long distance.

In the heavyweight division, the boxing skills are less consistent. Guys with terrible technique like Foreman and Wilder only have to land one punch to turn a fight around. In the lower weight classes, fights are fought in the middle of the ring while many heavyweights don't have as much stamina and end up on the ropes covering up. The 70s Ali used that strategy in the hope of the other fighter burning himself out and the Foreman was actually kind of boring until the very end.

If you want to see some incredible knockouts, check out some of middleweight Julian Jackson's YouTube videos.

If you only find the heavyweight division interesting, I don't know why you're posting on this thread.

I’m amazed you don’t understand the difference between a skill based sport and one that isn’t. Weight lifting is just who can lift the heaviest weight. Boxing has many different techniques and strategies involved. It’s not just 2 people standing in front of each other punching. It’s not who can punch the hardest or throw the most punches etc… it’s a multitude of components that make a great boxer. Hence the reason it makes sense to compare and contrast various fighters from various divisions and time periods.

Oh dear! My complaint is that when talking about "the greatest" that should mean "the best". For example, when we talk about the greatest high jumpers, we talk about the guys who can jump the highest/ win the big championships. We don't include small guys with terrific techniques but whose lack of height prevent them from jumping really high / winning the big titles. Likewise, I admire great boxing skills but when we are talking "the greatest" - using my small high jumper analogy- we cannot include the smaller fighters who wouldn't stand a chance against the big guys. Or, put another way, the" greatest in the world title" must go to the athletes who can beat all comers...and just those in their weight class.

You must just be a troll since you just keep comparing boxing (a skill based sport) to things like running jumping and lifting (non skill based sports). If you don’t see the difference I’m afraid you must just not be smart enough to understand many of the words others are typing to you to help you understand.

By your definition, Butter Bean was a better boxer than Sugar Ray Robinson. No.

Frank Marshall Davis wrote:

Ryan Foreman wrote:

There is no way Joe Louis in his prime beats Ali in his prime.

No way? Ali in his prime lost to Joe Frazier in his prime and to Ken Norton in his prime.

First of all, Ali wasn't in his prime in the first Frazier fight. Frazier was. I'm talking about Ali from 65-67'.

Secondly, I'm not saying there are not certain match ups that any Boxer is going to struggle with. For Ali, that type of boxer was Frazier and also Norton. But Ali would have (and did) destroy big heavy hitters like Liston and Foreman. Those are the boxers that Frazier in turn got destroyed by because his style inherently meant walking right into their punches. Ali stands alone as the one who beat all the styles of his era.