ESPN top 50 Boxers

Jones when he was at his best was probably the most untouchable boxer I've ever seen. The night he revenged his earlier DQ loss to Montell Griffin, I don't think anyone ever could have beaten him.

Having said that I would definitely not rank him ahead of Whitaker and probably not ahead of Cahvez either.
DLH is closer I think.

What separates them mostly, is the huge difference in competition.

Jones has two great wins really. Hopkins and James Toney. The rest is not so good. I remember arguing against all his haters that the main reason his opponents looked so awful was that Jones simply was that superiour, but fact is that the moment Jones lost just a fraction of his speed and athleticism, he was exposed as a pretty ordinary boxer. Someone who made a ton of mistakes.
Three defeats to Tarver and Johnson don't look so good and really hurt his legacy in my opinion.
His one fight as heavyweight winning an alphabet title might look good on paper but John Ruiz was a total bum and stylewise a dream for the much faster Jones.

Whitaker is the one who should be ranked the highest. He is, with all due respect to Wille Pep, the greatest defensive fighter ever and completely outclassed, at the time 88 and 0, PfP number 1 and already greatest jr welterweight of all time, JC Chavez.
That was a career defining fight at the time.
A rare case of the two best fighters in the world squaring off, and it was Whitaker who clearly came out on top.
For all his achivements, some of them questionable even, because of that fight, I can't see Chavez being ranked ahead of Whitaker ever.

Before that particular fight Whitaker had already dominated the lightweight division and convincingly beat one hall of famer in Azumah Nelson as well as several other good fighters.
Sure Chavez had more wins and no they weren't all mexican cab drivers but as far as quality opponents go, I think they were pretty even.

Following the Chavez win, Whitaker goes on to win the welterweight title beating a very good fighter in Buddy Mcgirt, twice, and then even conquering the jr middleweight title eventhough he is clearly not comfortable at that weight.
THEN two years later definitely not in his prime anymore, he goes on to give a prime DLH a boxing lesson.
I know DLH officially won that fight but I think general consensus have since moved towards that it was actually Whitaker who won.
I certainly had him a clear winner.
Oscar hardly layed a glove on him throughout the whole fight.

I guess a case can be made for Jones being ahead of Chavez though.
It depends on how much you want to punish Jones for his recent losses. Is it just a case of yet another great fighter being washed up? Ali obviously isn't hurt by his loss to Berbick. Leonard is not hurt by losing to Camacho and etc etc
Or was he truly exposed?

I would rank them Whitaker, Chavez, Jones, DLH

[SuperUberBob]

Tyson at #50 is a good ranking. Early in his career, he fought a bunch of schlubs who were afraid to even touch him. Spinks really should have stayed in the light heavyweight division, which is why he got crushed. His vulnerabilities in terms of technical boxing prowess were shown when nobodies like James "Quick" Tillis and Bonecrusher Smith gave him trouble (and of course Buster Douglas knocking out Mike Tyson).

And I agree that Roy Jones Jr. totally got shafted on this list. I'm also certain that if Jake LaMotta wasn't glorified in Raging Bull, he wouldn't receive half the recognition that he gets now. If never getting knocked down is worthy of such a high ranking, then why don't we see George Chuvalo on this list as well?

[Jeff W]

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Lennox Lewis
Jersey Joe Walcott
Willie Pep
Floyd Patterson
Rocky Graziano
Max Baer
Max Schmeling
Jess Willard
John Sullivan


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Except for Sullivan, any of those other guys in the top ten is a travesty I think.

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I think Willie Pep deserves top ten.

[Jeff W]

The following were all ranked way too low IMO.

Roy Jones Jr.
Carlos Monzon
Pernell Whitaker
Marvin Hagler

[Bill Murphy]

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ESPN top 50 Boxers

I want to comment but I really don't know where to start. This list is really, really bad.

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Oh sweet mary mother of the baby christ child, where in the name of our lord & savior is Bob Foster????????

LOL. And I do mean superultramega ZLOLZ.

Worst sports list ever; in fact worst subjective listing of anything ever.

[Bill Murphy]

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ESPN top 50 Boxers

I want to comment but I really don't know where to start. This list is really, really bad.

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Oh sweet mary mother of the baby christ child, where in the name of our lord & savior is Bob Foster????????

LOL. And I do mean superultramega ZLOLZ.

Worst sports list ever; in fact worst subjective listing of anything ever.

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Sheesh, I just read that one of the four main factors was dominance. No Foster, no Pryor, no Salvador Sanchez, and Monzon at 46. Yes, this clown is also using "Mainstream Appeal" as a fallback, but c'mon. You have to have some credibility.

Some more random thoughts and then I gotta go drink my disgust away:

Saddler beat Pep 3 outta 4, all by KO.

I love Earnie Shavers, and I was happy to read an interview a few years ago that said he happy, healthy, and financially secure. He was the hardest puncher ever, but I don't think he belongs in the top 50.

Sam Langford at 10? C'mon, don't try to be Mr. I Gotta Prove I Know All The UnknownZ. What about Harry Wills, Joe Jeanette, and Denver Ed Martin, Mr Expert?

Speaking of Harry Wills, I think Jack Dempsey is the most overrated fighter, **who was still actually a great fighter**.

Many people actually considered Duran's defense in his prime to be equal to his offense. He was the consensus "Fighter of the '70s", and between the first DeJesus fight & the second Leonard fight he never came close to losing, and he absolutely destroyed everyone in between, and usually came out w/o a mark on him.

IMO you've got Robinson & Duran at their peaks (and they were long, strong peaks) and then there's everyone else, tho certainly Joe Louis is right there.

It's been said many times that it's very hard to compare heavyweights in a pound-for-pound, due to the size & power differences.

Certainly Ali is impossible to rank, as he missed 3.5 years of his prime. I know I've posted this many times before, but it's amazing to see what Tiger Woods' record would look like had he been banned from golf at the same age/length of time Ali was from boxing.

No Aaron Pryor, jesus wept. I'm done.

[Army Eye]

All the active or recently-active fighters are stuffed at the bottom of the list. Whitaker is the one who got shafted the worst. 44th all time.. laughable. Sadly the judges' decision losses that he didn't deserve probably hurt his ranking. I would have RJJ higher on the list also.

[sternroolz]

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Whitaker is the one who got shafted the worst. 44th all time.. laughable. Sadly the judges' decision losses that he didn't deserve probably hurt his ranking.

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There was a fight with Whitaker and Chavez several years ago and I really could not beleive the decision. It was a very Latino heavy audience very much in Chavez's corner and even they were booing the judge's decision in favor of Chavez. It was totally ridiculous and really po'ed me a got me off of watching boxing for a long time. I mean, Whitaker pummeled Chavez and Chavez was clearly over the hill and not capable of boxing a guy like Whitaker.

Ring Magazine made a 80 best fighters of the last 80 years list back in 2002, which I think is much better.
Still think Dempsey is too high. As well as Lewis and I'm one of the people who think Tyson is too low actually. I don't think it's fair to punish him for defeats where he was clearly washed up. Yes Lewis knocked him out but so did Danny Williams and Kevin Mcbride...

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1. Sugar Ray Robinson
2. Henry Armstrong
3. Muhammad Ali
4. Joe Louis
5. Roberto Duran
6. Willie Pep
7. Harry Greb
8. Benny Leonard
9. Sugar Ray Leonard
10. Pernell Whitaker
11. Carlos Monzon
12. Rocky Marciano
13. Ezzard Charles
14. Archie Moore
15. Sandy Saddler
16. Jack Dempsey
17. Marvin Hagler
18. Julio Cesar Chavez
19. Eder Jofre
20. Alexis Arguello
21. Barney Ross
22. Evander Holyfield
23. Ike Williams
24. Salvador Sanchez
25. George Foreman
26. Kid Gavilian
27. Larry Holmes
28. Mickey Walker
29. Ruben Olivares
30. Gene Tunney
31. Dick Tiger
32. Fighting Harada
33. Emile Griffith
34. Tony Canzoneri
35. Aaron Pryor
36. Pascual Perez
37. Miguel Canto
38. Manuel Ortiz
39. Charley Burley
40. Carmen Basilio
41. Michael Spinks
42. Joe Frazier
43. Khaosai Galaxy
44. Roy Jones Jr.
45. Tiger Flowers
46. Panama Al Brown
47. Kid Chocolate
48. Joe Brown
49. Tommy Loughran
50. Bernard Hopkins
51. Felix Trinidad
52. Jake LaMotta
53. Lennox Lewis
54. Wilfredo Gomez
55. Bob Foster
56. Jose Napoles
57. Billy Conn
58. Jimmy McLarnin
59. Pancho Villa
60. Carlos Ortiz
61. Bob Montgomery
62. Freddie Miller
63. Benny Lynch
64. Beau Jack
65. Azumah Nelson
66. Eusebio Pedroza
67. Thomas Hearns
68. Wilfred Benitez
69. Antonio Cervantes
70. Ricardo Lopez
71. Sonny Liston
72. Mike Tyson
73. Vicente Saldivar
74. Gene Fullmer
75. Oscar De La Hoya
76. Carlos Zarate
77. Marcel Cerdan
78. Flash Elorde
79. Mike McCallum
80. Harold Johnson

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Trinidad would probably be lower now and if Marco Antonio Barrera beats Marquez he is someone who should be included as well. He probably should no matter what.

[Jeff W]

That is a good list. I do think Tyson and Roy Jones Jr. should be higher, though.