Ranking the best pound for pound fighters of all-time: Part I
Rui Zheng
22/09/07
The term pound for pound was coined for Sugar Ray Robinson in appreciation for his skills in the boxing ring. As boxing developed and the emergence of skilled little men became more evident, the term grew to signify something special. In today’s boxing environment, being on top of the pound for pound rankings is probably the highest glory a boxer can achieve. So without further ado, my 10 greatest boxers of all-time, pound for pound…
1) Sugar Ray Robinson – Honestly, I don’t think this one is up for dispute. Robinson’s resume is tremendous, filled with the top lightweights, welterweights, middleweights, and light heavyweights of his time. In just his 21st professional fight, Robinson dominated lightweight champion Sammy Angott en route to a decision win. He would go on to beat quality fighters like Fritzie Zivic, Kid Gavilan, Henry Armstrong, Jake LaMotta, Gene Fullmer, Carmen Basilio, among other greats. One of the greatest injustices in boxing is the lack of film of Sugar Ray Robinson as a welterweight.
2) Henry Armstrong – Just how great was Henry Armstrong? One accomplishment speaks volumes and that’s when he held the featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight championships at the same time. Now this was at a time when there was no WBC, WBA, IBF, or WBO titles, but one single championship. He was in the process of winning a fraction of the middleweight championship, but was held to a draw against Ceferino Garcia in a fight many thought that Armstrong deserved to win. Now how relevant is his accomplishment compared with today’s era? Well, imagine if Manny Pacquiao went down to featherweight and knocked out Chris John. He then moved up to welterweight and completely dominated Floyd Mayweather Jr. en route to a decision win. After that, he would move back down to lightweight and beat Joel Casamayor by decision. Following that, Pacquiao would challenge Arthur Abraham and pull off a draw. Sounds like it could never happen, right? Well, it already did.
3) Harry Greb – In my opinion, Greb possesses the best resume in boxing history. Fighting in an incredible era of middleweights, light heavyweights and heavyweights, Greb challenged and beat all of his opponents, while being stopped only twice in almost 300 fights. Keep this in mind when judging Greb: heavyweight Gene Tunney dominated Jack Dempsey in both of their fights and Tunney has only one loss in his entire career. That one loss? Yup. Harry Greb. Another one of boxing’s greatest misfortunes is the lack of any footage of Greb fighting.
4) Willie Pep – In his prime, Pep was the closest thing to unhittable that boxing has ever witnessed. He would dazzle audiences with his footwork and movement around the ring, gliding effortlessly while avoiding his opponents’ combinations. Pep, a natural featherweight, started his career 66-0 before losing to the lightweight champion Sammy Angott by decision. Unphased, Pep would win 42 more times without a loss before being severely injured in a plane accident. After being told that he would be unable to walk anymore, let alone box, Pep was in the ring 6 months later. By the time he lost again against another great in Sandy Saddler, Pep was 134-1-1.
5) Roberto Duran – What happens when you find a fighter with a fantastic defense, a granite chin, tremendous power in both hands, unrelenting pressure, and the heart of a lion? You get a boxer like Duran who cleaned out a fantastic lightweight division, beating fighters like Ken Buchanan and Esteban DeJesus. He then moved up in weight and beat a prime Sugar Ray Leonard. Even in his later years, Duran gave middleweight king Marvin Hagler fits. One of the few boxers to fight in 5 different decades.
The best fighters of all-time #6-10 to come next week…
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