Wednesday, January 8, 2014

History's Greatest Boxers

By Nolan Barias


Choosing the best boxers in history is definitely not an exact science, especially because people feel so strongly about their favorite fighters as well as their least favorite fighters. The following list includes some of history's best boxers, taking into consideration their actual fight record, as well as the level of competition and the level of talent of each fighter.

Muhammad Ali not only considers himself to the greatest fighter of all time, millions of fans agree with them, and he certainly possesses the skills and record to make a case for it. With 56 wins and just five losses in his professional career, Ali also had an impressive amateur career and won a gold medal at the 1960 Rome Olympics. His competition included boxing legends such as Sonny Liston, Floyd Patterson and George Foreman.

Ali is certainly a beloved figure, but Joe Louis was equally beloved during his years as a fighter, and his 1938 re-match against German Max Schmeling was easily one of the greatest bouts of all time. Not only were the two seasoned athletes, it was a considered a huge victory against Nazism. Overall, Louis only lost two other fights and won 69, including 57 wins via knockout. He also held the world heavyweight title for 12 years, which is longer than any other boxer in history, another impressive feat.

With 173 wins and more than 100 of them by knockout, Sugar Ray Robinson is certainly one to be considered as the best boxer. While Muhammad Ali had no shortage of confidence regarding his own excellence as a fighter, even he declared that Robinson was the "King," of boxing. He was a top fighter at welterweight, middleweight and light heavyweight, defeating a slew of tough opponents, including Jake La Motta, Kid Gavilan and Rocky Graziano.

While Rocky Marciano didn't face fighters that were as strong as Louis, Ali and Robinson, he certainly deserves some praise and a spot on anyone's Top Ten list of greatest boxers. Marciano is the only heavyweight champion in history to boast a completely undefeated fight record with 49 wins, 43 knockouts and no losses.

Before there was Ali, Robinson and even before Joe Louis, there was Jack Johnson, another of the world's best fighters. Johnson was the first African American to win the world heavyweight championship, but it was his 1910 bout against James Jeffries that truly cemented his reputation as a top fighter. Overall, he won 80 of his 114 bouts, with 45 of those being due to knockout.




About the Author:



No comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...