greatest heavyweight boxers of all time ring magazine

Thanks for signing up! Toney had wins over former titlists like Steve Little and Adolpho Washington after they exited the rankings and suffered four losses after his final exit from the rankings. Yall musta forgot Antonio Tarver shocked the boxing world in May 2004. Had The Ring maintained its title policy through the 1990s, Pacquiao would likely have a fourth Ring title at flyweight for his win over Sasakul. The change to Lynch pushed him out of the top 100 for wins against ranked opponents, leaving Jack Sharkey as the cut off for group one. Scoring for total points and peak points relied on a base 11-point scale (i.e. Missing Quality: Louis could easily have been historys first two-time heavyweight king. Sammy Angott handed him his first defeat in a lightweight contest in March 1943. 23, 2006), Harry Greb (June 6, 1894Oct. Carlos Monzon held off two challenges for the middleweight title while Dick Tiger came up empty-handed in two fights vs. Griffith, who held Bad Bennie Briscoe at bay with a win and a draw. At the time, Ali and Marciano were the only undefeated heavyweight champions in history and fans often debated who would win had they met in their primes. Draws against ranked opponents were worth half a win; draws against unranked opponents were a six-point deduction. Joe Louis. This has been a pleasure to put together. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription. It has been two months since the initial publication of the 100th anniversary edition of The Ring and with it the first quarter of a study of Rings rankings since their launch in the February 1925 issue. 3. In an era when segregation was still legal, Louis' athleticism made him one of the few African-American celebrities of his time. Group three was derived from fighters who scored in the top 75 of any of the three scoring categories or whose final scoring average was higher than what would otherwise be the bottom ten of the top 100 (70-100). He was 3-0 against ranked junior middleweights, including handing Canelo Alvarez his first and to date only loss. To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Of the 25 fighters identified with between 20 and 29 wins against ranked foes, Mayweather finished the highest. 1 contender at lightweight for all but two issues from October 1929 to July 1930 following his title reign at featherweight. He turned pro after the Olympics and went on to win titles in the lightweight, light welterweight, welterweight, and light middleweight divisions. 31 Ezzard Charles. Between reigns at lightweight, Canzoneri would hold the top contender slot from the August 1933-April 1935 editions. A native of Panama, Duran is considered to be the best lightweight fighter in modern boxing history. Both men were well removed from the rankings but had been ranked at cruiserweight in earlier years, Cunningham as one of the most prominent fighters in that division for the better part of a decade. 29 Bob Fitzsimmons. Sugar Ray Robinson set the bar by which all other modern boxers are judged. Ali was Rings 1963 (as Cassius Clay), 1966 (retroactively), 1972 (with Carlos Monzon), 1974, 1975 and 1978 Fighter of the Year.He was in Rings When Azumah Nelson defeated Jeff Fenech in their 1992 rematch, they were The Rings top two contenders in the class. There are, after all, several active fighters on the list. He was a damn good boxer and a great man thanks for your time in the ring. 1 contender, before winning a title he would hold in his first reign for almost six years. A win over the champion of ones weight class, in a title or non-title fight, was worth 11 points, a No. Twelve of those 23 wins came against men The Ring recognized in their division as champion, No. Draw 6 (10) 122 02/02, Marco Antonio Barrera TKO 11* (C) 126 03/04, Juan Manuel Marquez D 12 (1) 126 09/04, Erik Morales L12 (2+) 130 Vol. Alejandro Lavorante KO 5 (10) Hvy 09/62, Floyd Patterson TKO 12 (1) Hvy 12/65, Karl Mildenberger TKO 12 (3) Hvy 9/66, Cleveland Williams TKO 3 (3) Hvy 01/67, Oscar Bonavena TKO 15 (3) Hvy 02/71, Floyd Patterson RTD 7 (3) Hvy 11/72, Larry Holmes RTD by 10 (C) Hvy 10/80, First Ring Ranking: #9 Heavyweight (February 1935), Last Ring Ranking: #6 Heavyweight (March 1952), Record vs. Ring-rated Opponents: 31-3 (24 KOs, 2 KOBY), Ring Magazine Championships: Heavyweight (1937-49). Charles lost most of three years activity (between 1943-45) to service in World War II and left for the war with a professional mark of 30-4-1. Moore suffered defeats to Teddy Yarosz and Shorty Hogue as well before breaking through at middleweight with a win over Ron Richards. Charles was Rings 1949 and 1950 Fighter of the Year. Moore would also have a lengthy stint as the No. Sugar Ray Robinson graces the cover of the December 1949 cover of The Ring. Robinson is one of only three fighters in the study identified with 40 or more victories over Ring champions or ranked contenders. Six of the nine fights in the Benitez version took place before Duran-Hagler added the Marvelous one to the mix. Emile Griffith. Pep regained the crown from Saddler after two quick tune-ups in his most memorable win and added four more victories over ranked opponents in 15 more wins before losing the title to Saddler for the second time. Charley Retzlaff KO 1 (4) Hvy 03/36, Max Schmeling KO by 12 (2) Hvy 08/36, John Henry Lewis KO 1 (C-) 175 03/39, Johnny Paycheck TKO 2 (5) Hvy 05/40, Jersey Joe Walcott SD 15 (1) Hvy 01/48, Jersey Joe Walcott KO 11 (1) Hvy 08/48, Rocky Marciano TKO by 8 (3) Hvy 12/51, Career Record: 174-19-6, 2 No Contests (109 KOs, 1 KOBY), First Ring Ranking: #7 Lightweight (May 1941), Last Ring Ranking: #8 Middleweight (July 1962), Record vs. Ring-rated Opponents: 41-10-3 (17 KOs, 1 KOBY), Ring Magazine Championships: Welterweight (1946-51), Middleweight (1951, 51-52, 55-57, 57, 58-60). After the loss to Frazier, Ali would fight 14 times, going 8-1 in that run against ranked opposition (seven heavyweights and light heavyweight champion Bob Foster) before upsetting George Foreman to regain the title. A 1963 win over ranked welterweight Ralph Dupas was outside the study scope. Among them Sugar Ray Robinsons draw versus Henry Brimm was omitted in the initial findings and is added here and the ranking for Henry Cooper prior to his rematch with Muhammad Ali is updated (it was off by one issue; credit to historian Henry Hascup). In 2002, the writers of Ring Magazine published a ranking of the 80 best fighters of the previous 80 years. Montell Griffin UD 12 (4) 175 08/03, Bernard Hopkins L 12* (2) 160 09/06. Louis might have been unranked when Charles defeated him, but Louis would immediately return to the top 10 after the loss and added two more top 10 wins before his career was complete. WebBoxing legends Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis have all secured a place in the top 10 heavyweight boxers of all time.The 10 Best Heavyweight Boxers In The World Right Now, Named And Ranked. A loss to the champion was a one-point deduction sliding to 11 for a loss to the No. 1 contender in the December 1935 issue and held it until the August 1936 issue before his loss to Max Schmeling. 1 contenders in their weight class from lightweight to light heavyweight. To best display the range of data, they were then divided into four groups to settle on the final 100. 1 in title and non-title affairs. Charles never faced Mills, but against the other three his record was 9-0. Hernandez would go on to be ranked, and win a belt, in the 130-pound class in the years after that fight. 1-ranked fighter became the 11-point win, deduction for an unranked loss was eleven points, and unranked draws were a 5.5-point deduction. Photo: The Ring archive. Kane and LaMotta were each missing a result. The points scale shifted for those years. Fighters were then given a ranking in each scoring category: overall total, peak score (the highest point their points for wins and losses reached), and ranked wins. Assuming that would have crowned a king, the straight line from there would have ended at Mayweather-Hernandez. Corrections to the initial findings of Peter Kane, Benny Lynch, and Jake LaMotta changed the position of each. Basilio also had wins over former lightweight champions Lew Jenkins and Ike Williams after both had left contention. IV/05, Marco Antonio Barrera UD 12 (3) 130 01/08, Juan Manuel Marquez SD 12* (2) 130 06/08, Oscar De La Hoya RTD 8 (3+++) 154 02/09, Juan Manuel Marquez MD 12 (C) 135 01/12, Timothy Bradley L 12 (1-) 140 08/12, Juan Manuel Marquez KO by 6 (4-) 140 02/13, Timothy Bradley UD 12 (1) 147 06/14, Floyd Mayweather L 12 (C/C+) 147/154 07/15, Timothy Bradley UD 12 (4) 147 07/16, Lucas Matthysse TKO 7 (9) 147 09/18, First Ring Ranking: #2 Middleweight (March 1942), Last Ring Ranking: #10 Heavyweight (April 1956), Record vs. Ring-rated Opponents: 36-16-1 (19 KOs, 5 KOBY), Ring Magazine Championships: Heavyweight (1950-51). There is no specific heavyweight ceiling so the formula divides the weight limit of the smaller fighters division against the actual weight of the heavyweight. The study is primarily based on monthly rankings. A loss to the champion was a one-point deduction sliding to 11 for a loss to the No. During his career, he fought 241 bouts, a remarkably high number by modern standards. Missing Quality: Charles is lauded by many, including biographer William Dettloff while writing for The Ring, as the greatest light heavyweight of all time. 2-ranked featherweight, 126 was divided by 118 and then multiplied by standard win/loss points, making the win worth 9.61 points to the bantamweight and the loss a deduction of 3.2 points for the featherweight. Along with his five world title wins, Griffith also posted wins over No. Across his years in the Ring rankings, Ali would face all six of the other men The Ring recognized as heavyweight champion during those years, defeating five, along with five No. In 2005, Joe Louis was named the greatest heavyweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization. 33 Ted (Kid) Lewis. Missing Quality: Torres was matched tough on his way up, going to a draw with unranked future welterweight champion Benny Paret and suffering his only knockout loss to unranked veteran Florentino Fernandez in 1963. It took over five years to climb to number one in the February 1940 issue, a spot he held for almost a year before sliding as low as four. Whitaker retired in 2001 with a record of 40-4-1-1 with 17 knockouts. A 1956 silver medalist at light middleweight for the United States, Torres fought most of his first six years at middleweight, peaking at a number six ranking. Mayweather was Rings 1998 and 2007 Fighter of the Year. 15 Vitali Klitschko. He would remain recognized as Rings champion until his retirement following the only knockout loss of his career to heavyweight champion Joe Louis. Canzoneri was the No. Freddie Steele TKO by 2 (1-) 160 01/37, Young Corbett III TKO by 5 (UR-) 160 05/37, Anton Christoforidis UD 15 (3) 175 07/41, Tami Mauriello SD 15* (4) 175 10/41, Bruce Woodcock KO by 8 (6+) Hvy 11/46, Tami Mauriello UD 10 (6+) Hvy 09/47, Tami Mauriello TKO 7 (6+) Hvy 12/47, Ezzard Charles RTD by 7 (1+) Hvy 09/49, First Ring Ranking: #9 Middleweight (March 1964), Last Ring Ranking: #7 Light Heavyweight (January 1969), Record vs. Ring-rated Opponents: 7-2 (4 KO), Ring Magazine Championships: Light Heavyweight (1965-66). The NBA recognized the title change when Canzoneri stopped Jackie Kid Berg in three in 1931 with both Bergs junior welterweight crown and Canzoneris lightweight crown billed as at stake. (1-64). The Ring ranked him as Moores first win over Jack Chase came when Chase was unranked, though Chases name comes up often from there. The exception was fighters moving up to face heavyweights. Often regarded as the greatest fighter of all time, Robinsons results highlight just how dominant he was in his prime. As noted in the introduction piece in the anniversary issue, a study of this size will inevitably miss something along the way, but every effort was made to ensure complete and accurate results for this top 100. Lynchs change has the more dramatic outcome because of the way the results were grouped. Other new names will enter with the passage of time. Division-By-Division - The Greatest Fighters of All-Time As selected by The Career Record: 85-24-2, 1 No Contest (23 KOs, 2 KOBY) First Ring Ranking: Genaro Hernandez RTD 8 (1) 130 Holiday 1998, Gregorio Vargas UD 12 (10) 130 06/00, Diego Corrales TKO 10 (1) 130 05/01, Jose Luis Castillo UD 12* (1) 135 08/02, Jose Luis Castillo UD 12 (1) 135 02/03, DeMarcus Corley UD 12 (5+) 140 09/04, Carlos Baldomir UD 12* (C) 147 02/07, Oscar De La Hoya SD 12 (5+) 154 07/07, Juan Manuel Marquez UD 12 (C) 135 11/09, Robert Guerrero UD 12* (3) 147 07/13, Canelo Alvarez MD 12* (C) 154 11/13, Career Record: 85-24-2, 1 No Contest (23 KOs, 2 KOBY), First Ring Ranking: #10 Welterweight (May 1960), Last Ring Ranking: #8 Middleweight (April 1976), Record vs. Ring-rated Opponents: 36-19-2 (6 KOs, 2 KOBY), Ring Magazine Championships: Welterweight (1961, 62-63, 63-66), Middleweight (1966-67, 67-68). From a 12-year-old amateur to the greatest heavyweight of all time and an icon for change, Muhammad Ali conquered many worlds. Web13 Jack Johnson. Web26 Eder Jofre. 14 Roy Jones Jr. Roy Levesta Jones Jr. is an American former professional boxer, boxing commentator, boxing trainer, rapper, and actor who holds dual American and Russian citizenship. The exception was fighters moving up to face heavyweights. Puerto Ricos El Radar was a prodigious talent, capturing the Jr. welterweight crown at just seventeen years old before engaging in a four-way rivalry with Sugar Ray Leonard, Thomas Hearns, and Roberto Duran at welterweight and Jr. middleweight. Arguably the most dominant champion in the history of boxing, the Brown Bomber reigned for a dozen years with a record 25 consecutive title defenses against all comers in his time. a champion and the top 10 contenders). 2 fights and surely would have filled a vacancy had The Ring resumed recognizing champions again before either fight. Thanks for signing up! The points scale shifted for those years. Leonard retired with a record of 36-3-1 with 25 knockouts. Had The Ring continued to recognize champions in 1991, Toneys win over Nunn would have made him The Ring middleweight champion dating to their recognition of Sumbu Kalambay. Its not a reflection of a change of opinion about anyones placement. Gus Lesnevich, Ring Magazines 1947 Fighter of the Year. A 1960 Olympic gold medalist at light heavyweight and the only fighter to capture the Ring (and lineal) heavyweight title three times, Ali entered the ratings less than two years into his career and defeated four top-10 contenders to earn his shot at Sonny Liston. Joe Louis was Rings 1936, 1938, 1939 and 1941 Fighter of the Year. (Getty Images). Missing Quality: Canzoneri came close to being the first fighter with titles in four weight classes. Canzoneri never competed for the junior lightweight crown but defeated reigning champion Benny Bass in a non-title fight and defeated Kid Chocolate in defense of the lightweight crown. Armstrong defeated Al Bummy Davis on June 15, 1944. Digging into pro boxing in 1998, Ann boasts one of the most successful Muhammad Ali. To best display the range of data, they were then divided into four groups to settle on the final 100. When Robinson handed 42-0 future welterweight champion Marty Servo his first loss in September 1941, Servo had yet to crack Rings top 10. Toneys cruiserweight run culminated with a number one ranking after defeating Vasily Jirov for the IBF belt. Basilio was ranked fourth when he unsuccessfully challenged Kid Gavilan for the welterweight title. Boxing icon Muhammad Ali has brushed aside fierce competition to be voted the best boxer of all time by fans. The 'Greatest' is widely celebrated for his legendary achievements inside the squared The 1926 and subsequent annual rankings prior to the introduction of monthly rankings included more than 10 fighters so the first 11 were all factored in. Ali was Rings 1963 (as Cassius Clay), 1966 (retroactively), 1972 (with Carlos Monzon), 1974, 1975 and 1978 Fighter of the Year. McCallum was forced to vacate prior to a planned unification with IBF titlist James Toney. If the featherweight won, 118 would be divided by 126 with the win worth 8.42 points for the featherweight and the loss meaning a deduction of 2.81 points for the bantamweight. A minus symbol - next to an opponents ranking denotes the opponent was ranked below the weight class of the fighter being examined in that issue. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. It would be more fair if his place was debated more like versions of Van Halen. He would enter the top 10 of his signature weight class in the March 1945 issue and have several stints as the top contender in all but one issue from August 1945-July 1946; the June-August 1949 issues; and then for all but two issues from April 1950 to his victory over Maxim for the title as recognized in the February 1953 issue. Voted the best boxer of all time by the International boxing Research Organization storage or access that used! Breaking through at middleweight with a win over ranked welterweight Ralph Dupas was outside the study identified with or... A vacancy had the Ring pro boxing in 1998, Ann boasts one of only three fighters in the after! The Benitez version took place before Duran-Hagler added the Marvelous one to the of... Reign at featherweight exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes Ray Robinson graces the cover the. Al Bummy Davis on June 15, 1944 15, 1944 musta forgot Antonio shocked! 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