To find the best boxer in the world, one simply needs to identify the dominant Heavyweight Champion of the moment. Size matters in this sport. But is it right to give high honors to a giant bumbling oaf like Jess Willard when brilliant technicians like Benny Leonard are rewriting the textbooks on how to befuddle an opponent in the ring? Surely if Willard and Leonard were the same size, Benny would trounce him with both shoes tied together and one hand tied behind his back.
That must have been what boxing writers during the late 1910?s were thinking when they coined the term ?pound for pound?. They said that outstanding Lightweight Champion Benny Leonard was the best boxer pound for pound in the world, meaning that if all boxers were the same size but their skill and ability remained constant, Leonard would be the best.
Benny Leonard was an amazing talent who boxed circles around his opponents. He held the Lightweight Championship from 1917 to 1924, when he relinquished the belt by temporarily retiring from the ring. I will begin the lineage at Leonard because he was the fighter who inspired the term ?pound for pound? and thus was the original.
However if you asked me, I believe that in Leonard?s era there was an ever better fighter by the name of Harry Greb. Greb was an unbelievable Middleweight Champion during the late 1910?s and 1920?s. Even as a middleweight he was able to beat some of the best light heavyweights of all time, like Gene Tunney, Tommy Loughran, and Tommy Gibbons. Greb even had success against heavyweight contenders of the day. I have Greb as the third best boxer, pound for pound, in boxing history. Mentioning Greb is no knock to Benny Leonard though. Greb is top three all time, but Leonard is surely top 10.
Prior to Leonard and Greb there were others who deserved the moniker even though the term pound for pound had not yet been invented. Fighters like Joe ?The Old Master? Gans and ?Terrible? Terry McGovern were overbearing forces in their respective divisions around the turn of the last century. They are not in the lineage of this article but deserve mention.
1930?s
I?ll start the lineage back up in 1933, giving the title to Barney Ross after twice besting fellow great Tony Canzoneri with a couple of razor thin decisions. Ross held the crown respectfully until the late 1930?s when other legendary fighters were starting to make their runs. John Henry Lewis was considered the best fighter of 1937 according to an unofficial boxing writer?s poll. Henry Armstrong won Ring Magazine?s fighter of the year in 1937, managing to wrestle the honor away from Joe Louis for one year.
Armstrong made the pound for pound switch official in 1938 when he moved up in weight to defeat Barney Ross and take his welterweight belt via 15 round unanimous decision. I consider Armstrong as the second best fighter, pound for pound, of all time.
1940?s
Terrific Light Heavyweight Champion from Pittsburg, Billy Conn, started to receive pound for pound attention around 1940. His legacy peaked when he nearly defeated Joe Louis for the Heavyweight Championship. Conn was soundly out-boxing the great champ until getting caught with a huge punch in the 13th round.
Because of the events of World War II, there was not much boxing action. Once fighter who continued to fight and build on his legacy during the war was Willie Pep. Pep is considered the best defensive boxer of all time as well as one of the best pound for pound of all time. Pep peaked between 1944 and 1947, recording wins over the best in his division, including Chalky Wright and Sal Bartolo.
Pep was not the sole holder of the pound for pound title during his peak years. The late 1940?s and early 1950?s was when Sugar Ray Robinson was making his historic romp through the welterweight division. The term pound for pound was invented 20 years prior when describing Benny Leonard; however it was used sparingly after Leonard?s retirement. That is until Ray Robinson came around. Sugar Ray is widely considered to be the best pound for pound fighter in the history of boxing.
Two who may have stolen the pound for pound title momentarily from Robinson in the late 1940?s was Ike Williams after an epic year in 1948 and Kid Gavilan after beating Williams in 1949. Robinson defeated Gavilan later in 1949 for the Welterweight Championship to put an exclamation point on his claim to the throne.
1950?s
The pound for pound title was not as fickle and delicate as it is today. Sugar Ray Robinson was given the moniker in the late 1940?s and it stuck with him. People still knew he was the best even when he lost a fight. Robinson moved up to the middleweight division and despite being past his prime, above his natural weight class, and fighting against a golden age of middleweights he still established himself as the best of the bunch. Sure, Robinson suffered a handful of losses to great opponents, but all of those losses in the 1950?s were avenged in rematches.
Robinson was the man in the 1950?s, although you could make an argument that Carmen Basilio and Gene Fullmer each became the pound for pound king at separate moments in 1957 when they bested Robinson. Other notables in this decade who did not quite reach the heights of Robinson but deserve mention are Sandy Sadler and Archie Moore.
1960?s
Come 1960, Ray Robinson had finally slowed down to the point that others could overtake him. A little Bantamweight Champion named Edre Jofre picked up the lineage around 1962 by dominating his division. In 1965, Jofre was defeated by Fighting Harada and opinion splits on whether or not the lineage follows Harada or is transferred over to the outstanding Lightweight Champion of the time, Carlos Ortiz. Both are terrific fighters in their own right.
Emile Griffith grabbed the spotlight briefly in 1966-67 with his successful voyage into the middleweight division, taking down naturally heavier notables like Dick Tiger, Nino Benvenuti, and Joey Archer.
During this era all eyes were on Muhammad Ali and the heavyweight division. There is no room for the heavyweights on a pound for pound list so I have not included any heavyweights. However, if I had decided on including heavyweights then Ali surely would have made the list here.
1970?s
The intimidating beast of the 1970?s (aside from heavyweight George Foreman) was Middleweight Champion Carlos Monzon. He won the belt from Nino Benvenuti in 1970 and held a flawless record the rest of the way until his retirement in 1977. Monzon was the clear pound for pound king throughout the 1970?s until his retirement.
Roberto Duran emphatically picked up that title in Monzon?s absence by closing out his series of fights with rival Esteban De Jesus via 12th round TKO. Duran relinquished his Lightweight Championship before heading into the next decade and to higher weight classes, but he firmly had the title of boxing?s pound for pound champion at the end of the era.
1980?s
Roberto Duran defeated Sugar Ray Leonard in his first welterweight title fight to put an exclamation point on his status as boxing?s best fighter. Leonard, however, was able to win the rematch and start a legacy of his own. Many consider the 1980?s to be the era of Sugar Ray.
With Leonard?s frequent retirements, other boxers were able to successfully challenge for the pound for pound crown. Salvador Sanchez was a featherweight juggernaut until his life was tragically cut short in 1982. Heading into his 1982 fight with Aaron Pryor, Alexis Arguello had already established himself as an all time great and, according to who you ask, held the pound for pound title before losing to Pryor.
By the mid 80?s, great Middleweight Champion Marvin Hagler was the consensus pound for pound kingpin, especially since Leonard had not fought since 1984, and had not fought in a title fight since 1982. Hagler had literally cleaned out the division of all worthy challengers. In 1987, Sugar Ray Leonard came out of retirement to challenge Hagler in perhaps the most famous fight of the decade. Leonard won a debatable decision and regained his status as the pound for pound champion.
A couple others in the 80?s made it to the top of some pound for pound lists, even if briefly. Donald Curry unified the welterweight division in impressive fashion in 1985, wowing the boxing world. Evander Holyfield and Michael Spinks dominated cruiserweight and light heavyweight respectively, gaining glowing praise before exiting to the heavyweight division towards the end of the decade.
1990?s
After the retirements of Leonard and Hagler the pound for pound lineage was broken. Where it picks up again depends on who you ask. Some like to go with a young James Toney cleaning out a very talented middleweight division. Others say it was a toss up between Julio Cesar Chavez and Pernell Whitaker, with Whitaker coming away after his fight with Chavez.
By the mid 1990?s the pound for pound crown was a two man race between Oscar De La Hoya and Roy Jones Junior. Opinions seemed to be split down the middle as to who was most deserving. Jones had blown out James Toney and De La Hoya had beaten Whitaker and Chavez. You might as well have put these two as 1a and 1b.
2000?s
Roy Jones unfortunately did not face the level of opposition to keep his momentum going for stretches in the 1990?s and that allowed Shane Mosley to grab control of the crown in 2000 when he moved up from lightweight to win a decision over Oscar De La Hoya. Felix Trinidad also received some first place votes in the first couple years of this decade due to his impressive undefeated championship run from welterweight to middleweight.
By 2002 until 2004 we had another two headed race for the top spot, this time between Roy Jones and Bernard Hopkins. Jones had cleaned out the light heavyweight division and then defeated heavyweight John Ruiz in 2003. Hopkins knocked out Felix Trinidad and eventually recorded a record 20 consecutive defenses of his middleweight belt.
Jones and Hopkins aged and were eventually defeated by the mid 2000?s allowing prodigious talent Floyd Mayweather to take sole control of the top spot. Everyone knew that Mayweather would eventually take over the top spot since his amazing skills could not be denied. His day finally came around 2005 when boxing writers almost unanimously considered him the best pound for pound boxer in the world.
Mayweather abruptly retired in 2007. Manny Pacquiao seized the opportunity by completing the feat of defeating all three Mexican legends at this weight class (Barrera, Morales, and Marquez), then moving all the way up to welterweight to destroy Oscar De La Hoya.
And that is where we are at now in 2009. Manny Pacquiao is clearly the number one pound for pound boxer in the world. Floyd Mayweather has come out of retirement and the whole world would like to see if he is able to reclaim his crown from the Filipino Dest.
