De La Hoya's six divisional world titles make him the only person who has even come close to matching Manny Pacquiao's record of winning world titles in eight weight divisions. The most financially successful boxer in history was also one of the best. Tyson could have been one of the best ever, but poor choices and circumstances led him to simply being a great, but not all-time great, fighter.ĭivisions: Super Featherweight (130) to Middleweight (160) So what we have is an astoundingly talented and exciting fighter who was never able to harness his personal demons and thus possesses a fractured, if accomplished, legacy. Tyson himself said his career ended in 1990, in his mind.
The famous upset loss to Buster Douglas, the prison sentence, the losses to Holyfield and Lewis and the famous "ear" incident. Huge early KOs of Michael Spinks (82nd), Frank Bruno, Larry Holmes, Pinklon Thomas and Trevor Berbick.īut then the legend of Tyson began to unravel. Eleven consecutive title defenses by KO or wide unanimous decision. The early numbers speak for themselves: 25 KOs in 27 straight victories and a title. Tyson was rescued from the juvenile prison system and became one of the most feared heavyweights ever. "The Baddest Man on the Planet." A rags-to-riches (and back to rags) story. He is also believed to be the person responsible for the phrase "The Real McCoy." He committed suicide in 1940 and left behind a bizarre, colorful and ultimately tragic legacy. Outside of the ring, he married 10 times, became an actor near the turn of the century and, in a fit of alcoholism, murdered one of his wives. His corner once threw handfuls of tacks into the ring against a barefoot opponent who weighed 90 pounds more and used this as a distraction to knock down the fighter. He is believed to have invented the ruse of mentioning the opponent's untied shoelaces so that he could land a blow while the opponent was looking down.īefore winning the welterweight title, he rubbed powder on his face and told Tommy Ryan he was sick, lulling the great champion into a false sense of complacency. He was universally considered an excellent technical boxer but also resorted to some unusual clowning that would be considered ridiculous today. The life and antics of Charles "Kid" McCoy (born Norman Selby in Moscow, Indiana) are the stuff of legend. Without further ado, the 100 Greatest Pound for Pound Boxers of All Time.ĭivision: Welterweight (147) to Light Heavyweight (175) No list can settle the great debate, but this one is the result of hundreds of hours of research and evaluation and is a good starting point.
In developing this list, I examined films and clips of over 250 fights, historical boxing records, anecdotal accounts and other "greatest ever" lists, including those compiled by Ring magazine, ESPN and Bert Sugar. Their ability to win in multiple weight classes, if applicable. Their skill and accomplishments relative to others in their division(s). Secondly, there are physical restraints: Even if a heavyweight's and flyweight's fists are moving at the same velocity, the longer arm length of the heavyweight makes the punch look slower and less "snappy."Īlternatively, this list evaluates fighters based on two major factors:ġ. However, I think that approach undervalues heavier fighters.įor one, it doesn't adjust for the natural variations that come with larger body size-it's impossible to assume that a 5'6" boxer would be physically identical if he were a foot taller. One common approach is to simply assume all boxers were the same size and evaluate them based on that criteria. The nature of these rankings is subjective and raises an interesting question: How do you compensate for differences in size, power and historical time periods when evaluating boxers?
"Pound for pound" rankings were developed by boxing writers during the era of Sugar Ray Robinson (pictured) to rank the world's greatest fighters irrespective of their weight division.