10.10.05 – By Aaron King: About a week ago, readers were asked to e-mail their lists of top ten fighters of all-time. After sorting through around 80 lists, consisting of 68 different names, a popular list has finally been calculated.
To make the final poll, a point system was used to assess each fighter: 10 points for a 1st place vote, nine points for 2nd, 8 points for 3rd and so on. All in all, 18 boxers were given 1st place votes (1st place votes were used to break ties in the top ten). The entire poll, 1 to 64, is listed below, with the point totals in parentheses next to the top ten. Once again, the following is not the opinion of any one person, yet a cumulative survey. Without further ado…
Top Ten
1. Muhammad Ali (466)
2. Sugar Ray Robinson (463)
3. Roberto Duran (291)
4. Joe Louis (222)
5. Sugar Ray Leonard (200)
6. Marvin Hagler (165)
7. Julio Cesar Chavez (162)
8. Mike Tyson (154 – 7 1st place votes)
9. Roy Jones Jr. (154 – 5 1st place votes)
10. Henry Armstrong (130)
The Best of the Rest
11. Willie Pep
12. Salvador Sanchez
13. Jack Johnson
14. Rocky Marciano
15. Archie Moore
16. Floyd Mayweather
17. Carlos Monzon
18. Larry Holmes
19. Ricardo Lopez
20. Eder Jofre
21. George Foreman
22. Thomas Hearns
23. Felix Trinidad
24. Joe Frazier
T25. Evander Holyfield
T25. Pernell Whitaker
T25. Bernard Hopkins
T28. Sam Langford
T28. Jack Dempsey
30. James Toney
31. Aaron Pryor
32. Oscar De La Hoya
T33. Harry Greb
T33. Lennox Lewis
35. Joe Gans
36. Jimmy Wilde
37. Hector Camacho
38. Ezzard Charles
T39. Alexis Arguello
T39. Benny Leonard
T39. Charley Burley
T42. Jake LaMotta
T42. Marco Antonio Barrera
44. Terry Norris
45. Chris Eubank
T46. Gene Tunney
T46. Jersey Joe Walcott
T48. Sandy Saddler
T48. Nigel Benn
T48. Naseem Hamed
T48. Iran Barkley
T52. Barry McGuigan
T52. Wilfred Benitez
T52. Floyd Patterson
T55. Erik Morales
T55. Wilfredo Gomez
T55. Khaosai Galaxy
T55. Ted “Kid” Lewis
T59. Winky Wright
T59. Mark Johnson
T59. Pipino Cuevas
T59. Jack “Kid” Berg
T59. John L. Sullivan
T64. Carmen Basilio
T64. Stanley Ketchel
T64. Sonny Liston
T64. Mike McCallum
T64. Michael Spinks
If you would like more information on the poll, send an e-mail to aking1@ithaca.edu