Boxing Legends Thomas Hearns, Emanuel Steward List Their Ten Greatest Fighters Of All-Time!

thomas hearnsBy James Slater – Lists, lists, lists! We love ‘em, we debate ‘em, we get angry over ‘em and we are almost always passionate about ‘em. Seemingly more so whenever anyone compiles a list of “The Greatest” ….anything in the sport of boxing; be it the best-ever fighters, the best-ever trainers, the best-ever fights – people get involved whenever they read such a list.

Right now, the excellent Boxing News team in the U.K have a book out, entitled The 100 Greatest Boxers Of All-Time. Already causing debate, the 100 best-ever fighters according to the painstakingly put together book will not suit everyone. How could they?

Fans always have their favourites, and if they are not present in such a list, the criticism comes pouring out: “These guys know nothing about boxing! How could X not be on their list!.”

You’ve read it before; maybe you’ve written it before if a list you’ve come across has not come up to scratch in your mind.

Well, recently I was fortunate enough to have gotten in touch with Hall of Fame trainer Emanuel Steward (over the phone) and legendary multi-weight boxing king Thomas “Hitman” Hearns (via e-mail) and these two giants were kind enough to give me their own personal top-10 greatest fighters-ever lists.

Argue with these two icons if you wish!

Emanuel Steward’s Top-Ten Greatest Fighters Of All-Time

1: Sugar Ray Robinson – “The best welterweight ever! A Phenomenal record at a time when records were real!”

2: Muhammad Ali – “Ali fought everybody, no matter what style.”

3: Henry Armstrong – “Fought in all those divisions and was robbed in middleweight title fight when they called it a draw”

4: Willy Pep – “Just a totally amazing fighter”

5: Joe Louis – “Exemplified the world Champion”

6: Marvellous Marvin Hagler – “The best middleweight ever, no doubt!”

7: George Foreman – “So smart in his own way, and so strong.”

8: Sam Langford – “Way before his time”

9: Manny Pacquiao – “Has gone through division after division after division! Just a phenomena”

10: Roberto Duran – “The best lightweight ever!”

Thomas Hearns’ Top-Ten Greatest Fighters Of All-Time

1: Muhammad Ali

2: Joe Frazier

3: Thomas Hearns

4: Roberto Duran

5: Wilfred Benitez

6: Sugar Ray Leonard

7: Mike Tyson

8: Floyd Mayweather

9: George Foreman

10: Marvin Hagler

Both interesting lists, without a doubt. My self, I was surprised that Steward never had his Kronk star Hearns on his list. I was also surprised that Emanuel had Manny Pacquiao as high as he did. Hearns? He clearly favours Floyd Mayweather over Pac-Man. Fans may raise eyebrows when they read how Tommy has Wilfred Benitez above Ray Leonard.

Still, these lists are hugely subjective, and with Tommy and Emanuel, the choices they made have come straight from the heart. On that you will surely agree.