For my ranking of the greatest boxers in history, I deviated from my systems in the other sports that are set up to incorporate current results. What you'll find below are the 100 greatest boxers inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Boxing today has too many divisions and champions today to keep up with unless you are really a hardcore fan. I plan on updating my standings each year when the newest edition of The Boxing Register is updated. The Register has the records and opponents of the more than 200 fighters in the IBHOF.
So while you will see fighters such as Sugar Ray Leonard and Marvin Hagler in the rankings, you won't see Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns, Evander Holyfield or Bernard Hopkins. Hearns, Holyfield and Hopkins aren't eligible and Duran was just announced as an inductee. His results will be in the next Register and Duran will take his place somewhere in the rankings.
How did I rank the fighters? Weighting their victories and then dividing the points by a set number of fights to take away the advantage fighters who fought relatively few times had in my system over the old timers who stepped into the ring hundreds of times.
Basically, I gave fighters points -- or deducted in cases of when they were KO'd -- for wins over certain level of fighters.
First, a fighter received a score for his overall record, all wins and KOs worth the same, regardless of quality.
Then I broke the wins down in four ways:
Title fights against fellow Hall of Famers
Other title fights
Non title fights against Hall of Famers
All other bouts
Originally, I was going to give 6 points for a title win over Hall of Famers, plus 3 points if won in a knockout, 3 points (+1.5 for knockouts) for other title fight wins as well as non title fights against Hall of Famers and 1 point (+.5 for knockouts) for all other fights.
I had to tweak the original plan because of the growing number of divisions over the years. It is far easier for fighters today to line up championship fights because there are 17 weight divisions today versus the eight of much of the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s. There are several IBHOF members from the early part of 20th century who never received even one title shot.
Title fight victories in matches before 1950 was increased to 4.5 points with 2.25 points for a knockout. Championship wins from the 1950s through the 1970s was moved up to 3.75 with 1.875 for KOs and title wins from the 1980s and on are worth the 3 points.
I also had to tweak the heavyweight division. Since the growing number of weight classes had zero affect on the heaviest division, title wins for heavyweights has two breakdowns -- 3 points for wins from 1980 on and 3.75 points for wins before 1980. The change there is more a result of the multiple licensing bodies. Before 1980, there generally was just one champion. Today, there are four.
I also created a 4.5 point division in the heavyweight division for Black Heavyweight title fights. In the days of Jim Jeffries, Jack Johnson and Jack Dempsey, several great black heavyweights were forced to fight each other time and again because no one would risk the heavyweight title against them. Was Dempsey really better than Harry Wills. We'll never know for sure.
How does it breakdown? Let's look at two Hall of Fame middleweights, Carlos Monzon and Jake LaMotta.
LaMotta ran up a career record of 83-19-4 with 30 KOs and he was knocked out 4 times. I took his winning percentage and converted his record to what it would have looked like with 60 fights. LaMatta would have been 47-11-2 with 17 knockouts while being KO'd twice. That scored him 55.472 points. Monzon's record (87-3-9-59-0) would have boiled down to 53-2-6 with 36 knockouts, giving him 73.3 points. Power punchers, because of the bonus points, are going to have an advantage in my system, as well they should. A KO is always more definitive than even the most dominant decision.
Next, fighters earned points for the quality of competition. LaMotta was 1-1 against Hall of Famers in title fights with 1 KO while getting stopped once. He scored 8.5 points in those matches in my system. Monzon was 5-0 with 4 KOs, giving him 42 points.
LaMotta was 2-0 in his other title fights in the 3.75 a win era, while Monzon was 11-0 with 7 KOs in the same era where each win was worth 3.75 points. LaMotta received 9.375 points while Monzon scored 54.375 for those wins.
In matchups with Hall of Famers in non-title fights, LaMotta went 4-5 with all fights going the distance. He scored 12 points in those fights. In my system, a fighter does not lose points with a loss unless he is knocked out. He just gets zero points, which drives his average down. Fighters with large loss totals generally don't score well unless they had many, many quality wins.
Monzon, as is increasingly common in the modern era, did not face a Hall of Famer in a non-title bout.
Finally, I boiled a fighter's record in all other fights down to the 60 fight average, deducting the quality fights. So Monzon, who fought 16 title fights, had 44 matches against non-Hall of Famers in my system. He was 71-3-9 in those matches in his career and that was whittled down to 38-2-5 with 25 KOs, which earned him 52.747 points in those matches.
LaMotta had 13 fights either for the title or against Hall of Famers leaving him 47 matches out of 60 against "others." His career record in those matches was 76-13-4 and whittling that down to 47 would have given him a 38-7-2 record with 14 knockouts. That was worth 41.946 points.
To come up with a final score, simply add up all those points and divide by 60. LaMotta scored 127.29 points for a 60-fight score of 2.122. You won't see him in my top 100 despite the fact "Raging Bull" is so critically acclaimed.
Monzon scored 222.46 points for a final 60-fight score of 3.708. He is one of the top fighters ever.
Each year, there will be some fluctuations in scores as more fighters are added to the Hall. For example, Marvin Hagler's greatest win -- the knockout of Tommie Hearns -- earned him 4.5 points so far -- 3 points for the post 1980s title fight win and a 1.5 point knockout bonus.
When Hearns is elected to the Hall, Hagler's point total for that fight doubles. He'll get six points for a title fight win over a Hall of Famer and 3 points for the knockout.
Without using further space, here's my top 100 fighters in the International Boxing Hall of Fame:
Rank, Boxer, Years, Total points, Classes
100. Fighting Harada, 1960-70, 2.435, Bantam/Fly
99. Ismael Laguna, 1961-71, 2.438, Lightweight
98. Pancho Villa, 1919-25, 2.442, Flyweight
97. Laszlo Papp, 1957-64, 2.448, Middleweight
96. Lou Ambers, 1932-41, 2.452, Lightweight
95. Sugar Ramos, 1957-72, 2.457, Featherweight
94. Young Stribling, 1921-33, 2.459, Heavyweight
93. Paul Berlenbach, 1923-33, 2.464, Light heavyweight
92. Ken Buchanan, 1965-82, 2.471, Lightweight
91. Harry Wills, 1910-32, 2.473, Heavyweight
90. Jack Dillon, 1908-23, 2.477, Light heavyweight
89. Pipino Cuevas, 1971-89, 2.487, Welterweight
88. Jimmy McLarnin, 1923-36, 2.496, Welterweight
87. Marcel Thil, 1920-37, 2.519, Middleweight
86. Flash Elorde, 1951-71, 2.527, Jr. Lightweight
85. Tony Zale, 1934-48, 2.537, Middleweight
84. Jack Delaney, 1919-32, 2.537, Light heavyweight
83. Tommy Gibbons, 1911-25, 2.555, Heavyweight
82. Freddie Miller, 1927-40, 2.555, Featherweight
81. Bobby Chacon, 1972-88, 2.573, Jr. Light/Feather
80. Jackie "Kid" Berg, 1924-45, 2.578, Jr. Welterweight
79. Charles "Kid" McCoy, 1891-16, 2.583, Middleweight
78. Ingemar Johansson, 1952-63, 2.584, Heavyweight
77. Marcel Cerdan, 1934-49, 2.591, Middleweight
76. Packey McFarland, 1904-15, 2.599, Lightweight
75. Wilfredo Benitez, 1973-90, 2.602, Jr. Mid/Welter/Jr. Welter
74. Kid Chocolate, 1928-38, 2.608, Jr. Light/Feather
73. Freddie Welsh, 1905-22, 2.638, Lightweight
72. Joe Jeannette, 1904-19, 2.643, Heavyweight
71. Mickey Walker, 1919-35, 2.650, Middleweight
70. Victor Galindez, 1969-80, 2.662, Light heavyweight
69. Nino Benvenuti, 1961-71, 2.667, Middle/Jr. Mid
68. Barry McGuigan, 1981-89, 2.674, Featherweight
67. Edwin Rosario, 1979-97, 2.675, Jr. Welter/Light
66. Jose Torres, 1958-69, 2.688, Light heavyweight
65. Carlos Palomino, 1972-98, 2.701, Welterweight
64. Daniel Zaragoza, 1980-97, 2.701, Jr. Feather/Bantam
63. Harry Greb, 1913-26, 2.711, Middleweight
62. Jeff Chandler, 1976-84, 2.716, Bantamweight
61. Freddie Steele, 1928-41, 2.719, Middleweight
60. Sonny Liston, 1953-70, 2.728, Heavyweight
59. John Henry Lewis, 1928-39, 2.731, Light heavyweight
58. Johnny Kilbane, 1907-23, 2.732, Featherweight
57. Jimmy Wilde, 1910-23, 2.756, Flyweight
56. Emile Griffith, 1958-77, 2.761, Middle/Welter
55. Panama Al Brown, 1922-42, 2.766, Bantamweight
54. Gene Fullmer, 1951-63, 2.768, Middleweight
53. Bob Fitzsimmons, 1883-14, 2.800, Heavy/Lt. Heavy/Mid
52. Ruben Olivares, 1965-88, 2.800, Feather/Bantam
51. Jack Johnson, 1897-28, 2.861, Heavyweight
50. Jeff Fenech, 1984-96, 2.862, Feather/Jr. Feather/Bantam
49. Tony Canzoneri, 1925-39, 2.874, Jr. Welter/Light/Feather
48. Ike Williams, 1940-55, 2.903, Lightweight
47. Pascual Perez, 1952-64, 2.915, Flyweight
46. Floyd Patterson, 1952-72, 2.955, Heavyweight
45. Johnny Coulon, 1905-20, 2.965, Bantamweight
44. Abe Attell, 1900-17, 2.978, Featherweight
43. Bob Foster, 1961-78, 2.980, Light heavyweight
42. Terry Norris, 1986-98, 2.986, Jr. Middleweight
41. Jack Dempsey, 1914-27, 2.993, Heavyweight
40. Sandy Saddler, 1944-56, 2.997, Jr. Light/Feather
39. Ezzard Charles, 1940-59, 3.013, Heavyweight
38. Tommy Burns, 1900-20, 3.035, Heavyweight
37. Mike McCallum, 1981-97, 3.051, Lt. Heavy/Middle/Jr. Mid
36. Willie Pep, 1940-66, 3.066, Featherweight
35. Eusebio Pedroza, 1973-92, 3.098, Featherweight
34. Vicente Saldivar, 1961-73, 3.119, Featherweight
33. Benny Leonard, 1911-32, 3.136, Lightweight
32. Barney Ross, 1929-38, 3.138, Welter/Jr. Welter/Light
31. Archie Moore, 1936-63, 3.171, Light heavyweight
30. Sugar Ray Leonard, 1977-97, 3.180, Lt. Heavy/Sup. Mid/Middle/Jr. Mid/Welter
29. George Foreman, 1969-97, 3.186, Heavyweight
28. Stanley Ketchel, 1904-10, 3.188, Middleweight
27. Joe Frazier, 1965-81, 3.196, Heavyweight
26. Salvador Sanchez, 1975-82, 3.201, Featherweight
25. Terry McGovern, 1897-08, 3.205, Feather/Bantam
24. Chiquita Gonzalez, 1984-95, 3.234, Jr. Flyweight
23. Michael Spinks, 1977-88, 3.246, Heavy/Lt. Heavy
22. Gene Tunney, 1915-28, 3.250, Heavy/Lt. Heavy
21. Michael Carbajal, 1989-99, 3.269, Jr. Flyweight
20. Eder Jofre, 1957-76, 3.269, Feather/Bantam
19. Antonio Cervantes, 1964-83, 3.297, Jr. Welterweight
18. Marvin Hagler, 1973-87, 3.356, Middleweight
17. Azumah Nelson, 1979-98, 3.360, Jr. Light/Feather
16. Carlos Ortiz, 1955-72, 3.370, Jr. Welter/Light
15. James Jeffries, 1896-10, 3.371, Heavyweight
14. Jose Napoles, 1958-75, 3.399, Welterweight
13. Carlos Zarate, 1970-88, 3.429, Bantamweight
12. Aaron Pryor, 1976-90, 3.470, Jr. Welterweight
11. Manuel Ortiz, 1938-55, 3.470, Bantamweight
10. Joe Gans, 1891-09, 3.599, Lightweight
9. Rocky Marciano, 1947-55, 3.648, Heavyweight
8. Alexis Arguello, 1968-95, 3.650, Light/Jr. Light/Feather
7. Carlos Monzon, 1963-77, 3.708, Middleweight
6. Khaosai Galaxy, 1980-91, 3.723, Jr. Bantamweight
5. Wilfredo Gomez, 1974-89, 3.973, Jr. Light/Feather/Jr. Feather
4. Sugar Ray Robinson, 1940-65, 4.150, Middle/Welter
3. Muhammad Ali, 1960-81, 4.345, Heavyweight
2. Henry Armstrong, 1931-45, 4.346, Welter/Light/Feather
1. Joe Louis, 1934-51, 4.865, Heavyweight
I'll admit there are a few headscratchers in here. Wilfredo Gomez No. 5 all-time. Well, he had a stellar record, 44-3-1 with 42 knockouts and the knockouts pushed his score upward. Plus, he was a remarkable 21-3 with 19 knockouts in title fights.
Henry Armstrong over Sugar Ray Robinson? Armstrong was just 3-3 in Hall of Fame title fights while Robinson was 10-5-1. But Armstrong was 19-0-1 with 16 KOs in his other title fights and 6-2 against Hall of Famers in non-title bouts. Robinson was 7-2 in his other title fights and although he was 11-1 against Hall of Famers in non-title bouts, he had just one KO in those fights.
There were several heavyweight surprises. Liston is below Floyd Patterson, who he crushed twice, because those were his only title fight wins. Patterson had several defenses before running into Liston.
Jack Dempsey is very low at No. 42 (behind Ezzard Charles and Tommy Burns), while Jack Johnson finished even worse at No. 52, while Jim Jeffries was No. 15.
Dempsey held the heavyweight title but defended it few times. He only had 10 fights for titles or against Hall of Famers. Johnson also was hurt by inactivity -- once he won the title he refused to defend it against fellow black Hall of Famers Sam Langford, Harry Wills or Joe Jeannette -- but also a poor overall record. Johnson lost 13 fights and was knocked out seven times, dragging down his score. Some of those may have been dives. In fact, there are lots of curious losses among these fighters that may have been gangster influenced. I can't judge those. I just added up the points.
Burns is a special case. Lightly regarded by most, he was a very active champion -- if only to keep Johnson off his tail -- with a 11-1 record in title fights with nine KOs.
Marciano never lost and he had a fine record in his title fights and fights against Hall of Famers -- 8-0 with 7 KOs. He just didn't fight enough of them. Rocky had the top career score of any figher -- 86.3 with Galaxy next at 84.7 -- but his point total from title fights ranked just 45th. If he had stuck around long enough to beat Patterson and Liston, he would have been able to move into the Ali, Louis point totals.
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