BOXING: The Top 10 Greatest Fighters of All Time

10) Prince Naseem Hamed

Naseem Hamed also known as Prince Naseem;(born 12 February 1974) is a former British professional boxerfrom Sheffield, England. He is the former WBO, WBC, IBF, IBO and Lineal featherweight champion, and European bantamweight champion.

Hamed was known for his unconventional boxing antics and spectacular ring entrances which have included entering the ring via a Chevrolet, a flying carpet, a lift, and a palanquin; re-enacting the video of Michael Jackson's Thriller; and wearing a Halloween mask. He was also known for his front somersault over the top rope into the ring.

He’s had several books written about him, video games in his name as well as a gym in England named in his honor including high praise from boxing greats such as George Foreman and Emmanuel Stewart.

Prince Naseem was also responsible for bringing attention back to the lower weight classes for which he can still be thanked today.

9) Larry Holmes

Larry Holmes (born November 3, 1949) is an American former professional boxer. He grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, which gave birth to his boxing nickname, the "Easton Assassin".

Holmes won his first 48 professional bouts, including victories over Earnie Shavers, Ken Norton, Muhammad Ali, Mike Weaver, Gerry Cooney, Tim Witherspoon, Carl Williams and Marvis Frazier, and fell one short of matching Rocky Marciano's career record of 49–0 when he lost to Michael Spinks in 1985. Holmes retired after losing a rematch to Spinks, but made repeated comebacks, and was unsuccessful in three further attempts (against Mike Tyson, Evander Holyfield and Oliver McCall) to regain the title, the last in 1995. Holmes fought for the final time in 2002 and ended with a career record of 69–6. He is frequently ranked as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time and has been inducted into both the International Boxing Hall of Fame and World Boxing Hall of Fame.

8) Julio Cesar Chavez

Julio César Chávez González (July 12, 1962), also known as Julio César Chávez Sr., is a Mexican former professional boxer. He is considered by acclamation as the greatest Mexican fighter of all time and one of the best boxers of all time.

Chávez was known for his outstanding punching power, devastating body attack, remarkably strong chin and the relentless stalking of his opponents. He ranks #24 on ESPN's list of "50 Greatest Boxers of All Time". On December 7, 2010, he was inducted in the prestigious International Boxing Hall of Fame for the Class of 2011. He is the father of prospect Omar Chávez and former middleweight champion Julio César Chávez, Jr.

After his retirement in 2005, Chavez has spent most of his time working with his son, Julio Cesar Chavez  Jr., who is in my opinion just as much of a fighter as his father was. He even avenged his father’s loss to Grover Wiley in a third-round knockout in 2007 at Madison Square Garden.

7) Lennox Lewis

Lennox Claudius Lewis, CM, CBE (born 2 September 1965) is a retired boxer and the last undisputed world heavyweight champion. He holds dual British and Canadian citizenship. As an amateur he won gold representing Canada at the 1988 Olympic Games after defeating future heavyweight champion Riddick Bowe in the final. Lewis is regarded by many as one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time, and as also the greatest British fighter of all time.

Lewis was a top-five world heavyweight. He defeated former WBA heavyweight champion Mike Weaver, 1984 Olympic Gold medalist Tyrell Biggs, former world cruiserweight title holders Glenn McCrory and Osvaldo Ocasio, and journeymen Levi Billups and Mike Dixon.

Lewis, along with Muhammad Ali and Evander Holyfield, is one of the only fighters to have won the heavyweight championship three times.

6) George Foreman 

 George Edward "Big George" Foreman (born January 10, 1949), is an American former professional boxer. In his boxing career he was a two-time world heavyweight champion and Olympic gold medalist. Outside the sport he went on to become an ordained minister, author and entrepreneur.

Foreman has fought wars in the ring from his first and only knockout during his fight with Muhammad Ali labeled “The Rumble in the Jungle.” And who can forget the sunshine showdown in 1973 with Foreman dominating Frazier winning by TKO in HBO Boxing’s first ever broadcast.

Foreman who admitted to being a troubled youth defeated many top ranked fighters well after his prime. George has continued to be a part of the boxing scene and through his entrepreneurial endeavors, has earned over $100 million in sales of his George Foreman grill.

Remember that number the next time you want to poke jokes at one of the greatest fighters to ever grace the ring.

5) Rocky Marciano

Rocky Marciano (born Rocco Francis Marchegiano; September 1, 1923 – August 31, 1969) was an American professional boxerwho held the world heavyweight title from September 23, 1952 to April 27, 1956. Marciano went undefeated in his career and defended his title six times, against Jersey Joe Walcott, Roland La Starza, Ezzard Charles (twice), Don Cockell, and Archie Moore. Marciano had a short, blazing career usually accustomed to pressure fighters.

Known for his relentless style, incredible stamina, and an iron chin, Marciano has been ranked by many boxing historians as one of the best heavyweight boxers of all time.[1] He was also known for his ferocious punching power for a man of just 190 pounds; his knockout percentage of 87.75 is one of the highest in heavyweight history.

Marciano won three more fights by knockout and then he met Ted Lowry (58–48–9). Marciano kept his winning streak alive by beating Lowry by unanimous decision. Four more knockout wins followed, including a five-rounder on December 19, 1949, with Phil Muscato (56–20–0), an experienced heavyweight from Buffalo, New York, and the first "name fighter" Marciano would face. Three weeks after that fight, Marciano beat Carmine Vingo (16–1–0) by a fifth round knockout in New York that almost killed Vingo.

4) Manny Pacquiao 

Emmanuel "Manny" Dapidran Pacquiao, ( born December 17, 1978), is a Filipino world champion professional boxer. At 32 he was elected to the Philippine House of Representatives. He has also been involved inbasketball, acting, and singing.

He was only 14 when he moved to Manila, for a while living on the streets until he began boxing. Before turning 16, Manny would have an amateur record of 64 wins and 4 losses. By the time he began training for his bout with Antonio Barrera, Freddie Roach was already on the job molding Manny, who would go on to become the pound-for-pound champion of the world.

Manny stunned boxing fans handing Barrera a technical knockout in the 11th round, something no one had ever done. Present day, Manny has accomplished what no other fighter in the history of the sport has, eight belts in eight separate divisions.

And as of 2010, he’s also a congressman in district of Sarangani, in the Philippines. Apart from these accomplishments, Manny has does things in the ring I’ve never seen anyone else in the sport even attempt much less put into action, circling left or right throwing combinations of up to four even seven punches with one step. Not bad for a kid from the slums, huh?

3) Sugar Ray Robinson

Sugar Ray Robinson (born Walker Smith Jr.; May 3, 1921 – April 12, 1989) was an American professional boxer. Frequently cited as the greatest boxer of all time, Robinson's performances in the welterweight and middleweight divisions prompted sportswriters to create "pound for pound" rankings, where they compared fighters regardless of weight. He was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.

Renowned for his flamboyant lifestyle outside the ring, Robinson is credited with being the originator of the modern sports "entourage". After his boxing career ended, Robinson attempted a career as an entertainer, but it was not successful, and he struggled financially until his death in 1989. In 2006, he was featured on a commemorative stamp by the United States Postal Service.

Robinson was powerful with both arms, movingly swiftly with ease. He has been praised by Ring magazine as the best pound-for-pound fighter of all time and the best boxer in history by ESPN.

2) Muhammad Ali 

Muhammad Ali  (born January 17, 1942) is an American former professional boxer, generally considered among the greatest heavyweights in the history of the sport. A controversial and polarizing figure during his early career, Ali is now highly regarded for the skills he displayed in the ring plus the values he exemplified outside of it: religious freedom, racial justice and the triumph of principle over expedience.[3][4] He is one of the most recognized sports figures of the past 100 years, crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC.

Of his later career, Arthur Mercante said: "Ali knew all the tricks. He was the best fighter I ever saw in terms of clinching. Not only did he use it to rest, but he was big and strong and knew how to lean on opponents and push and shove and pull to tire them out. Ali was so smart. Most guys are just in there fighting, but Ali had a sense of everything that was happening, almost as though he was sitting at ringside analyzing the fight while he fought it."

Ali is generally considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time by boxing commentators and historians. Ring Magazine, a prominent boxing magazine, named him number 1 in a 1998 ranking of greatest heavyweights from all eras.

Ali was named the second greatest fighter in boxing history by ESPN.com behind only welterweight and middleweight great Sugar Ray Robinson. In December 2007, ESPN listed Ali second in its choice of the greatest heavyweights of all time, behind Joe Louis.

The Associated Press voted Ali the No. 1 heavyweight of the 20th century in 1999.

His talent in the ring is a mystery to no one. Ali had an unorthodox style, fast hands and body movement that was graceful like the sound of opera. Some of these movements would later become boxing lingo used to describe certain actions like the rope a dope and Ali shuffle.

1) Jack Johnson

  

John Arthur "Jack" Johnson (March 31, 1878 – June 10, 1946), nicknamed the Galveston Giant was an American boxer, who—at the height of the Jim Crow era—became the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion (1908–1915). Johnson was faced with much controversy when he was charged with violating the Mann Act in 1912, even though there was an obvious lack of evidence and the charge was largely racially based. In a documentary about his life, Ken Burns notes that "for more than thirteen years, Jack Johnson was the most famous and the most notorious African-American on Earth".

In the world of boxing, no one was tougher than Jack Johnson.

He was only 12 when he decided to venture into the fighting world, and 45 rounds a night was the usual as Johnson fought tactically when others didn’t.

Throughout his career Johnson began to build a unique fighting style of his own, which was not customary to boxing during this time. Though Jack would typically strike first, he would fight defensively, waiting for his opponents to tire out, while becoming more aggressive as the rounds went on. He often fought to punish his opponents through the rounds rather than knocking them out, and would continuously dodge their punches. He would then quickly strike back with a blow of his own. Jack often made his fights look effortless, and as if he had much more to offer, but when pushed he could also display some powerful moves and punches. There are films of his fights in which he can be seen holding up his opponent, who otherwise might have fallen, until he recovered

Johnson’s color made him a public enemy as America looked for a “great white hope” to defeat him. Johnson's win over James Jeffries on July 4, 1910 caused riots and celebrations giving African Americans a feeling of empowerment in an era plagued by violence and bigotry.