Who is the best boxer for each decade?

I was thinking about this the other day. Since we can decide on what an era is. Who is the best boxer for each decade? I think this will be a very fun list to make.

2000 may weather
1990 pernell
1980 holmes
1970 Ali

1900 jim jeffries...1910 jack johnson then sam langford..1920s harry greb then dempsey 1930s joe louis1940s willie pep 1950s robinson then marciano 1960s ali 1970s monzon 1980s holmes 1990s sweet pea 2000mayweather 2010 manny pac...

honorable mention.the 30s henry armstrong 40s marcel cerdan the 70s roberto duran the 80s hagler and leanard ..

dmar5143 wrote:

1900 jim jeffries...1910 jack johnson then sam langford..1920s harry greb then dempsey 1930s joe louis1940s willie pep 1950s robinson then marciano 1960s ali 1970s monzon 1980s holmes 1990s sweet pea 2000mayweather 2010 manny pac...

Nice list. The 2000 is the hardest to do IMO. 1980's is really hard also.

1980's hagler

1990's chavez/ sweet pea depending on your tastes

2000-2005 floyd then..... 2005-2010 manny pac

1890-1899-Probably Bob Fitzsimmons with a nod to Non-Pareil Jack Dempsey
1900-1909-Sam Langford or Joe Gans with a mention for Abe Attell, Jim Jeffires and the Barbados Demon. I'll take Langford
1910-1919-Maybe the hardest pick on the board. Benny Leonard ruled ad I mean RULED an astonishing era of lightweights. Then again Harry Grebe had both eyes and went 45-0 with six wins over HOFers...just in 1919! Jimmy Wilde is the best small man in history. Three of the top 10-12 in history. Greb is my pick.
1920-1929-It's possible to pick Greb or Leonard here as well. But I'll take Mickey Walker over Gene Tunney and Tony Canzoneri.
1930-1939-Picking between Joe Louis and Henry Armstrong is just immensely unfair. But I'll take Homicide Hank. Barney Ross gets a mention.
1940-1949-Mr Robinson over Willie Pep and Ezzard Charles. Mighta been different if Willie hadn't been in that plane crash.
1950-1959-He was no longer invincible, but in boxings first big downturn era anybody really want to pick Archie Moore, Joe Brown or the Rock over Robinson?
1960-1969-The obvious pick is Cassius Clay, but Eder Jofre, Ruben Olivares and Carlos Ortiz deserve a mention.
1970-1979-One could pick Ali here as well, but I'll go with Roberto Duran over him, Ray Leonard, Carlos Monzon, Alexis Arguello and Bob Foster.
1980-1989-A toughie. Michael Spinks, Marvin Hagler, Arguello, Julio Cesar Chavez or Larry Holmes? I'll take Chavez by a nose over Spinks
1990-1999-Sweet Pea by a mile. Ricardo Lopez gets a mention.
2000-2009-Manny by a mile.

MARBLE hope all is well , great list as usual

Life is good. Just took a break. Hope all is well with you too.

understand, 25 days sober here and it actually isnt too hard, I will be doing mazingly great if Ken can win tomorrow

hope to see ya time to time

THink Abregu can give Bradley a fight 5'6 vs 5'10 is kinda big deal IMO

Birdofthad wrote:

understand, 25 days sober here and it actually isnt too hard, I will be doing mazingly great if Ken can win tomorrow

hope to see ya time to time

THink Abregu can give Bradley a fight 5'6 vs 5'10 is kinda big deal IMO

I reallythink Bradley is making a mistake, but we'll see.

Im kind of thinking the same thing even if he wins then what ??? He gets eaten alive by the top 5 in that division

Birdofthad wrote:

Im kind of thinking the same thing even if he wins then what ??? He gets eaten alive by the top 5 in that division

Heck he's a stumpy 140, he oughtta be trying to go the other way, drop a little muscle and go get JMM.

completely agree its obvious hes jsut trying to get in on the Pac Mayweather seepstakes

wouldnt be shocked if Floyd fights him

1940s - Sugar Ray Robinson

1950's - Sugar Ray Robinson

1960's - Cassius Clay/Muhammad Ali

1970 - Muhammad Ali - Roberto Duran

1980's - Sugar Ray Leonard

1990's - Evander Holyfield

2000 - 2010 - Manny Pacquiao

2000-2010 is Manny by a large margin. He beat 6 guys who will be enshrined in the Hall of Fame(I could debate the legitimacy of a couple of those guys and the timing of the fights but the fact remains six guys he beat will make the Hall of Fame). He won belts at 122, 126, 130, 135, 140, and 147.
1990s-Holyfield
1980s-Leonard

I don't go back further than 1980s. I'm only 33 and while I read alot of books on boxing and try to watch as much footage as I can of fights before my date of birth, my knowledge is much stronger from the time I started watching fights live (instead of years after they occurred).

captain you do a excellent job with thoughts from the fighters and era you do know..

With everyone talking about Floyd and Pac (understandably because the fight just fell apart) and then thinking about best fighters from different decades, makes me think about a great fantasy fight for Pac.

It is a fight we have discussed before but you can't help thinking how good it would be:

Pac vs. Sugar Ray Leonard; The handspeed on display would be unbelievable. I think Pac would start fast, Ray's greater natural size would be a big asset and show over the second half of the fight, and Ray wins a close UD.

ray wins inside 12 in a action fight...rays footwork and counterpunching abilty will do in the easy to hit pac in...pac is a great fighter but comes up short with fighters from that era..hearns and ray are to much for him..at 135 duran has to much talent power boxing skills balance etc etc.he stops pac inside 12..at 126 arguello times him all day long plus when pac fought at 126 his balance was awfull.alexis stops him also..im sure others disagree but thats how i see it.

captainanddew wrote:

With everyone talking about Floyd and Pac (understandably because the fight just fell apart) and then thinking about best fighters from different decades, makes me think about a great fantasy fight for Pac.

It is a fight we have discussed before but you can't help thinking how good it would be:

Pac vs. Sugar Ray Leonard; The handspeed on display would be unbelievable. I think Pac would start fast, Ray's greater natural size would be a big asset and show over the second half of the fight, and Ray wins a close UD.

I think Ray ANNIHILATES Manny. He's four inches taller, six inches longer, is a bigger puncher, is vastly superior technically and has similar handspeed. You gotta remember that Leonard was fighting ranked MIDDLEWEIGHTS before he fought Benitez.

Leonard KO4.

marbleheadmaui wrote:

captainanddew wrote:

With everyone talking about Floyd and Pac (understandably because the fight just fell apart) and then thinking about best fighters from different decades, makes me think about a great fantasy fight for Pac.

It is a fight we have discussed before but you can't help thinking how good it would be:

Pac vs. Sugar Ray Leonard; The handspeed on display would be unbelievable. I think Pac would start fast, Ray's greater natural size would be a big asset and show over the second half of the fight, and Ray wins a close UD.

I think Ray ANNIHILATES Manny. He's four inches taller, six inches longer, is a bigger puncher, is vastly superior technically and has similar handspeed. You gotta remember that Leonard was fighting ranked MIDDLEWEIGHTS before he fought Benitez.

Leonard KO4.

I'm not calling this one, however I doubt Ray would've stopped him. This is a great fight. I think Pac is on his way to dominating the WW division. After this is over, I think you'll sing a different tune where this fight is concerned.

2000-2010 Bernard Hopkins !

4445Frank wrote:

marbleheadmaui wrote:

captainanddew wrote:

With everyone talking about Floyd and Pac (understandably because the fight just fell apart) and then thinking about best fighters from different decades, makes me think about a great fantasy fight for Pac.

It is a fight we have discussed before but you can't help thinking how good it would be:

Pac vs. Sugar Ray Leonard; The handspeed on display would be unbelievable. I think Pac would start fast, Ray's greater natural size would be a big asset and show over the second half of the fight, and Ray wins a close UD.

I think Ray ANNIHILATES Manny. He's four inches taller, six inches longer, is a bigger puncher, is vastly superior technically and has similar handspeed. You gotta remember that Leonard was fighting ranked MIDDLEWEIGHTS before he fought Benitez.

Leonard KO4.

I'm not calling this one, however I doubt Ray would've stopped him. This is a great fight. I think Pac is on his way to dominating the WW division. After this is over, I think you'll sing a different tune where this fight is concerned.

Not a chance. Ray Leonard stood up to Tommy Hearns, Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran. Manny has no way of hurting him. Manny has no way of even getting near him. These are two vastly different sized men.

frank mannys luck fighting at welter may just run out.hes had 3 fights there.yes hes a great fighter but against ray i dont see a thing he can do to win..tommy hearns by the way annihilates him far more than ray does..i think marble will agree to that.hearns inside 3..pac has noo chance none against tommy.

dmar5143 wrote:

frank mannys luck fighting at welter may just run out.hes had 3 fights there.yes hes a great fighter but against ray i dont see a thing he can do to win..tommy hearns by the way annihilates him far more than ray does..i think marble will agree to that.hearns inside 3..pac has noo chance none against tommy.

Hearns? Good Lord! The only question there is does Manny last longer than Duan did?

It strikes me as more than a little unfair to compare Manny to ATG welters. What he is doing is remarkable, but to put him agains the immortal welters of maybe the division's greatest run (late 70's-early 80's) who were all tempered by one another seems a real reach. Manny is at most a lightweight. He's just fighting welters. The category of guys like leonard, Hearns, Cuevas, Benitez all are not only great fighters but BIG welters. A bridge too far is my guess.

It'd be kind of like asking Sal Sanchez to fight Aaron Pryor. No insult to Sal to say he gets smoked by the bigger great.