OUR IMMORTALS
Bob Fitzsimmons- Only man to be champion at middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight. Legendary puncher famous for his "solar plexus punch." Originally a blacksmith with huge shoulders and chest and birdlike legs. Exceptional fighter into his forties. Often gave up 20+ pounds in fights.
Jack Dempsey- One of the icons of the roaring twenties along with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Charles Lindberg. Dempsey modernized how HWS fought. He took Jim Jeffries croutch and added a bobing weaving style to it to overcome a jab or reach disadvantage. He developed a great counter punch left hook and used combination punching better than previous heavys. Welcome to the birth of the modern era. Dempsey arguably without tv mass media intenet is still the biggest drawing card in boxing history. Overnight went from villian to hero with the first tunney fight. The first great HW slugger with a killer instinct.
Joe Walcott- The Barbados Demon is one of the sport's physical oddities. A 5'1 welterweight with a heavyweight's physique and a 20 inch neck. Welterweight king in the early 1900's. Powerful puncher who regularly fought light heavyweights and heavyweights. Fought a who's who from welter to light heavy. When he was 30 he accidentally shot his right hand and was never the same.
Jimmy Wilde- The man the flyweight division was created for. Champion during and after WWI. Often weighed in in street clothes and shoes. An absolutely lethal puncher who handled men 10-20 pounds heavier. Claimed over 400 fights and had 100 recorded KO's. Gene Tunney called him the greatest fighter he ever saw.
Harry Greb-The Pittsburgh Windmill. Defeated HOFers on over 20 occasions, over 200 wins, middleweight champion in the 1920's. Went 45-0 in 1919 alone. Only man to defeat Gene Tunney. Tommy Loughran once described fighting him as having a "boxcar full of boxing gloves fall on you." Probably the highest volume puncher in history. The last five years of his career he was blind in one eye.
Sam Langford- The finest fighter never to get a shot at a title. Excelled in every division from lightweight to heavy. A short boxer-puncher with a great punch. Over 200 wins and over 100 KO's. Defeated ATG Joe Gans at lighweight, drew with ATG Joe Walcott at welter, defeated ATG Stanley Ketchell at middle, defeated HOFer Philadelphia Jack O'Brien at light heavy and defeated three different HOF heavyweights.
Joe Gans-Lightweight champion in early 1900's. 150 wins. A boxing revolution. Technically did everything fighters do today. Fast and agile. Known in his own time as The Old Master. Defeated Battling Nelson in 42 rounds in the daytime in August in Nevada. Dies at 35 of Tuberculosis.
Abe Attel- Featherweight king before WWI. 20 title defenses in eight years as champion. Over 100 wins. Slick, defensively oriented boxer. Renowned for his stamina and being game. Did a fair bit of "business" when not defending his crown. A key player in Black Sox scandal. Brother Monte was the bantamweight king.
Tony Cansoneri- One of a handful of teenage boxing champions. Got a draw for the banatamweight crown, won the featherweight, junior lightweight and lightweight crowns in the 1920's and 1930's. Over 100 wins including 15 over HOFers. Fought with his chin out and his hands at his waste and was fast enough to make it work. An exceedingly tough man. Despite over 20 fights with HOF fighters was KO'd only once in 170 fights, his last one.
Henry Armstrong- At a time of eight divisions and eight belts, Homicide Hank held the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight crowns simultaneously. A fearless, extraordinarily fit punching machine. He'd put his head on the foe's chest and keep swinging until the other guy fell down. Defended welterweight crown a record 18 times. Ten wins over HOFers and 150 overall.
Eder Jofre- Perhaps the greatest bantamweight of all time and certainly Brazil's greatest fighter. A master technician with an excellent punch he cleaned out the bantamweights in the 1960's. His only losses came in two tight decisions to the great Fighting Harada in Tokyo. After a three year retirement, Jofre returned, went 25-0 and won the featherweight championship before finally retiring for good.
Barney Ross- One of the sport's most colorful lives. Rabbi father killed in holdup, worked for Al Capone, boxed to get money to get orphaned family together again, won Silver Star on Guadalcanal, got hooked on heroine due to battle wounds, kicked habit and ran guns to Israel. In the ring he was a master workman who did everything well, nothing extraordinarily well. Lightweight, junior welter and welter champion in the 1930's. Never KO'd in 80 fights while totalling eleven title defenses. Famous trilogy with Jimmy McLarnin.
Benny Leonard- The Ghetto Wizard. Lightweight champion for seven years during perhaps greatest lightweight era, just following WWI. One of the master technicians the sport has known. He stayed in the pocket and counterpunched and was as efficient as anyone in history. Over 180 wins of which 20+ were over HOFers. The greatest Jewish fighter of all time and perhaps the greatest lightweight.
Mickey Walker- Welterweight champion of the 1920's. Not only dominated the welters butat only 5'7" with a 67" reach became middleweight king, defeated HOF light heavyweights and even got a draw with HOF heavyweight Jack Sharkey. An assault rifle with gloves, rugged and impossibly tough. Over 100 wins. He fought famed featherweight Kid Chocoloate and Max Schemling. How many men have done something similar?
Gene Tunney- A thinking man's champion. Long, great jab, good chin, good puncher. Took the heavyweight crown from Jack Demspey but was probably a better light heavy. Defeated a series of HOF light heavies and engaged in five epic fights with Harry Greb. Only loss to Greb. Noriously intelligent and thoughtful man for a fighter.
Tommy Loughran- The Philadelphia Phantom. Light heavyweight champion in the 1920's. Arguably the most educated left hand in history. A beautiful boxer. Over 100 wins tenh of which were over HOFers. Fought a who's who of the 1920's.
Joe Louis- Heavyweight champion for twelve years with 25 title defenses. He defeated everyone there was to defeat. Perhaps the single most important fighter in history and the longest reigning champion. Everything he did in the ring was understated except his punching. Perhaps the greatest puncher the sport has seen and likely the finest finisher. If Louis hurt you the end was near. Defeated six former or future heavyweight champions.
Billy Conn- Excelled at middle, light heavy and heavy. Light heavy champion. Slick, fast and technically very sound. Defeated HOFers on seven occasions and led Joe Louis after 12 rounds despite giving up 25 pounds. Louis KO'd Conn in the 13th. Career was effectively ended at 23 by WWII.
Rocky Marciano- He was told he was too old to start a boxing career. To small, to short, to light and too awkward. Every phyical measurement you can think of he was at a disadvantage. What they could not measure was his heart, his courage, his determination, his spirit, his humble confidence, his will to win, his stanima, endurance, amd discipline. What they did witness per Charlie Goldmans words is "This guy can punch. Punch like no one Ive ever seen before." He perfected dempseys bobing and weaving style. Cut the ring off better then anyone else and transforemed a clumbsy guy to a very underated athletic fighter with great balance. A non stop punching machine who never tired and became boxings first undefeated untied retired champion. 49-0 43 kos became his legacy. Its not the 49 wins but how he won. With a crushing destructive force of power and determination. He is one of the very few boxers to be loved and respectedby the public, his boxing peers and his oponents. He was also one of the few fighters who truly was image wise a great credit to the fight game..an immortal and a legend.
Sugar Ray Robinson- By acclimation the pound for pound greatest fighter who ever lived. Defeated HOFers on 23 occasions with over 170 total, champion at both welter and middle. At the time of his first retirement he was 121-3-1. A championship quality fighter when he was 20 and when he was forty. An extraordinary puncher, mover, technician and thinker. If one were designing a fighter? It would be Ray Robinson.
Willie Pep- Generaly acclaimed by many boxing historians as the second greatest fighter ever behind Robinson. The song poetry in motion describes Pep. Like Robinson he litterly was unbeatable in his prime before a near fatal airplane crash. The greatest footwork and boxer of all time. No one comes close. No one. Great knowledge of distance balance defense he mastered to perfection every aspect of the sweet science. He could changes directions immediately without breaking stide and with fluidity. He could stop on a dime, corner him up against the ropes and in a split second hes tapping you on the sholder. He excaped and you were now cornered. A piston like jab 3-4 5 in a super fast accurate way. His instints and anticipation perhaps also is unmatched. He knew every trick in the book and excecuted so well that you took the brillance of pep for granted.
Archie Moore - Voted the Light Heavyweight Fighter of the Century and for good reason. Had to wait till he was an old man to finally get his deserving title shot. Defeated Joy Maxim in 1952. He would hold the title for a decaade and would give the title up in 1962 losing his recognition of champion. The All Time Knockout King with 131 Knockouts in his career. Master of the shell defense that Mayweather uses (called the Mongoose after him). Career record of 185-23-11. Also trained many great champions. Including Ali and Foreman.
Carlos Monzon- The playboy middleweight and Argentina's greatest fighter. Went unbeaten in his last 76 fights while defending the middleweight crown fourteen times. 4-0 against HOFers. Sometimes he looked slow and awkward but when Escopeta saw the opening here came the combinations that led to over 80 wins and 60 KO's.
Ezzard Charles- Though he never got a title shot arguably the greatest light heavy of all time. Won heavyweight crown and defended eight times. Over ninety wins from middle to heavy with twenty of them over HOFers. A technical wizard in an an all-time athlete's body.
Manuel Ortiz- This bantamweight of the 1940's could do it all. He had almost 100 wins, over 50 KO's and defended the bantamweight crown an astounding nineteen times across two title reigns that lasted eight years. One of those spectacularly deceptive records. he had 12 losses in the first two years of his career, ten in his last 20 fights and in between he went 58-5-2 while engaging in 23 title fights.
Sandy Saddler- Featherweight champion of the 1950's. Once described as looking like a collection of pipe cleaners. Too skinny. But he punched like a middleweight. One of the few men with over 100 KO's. Conqueror of the great Pep. As tough and dirty as they come. Stopped only once in 150+ fights, his second match. Forced to retire at 29 after a car accident.
Charley Burley- One of the great fighters to never get a title crack. Welter and middle of the 1940's. At one point the #1 contender in both divisions at the same time. A technical wizard. Over 80 wins with 50 KO's. Twice defeated Archie Moore. Of his 12 losses eight were to HOFers. Ray Robinson wanted no part of him.
Muhammad Ali- Faced the toughest list of foes of any heavyweight in history. Defeated 33 ranked fighters and went 11-3 against HOFers. A three time champion. A boxing revolution. The first big and highly mobile heavyweight.
Roberto Duran - Manos de Piedra one of the greatest lightweights of all-time. Also welter champion. His win over Ray Leonard is one of the most prestigious in ring annals. Won 50% of the 154 and 160 crowns. An enormously skilled ring savage and a nearly mythical puncher. Over 100 wins and 70 KO's.
Alexis Arguello - Perhaps the greatest 130 of them all. Nicaragua's best fighter. Champion at 126, 130 and 135. Extraordinary puncher with 65 KO's in 90 fights. Tall, long and could not be discouraged. The definitive stalk and destroy terminator. Routinely cut foes. Lost one of boxing's greatest.
Michael Spinks - Emerged as the best of a light heavyweight era that produced four HOFers. A giant of a light heavy, one punch KO power with either hand. First reigning light heavy champion to win heavyweight crown.
Ray Leonard- Welter and middle champion of the 1980's. The biggest box office draw since Muhammad Ali. Tall, long, big puncher, fast hands, slick. The only thing he lacked was durability. His four biggest wins Wilfredo Benitez, Roberto Duran and Tmmy Hearns all in their primes and a win over a declining Marvin Hagler after having fought once in five years are as impressive as any four wins any fighter in history has.
Tommy Hearns- Best remembered for gallant losses to Hagler and Leonard. Should instead be remembered for destroying Pipino Cuevas and Roberto Duran and outboxing legendary boxer Benitez. Freakishly tall, freakishly powerful. Beat top fighters from 147 to 175.
Marvin Hagler- Dominant middleweight of the 1980's. Of his 12 title defenses, eleven were against top 5 ranked men and eleven were KO's. Southpaw with a deceptively long reach, an excellent boxer and a relentless puncher. The warrior's warrior.
Ricardo Lopez- The greatest of the 105's. 25 title defenses and the second longest reigning boxing champion of all time. The perfect stand up technician. Want to teach someone to box? Start with Ricardo Lopez videos. Perfect balance, excellent footwork, exceptional ring IQ and one punch power with either hand. To avenge only draw of career, he allowed Bufalo Alvarez to come in two divisions above contract for their second fight. An exemplary warrior.
Pernell Whitaker - One of best defensive wizzes of all time. Hell maybe the greatest ever. Had a way of dodging, dipping, and ducking out of harms way while countering with a great southpaw jab. The first undisputed unified Lightweight Champion since Roberto Duran. He seeked out all the belt holders an ddominated them especially Greg Haugen and Juan Nazario. Made ATG Azumah Nelson look like an amateur, as well with Julio Cesar Chavez recieving the worst draw of all time. Moved up and won titles and Jr. Welter, Welterweight and Jr Middleweight. Defeated Buddy McGirt twice. Lost close decision to Oscar De La Hoya. Didnt really lose a match until he was 33. Final record 40-4-1. One of the best amateurs ever as well.
Julio Cesar Chavez- Mexico's greatest. The most accomplished 140 in history. Linear champion at 135 and 140 with a mid-boggling eighteen defenses. Over 25 wins over ranked fighters. An excellent boxer, a fearsome bodypuncher, relentlessly aggressive and a titanic chin. Over 100 wins and 85 knockouts.
Manny Pacquiao- The only active fighter on our list. Only four time lineal champion in history. Lineal crowns at 112, 126, 130 and 140. One of few fighters in history to excel across five of the original divisions or ten of today's. The others are men like Langford, Walker and Mclarnin. An extraordinary athlete and incredible combination puncher who made stunning technical advances late in his career. This southpaw is arguably Asia's greatest fighter and he has perhaps 6-7 wins over likely HOFers.
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