Last night, Liz & I watched an appalling program on ESPN. It's called "Who's #1" and in this episode they ranked the Top 20 Boxers of all time. They were drastically wrong of course, so here is my enlightened and fair list...
1. Muhammad Ali- Faster than Robinson, stronger than Louis, craftier than Moore. He not only climbed the mountain, he stayed there.
2. "Sugar" Ray Robinson- Words simply cannot describe the artistic brilliance, physical perfection and heights of achievement this man rose to. Miles Davis in boxing gloves.
3. Archie Moore- Proof that no matter how dire the circumstances a man can always rise above. Archie won 194 (thank about it, 194) fights, and did not win his first title until he was 39. He held it for 8 years. Posessed an all encomapssing intellect. A man who was simply beyond the beyond.
4. John L. Sullivan- The first Heavyweight Champion, and the man who created the template for the modern fighter.
5. Joe Louis- Yes, certainly a deserving American icon. What counts though, is he cleaned out the division more comprehensively than anyone before or since, knocked out almost all his competition, held the title longer than anyone in any weight division (11 years), and had more defenses of said title than anyone in any division (26).
6. Henry Armstrong- Held 3 titles simultaneously. No one else has ever come close.
7. Julio Cesar Chavez- The model of the ultimate Mexican fighter. Won his first 87 fights.
8. Bob Fitzsimmons- All modern fighters owe their careers and vision to this man. Quite possibly the most underrated and revolutionary fighter to ever live.
9. Dick Tiger- Fierce, passionate and fascinating. A tribute to the strength of the will.
10. Willie Pep- A master of fistic brilliance, an amazing combination of power, speed and mental gymnastics.
11. George Foreman- Destroyed everyone up until Ali. Re-won title at 45, 20 years later. It speaks for itself.
12. Jack Johnson- What Frederick Douglas was to slavery, Jack Johnson was to boxing. A man who's mental gifts fed into his reinvention of all known boxing strategies.
13. "Sugar" Ray Leonard- Quite simply a genius, and easily a true master of his craft. The man beat every major fighter of his time, in an endless variety of styles, all topped off with his boundless charisma.
14. Gene Tunney- A massive step on the evolutionary chart of the Heavyweights. The first to combine fluid motion with precise punching combinations, this seriously underrated man not only carried his title with dignity, but paved the way for Ali.
15. Marvin Hagler- The human melting point between aesthetic perfection and intuitive inspiration. A man of greatness who fought with every molecule of his Self.
16. Roberto Duran- "Hands Of Stone", never has a fighter had a more fitting nickname. An indomitable spirit who's stamina allowed him to fight for decades.
17. Carlos Monzon- Exclude for a moment Monzon's obvious demons. Focus on where he shined as a human, and very few shined brighter. A Middleweight of incredible gifts and stamina as evidenced by his 14 title defences.
18. Jack Dempsey- A true legend, a truly incredible fighter. The man who blasted through conventions are invented himself as a fierce individual with the ability to make grown men fearful. His fight with Luis Firpo alone justifies his greatness. Had as many as 125 unrecorded knockouts.
19. Bernard Hopkins- A man of eternal inner strength and reserve. A man who refused to be compromised by the business and politics of his time. A man who's craft improved and deepened the longer he fought. A man who's discipline never wavered. Without any doubt, the best fighter of his generation.
20. Ezzard Charles- The single most overlooked and undervalued Heavyweight Champion, ever. It's simple, he was one of the greatest Light Heavyweights ever, and once he became Heavyweight, reigned at the very top his division fighting glorious bouts with Jersey Joe Walcott. Ezzard was an entirely new breed of fighter, who made angles, understood every nuance of the ring and fought with is mind as much as his fists.
The Next Ten (because 20 is Way too few)
21. Tony Zale
22. Stanley Ketchel
23. Bob Foster
24. Lennox Lewis
25. Sandy Saddler
26. Larry Holmes
27. Jose Torres
28. Rocky Marciano
29. Kid Gavilan
30. Carmen Basilio
27 Honorable Mentions And/Or Personal Favorites
Harry Wills
Ron Lyle
Earnie Shavers
Beau Jack
Jake LaMotta
Aaron Pryor
Rocky Graziano
Joe Frazier
Roy Jones Jr.
Arturo Gatti
Klondike
Luis Firpo
Roland La Starza
Ray Mercer
Thomas Hearns
Dwight Qawi
Marco Antonio Barerra
Michael Spinks
Jack Root
Billy Conn
Primo Carnera
Sonny Liston
Winky Wright
Gene Fullmer
Wilfred Benitez
James Toney
Joey Maxim
15 comments:
you should send this to espn.
I should. And teach them a thing or two!
not sure if my comments are welcomed here or not.. and it was a complete accident that I ended up here (I was clearing out my bookmarks and left clicked instead of right clicking.. all beside the point though.) I saw the boxer names and decided to read. I caught that show too Rich. I like the "Miles Davis in boxing gloves" comparison. That really works for Sugar Ray.
Thanks Michael! It was either Miles or Duke Ellington, but I thought Miles worked better.
Yes yr welcome here. Come all without, come all within. No formats, no sponsorship. It's all very groovy. For real.
Oh, I'm still waiting for the American Apparel ads to show up on the sidebar.
Oh, give it time. Theyre preparing new ads with YR face pasted in over all the models.
While reading the Japaneese constitution, yuk yuk yuk.
Yeah, my going rate for modeling was too high for them these days, so they're resorting to photoshop. Otherwise they'd have to cut some benefits.
yeah totally.
so tim, are we using the stage names for the first cd or real names? and if we are using stage names, what the hell are they? i can't remember.
stage names?!?!? please indulge me...
whatvereer you think, (wo)man. whatveer seems best with yr scheme atics and layout.
you don't remember making up stage names with rich? alright... i'll use real names. i'll post the covers when i get home and you can yay or nay them.
I really dont remember. well i remember some sort of chatter going on before the session--but I was real nervous and excited at that point, so...
anyway-def put the pictures up whenever you can--I hear theyre pretty great.
so where's the pics????
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