who iyo is the greatest pound for pound boxer of all time??

Benny Lynch

Sugar Ray Leonard

I can only think of boxers that were in their pomp in my era and I cannot split Roberto Duran and Sugar Ray Leonard.

ali, pac man, carlos monzon, ?

Bruce Lee or Chunk Norris.

Sugar Ray Leonard.....

he competed from 1977 to 1997, winning world titles in five weight divisions; the lineal championship in three weight divisions, as well as the undisputed welterweight title. Leonard was part of "The Fabulous Four", a group of boxers who all fought each other throughout the 1980s, consisting of himself, Roberto Durán, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler.

Leonard

Hagler

billy hardy

What about Rocky Marciano?

Lennox Lewis, beat every Boxer he ever fought

I saw the Leonard/Hearns fight live, (Leicester Sq odeon)
Brilliant

Leonard, imo, best boxer ever.

Are You on drugs

Katie Taylor

Mayweather

Sugar Ray Leonard was my favourite though, pure class.

Probably rain

Sugar was sweet indeed

Mohammed Ali was asked once who was the best he had fought his answer was

Sonny Liston was the bravest
Joe Frazier was the toughest
Floyd Patterson was the best

Duran for me.

Duran was more a fighter than a boxer from all the footage I've seen, didn't he bow out of one fight saying No Mas because he didn't want any more?

Roberto Durán
Roberto-Duran-1994 (cropped).png
Durán before his 1994 fight with Vinny Pazienza
Statistics
Real name    Roberto Durán Samaniego
Nickname(s)   
Manos de Piedra
("Hands of Stone")
El Cholo
Rocky
Weight(s)   
Lightweight
Welterweight
Light middleweight
Middleweight
Super middleweight
Height    5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Reach    66 in (168 cm)
Nationality    Panamanian
Born    June 16, 1951 (age 67)
El Chorrillo, Panama
Stance    Orthodox
Boxing record
Total fights    119
Wins    103
Wins by KO    70
Losses    16
Roberto Durán Samaniego (born June 16, 1951) is a Panamanian former professional boxer who competed from 1968 to 2001. He held world championships in four weight classes: lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight, as well as reigns as the undisputed and lineal lightweight champion, and the lineal welterweight champion.[1] He is also the second boxer to have competed over a span of five decades, the first being Jack Johnson. Durán was known as a versatile, technical brawler and pressure fighter, which earned him the nickname of "Manos de Piedra" ("Hands of Stone") for his formidable punching power and excellent defense.[2]

Seem to remember his record had far fewer losses until late on in age

As many on here - I would go for Leonard but I do think the other Sugar Ray deserves an honourable mention

Leonard had the fastest hands i personally have ever seen. Add to that his concrete chin (sometimes forgotten) & the fact he was winning titles at different weights when some other world greats were about; then you have a boxer who travels the ages as a pugilist supreme
i also agree that the person he was named after was not too far behind him

Next Gen.

After beating Leonard in their first fight, Duran's record stood at 72-1. If he'd retired then, instead of fighting for another 20+ years, he'd have a much better case. The 'no mas' incident and the face-first KO by Hearns are unfortunately what he's possibly most remembered for.

Another Sugar Ray Leonard fan here.
Also, Roy Jones Jnr at his peak was like lightning.

Older fans always seem to go for Sugar Ray Robinson.

To stick up for Roberto Duran a little, and I don't know how true it is, but it was known that he liked to completely let himself go and party/lose conditioning massively after a big fight, and Sugar Ray Leonard knew of this so he rushed the rematch thru with the lure of big money.

'No Mas' was a result of Duran not being at his absolute best physically which you had to be beat Leonard, imo

roy jones jnr was awesome at his best. world champ from middleweight right up to heavyweight.boxed on miles to long but at his best unbeatable.

i's all very subjective i suppose. If you spoke to far better boxing experts than myself, there would probably be a staggered consensus for a few champs; & some many of us haven't really heard of

Someone who didn't get enough credit for whatever reason was Chris Eubank. He was nothing if not durable. Took a lot of punishment and kept coming back.

theres lots to be said for duran.

most thought leonard would take him first go, and remember
being surprised that my mates dad kept backing duran. given
that he was quite an expert on boxing punting back then. i
think he was getting around 5/2.

he reckoned you could always beat hype.

plenty boxers went on too long , risking health for another withdrawal
from the cash machine of former glories.



mike tyson was a fearsome specimen when under the control of d'amato
and then early days with rooney, but rather went the way of many having
sampled the good life and not having self control.

do you rank them over a period of time, over their whole career , or at their
peak?

probably gives you a few different answers

Leonard made the mistake of FIGHTING  Duran in the first fight, Leonard BOXED the second and Duran couldn't get close.

Colin Hart the boxing expert always says Sugar Ray Robinson was the best, think even Ali said so, don't really know about that tbh.

Chris Eubank had perhaps the hardest punch I've ever seen (pound for pound). His fights with Benn were a tremendous spectacle. But his heart wasn't in it after he crippled Watson.

Tyson was a fearsome opponent in his early years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d41GgTIFc9A

Fell in love with boxing, after watching this fight.

Well my Dad always used to say Joe Louis  - the Brown Bomber - id have to go with Ali in his prime but early Tyson was the most destructive, what a fight that would have been !

I like Duran, he is up there but there were plenty of tough guys around between the wars. I don't like Leonard as I was a Duran and Hearns man. No disputing his pugilistic ability, it is up there with the best but he robbed Hagler imho, got a lucky draw against Hearns and got beat up by Duran who in reality was a 5ft 7 in lightweight and had to fight the bigger men for the money! I can't see a 9st 9lbs Leonard standing up to Duran! Leonard ducked fighters and rematches.

I have heard that Ali could throw a jab as fast or faster than Robinson. He is without compare to me, a deity albeit with feet of clay ( no pun intended! ).

Roy Jones? drug cheat doesn't even come into it!

Mayweather...who cares!

Tyson? Plenty of animals around over the years. I sincerely believe Ali would have out thought him, boxed his ears off and destroyed him. We don't really see much of Ali in his prime 64-67 before they robbed him of his Title. If you have time watch the Cleveland Williams fight. Nothing could come close. He was faster than lightening and electricity! and a beautiful man inside and out.

Tyson probably doesn't even make top 10 heavyweights, let alone lb-for-lb.
I reckon that, as a bit of a boxing historian himself, he'd agree with this assessment!

Marvin Hagler and Julio Cesar Chavez were my favs, along with Tony Sibson.

Sibbo not in the same class as the other two though.

They said Ali would destroy Frazier as well, lost one and was about to retire in another before Frazier's team beat him to it, some also say he lost 2 or even all 3 of his fights v Norton. Hypothetical fight conclusions always amuse me, truth is nobody will ever really know, Tyson was never a tapping for points boxer and a yes Ali would have outpointed him but that's because the whole time Tyson would have been looking for the KO. It could have gone either way, with Tyson more than any other boxer all it would have taken is one of his lopping left hooks and it's lights out. But how people can say definitely it would have gone one way or another I don't know.

Salvador Sanchez gets a lot of critics votes, but sadly died too young to fulfill his destiny. I've heard Willie Pep spoken about in glowing terms by a lot of great judges; including Angelo Dundee. Henry Armstrong (no me neither) was eulogised by virtually everyone who saw him fight in the 30s & 40s. He held 3 world titles simultaneously at differing weights when there was only 8 all told.

Nobody else KO'd Ali, not sure why Tyson would be any different.

Sanchez's 'victims' include Danny "Little Red" Lopez twice, Ruben Castillo, Juan Laporte, Wilfredo Gomez and Azumah Nelson. Not a bad CV i think you'll agree

you mean Tyson wasn't any different to all the other fighters he fought?

Ali had been knocked down with punches in his career, like Cooper's left hook, now imagine Tyson instead having thrown that punch.

another boxer with an unbelievable chin was, Ali

Ali fought better boxers, tougher fighters and harder hitters than Tyson, none of whom KO'd him. But you and your 'don't like hypotheticals' has Tyson leaving him sparko?

i watched the UFC fighter Darren Till last weekend, got a chin like a flump

so Cooper was a harder and tougher fighter than Tyson? that's the point I'm making, Tyson's ultra aggresive style and power could have KO'd Ali, there is no foregone conclusion. Put Tyson in that position to have thrown that punch Henry threw and much less chance he'd be getting back up - in fact, Dundee bought more time by pretending something was wrong with Ali's glove, possibly he could have quit on his stool even then if he was only given the normal time between rounds.

when ali, fought cooper first time ali, was fighting at just under 15 stone, and was
a stone and a half heavier than cooper...

Of course Tyson *could've* KO'd Ali. Better fighters than Tyson didn't manage it, but the possibility remains.

Boxers much less talented than Ali managed to beat Tyson.

Sanchez v Gomez if you fancy a quick look:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r8f645aU2g

Homicide Hank is obviously up there but seeing as I have never seen him I could not really compare him to Duran who was the best of his generation (s)!  Gene Tunney only lost to Harry Greb once. As I said there were plenty of great little men we have never heard of including our very own Mighty Atom Jimmy Wilde probably the greatest boxer these Isles have ever produced.

Tyson fought in a very poor era of heavy weights. He was impressive but there were plenty who could bang as hard as him and take shots in the 60's and 70's.

There was no one like Ali! Frazier was his nemesis yes but he prevailed and Norton got the better of him yes but he didn't see Norton as a threat, not in his class. He just trained poorly and someone paid the judges, not his fault!

was 15 5 for first frazier fight and 15 2 for second frazier fight
and 16 stones for thrilla in manilla

All of Tyson's losses bar 1 were when he was a shadow of his former self - all after that 4 year inactive period after which he was fatter, slower and only motivated by money, as if in his prime Danny Williams or McBride would have beat him. He only lost to Douglas because he refused to take him seriously and was out partying all the time.

aj was 18 stone last time out

hes an impressive boxer for his size , lennox lewis was a big guy too, and a decent
boxer.

could ali have stood up to these guys?

pound for pound he must be better, but the sheer strength of these new heavies
is quite a task for a 15 stone guy like ali

they aint brainless bangers like foreman was in the rumble in the jungle

Ali had a similar period of inactivity. After he returned from this he beat the likes of Foreman & Frazier, as well as huge hitters like Lyle & Shavers. If you look at who Tyson actually beat, even during his prime, and you're struggling to come up with anyone. I guess he did hammer Berbick, who'd beaten Ali in the great man's last fight.

ali was showing signs of mental and physical decline
well before he fought berbick, tis a matter of shame he
was allowed anywhere near a ring during that part of
his career.

I know that - I picked Berbick deliberately. Of course Tyson has better names on his resume, but not remotely comparable to Ali's. I'll concede that Tyson wasn't the same after his comeback but the best two fighters he ever fought, Holyfield & Lewis, kicked his ass.

Tyson was always at his best when he was a very active fighter, fighting 15 fights in one year, 12 the next then Don King slowed him down and he started to lose his edge fighting far more infrequently, Holyfield got him after that 4 year out of the ring period, not even worth mentioning when he fought Lewis, at that point he was 15 years past it, he beat in his prime who was put in front on him and usually in the first round, regardless of oppoenents given his power and speed I don't see how anyone can just say he'd stand no chance.

I think Ali would have made them look stupid!

People have no idea how fast he was. The hands can't hit what the eyes can't see was funny but also true and if someone weighing in at 14 and a half stone hits you without you seeing the punch it is gonna hurt!

You guys must watch his fight against Cleveland " Big cat " Williams. As you will see Williams was a great athlete, he was tough, a good boxer and a heavy puncher. What's my name chump?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eL8Q6yFjFRY

and this is the full fight with Jim Jacobs on the mike. Weighing in at just over 15 stone and his 5th title defence of the year!

OMG what a fight and what a fighter!

I never said he stood no chance. Anyone who hits like Tyson always has a chance. He's just not a top 10 heavyweight, let alone in the pound-for-pound conversation.

Ali would have sucked Tyson in, slowed him down, wore him out, and toyed with his victim.



Cant believe no one is talking Alan Minter...........

Boom Boom!

Ali in his pomp against Tyson in his heyday, Ali would have boxed his ears off no question.

Lewis beat Tyson but Iron Mike was ell past his best by then. Lewis was the first of the modern boring tactical heavyweights - crab-like with a huge size - winning through sheer size and awkwardness.

For sheer talent what about Kirkland Laing

Kirkland Laing!

Top kwality boxer. Lightening reflexes and very fast twitch muscles. Beat Duran if I am not mistaken?

Very sad what has happened to him now I fear. Too much of the McCartney filterless.