Ahead of his career defining undisputed clash with Terence Crawford on July 29, Errol Spence Jr has revealed who he believes is the greatest fighter of all time.
The match up is one of the most long-awaited and hotly anticipated in the sport of boxing, as the pair have been top dogs in the welterweight division for the past five years and are regarded as pound for pound level fighters.
A victory for Spence would see him ranked as the best welterweight of this generation and all but guarantee him a spot in the Hall of Fame.
Should that be the case, he’ll join some of the most influential sporting names – including who he considers the GOAT. When asked by Showtime Boxing who he holds in that spot, he picked Muhammad Ali.
“I think Muhammad Ali is the GOAT, for what he stood for both outside and inside of boxing.
Still by far boxing’s biggest icon and even nicknamed ‘The Greatest,’ there aren’t many who would argue too strongly with Spence’s view that Ali stands alone atop the all time rankings.
From his stunning win over the feared Sonny Liston to burst onto the world scene, an epic trilogy with Joe Frazier that produced arguably the greatest fight of all time and, when thought to be past his best, upsetting the bookmakers’ odds to defeat the fearsome George Foreman in the baying Kinshasa heat; Ali truly boasts a legacy like no other heavyweight since.
Ali refused to serve in the Vietnam war, causing him to be stripped of his boxing license and lose out on four years in the prime of his career. His actions outside of the ring continued to have repercussions throughout America, and he’s often noted as having changed the nation’s landscape.
He’s regarded as not just an influential sportsman, but one of the most powerful famous figures in history