10. Khaosai Galaxy
An all action super flyweight phenomenon with crushing power in either hand, Galaxy made 16 defences of the WBA title during a seven-year reign to cement his status as one of the fight games premiere little men.
While Khaosai was a decidedly aggressive fighter of the ‘perpetual motion’ variety he had a deceptively ‘cute’ defence and could manipulate an opponent on the inside or lay back from shots in the manner of a vintage Roberto Duran.
An inconsequential early career loss to an obscure namesake, Sark Galaxy, in 1981 saw him go undefeated for the next ten years before finishing with a log of 47-1.
9. Aaron Pryor
Posterity will remember ‘The Hawk’ as an under achiever who pressed the self destruct button when the world lay at his feet but the brilliance of his prime and extraordinary fighting attributes allow him to squeak home here.
While there have been fighters who campaigned in and around the 10 stone mark with a better body of work, Cincinnati’s finest boxing export might just have been the greatest light welterweight world champion in the history of the division.
A veritable whirlwind with unorthodox skills and stylings that made him extremely hard to ‘figure out’, Pryor was also a concussive puncher who could beat you with volume or power, as 35 KO’s from 39 victories duly attest.
Annexing the WBA 140 pound title from Antonio Cervantes in 1980, it is a pair of wins over the great Alexis Arguello that truly define Aaron’s legacy inside the squared circle, with their first encounter in Miami, 1982, is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest fights of any decade.
Had he not fallen prey to the fashionable U.Sinner city epidemic of crack cocaine perhaps this gloved ‘bird of prey’ would have nailed down the mega fights he craved vs Hector Camacho and Sugar Ray Leonard and become greater still. Without the self imposed narcotic handicap, he’d have taken some beating.
That much is certain.
8. Eusebio Pedroza
Simply an all time great 126 pounder and another masterfully complete fighter in this rarified ensemble. The Panamanian maestro’s rise was neither meteoric or without due setbacks, most notably a 2nd round KO loss to Alfonso Zamora for the WBA bantamweight crown in 1976.
Nonetheless, from April 1978 to June 1985, Pedroza ruled as WBA featherweight king, making a record 19 successful defences of his claim to primacy. Aesthetically, a stylist and a cutie, Eusebio was equally comfortable mixing it up on the inside and also garnered a reputation as one of the most subtly dirty fighters of the colour TV era.
He beat top flight contender such as Ruben Olivares, Juan Laporte plus Rocky Lockridge and threw the famous if widely misunderstood ‘bolo’ punch as well anyone since Kid Gavilán.
There was nothing not to like.
7. Michael Spinks
While sadly remembered by the bulk of modern fans for a dismal overpaid cameo vs a ferociously peak Mike Tyson, ‘The Jinx’ was almost certainly one the three finest light heavyweight champions of all time, alongside Archie Moore and Bob Foster.
Olympic middleweight champion in 1976, Spinks beat top contested like Yaqui Lopez and Marvin Jonson en route to a world light heavyweight crown that he defended ten times. His triumphs over Eddie Mustafa Muhammad and Dwight Qawi alongside the unprecedented upset victory over an admittedly faded Larry Holmes to become the first 175 pound king to annex the ‘Richest Prize In Sport’ ensure that Michael makes this cut.
And he makes it in preference to his more commercially famous rival, regardless of the drubbing he received in June 1988.
6. Julio Cesar Chavez
It’s hard to argue with the consensus view that Julio was the greatest Mexican fighter of all until further notice. A wonderful pressure fighter in the classic Latin mould with hugely underrated subtlety and finesse.
An early career DQ loss that was hastily overturned notwithstanding, ‘JC Superstar’ never lost in the 80s, racking up 58 stoppages in 67 fights. Even allowing for the inevitable ‘Mexican road sweepers’, wins over Rocky Lockridge, Roger Mayweather, Juan LaPorte, Edwin Rosario and Jose Luís Ramirez certainly justify his distinguished placement in what might have been boxing’s premier decade.
Perhaps the most quintessentially perfect box-fighter besides Roberto Duran.
5. Thomas Hearns
The great Angelo Dundee steadfastly believed the Detroit ‘Hitman’ might have been the best fighter of his illustrious generation bar none were it not for relative frailties of balance and elite level durability.
A masterful boxer and devastating banger for the annals, the freakishly tall welterweight of Tommy’s initial incarnation would have been an abject nightmare for any 147 pounder in history, as he proved to Sugar Ray Leonard in their 1981 super fight at Caesars.
The first man to win world titles at four weights and a gallant loser in what many regard as the greatest fight of the era, the Motor City marvel would surely be placed higher still in a less talent rich decade of fisticuffs.
4. Salvador Sanchez
35 years on, it seems astonishing that Sanchez was only 23 when he left this mortal coil whilst crashing his Porsche 982 on the federal highway in Central Mexico one August morning.
A consummate ring mechanic, ‘Chava’ was stylish and flamboyant or clinically savage in equal measure. Despite the brevity of summers before tragedy struck, he amassed a record of 44-1-1 , with 32 opponents failing to see the final bell.
Victories over Juan La Porte, Wilfredo Gomez, and a young Azumah Nelson cement his niche amongst the finest featherweights in history with the poignant caveat that we will never know how great he might have become.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkgjL2ERY8U
3. Larry Holmes
Often named as the most underrated heavyweight of all time, the ‘Easton Assassin’ is not remotely under appreciated by anyone who knows a left hook from a fish hook.
It is well documented that a young Larry Holmes initially honed his craft as a sparring partner for Muhammad Ali in the early 70s at Deer Lake, Pennsylvania.
When he became the finished article, legendary guru, Eddie Futch, even opined that ‘Larry actually had a little more than Al’.
The above is clearly contentious but there is no doubt that Holmes was the full package in his vintage, with movement reminiscent of a young Ali, allied to a more hurtful dig, cast iron chin and a left jab that is ordinarily lauded as the best in heavyweight history.
Above and beyond these attributes, Holmes had the heart and hallmark of a champion.
It came in handy when he was nailed with what Mills Lane referred to as ‘the hardest single shot I’ve ever seen’ vs Earnie Shavers in their 1978 rematch. Rising from ashes in Round 7, the defending champion punched the ‘Acorn’ to a standstill, winning by TKO in the 11th.
Seven years at the top, 21 defences and 48 consecutive wins, until Michael Spinks sensationally upset the apple cart, underline his position here.
2. Marvin Hagler
Arguably the greatest middleweight who ever lived, it is equally plausible that Marvin was the most versatile fighter in Boxing’s rich pantheon.
Often and erroneously regarded as an aggressive brawler, Hagler was actually a sublime, ambidextrous counterpuncher, fluent in either stance and a great puncher with a historically granite jaw.
After serving the kind of dangerous apprenticeship that simply doesn’t happen in the fight game anymore, ‘Marvelous’ ripped the undisputed middleweight crown from Alan Minter’s stricken head in his 54th professional fight, going on to reign supreme for the next seven years and defending his coveted crown a dozen times.
His hunger and dedication to the end were scarcely paralleled.
1. Sugar Ray Leonard
(No, Mike Tyson doesn’t quite make the grade.)
One of the greatest fighters from any era despite the relative brevity of his stats in comparison to confederates like Robinson and Duran, Leonard had it all. A sublimely graceful boxer in the mould of Ali but with a spite and ruthlessness that was seldom seen in The Greatest during ‘office hours’.
The only incumbent of the fabled ‘Fab Four’ to defeat all of the other three and he did it with a swagger and aplomb that recalled the hey day of the legendary predecessor, Ray Robinson, from whom he took his lofty sobriquet.