Travis Fleming’s Top 25 Fighter’s of the Last 25 Years
By Travis Fleming (Who else would it be by?)
I’ve been watching a lot of the early nineties fights that I missed lately, and it dawned on me that we are now a quarter century away from 1990! As unbelievable as it seems, it’s been 25 years since an exhausted Meldrick Taylor was knocked down in the final seconds of a bout he was winning convincingly against the great Julio Cesar Chavez. Taylor managed to get to his feet, but referee Richard Steele determined that he was not able to continue and waved off the fight with Taylor only needing two more seconds of consciousness to win the biggest fight of his career.
From 1990 to 2015, there have been some incredible all time great fighters, and many fights that will go down as some of the greatest in boxing history. In honor of the excellent talent that has blessed this last quarter century of boxing, I have composed a list of my top 25 fighters of the last 25 years.
Note that only fights that have taken place after 1990 will be considered, which is why several great fighters who fought into the nineties, but had the bulk of their success in the eighties, are not represented on this list such as Mike Tyson, Roberto Duran, Hector Camacho, SR. and Khaosai Galaxy.
The top ten was easy to come up with, but ordering the top ten was a massive headache. I believe any of the top four fighters listed could be number one, and I wouldn’t argue with anyone who puts Julio Cesar Chavez, Lennox Lewis, or Evander Holyfield ahead of Manny Pacquiao. The final five on the list was by far the most difficult to choose. It meant cutting some of my favorite fighters like Johnny Tapia and Winky Wright, both of whom I initially thought would be shoe-ins before analyzing the sheer number of excellent fighters since 1990. As a result, I have also included a list of fighters that just missed the cut, and I would have no issue with someone having any of those names above any of the last five fighters on my list.
It’s not perfect, a case can be made for many changes, but all in all, I feel it’s a fair representation of boxing’s greatest fighters post-1990. Feel free to leave any comments, suggestions, changes in the comment section below. Enjoy!
1. Bernard Hopkins, 55-7-2 32 KO’s
2. Floyd Mayweather, JR., 48-0 26 KO’s
3. Pernell Whitaker, 40-4-1 17 KO’s
4. Roy Jones, JR., 61-8 44 KO’s
5. Manny Pacquiao, 57-6-2 38 KO’s
6. Julio Cesar Chavez, 107-6-2 86 KO’s
7. Lennox Lewis, 41-2-1 32 KO’s
8. Evander Holyfield, 44-10-2 29 KO’s
9. Juan Manuel Marquez, 56-7-1 40 KO’s
10. Joe Calzaghe, 46-0 32 KO’s
11. Marco Antonio Barrerra, 67-7 44 KO’s
12. Erik Morales, 52-9 36 KO’s
13. James Toney, 78-9-3 46 KO’s
14. Ricardo Lopez, 51-0-1 38 KO’s
15. Shane Mosley, 47-9-1 39 KO’s
16. Oscar De La Hoya, 39-6 30 KO’s
17. Mike McCallum, 49-5-1 36 KO’s
18. Wladimir Klitschko, 64-3 53 KO’s
19. Michael Moorer, 52-4-1 40 KO’s
20. Andre Ward, 27-0 14 KO’s
21. Ivan Calderon, 35-3-1 6 KO’s
22. Michael Nunn, 58-4 37 KO’s
23. Felix Trinidad, 42-3 35 KO’s
24. Miguel Cotto, 39-4 32 KO’s
25. Kostya Tzsyu, 31-2 25 KO’s
Just missed:
Dariusz Michalczewski, 48-2 38 KO’s
Sergio Martinez, 51-3-2 28 KO’s
Terry Norris, 47-9 31 KO’s
Nonito Donaire, 34-3 22 KO’s
Orlando Canizales, 50-5-1 37 KO’s
Humberto Gonzalez, 43-3 30 KO’s
Chris Eubank, SR., 45-5-2 23 KO’s
Johnny Tapia, 59-5-2 30 KO’s
Winky Wright, 51-6-1 25 KO’s
