Boxing Lists of Where Fighters Were Ranked Over the Years! Are You A Fan of Them Or Not? Vote in Our Ringside Report POLL

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By David “The Journeyman” Vaught

Many boxing outlets release current rankings and lists of the best fighters from the past. Sometimes it’s the best welterweights of all time or it may be the greatest heavyweights ranked in order. You will see any number of “greatest of all time” rankings. These lists may be the top five or even the top one hundred. Another popular way of ranking fighters is a “pound for pound” list, where you try to put aside the differences in weight class and compare boxers across the board. It’s understandable that pound for pound lists are not very consistent, after all, the writer is partially relying on imagination to pit a lightweight against a heavyweight for example, and then give an opinion on who had the better career between the two. However, when looking at one weight class and making a list of all-time greats, you might expect fairly consistent results, but even when composed by some of the greatest boxing analysts, these lists often look drastically different.

What is the reason for these differences? Some boxing historians give more weight to one set of criteria, for example, quality of opposition and number of title defenses, while others will more highly credit longevity or knock out percentages. These rankings inevitably lead to debates because when boxing fans are not watching fights, we love to argue the point that “our fighter” should be at the top of that list. Some of the greatest bouts in history have taken place in the imagination of knowledgeable boxing fans, and that’s what is keeping us going at this time. So, while we wait for boxing events to open back up, stay safe and work on those lists!

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