I'm not really sure how to gauge average and below average. I guess since we talk about only a small amount of fighters that really are far better than the great majority of boxers out there. I'll try then: Average: Danny Williams, Buster Mathis Jr. Below Average: Peter McNeeley
Exactly. Very subjective. I like your average choices. They're the "gatekeeper" types. Unlikely to accomplish any big wins, but won't completely tank it either. McNeeley doesn't belong even on a below average list. That's about as a manufactured opponent as you can get. I'm surprised he wasn't introduced as coming from "parts unknown".
Yeah...McNeeley was really, really below average. Butterbean was also "below average" and he handled McNeeley without any trouble. There might need to be another category or two under "below average" for the complete no-hopers.
Ask yourself this, could Saad EVER have moved up to Cruiser, and arguably beaten a young Holy? The answer is FUCK NO! And Qawi went 15 rounds with a prime Spinks, and although he got soundly schooled, he had his moments here and there, and made Spinks fight a rather cautious fight. Spinks would have beaten the dog shit outta Saad. Qawi was just a better fighter than Saad. Better chin, stronger, MUCH better defense, overall more sophisticated.
That weight shit is nonsense LEMME ASK YOU SOMETHING! Could Salvador Sanchez have moved up to Welterweight and won titles???? Manny Pacquiao did! You know what that means?? PAC KO3 SANCHEZ at 126!!! Marvin Hagler stayed at middleweight forever and shit-kicked people for two decades... James Toney went from middleweight to heavyweight and won some and lost some... Hagler is the greater fighter That shit means NOTHING to me Your hyperbole about Saad-Spinks aside (Qawi was totally outclassed and more than a little gunshy after tasting some real leather... what a performance), we are left with a bunch of shit about how much more sophisticated he was... resumes favor Saad by A LOT... You seem to think the guy was Mickey Ward or something... Qawi gets more love for what he might have done than any Light Heavy in history, like he's this indestructible, unhittable beast with a tungsten chin... it's complete bullshit... Why is his chin better than Saad's? Because he didn't fight as many good fighters? Didn't take anywhere near the same amount of punishment? Maybe wasn't willing to do so? Let's see how good Qawi's chin is walking through bombs 4 or 5 years running like Saad did... You can't do more to a guy than several of Saad's opponents did from 77-80 and yet none of them could beat him, he always took them out, one after another... It's a fallacy that flaws prevent greatness and that a relative lack of them assures it... wins + comp > everything
Generational: Roberto Duran, Henry Armstrong All-Timer: Alexis Arguello Great: Marco Antonio Barrera, Salvador Sanchez, Azumah Nelson, Oscar De La Hoya, Juan Manuel Marquez Very Good: Joe Calzaghe, Marvin Johnson, Winky Wright, Fernando Vargas, Marlon Starling, Ike Quartey, Terry Norris Good: Shambra Mitchell Pretty Good: Victor Ortiz, Andre Berto Average: Emanuel Augustus, Micky Ward Below Average: Eric Crumble (way way below avg)
The centurions: Befuddling and making a generational quit like a bitch in the middle of a round: Ray Leonard Beating the shit out of a generational and making him quit on the canvas: Tommy Hearns Beating the shit out of generational's shoulder until he quit like a bitch: Pat Lawlor Beating the shit out of a generational until he quit in the corner: William Joppy
I'm not even sure a fighter as shitty as McNeely deserves to be discussed in terms of "prime". I think "Shitty", "Less Shitty" or "More Shitty" would be more accurate.
VERY Solid List, Overall, but REED Would Bump the 2 Names he Highlighted DOWN a Notch... REED:hammert:
Legendary: juan manuel marquez, leo gamez gratist ov are tymes: guillermo rigondeaux, erik morales 3 time champ: randall bailey average: takenori hatakeyama below average: hector camacho jr never was: karl hegman worthless creep: carl froch
Cuban Stink.0 - Guillermo Rigondull, Erislazy Lara, Joel Casamyheadbutt, Yuriorkis Gambore-a Cuban Butterbeans (4 round phenoms) - Teofilo Stevenson, Felix Savon Cuban's who wished he never called that other guy a faggot - Benny "Kid" Paret Cubans with fucked up Mullets - Jorge Luis Gonzales Cubans who made Pernell Whitaker look like Julian Jackson - Diosbelys Hurtado Cubans who could have been "SOMEBODY", but capitalism made them fat and/or lazy instead - Juan Carlos Gomez, Nino Valdes Fuck You, I'm not a Racist Xenophobic Asshole :nono: - Kid Gavilan, Kid Chocolate, Sugar Ramos, Jose Napoles, Florentino Fernandez, Luis Manuel Rodriguez
Me either... Barrera was a tremendous fighter but Sal was just flat out better... I wouldn't favor any of the 2000s big three from Mexico over Sanchez, or even Pedroza for that matter... They'd all be competitive but I wouldn't bet on any of them
agREED... BETTER than Merely "Good", but Tooooooooooo INCONSISTENT to Definitively Be Labeled "Great"... REED:hammert:
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Personally, I'd slightly (and with respect) slightly amend Mister REED's definitions: All time greats - Clay, Robinson, Wilde, Leonard, Louis...(add as preferred) Generational (guys who dominate their era but not history) - Mayweather, Pac, Johnson (arguable, could be ATG), Duran, Jones, Forster, Charles, Lewis, Tyson Great - Frazier, Arguello, Klit (I know), Hagler, Hearns, Holmes, Foreman, Prior, McCallum Very good - Oscar, Tito, Hamed, Toney, Liston, Calzaghe, Conteh, Curry Good - Hatton, Nunn, Tzsyu, Tiger, Saad, Eubanks, Norton, Paterson, Froch Average - Khan, Bruno, Gatti, Ward, Glen Johnson Below - take your pick MTF