Historically Speaking...

The theme is simple and familiar. Name two fighters and let the next poster nominate which ranks higher in an all-time sense, with a brief explanation, before leaving two for the next poster, and so on.

So...

Chavez or Hopkins?

 

Not an ocean between them or anything, but I'd rank Chavez higher... Quality of opposition is pretty tough on Hopkins in that one, but he gets high marks for a long reign at 160 and his ability to remain a factor (awful status of the pro game or not) into very old age is commendable

Ken Buchanan or Edwin Rosario?

 

I pick Buchanan based in part on his wins over names like Laguna and Ortiz, but also his lack of devastating KO losses like the ones that litter Rosario's resume.

JMM or Morales?

 

JMM

He beat Barrera, tied with Paquiao and lost a disputable decision in the rematch. Beat Gainer. Beat Diaz, Casamayor, Katsidis. He has the edge on morales Overall.

Roy Jones or Marvin Hagler

 

Hagler. I don't like Roid.

Tyson or Lewis

 

Lewis by mile.

Hamed or Calzaghe

 

Calzaghe.

Hamed was doing OK but he de-railed badly and was beaten in embarrassing fashion by Barrera.

Calazaghe finished very strongly and his comp was not really weaker than Naz..

Guys like Eubank and Hopkins went on to greater glories after Joe beat them. Nobody that Hamed slapped around really went on to do a whole load after they lost to him. Manuel Media, Paul Ingle might be an exception, and we saw how that ended up. Eubend losing to a green Joe and then going life and death with the same Carl Thompson who beat David Haye is pretty impressive. Same for Hopkins run since he lost to Joe.

Joe's trip to America to beat Hopkins and Jones, and retire undefeated, seals it for me.

Vitali Klitschko or Jerry Quarry.

 

Vitali. Best heavyweight in the world for quite a few years - never beat anybody, but I'm not going to rate a mid-level contender over him all-time.

Lewis or Holyfield.

 

Probably Holyfield. Unfortunately.

He won an Olympic title at 175, then he won the Cruiser title, then he won the Heavy title......he fought Bowe and Tyson a combined 5 times, winning three, Lewis only fought those guys once, when Tyson was finished, despite the fact that Lewis could have forced the issue with Mike in 1994. The record will relflect that Lewis went 1-0-1 with Holy but in the minds of the public, it was 1-1, with Lewis winning the first and Holy the 2nd.

Lewis has two awful, glaring losses, and his refusal to drive home the initiative in the first fight gets worse every time I watch it. Holyfield is STILL active and has recorded wins or disputed losses against some of the divisions most recent titlists. His pro career is a few years short of three decades.

The fact that Lewis beat the existing consensus #1 guy will be dismissed or faffed off as irrelevant.

Sugar Ray Leonard or Dick Tiger.

 

Leonard easily . Fuck Dick Tiger

Louis or Hearns

 

C'mon Sly. In terms of greatness this is a no brainer. Louis easily!

Floyd or Roy?

 

I say Floyd even though I liked Roy more.

His comp is better than Roy's.

 

Ahem

 

Ah yes.

Ali or Louis?

 

Ali by a hair...quality of opposition.

Duran or Armstrong

 

Armstrong - three titles at once, never disgraced himself like Duran did in the Leonard re.

Mosley or Trinidad

 

Trinidad.

Blocker, Whitaker, De La Hoya, Reid, Vargas, Joppy...collectively better than any six Mosley wins.

Monzon or Holmes

 

Fairly tough one. Both dominated their divisions are for long periods of time. Monzon set a record at the time for defenses and had better opposition so i give him the nod.

Benitez or Barrera

 

I pick Barrera, but it's close. Can I call it a tie?

Toney or McCallum?

 

Good question. Great longevity from Barrera and he has some great wins, took two from three from Morales, crippled Hamed, plenty of other fights too. Lost big, twice, to Pacquiao, but Benitez was unable to really threaten the best fighter of his generation either (Leonard). Basically, Benitez starts out miles ahead besting Cervantes, then Barrera uses longevity to reel in the deficit as Benitez fades young.

In the end? Its Benitez, but not by much.

Another close one along similar lines, with one guy jumping ahead early and the other gaining ground in later years...De La Hoya or Mosley?

 

Toney because of his success in several weight classes, unless his gloves were loaded.

Sugar Ray Leonard or Harry Grebb

 

Got to be Greb. This is like a pound-for-pound thing...for forty fights, Leonard did amazing things, but his total is just too damn small. No one could do enough in that many bouts to challenge Grebs CV. He deserves to be matched with a Charles or Armstrong.

Quality vs. Total --- Jeffries or Marciano?

 

You missed the explanation part.

 

Marciano as i don't rate guys that fought before the invention of the wheel. Also Marciano would kill Jeffries head to head.

De La Hoya or Michael Spinks

 

De La Hoya in my opinion.

I thought De La Hoya won the second fight, and the first was close - closer than many like to remember it.

So to simplify, let's discard the fights they had with each other.

Then it's a matter of comparing first, ODH's career before the Mosley fight to Mosley's for the same time period. Mosley simply didn't fight anyone - noone close to the competition ODH was fighting (Quartey, Trinidad, Whitaker).

After fight? I just think Mosley didn't do enough to make up for the four losses he had against Forrest and Wright.

 

Michael Spinks >DLH. He's one of the best in his division ever.

Emile Griffith or Alexis Arguello?

 

I thought my case was made pretty solid. I said it was close and it is. :egypt:

 

Spinks or De La Hoya, hmmm. Spinks rates higher all-time at LHW than De La Hoya does in any one division, but considering it all, Id go against Spinks here.

Charles or Armstrong? Damn thats close!

 

Griffith. That CV just too damn amazing.

 

Spinks>>>>>> Oscar. It isnt even close.