Top 5 Fighters of the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s

Trinidad over Odlh is crazy imo

 

Leonard could surely be argued against just
based on how sporadically he was actually in the ring. After the detached retina in ‘82 he only fought 5 times during the remainder of the decade.

 

Close decision or not, the moment Leonard won the Hagler fight, he was cemented as fighter of the decade.

 

Not even debatable imo

 

Why?

Trinidad went unbeaten in the 90s. Oscar did not. Ohhh yeah, because he blew the fight against the very man.

Trinidad was more dominant in general during the decade, even against shared opponents (Camacho, Whitaker, Carr).

Pleeeaaassee tell me what's crazy about it.

Trinidad was a greater fighter than Fishnets.

 

Yeah he was usualy more dominant vs common opponents but he was also a naturally bigger man. And I felt he clearly lost vs Hoya so I can't give him credit for that fight. Furthermore, he also didn't beat someone as good as Quartey (controversial win yes but I feel you can make a reasonable case for Oscar) during his ww reign and did not have the multidivision pedigree Hoya had. When you consider the whole of his career it gets a bit closer (Vargas and Joppy, arguably his two biggest wins were in the 00's, as well as the Reid W, which is highly overrated but that's another discussion) but I'd still pick Hoya by a clear margin.

 

60s (the hardest one):
1. Griffith
2. Ortiz
3. Harada
4. Jofre
5. Saldivar

It's razor thin between these guys. And yes, Ali didn't make my top 5.

1970s:
1. Duran
2. Monzon
3. Ali
4. Napoles
5. Arguello

1980s:
1. Sugar Ray Leonard
2. Marvin Hagler
3. Michael Spinks (I've come round to this one - used to have Hearns at 3)
4. Thomas Hearns
5. Salvador Sanchez
(over a host of arguably equally deserving fighters - Tyson, Chavez, etc)

1990s:
1. Roy Jones
2. Pernell Whitaker
3. Julio Cesar Chavez
4. Felix Trinidad
5. Oscar De La Hoya

 

Rodriguez needs more love on the 60s list. It is a really hard one, though. Killed me leaving Saldivar off.

 

I hated leaving Rodriguez off, but I couldn't overlook how Saldivar dominated featherweight in the 60s.

 

As for the Oscar/Tito debate, I’d take Oscar based on his highly underrated Lightweight reign. Destroyed Paez like nobody else in 2 short rounds to win the vacant title and then defended it 6 times before moving on. His 4 fight streak of John John Molina, Rafael Ruelas, Genaro Hernandez, and Jesse James Leija (the last 3 by KO) to finish it off was epic and highly conclusive. He was a frightening specimen at the lower weights.

 

Wow. Think about this: Chava Sanchez doesnt deserve to be on this list because his life and career were cut short ffs.

 

I think Sanchez has a strong case for the 80s.

The top 3 in the 80s IMO is a given: Leonard, Hagler, Spinks.

4-5 is highly debatable, and could go to Hearns, Chavez, Tyson, Sanchez, Duran, Holmes, or even Chang.