Teddy Atlas, on his superb podcast ‘The Fight,’ recently listed his top 10 greatest ever heavyweights, and the fans sure found the list, the picks, interesting.
Now, going one better, Atlas, a man who has so much passion for the sport and always, always will, has listed his 10 greatest ever pound-for-pound fighters. Now, the compiling of such a list is no easy task, and no way can anyone come up with a list that pleases every single boxing fan. But Atlas, with his knowledge, and again, his passion for the sport, sure gives us a great, hard to argue list.
Here is Atlas’ top 10, in reverse order:
10: Roberto Duran – “He was a great lightweight and then he upset the world by winning the welterweight title. I’m sorry he’s not higher on the list.”
9: Sugar Ray Leonard – “If you can take the “Sugar Ray” name and get away with it, without embarrassing the name, and he did. He made us think of another Sugar Ray.”
8: Joe Louis – “An ambassador for the sport, and an ambassador for humankind.”
7: Harry Greb – “He fought over 100 fights whilst blind in one eye! An incredible man from an incredible time. Nobody out-toughed him.”
6: Benny Leonard – “Untouchable for such a long time, he held the lightweight title for eight years.”
5: Willie Pep – “Ring generalship, feinting, moving to the side, keeping the other guy off-balance, making a guy afraid to throw. Made guys hit nothing but air.”
4: Muhammad Ali – “Cus D’Amato used to tell me that Ali, before he went into exile, the only time you touched him was when the referee made you touch gloves with him!”
3: Sam Langford – “He fought from lightweight to heavyweight, he was avoided by all world title holders.”
2: Sugar Ray Robinson – “174 wins! Greatest footwork, greatest speed. He was majestic, just beautiful to watch.”
1: Henry Armstrong – “My favourite fighter of all time. He defended the welterweight title 18 times in 27 months! You’ll never have a man like this again. Fought at featherweight, welterweight, and then [for] the lightweight title – wins all three titles within 10 months.”
So, can you pick any faults with this list?