by Geoffrey Ciani – Who are the ten best bantamweights of all-time?
This is the seventh in a series of surveys I have been conducting. In the first survey, we peered into the opinions of long-time boxing fans to make a definitive list of the top ten all time heavyweights. Although this is a very subjective topic that is skewed by personal bias, differences of opinion, and the absence of a universally agreed upon criteria to judge past fighters, we can still establish some degree of consensus. While contemplating my own list of top heavyweight pugilists, I decided gathering the input of others might help display a more accurate portrayal of what a ‘true’ top 10 list should look like. Since then I have had similar surveys involving the light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, and featherweight divisions.
In this survey, which included many of the same individuals from the previous six, I polled 23 long-time boxing fans (myself included). My question was simple. I had each person in the survey provide me with a chronological list of who he or she (there was one ‘she’ in the survey—my esteemed colleague from On the Ropes Boxing Radio, the lovely Miss Jenna J) considered to be the ten best bantamweights in boxing history..
Ties were not allowed, just a straight-forward list from one to ten. I then used a weighted scoring system to assign points to fighters based on where they appeared on each individual’s list. First place votes received 25 points. Second place votes were worth 15 points, third place votes were worth 12, and fourth and fifth place votes were worth 10 and 8 points respectively. After that, the point differential was constant, with sixth place votes getting 5 points, seventh place votes getting 4, eighth getting 3, ninth place 2, and tenth place 1.
Survey Results
After all of the lists were tabulated with the aforementioned scoring system a total of twenty-six different bantamweight boxers received mention. Here is a list of the results. (First place votes are indicated in parenthesis).
1. 470 Eder Jofre (14)
2. 301 Ruben Olivares (4)
3. 256 Manuel Ortiz (1)
4. 186 Panama Al Brown (2)
5. 183 Terry McGovern (1)
6. 165 Carlos Zarate
7. 135 George Dixon (1)
8. 77 Fighting Harada
9. 64 Pete Herman
10. 15 Bud Taylor
11. 14 Orlando Canizales
12. 12 Lionel Rose
13. 11 Rafael Herrera
14. 10 Kid Williams
15. 9 [tie] Chucho Castillo
15. 9 [tie] Jeff Chandler
15. 9 [tie] Joe Lynch
18. 8 Rafael Marquez
19. 4 [tie] Lupe Pintor
19. 4 [tie] Rodolfo Martinez
19. 4 [tie] Sixto Escobar
22. 3 Jose Medel
23. 2 [tie] Miguel Lora
23. 2 [tie] Memphis Pal Moore
25. 1 [tie] Hozumi Hasegawa
25. 1 [tie] Jose Becerra
Here is the distribution of votes.
TOTAL LISTS MADE – NAME – (1st-2nd-3rd-4-5-6-7-8-9-10)
23 Eder Jofre (14 4 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0)
23 Ruben Olivares (4 4 6 3 4 0 1 1 0 0)
22 Manuel Ortiz (1 6 3 6 5 1 0 0 0 0)
21 Panama Al Brown (2 2 1 3 3 4 2 4 0 0)
19 Terry McGovern (1 4 3 1 3 3 2 1 1 0)
23 Carlos Zarate (0 1 3 4 4 3 5 1 2 0)
19 George Dixon (1 2 1 2 1 2 3 4 3 0)
19 Fighting Harada (0 0 1 0 1 5 5 2 1 4)
15 Pete Herman (0 0 0 2 2 2 2 0 3 4)
6 Bud Taylor (0 0 0 0 0 1 0 2 1 2)
6 Orlando Canizales (0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 1 2)
4 Lionel Rose (0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 0)
2 Rafael Herrera (0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1)
1 Kid Williams (0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0)
2 Chucho Castillo (0 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0)
4 Jeff Chandler (0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 0)
5 Joe Lynch (0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 2)
5 Rafael Marquez (0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 3)
2 Lupe Pintor (0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1)
1 Rodolfo Martinez (0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0)
3 Sixto Escobar (0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2)
1 Jose Medel (0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0)
1 Miguel Lora (0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0)
1 Memphis Pal Moore (0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0)
1 Hozumi Hasegawa (0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1)
1 Jose Becerra (0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1)
The Breakdown:
Eder Jofre received top honors. He was one of three bantamweights to appear in all 23 lists and he received the most first place votes (14).He finished in the top three according to all 100% of those surveyed. Ruben Olivares and Manuel Ortiz finished second and third respectively, each landing a top five spot in over 91% of the lists. By comparison, fourth and fifth place finishers Panama Al Brown and Terry McGovern each appeared in a top five spot on approximately 50% of the time.
Carlos Zarate dominated the lower half of the top ten by appearing in the top five more than 50% of the time. George Dixon was not far behind. Fighting Harada and Pete Herman finished eighth and ninth respectively and Bud Taylor barely edged out Orlando Canizales for the final top ten slot.
How does my list compare?
In the heavyweight and light heavyweight surveys nine of the ten boxers from my list appeared in the official results. In the middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, and featherweight surveys I was down to eight, but I am back up to nine for this one. I had Joe Lynch on my list, the official list had Bud Taylor there in his stead.
1. Eder Jofre
2. Manuel Ortiz
3. Terry McGovern
4. Carlos Zarate
5. Ruben Olivares
6. Fighting Harada
7. George Dixon
8. Panama Al Brown
9. Pete Herman
10. Joe Lynch
More Raw Data:
Here is a quick snap-shot at how the votes broke down amongst the top ten:
1. Eder Jofre
Total Lists: 23 (100%)
First Place: 12 (52.2%)
Top Three: 23 (100%)
Top Five: 23 (100%)
Average Points: 20.4
2. Ruben Olivares
Total Lists: 23 (100%)
First Place: 4 (17.4%)
Top Three: 14 (60.1%)
Top Five: 21 (91.3%)
Average Points: 13.1
3. Manuel Ortiz
Total Lists: 22 (95.7%)
First Place: 1 (4.4%)
Top Three: 10 (43.5%)
Top Five: 21 (91.3%)
Average Points: 11.1
4. Panama Al Brown
Total Lists: 21 (91.3%)
First Place: 2 (8.7%)
Top Three: 5 (21.7%)
Top Five: 11 (47.8%)
Average Points: 8.1
5. Terry McGovern
Total Lists: 19 (82.6%)
First Place: 1 (4.4%)
Top Three: 8 (34.8%)
Top Five: 12 (52.2%)
Average Points: 8.0
6. Carlos Zarate
Total Lists: 23 (100%)
First Place: 0 (0%)
Top Three: 4 (17.4%)
Top Five: 12 (52.2%)
Average Points: 7.2
7. George Dixon
Total Lists: 19 (82.6%)
First Place: 1 (4.4%)
Top Three: 4 (17.4%)
Top Five: 7 (30.4%)
Average Points: 5.9
8. Fighting Harada
Total Lists: 19 (82.6%)
First Place: 0 (0%)
Top Three: 1 (4.4%)
Top Five: 2 (8.7%)
Average Points: 3.4
9. Pete Herman
Total Lists: 15 (65.2%)
First Place: 0 (0%)
Top Three: 0 (0%)
Top Five: 4 (17.4%)
Average Points: 2.8
10. Bud Taylor
Total Lists: 6 (26.1%)
First Place: 0 (0%)
Top Three: 0 (0%)
Top Five: 0 (0%)
Average Points: 0.7
Only two surveys left!
Going forward, I will continue conducting surveys for all of the original eight weight classes along with a separate list for the best pound-for-pound fighters of all-time. We are down to just two left: Flyweight and pound-for-pound.
Past Surveys:
In case you missed the previous surveys:
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT SURVEY-CLICK HERE
MIDDLEWEIGHT SURVEY-CLICK HERE
WELTERWEIGHT SURVEY-CLICK HERE
LIGHTWEIGHT SURVEY-CLICK HERE
FEATHERWEIGHT SURVEY-CLICK HERE
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ontheropes@boxing247.com
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