10 greatest boxers of all time

Boxing is a combat sport in which two people engage in a contest of strength, speed, reflexes, endurance, and will, by throwing punches with gloved hands against each other. Amateur boxing is both an Olympic and Commonwealth sport and is a common fixture in most of the major international games. Boxing is not only one of the highest paying sports but one of the historical and popular sports of all time as well.Picking the best is a difficult task, particularly in an individual sport like boxing with different weight divisions, different belts and about a hundred years of history to choose from. You could go on with their record of wins and losses, you could choose the best based on the number of belts they won or perhaps pick the best based on the quality of their opposition. Then, there’s longevity to consider or mainstream appeal perhaps, dominance, achievements and their performance in the ring are among the criteria used to build this list.We hope you will enjoy this list. Please let us know in the comments section below which fighters you think deserve a place among the greatest.Here is our Top 10 List of Greatest Boxers Of All Time:Note: This slideshow reflects the views of the author and doesn’t represent the opinions of the site. The slideshow is in ASCENDING ORDER meaning that the no.10 spot belongs to the greatest one in the selections.

#1 Mike Tyson

Heavyweight

Career: 1985-2005. Record: 50-6-0-2 (44 KOs)

Mike Tyson is one of the most powerful boxers of all time. In the early 90s, Tyson was considered as an unbeatable boxer who knocked out all the contenders who stood in front of him. With his intimidating demeanor and devastating two-fisted knockout power cowed many opponents into submission before the first bell.

He tore through heavyweight ranks until being upended by 42-1 underdog James "Buster" Douglas in 1990. His comeback was derailed by a prison sentence for rape from 1992 to 1995. He regained WBC heavyweight belt from Frank Bruno and WBA belt from Bruce Seldon in 1996, but lost to Evander Holyfield in November of that year. He melted down in rematch, biting both of Holyfield's ears.

He has a record of 50 wins out of which 44 were knockout wins and he lost 6 matches.He has been amongst the most talked and most feared boxer of all the time, and has made an impact in and out of the ring. In his prime, people used to splash out the cash just to see him fight, just to see a quick brutal knockout.

Memorable Bout: Knocked out Trevor Berbick in the second round in November 1986 to become youngest heavyweight champion in history

#2 Julio Cesar Chavez

Super featherweight, lightweight, junior welterweight, welterweight

Career:1980-2005 Record: 108-6-2 (87 KOs)

Mexico has produced many great fighters over the years but the greatest of them all was undoubtedly Julio Cesar Chavez. He was a boxer known for his punching power, a chin made of rock and the relentless stalking of his opponents in the ring. He was born in Sonora in 1962 and turned professional at the tender age of just 17. He became a Mexican legend who had a record of 10 year without even a single loss.

Chavez has a record of 108 wins and 87 knockouts and lost 6 matches. He went on an incredible undefeated run of 87 fights without loss and won world championships in three different weight divisions. He won WBC super featherweight title in September 1984. He stopped Edwin Rosario to win WBA lightweight belt in November 1987. He won WBC belt by defeating Jose Luis Ramirez in 1988. He stopped Roger Mayweather to annex WBC junior welterweight crown in May 1989. He won IBF title with a last-second stoppage win over Meldrick Taylor in 1990. He lost the title to Randall, but regained it in a rematch.

He fought everyone put in front of him and never dodged a fight. He was considered as a tough fighter who always entertained people with his boxing. Along the way, he fought and beat boxing greats like Hector Camacho, Greg Haugen and Edwin Rosario which made him not only the best boxer out of the Mexico but one of the very best ever.

Memorable Bout: In a career full of legendary moments, he is probably most well known for the fight against Meldrick Taylor, the undefeated IBF Light Welterweight Champion in 1990. Taylor dominated the fight, winning the first eight rounds, but with four rounds left Chavez started the comeback. It ended with Chavez stopping Taylor with just seconds left in the last round. Great fighters have great fights and this was one the best ever seen.

#3 Sugar Ray Leonard

Welterweight, junior middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight

career: 1977-97 Record: 36-3-1 (25 KOs)

Leonard burst onto the scene by winning a gold medal at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. He was considered to have the fastest hands and the quickest footwork in the welter/middleweight division During his impressive career, Leonard held various world boxing championship titles, from the welterweight through the light heavyweight division.

The first boxer to earn more than $100 million in purses, won world titles in five weight divisions, and defeated future fellow International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Wilfred Benítez, Thomas Hearns, Roberto Durán, and Marvin Hagler. His iconic status was segmented when he came back from retirement in 1987 to defeat WBC world middleweight champion Marvin Hagler

The man who could do it all, The man who had Great fighting skills, flashing fists, who transformed from Olympic champion to world champion seamlessly and with an all-round slickness which saw him being loved by boxing aficionados around the world made him one of the Greats of this sport.

Memorable bout: On November 25, 1980, Sugar Ray Leonard knocked out Roberto Duran in the eighth round in the famous "No Mas" bout. He regained the WBC Welterweight Championship that he had lost seven months earlier to Duran.

#4 Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Junior lightweight, lightweight, junior welterweight, welterweight, junior middleweight

Career: 1996-present. Record: 48-0 (26 KOs)

Mayweather was born to box. His father fought Sugar Ray Leonard and his uncle was a world champion as well. The brilliant defensive fighter, still undefeated, is a five-division world champion, having won eight world titles over the past decade. He is blessed with tremendous natural abilities, along with being a skilled technician.

He won WBC 130-pound title with stoppage of Genaro Hernandez in his 18th pro fight along with the WBC lightweight belt in 2002, and junior welterweight belt in 2005. He defeated Carlos Baldomir to become welterweight champion last year. He won split decision against Oscar De La Hoya to annex WBC super welterweight crown.

Today, Maywether defeated Manny Pacquiao and in the process won three championships belts, unifying the World Boxing Council, World Boxing Assn. and World Boxing Organization welterweight titles.

Mayweather is arguably one of the smartest boxers in history with a boxing IQ that would put Einstein to shame, ‘Money’ Mayweather is an elusive and merciless opponent that has given most of today’s current crop of boxer’s nightmares. Undefeated, Floyd is on his way to going down in history as one of, it not, the greatest boxer of all time. Rated as the current best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, a future Hall of Famer and the highest paid athlete of this world, he is surely the biggest star and the best fighter of this generation.

Memorable Bout: Floyd Mayweather Jr. employed all of his trademark boxing skills to outfox a determined Manny Pacquiao, winning the so-called “Fight of the Century” at the MGM Grand. The welterweight championship went a full 12 rounds, with the judges agreeing on a unanimous decision.

#5 Willie Pep

Featherweight

career: 1940-66 Record: 229-11-1 (65 KOs)

Willie Pep is, quite simply, the best featherweight of all time. He was born in 1922 in Connecticut. Pep was possibly the most elusive fighter the world has ever known. It has been reportedly said that he once won a round without throwing a punch, such were skills of movement and footwork.

He won his first 63 bouts before losing to Sammy Angott, and then went 72-0-1 before losing again, to Sandy Saddler. He was very tough, very fast and showed a big heart with many of his fights descending into all-out wars. His biggest rivalry was with Sandy Sandler who would box ‘dirty’ and use eye-gouging, thumbing and sometimes wrestling in an effort to stop Pep.

His elusiveness & the fact that he has one of the best Featherweight record in the history of the game make him a worthy candidate for this list.

#6 Roberto Duran

Lightweight, welterweight, junior middleweight, middleweight.

career: 1968-2001 Record: 103-16 (70 KOs)

Roberto Duran is best-known for holding five different championship titles in his illustrious career. These include the lightweight, welterweight, junior middleweight, and middleweight titles. Nicknamed Manos de Piedra, or Hands of Stone, was an imperious world lightweight champion between 1972 and 1979. He stopped 11 of 12 contenders in defending the lightweight title.

The destructive fighter moved up to welterweight to become world champion in 1980, and was world light middleweight champion 1983-84. Moved up to middleweight and won a championship title at the weight in 1989. He won 103 fights throughout his career and knocked out 70 fighters along the way. Duran was unstoppable in the ring where he dominated the lightweight division for seven years.

Known as a trash-talking aggressive brawler, Roberto Duran fought during one of the strongest boxing era’s of all time and fought legends like Hagler, Hearns and Leonard but unlike those great fighters he managed over 100 professional victories in a career spanning over five decades to go down in history as one of the best fighters of all time.

Memorable bout: On June 20, 1980, Roberto Duran won the WBC welterweight title from Sugar Ray Leonard with a 15th round decision.

#7 Henry Armstrong

Featherweight, lightweight, welterweight

Career: 1932-45 Record: 151-21-9 (101 KOs)

Henry Armstrong, who boxed between 1931 and 1945, held world titles in three divisions – at featherweight (1937-38), lightweight (1938-39) and welterweight (1938-40). One of the most exciting fighters ever to grace a ring, he was renowned as a great body puncher and threw to head and body relentlessly. For that, he was known as "Hurricane Hank".

His career started on the losing end but he gradually getting on the winning streaks. He has also had 27 consecutive victories and all of these were knockouts. That reflects his greatness in the boxing arena. He was a whirlwind of a fighter, a perpetual-motion machine who overwhelmed opponents with a nonstop, suffocating fusillade of punches.

Henry Faced 17 world champions in career and defeated 15 of them thus rightly deserve to be called one of the most dominant Boxer of his time.

#8 Joe Louis

Heavyweight

Career: 1934-51 Record: 68-3 (54 KOs)

Joe Louis, known as the Brown Bomber, was born in Alabama in 1914 and had an impressive amateur career (50-4) before turning pro. The greatest of the heavyweights in pure boxing terms and record, Louis, from Detroit, held the title between 1937 and 1949. He had a wonderful jab, but he was also a devastating finisher, Louis stalked opponents in the crudest possible manner yet the end result was often the same, a Joe Louis knockout victory.

He stopped 22 of his 25 opponents in his title defenses. Joe Louis is best known for his dynamic skills in the ring and the quality of his opponents. Louis held the heavyweight championship title for over 11 years, 8 months, 7 days and fought 27 championship fights at that level, a record still unbroken. Louis became the first boxer to defeat six heavyweight champions. Among his most famous opponents were Jim Braddock, Primo Carnera, Max Baer, and Rocky Marciano.

Hardworking, honest Louis helped elevate the sport and made it popular again among sports fans. Joe Louis has a cultural impact felt outside the ring as well. He is widely regarded as the first African-American to achieve hero status in the USA and became a symbol of pride, through fights against German poster boy Max Schmeling, the focal point of anti-Nazi sentiment leading up to World War II.

During the world war, he was more than just a boxer and his fights had social, political and international significance. His record & significance outside the ring made him one of the greatest fighter to impact the sport of boxing.

Memorable bout: On June 22, 1938, Joe Louis, the World Heavyweight Champion at the time, knocked out the challenger, Max Schmeling, in the first round. This fight cemented his popularity as one of the greatest champions of all time.

#9 Muhammed Ali

Heavyweight

Career: 1960-81 Record: 56-5 (37 KOs)

Born Cassius Clay in Louisville, Kentucky in 1942, Muhammed Ali is true a icon and legend in every sense of the word. As an amateur, Ali won over 100 fights including a gold medal at the 1960 Olympic Games in Rome. He went 19-0 as a professional fighter and developed his own unique style outside the ring of belittling his opponents and lauding his own skills.

George Foreman, Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier, Floyd Patterson, Ken Norton, Jimmy Ellis and Leon Spinks all lost to Ali. He was the heavyweight champion of the world between 1964 and 1967, 1974-78, and 1978-79. At the time, he was the only heavyweight to have won the world title three times.

Flamboyant, and full of braggadocio after he won Olympic gold in Rome in 1960, he was to dub himself 'The Greatest' as a professional fighter, changing society and in many people's eyes, living up to the name he crowned himself with. He was outspoken, exciting and an undefeated boxing champion in his time and was also the best entertainer in the boxing world.

He had a record of total 56 wins out which 37 were knockout wins. He had only 5 losses in career and there is a case to suggest that had Ali not been forced to give up boxing in his prime for three years because of refusing induction into the armed forces during the Vietnam War then maybe he would have never lost.

He transcended the sport unlike any other boxer, reinvented the way heavyweights were supposed to fight, deploying a speed and athleticism that was previously unheard of; also alternately bedazzled and appalled America and the world with charisma. Ali probably had the best chin and heart in the game & his Name will always remain synonymous with the sport of Boxing.

Memorable bout: On October 1, 1975, Muhammad Ali destroyed Joe Frazier in what was dubbed the “Thrilla in Manila.” One of the all-time best fights in boxing history, both Frazier and Ali showed great courage and perseverance.

#10 Sugar Ray Robinson

Welterweight, middleweight

Career: 1940-65 Record: 173-19-6-2 (109 KOs)

Sugar Ray Robinson was born in Detroit in 1940. As an amateur fighter, he went 85-0 with 40 first round KO’s before turning pro in 1940 at the age of 19. He then fought another 40 times undefeated which was a run of 123 victories in a row. He lost just one of first 123 fights, to Jake LaMotta, a defeat avenged five times in a classic ring rivalry. Active as a professional boxer for 25 years, the American Robinson was the world welterweight champion between 1946 and 1951, the world middleweight champion from 1951-52, 57-58, and then again from 19858-60.

Robinson was a great technician, he had a vast arsenal, including one of the greatest left hooks ever seen. He had it all: technique, speed, accuracy, endurance, and power. A near-perfect pugilist at welterweight was less dominant at middleweight but was still able to win the title five times, including three times after he had retired for two and a half years. He fought & bested the greatest fighters of his generation, including Jake LaMotta, Gene Fullmer, Randy Turpin, and Kid Gavilan, which hands down made him the greatest of all time to ever step into a boxing ring.

Memorable bout: On December 20, 1946, Sugar Ray Robinson won the National Boxing Association World welterweight title from Tommy Bell with a 15th round decision. Bell gave Robinson his toughest title fight at 147 pounds.