Boxers are truly a different breed, but the dedication and training put into their careers is near torturous. They are among the most physically fit athletes and often have to go up to fifteen rounds receiving and delivering punches. Even watching a professional boxer skip is a true spectacle to behold, especially if you are not able to skip without getting caught in the ropes yourself.
Some boxers transcend to a level above the rest, going above and beyond a winning streak. Some boxers have truly gone further than breaking records, solidifying themselves in the hall of fame as truly unstoppable forces of human nature. When you try betting on boxing it is advised that you have sufficient knowledge of both fighters, so here are the top 10 boxing legends in no particular order, so that the next time you hear, “He is today’s Tyson”, you are not completely lost.
Rocky Marciano
Yes, you all know this one, the only undefeated heavyweight champion in boxing history is Rocky Marciano. Marciano finished his career with a 49-0 record with 43 of those fights ending in knockouts. Louis lost his final fight to Marciano showing Rocky’s ability to beat legends, instantly solidifying his top spot. Not only did Rocky twice defeat another respected fighter in Joe Wolcott, but he also beat the legendary Archie Moore as part of his final fight in 1955. It was believed that Marciano would return to the stage in 1959 but he never did.
Joe Louis
In case any of you were wondering who the above mentioned Louis was, he was another top boxer. Boxing legend Joe Louis is a respected Hall of Famer, who for 140 consecutive months, held the heavyweight championship, including the 25 times he successfully defended his title, a division record. In his career, he accumulated a record of 65-3 with 51 knockouts. 51 knockouts is a testament to the brutal energy and strength Louis possessed. After suffering his first defeat to German Max Schmeling, Louis got his sweet revenge. After just 2 minutes into the first round of the match, Schmeling’s trainer threw in the towel after Louis succeeded in knocking Schmeling down three times with flurries of punches. In contrast, Schmeling only threw two punches.
Muhammad Ali
Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. If you have ever heard those words, hopefully, you know the man behind them. In addition to being a professional boxer, Muhammad Ali was also an activist, entertainer, poet, and philanthropist. He is widely recognized as one of the most celebrated and important sports and cultural figures of our time earning him the nickname, The Greatest, not the most creative of names, but it gets the job done. He went on to become the first boxer to win the heavyweight title three times after winning gold at the 1960 Olympics. In his professional boxing career, Ali finished 56-5 with 37 knockouts. His three brutal bouts with Joe Frazier and his win at Rumble in the Jungle against George Foreman, are his most notable fights.
Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson fills our internet pages so his name must be familiar to us all. He even sports his own podcast, but that is not relevant right now, nor is his dark history. Today let us forget all about ‘cancel culture’ and focus on his triumphs. Before being beaten by James Douglas in 1990, Tyson was the youngest heavyweight champ ever and carried an undefeated streak. He won two title defences when he returned after some time away but the glory of his return was short-lived when he lost to Evander Holyfield, and then later also lost the rematch. He did manage to secure a title match with Lennox Lewis at a later stage but sadly lost this as well.
Tyson was one of the most feared boxers of all time, but his lack of famous opponents hurts his overall standing in the Hall of Fame. This does not mean you would even want to consider going one round with Tyson, even at his current age. You should see his fight from 2020, the man has still got a dangerous swing!
Sugar Ray Robinson
Boxers nowadays are very different compared to their counterparts of the early 1900s, take Sugar Ray for example. In his amateur career alone Sugar Ray fought and won 85 matches, which is more than all the unbeaten streaks so far. Out of those 85 matches, 69 were won by knockout with 40 being first-round knockouts. His professional career saw only 2 draws and 1 loss, with 128 matches being wins, and over 80 knockouts to go with those. These numbers alone are impressive. If Robinson was fighting today, he would be the wealthiest boxer alive, but ‘pay per fight’ was not the same back then. These legendary boxers had the true fighter’s spirit.
Floyd Mayweather
Money Mayweather recently retired, and is now a promoter and will participate in the odd exhibition, and is an expert on social media, so you may be familiar with him. He is regarded as the best boxer of our time having an undefeated record of 50 fights with 27 of them ending in a knock-out. He is a more strategic and critical fighter than one who delivers a lot of power, Mayweather pressurises opponents and tires them out. He is a better businessman than a boxer, despite being undefeated and being regarded as the best boxer of our time, and that says a lot about his massive success in the business world. He has managed to grow his wealth exponentially and has risen above his poor beginnings.
Manny Pacquaio
The fighter of the decade in the 2000s still delivers at extremely high levels in all of his boxing bouts. Manny Pacquaio is the first boxer to win world championship title fights in eight divisions with over 12 title wins under his belt, and is the first boxer to dominate five different weight divisions. The people of the Philippines are captivated by their hero’s talents so it is no surprise that Manny is a huge celebrity there. From flyweight to welterweight, he has beaten legends like Marco Antonio Barrera, Oscar De La Hoya, Erik Morales, and Shane Mosley. Manny has held the WBA welterweight title since July 2019, without anyone being able to take it from him.
Henry Armstrong
Another legend from the early 1900s of boxing is Henry Armstrong. This guy really had a lot to give and fought in over 180 matches, winning 151 and with 101 of those fights ending with knockouts. That was in 13 years of his professional career, and considering that in Mayweather’s 19 years of boxing he did not fight half as many fights, that is impressive. Yet Mayweather is one of our generation’s greatest, and it truly is something to behold, but Armstrong really was something else. He managed to hold three different weight division belts at once, something unheard of in our time.
Willie Pep
Between the years 1942 and 1950, Guglielmo Papaleo, better known as Willie Pep, held the World Featherweight championship twice. In the 241 matches Pep boxed during his 26-year career, he boxed a total of 1,956 rounds, which was an impressive number for a fighter of his time considering others fought roughly half this amount. A 1947 plane crash left him near-dead, but he managed to achieve incredible success despite this near-fatal accident. He truly is an inspiration when it comes to showing what one human body can achieve. Imagine fighting 241 matches in the space of 26 years and surviving a plane crash in between.
Harry Greb
Admittedly not known as the flashiest, or for a long career, Greb is still a legend in his own right. He fought at a rate unmatched by today’s standards and in 1923 won the world middleweight title and defended it six times over the next three years. Today we see fighters sometimes dodging their title defence fights for months, sometimes years, until they just have to give up their belt. On the contrary, Greb was basically fighting to keep his title every 6 months, while still competing in other matches, which makes it near impossible to be at peak performance for the title defences. Yet all considered, Harry managed to do just that.
These are just a few of the amazing fighters that have graced us with their sheer athleticism. Is there anyone else that you would add to this list?
