Top 10 Boxers of All Time.

In this post, I am gonna list my personal list for the top 10 pound-4-pound greatest boxers of all time list. This is purely based on opinion and what I have learned and researched so, for example, someone like Jack Britton won't be on this list because I simply do not know enough, but even if I did I don't think this list would change a lot.

Number 10

Tony Canzoneri 

Just his achievements title wise is enough for him to be remembered as one of the greatest little men to step in the ring, being 5-time Lineal Champion in 3 weight divisions just shows what kind of legend Canzoneri was. 

Lineal Featherweight Champion- World Featherweight Title

2-time Lineal Lightweight Champion- 2-time Lightweight Title

2-time Lineal Light Welterweight Champion- 2-time Light Welterweight Title
Over 20 Title Fights
8 Defenses in total
38 Fights against Champions
Beat 8 Champions
23 Fights against Hall of Famers
Fought 12 Hall of Famers beat 9

Had an amazing CV/resume having a professional record of 141-24-10 (including newspaper decisions) and beating multiple Hall of Famers and Champions. Some of the names he beat are Johnny Dundee, Jack Kid Berg, Lou Ambers, Banny Bass, Jimmy McLarnin and many other capable opponents. 

Truly an All Time Great that should be remembered.

Number 9

Joe Louis

Joe Louis is one of the finest Heavyweights to ever live and arguably even the greatest Heavyweight to ever live. He was the Lineal Heavyweight Champion for 12 years which is amazing on its self as an achievement but he was much more than that. 

Longest Lineal Champion from 1937 till 1949

Holds record of 25 Heavyweight Title defenses

KO'd 23 opponents in Title fights including 5 World Champions

Beat 8 Champions
Beat 8 Hall Of Famers

Only lost 1 of 27 Title fights to the great Ezzard Charles

He was also one of the best punchers that the sport has ever seen often giving brutal beatings to capable opponents. His second fight with Max Schmeling could be described as a perfect punch assassination. If boxing were to manifest into a human being that would be Joe Louis.

He beat Max Baer, Max Schmeling, Jersey Joe Walcott, Primo Carnera, Billy Conn and more. 

It was a hard decision to put Louis at only number 9. I debated if I should put him higher on this list over other fighters and he could possibly be ranked even in the top 5 if my mind changes.

Number 8 

Benny Leonard

In my opinion, Benny Leonard is the best Lightweight to ever live. He was Lineal Lightweight Champion from 1916 till 1925 and was almost untouchable during that period of time. He was a very clever fighter, was quick and he had some underrated power as well. In a 20 year span from 1912 till 1932 he only lost one fight.

Lineal Lightweight Champion

World Lightweight Champion

11 World Title fights 

9 Defenses

27 fights against Champions

Fought 11 Champions beat 9

26 Fights against Hall of Famers

Fought 9 Hall of Famers beat 7

Apart from that, he had an amazing CV he beat fighters like Johny Dundee, Jack Britton, Freddie Welsh, Charley White and many more. He was the type of fighter to control the fighter with his quick footwork and his positioning. He was truly a commander of the ring. 

Number 7 

Willie Pep

Willie Pep arguably perhaps had the best and the quickest feet in boxing history. He is also, in my opinion, the greatest Featherweight to ever live. Just the fact that he lost only 11 fights from over 230 is impressive enough but there is a lot more about him.

2 Time Lineal Featherweight Champion

2 Time World Featherweight Champion

14 World Title Fights won 11

9 Title Defenses

20 fights against Champions

Beat 8 Champions

10 fights against Hall of Famers

Beat 3 Hall of Famers

He beat capable opponents, for example, he beat Chalky Wright, Sandy Saddler, Willie Joyce, Jackie Wilson and more. 

Pep was extremely quick and from what I have seen his footwork is only rivaled by Muhammad Ali. Once he won a round without throwing a single punch. He would come in maybe faint then go out or he would hold you spin you around and then continue. He may not have the power of some other All time Greats but his skill made up for it. Definitely one of the most skilled fighters to ever live.

Number 6

Archie Moore

Archie Moore is arguably the greatest Light Heavyweight to ever live and I have to agree with that. The only one that could be considered a rival for that title is Ezzard Charles. Moore was able to reign with the World Light Heavyweight Title for 10 years or so but he captured his Title very late in his career at age 36. Being able to hold the Light Heavyweight Title or any World Title for so long past your prime is amazing. 

Lineal Light Heavyweight Champion

World Light Heavyweight Champion

12 World Title Fights won 10

9 Defenses

20 fights against World Champions won 10

Beat 6 World Champions

27 Fights against Hall of Famers 

Beat 7 Hall of Famers

He was also one of the greatest punchers that the sport has ever seen holding the record of most KO's at 145. He had a stacked resume with names like Cocoa Kid, Joey Maxim, Billy Smith, Nino Valdes, Lloyd Marshall, Bob Satterfield and more. He was also the only man to fight both Muhammad Ali and Rocky Marciano losing to both. I believe Marciano would get destroyed if Moore was in his prime.

Number 5

Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali compared to a lot of guys I mentioned above has a short career but he definitely has an amazing resume and deserves a spot on this list. Ali had most likely the fastest hands the sport has ever seen and also the most fluid feet ever. 

3 Time Lineal Heavyweight Champion

3 Time World Heavyweight Champion

WBA Heavyweight Title

WBC Heavyweight Title

25 Title fights won 22

19 Defenses

19 Fights against Champions

Beat 10 Champions

14 Fights against Hall of Famers

Beat 7 Hall of Famers

Now consider he did all that in just 61 fights and in one weight division insane. He had an incredible resume with names like Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Floyd Patterson, Cleveland Williams, George Chuvalo and the list goes on. His fight trilogy with Joe Frazier gave us one of the best rivalries in boxing history.

Number 4 

Henry Armstrong

Henry Armstrong is certainly the greatest little man to ever step in the ring. Holding the Featherweight, Lightweight and Welterweight belt at the same time. In an era that Louis was the face of boxing, he managed to shine as a small man. Armstrong was arguably the greatest pressure fighter to ever live. He would swarm his opponents down from round 1 till the end of the fight and throw punches non-stop.

Lineal Featherweight Champion-World Featherweight Title

Lineal Lightweight Champion- World Lightweight Title

Lineal Welterweight Champion- World Welterweight Title

Held all 3 titles at the same time

Record of 19 Welterweight Title Defenses

26 World Title fights won 22

29 Fights against Champions won 21

Fought 17 Champions beat 15

22 Fights against Hall of Famers

Fought 14 Hall of Famers beat 12

He fought opponents like Lou Ambers, Sammy Agnott, Juan Zurita, Sugar Ray Robinson, Aldo Spodli, Leo Rodak, Chalky Wright, Paul Junior and more. At some point in a 2 and a half year run, he went 46-0 with 39 KO's. In that 2 and a half year run, he also won his 3 belts and made 7 Welterweight defenses.

Armstrong also had brutal power having 101 KO's in his 151 wins. He would bob his head around till he was close to his opponent and then proceed to destroy him with ferocious punches. Truly an amazing fighter.

Number 3 

Harry Greb

Harry Greb was quite possibly the best Middleweight to ever live and also one of the most brutal fighters of all time. He was extremely fast on his feet being able to hit you with many shots and then bounce out unhurt. Not many realize that but Greb was a very unorthodox fighter that would punch from all angles including impossible ones. 

Lineal Middleweight Champion

World Middleweight Title

6 Middleweight Title Defenses

10 World Title Fights won 8

44 Fights against World Champions won 32

Fought 15 World Champions beat 13 of them

48 Fights against Hall of Famers

Fought 16 Hall of Famers beat 15

Beat 9 of the 13 fighters that beat him

Apart from his amazing achievements he had arguably the greatest resume in boxing history having nearly 300 fights with over 260 wins. Unlike a lot of other white fighters of his time, Greb had no problem fighting black fighters or any fighter no matter what size or color. Some of the names he fought were Jack Blackburn, Mike Gibbons, Gene Tunney, Jack Dillon, Mickey Walker, Johnny Wilson, Tommy Gibbons, Bob Moha, Soldier Bartfield and a whole lot more. He often fought Heavyweights as a Middleweight.

Number 2 

Sam Langford

Sam Langford is in my opinion, the greatest Heavyweight to ever live. He was also the most avoided/ducked and underrated fighter of all time. He fought from Featherweight and moved up all the way up to Heavyweight beating capable opponents in the mean time. He fought multiple times a month like all greats of his time.

Colored Middleweight Champion

5-time Colored Heavyweight Champion

63 Fights for Colored Titles won nearly 40 

Made nearly 40 Colored Title defenses

68 Fights against Champions

Fought 13 Champions beat 11

66 Fights against Hall of Famers won 30 

Fought 14 Hall of Famers beat 12 

Langford was KO'ing natural Heavyweights as a former Featherweight he has to be one of the best punchers the sport has ever seen. He also had epic multi fight series with other greats, for example, he fought Harry Wills 17 times, Joe Jeannette 14 times, Sam Mcvea 15 times, Jim Flynn 5 times, Jack Blackburn 5 times and the list goes on. After Jack Johnson won the World Heavyweight Title he did not want any piece of Langford avoiding him till he finally lost his title. Johnson would always make excuses to avoid Langford and other greats of that time.

Langford could lose to a guy and then KO him 2 weeks later. He also had amazing durability and stamina often fighting for more than 20 rounds back then that was considered normal. Also, the gloves they used were pieces of old leather that could hardly reduce any damage. 

Number 1

Sugar Ray Robinson

Sugar Ray Robinson in my humble opinion, is the greatest boxer to ever live. He was virtually flawless in the ring and had the resume and achievements to match that. He is considered the greatest boxer to ever live by most boxing historians and hardcore fans. By 1951 Robinson was 132-1-1. After he retired and came back that's where the majority of his losses come from. 

World Welterweight Champion
World Welterweight Title
5 Time Lineal Middleweight Champion
5 Time World Middleweight Title
22 World Title Fights
4 Welterweight Defenses
4 Middleweight Defenses
38 Fights against World Champions won 26
Fought 18 World Champions won 14 of them
28 fights against Hall of Famers
Fought 12 Hall of Famers beat 10 of them

Just like any other fighter on this list he had amazing achievements. Being 6 time Lineal Champion in 2 weight divisions. Robinson could slug or outbox you and was able to adapt to almost any style. He is considered as the greatest fighter to ever live by the likes of Muhammad Ali, Joe Louis, Henry Armstrong and Roberto Duran.

Robinson fought names like Jake LaMotta, Henry Armstrong, Rocky Graziano, Jackie Wilson, Kid Gavilan, Frietzie Zivic, Aron Wade, Tommy Bell and more.


I would love to see your opinions about this pound-4-pound list and your list as well in the comments below. For me, this was hard to make since in the top 5 any fighter could take the number 1 spot. It was really close for either fighter to take the crown. This was my biggest post yet I don't know if I am gonna make more lists like this that depends if you guys want to. Otherwise, i will go back to breaking down fighters just like I've done before. Thank you for reading.