Businesses spend a lot of money to put up ads next to the ring where the world championship fights for important weight categories. Even more expensive are the TV rights to show the fight. These amounts add up to the fighters' pay. There is a lot of money for the best fighters in the world.
That wasn't always the case, though.
In the 1950s, when boxing was trying to become the most famous sport, the most important thing wasn't how much money you had, but how much you wanted to win fans' trust and gratitude. Boxers could only do this by getting in the ring and showing how strong they were — there were no shortcuts, no easy wins like claiming a casino bonus. Some of the boxers on the list of the world's best have never even been in a competitive match. But even though the AIBA has strict rules about boxing (three rounds of three minutes each), these athletes were able to show that they belong in the same sports hall of fame as professional boxers.
Joe Louis
When the black son of a cotton farm worker was 14, his family moved to "Motor City" from Alabama to find work. That's when he first saw the skyscrapers. From that point on, Louis's life as "Brown Bombardier," his nickname, was tied to both fighting and Detroit. He was a heavyweight boxer in the professional ring for 17 years, from 1934 to 1951. He had only a few years as an amateur, but won the US title and the Golden Gloves award in 1934.
In a fight on June 22, 1937, against James Braddock, he won his first title. Louis is known around the world as the best boxer who has ever successfully defended a gold title. He was able to do it 25 times. Magazine The Ring put Louis at number one on its list of the 100 best punchers of all time, which was a fair reflection of his skill. Why would they? Out of the 66 fights Joe won, 52 of his opponents couldn't get out of the ring on their own.
Sugar Ray Leonard
It took Crolick 20 years to move through the professional weight classes. That's how long the professional career of 1976 Olympic champion (Montreal) Sugar Ray Leonard lasted:
- welterweight – up to 66.678 kg;
- 1st middleweight – up to 69.90 kg;
- middleweight – up to 72.60 kg;
- 2nd middleweight – up to 76.20 kg;
- light heavyweight – up to 79.4 kg.
Leonard did not have many fights as a professional – 40-36 (25 KOs).
This shows how impressive his sparring in the ring was: elegant, smooth movements, incredible endurance, and wise tactics. Ring masters such as Marvin Hagler, Roberto Duran, and Wilfredo Benitez had the honour of experiencing Sugar's strength and cunning first-hand.
George Foreman
In Mexico City, "Big George" won an Olympic gold medal and is one of the great boxing heroes of all time. His unofficial title as the best heavyweight fighter of the 1980s is well-earned. He was one of a kind as an athlete, and he played professionally for 28 years (with a break). He won his first title belt in 1973 and his last in 1994. Two times, he fought for the title of undisputed world champion: the first time, against Joe Frazier, and won. The second time, against Evander Holyfield, and lost.
It is still thought to be the best boxing match of all time, his fight with Ali on October 30, 1974, in Kinshasa, which is known as "The Rumble in the Jungle."
Big George quit the sport for a full 10 years. He is a Protestant preacher in Houston.
The most important thing he did was win the title belt when he was 45 years old. Bernard Hopkins broke Foreman's record sixteen years after he set it. Foreman has had 81 professional fights and won 76 of them (68 knockouts). He has only lost five fights.
Manny Pacquiao
Manny Dippidran Pacquiao, a Filipino welterweight boxer, is the only great who hasn't finished his great career yet.
He won title belts in eight weight classes over the course of twelve years, from 1998 to 2010. He also won title belts in two weight classes at the same time for two years in a row, from 2008 to 2009.
The best lightweights and middleweights in the world at the turn of the century fought against Pacquiao. They were Barrera, Mayweather, Hatton, Cotto, Vargas, De La Hoya, and Mosley. Manny is a liberal leader who is also the richest senator in the Philippines. It's possible that he will become a good hoops player after he stops boxing. Anyway, the local team's managers, KIA Sorentos, have already given him a one-year deal.
Theophilus Stevenson
If Cuban leaders had a different policy about letting professional athletes from the Island of Freedom compete in international events, there is no doubt that Theophilus Stevenson would have been in the fights between the best super heavyweight boxers of the last 20 years of the 20th century.
In Los Angeles (1984), he had the chance to set a new record by becoming king of the ring a fourth time. He won the 1984 Friendship Games instead, and in 1986, he won his third world title gold medal in Reno. Theo was a lot like Muhammad Ali in terms of how he looked, how he fought, and how he thought in the ring. However, the biggest professional boxer and the best amateur boxer among the heavyweights never got to fight each other. But there is no doubt that he is one of the best fighters of all time.
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Floyd Mayweather, the famous American welterweight boxer, made a stir in the ring for 21 years. He was the last member of a bright and unique family line. An American boxer who won a bronze medal in the 1996 Olympics, he quit the amateur ring after that. The WBC, WBA, and IBF have given him world title belts in five weight classes, from super featherweight to welterweight.
His numbers are just mind-blowing: Fifty fights, fifty wins. More than half of the people who fought the counterpuncher known as "Pretty Boy" were knocked out and couldn't get out of the ring on their own. Floyd got paid a lot of money for winning fights.
If he didn't have that well-known fear, who knows how much more money he would have. He missed out on a lot of money because he was afraid of losing when he fought many great boxers. And to be honest, Mayweather had already beaten them.
Evander Holyfield
He was a smart boxer who turned pro right after Los Angeles in 1984. During his 27-year career, he set marks that heavyweights will not be able to beat any time soon: he was a four-time world champion and an absolute champion in both light heavyweight and heavyweight weight classes.
Holy stood out in the ring because he was elegant, fought smartly, and respected his opponents. His opponents are all great giants, and the list is long.
Evander doesn't have a lot of respect among fans of all ranks because he lost 10 out of 57 fights.
People who went to see him fight were not expecting a show. But once, he didn't want to be the main player in a circus show like that. Tyson's bite mark on the earlobe will always remind people of that.
Sugar Ray Robinson
Most sports fans don't know what his real name is, Walker Smith. His fighting name, "Sugar Ray Robinson" (which means "pound for pound"), is a sign of class, quality, and individuality.
He was one of the best athletes of the middle of the 20th century, and from 1940 to 1965, he moved up seven weight classes, starting as a lightweight and finishing as a light heavyweight. In welterweight and middleweight, he won the world titles in both.
Outside of the ring, Robinson had a full and interesting life. He was a strong and well-trained fighter. Even the leaders of different crime groups didn't try to "steal" him. It was fair to call him the best fighter in the world in the mid-1950s. In one short sentence, The Ring magazine called Sugar "the best boxer of the modern era, regardless of weight class."
Joe Frazier
Joseph Frazier, from Philadelphia, won gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964. He was 20 years old. He did what most boxers did at the time and went professional (1965–1981). He didn't think about it too much.
Joe faced the best heavyweights in the world at the time. It was the real deal. On October 1, 1975, in Manila, it was 30 degrees outside, and Frazier and Ali fought 14 rounds, beating each other badly. Muhammad famously said, "I think I'm dying!" after one of the rounds.
The famous smoker, "Smoking Joe," said the same thing. He died in his home city of Philadelphia at age 65 from liver cancer, which was caused by his terrible smoking habit. Besides being a great boxer, he was also a colourful and stylish black athlete who had an interesting life.
Muhammad Ali
The world's best fighter is this guy. He is without a question thought of as the best boxer in the sport's history by most fans. The black giant Cassius Marcellus Clay joined Muhammad Ali's Nation of Islam after a string of impressive wins, including the Olympic gold medal in Rome and the world championship title after a fight with Sonny Liston in 1964.
In 1967, he refused to join the army and be sent to Vietnam. This made him a hero to pacifists all over the world. The famous fighter didn't give up after losing all of his titles. He fought the best heavyweight boxers of the second half of the 20th century, like Foreman, Frazier, Spinks, Norton, and Patterson, and won back his titles each time. The great American who came up with the phrase "Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee!" fought his last fight on October 2, 1980, against Larry Holmes. Ali did his famous torch shot with a bow in 1996, giving the world the Olympic flame in Atlanta. He was already very sick at the time.
Nobody who makes the list of boxers' rankings should doubt that the names that were named belong on it. Their services to sports around the world can't be argued with. Also, there's no question that boxing is growing and improving. It will definitely produce great champions who can stand with famous athletes.
