Bleacher Report recently posted a slideshow of their ranking of the 100 Most Exciting Athletes of All Time. Lists of this sort are almost entirely subjective and this one is no exception. While it's fun to scroll through the names (almost all of which are contemporary athletes), I have a big problem with the inclusion of only three boxers! While those three - Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson and Manny Pacquaio - certainly belong on the list, there are so many others that were overlooked.
So we've gone ahead and compiled our own list of the 50 Most Exciting Boxers of the Past 50 Years. This is not a pound-for-pound list. These are not necessarily the most talented or accomplished boxers, but the most crowd pleasing. The fighters who made every fight a must see fight.
Who do you consider to be the most exciting boxer since 1960? And who's missing from our list? Vote in our poll. And tell us who's missing from our Top 50 ... and who doesn't belong on the list at all.
Comments
What in the name of boxing is JULIO CESAR CHAVEZ’s
place in this. Some sports minded spirit out there
please do something !
He’s a boxer who did everyhing better than any anther boxer did, he had all the tools and used them with punching meaning.
Above all he had one thing, I did not see any pulgilist do.
That is:
In the tiering last rounds he used to come out of he’s corner
and threw the most surprising mostly unsupected devastating blows of the fight. I did’nt see any boxer did did that so telling.
debies,
when you said “In the tiering last rounds…”
i thought you would refer to chavez quiting on his stool. lol
YEAH, he’s gotcha there….
Although my personal all-time favorite is Marvelous Marvin Hagler who (in my opinion) clearly deserves to be in the top 10 for an illustrious seven year championship run and a career against some of the best in the game and, who incidentally was never KO’d or even knocked down….but what about Salvador Sanchez?
He may have not been an “exciting” fighter in the flashy sense but I’ve NEVER seen a guy go 13, 14 or 15 rds. and show absolutely no sign of fatigue. He was always in top condition. A physical specimen who always breathed thru his nose and his mouth stayed tightly shut start to finish as he engaged his pressing attack style in some phenomenal fights with Little Red Lopez, Azumah Nelson and – who could forget when he took the title as an 8 to 1 underdog against an undefeated (32-0, 31 KO’s) Wilfredo Gomez by 8th rd TKO?
To this day I still mourn the loss of such a great fighter in the prime of his young life cut short by a tragic auto accident. From today’s standards, guys like Mayweather, De La Hoya, Pacquaio, JC Chavez, Roberto Duran, Alexis Arguello, Camacho etc, wouldn’t have stood a chance against a fighter of Salvador Sanchez’s caliber. He was a tactician and the epitome of versatility.
My bad, after taking another look at your list I did find Sanchez listed at I believe #34 or 39 which to me is heavily under-rated and an embarrasment considering Tommy Morrison was given the #20 spot. WTF???? That’s like saying Butterbean was a contender. C’mon now.
How about Ray “Windmill” White, the light heavyweight boxer from the 70′s time frame with his wind up punches, his behind the back punches etc.
You have to forget the late Julio Ceasar Chavez and think of his early accomplishments. You put his son up there who is a talented fighter no doubt but yet has to prove himself and meet the quality of fighters his father fought like Edwin rosario and pernell whiticker. He was no doubt an exciting pressure fighter in his time with dynamite in each hand.
Holyfield is the same way his early fights were classics. It is sad and looks bad for them when they fight way longer than they should. Fans just tend to forget the early parts of their career and focus on their downhill side.
Totally agree with Kos on his comments on Hagler.
But for me it has to be Sugar Ray Leonard or Pacman.
Leonard may be more like Mayweather defensively but both went above and beyond what anyone expected of them weight wise.I speak of course of Pacman and S.R.Leonard.Their speed and vision and against odd’s power as they rode through the weight’s,totally spellbounding.Fair play to the lads who can take punches all day and the power merchant’s who live for one punch.Excitement? Sugar Ray or Pacquiao for me.Speed,skill,power and defence,with a smile.
I too became a huge SRL fan going back to when I watched him fight Benitez on the Hagler/Antufermo undercard in Nov 1979. I knew then that the sport of boxing had something special. Leonard would actually “engage” his opponents with speed, finesse and power punches while putting on a clinic with footwork and superior boxing skills.
Difference is that Hagler went out at the top of his game and we never really knew if he could be beaten to a pulp or eventually even KO’d. Leonard on the other hand got beat by Terry Norris in 1991 & later in 97′ got demolished by Hector Camacho via 5th rd TKO by a guy not known for being a KO artist. Costly mistakes in the opinion of many which tarnished his record. Something that didn’t occur with Hagler who had nearly double the fight output and overall record in comparison. Still bothers me that Leonard refused a Hagler rematch knowing full well he would have relinquished the title.
I believe the 50/50 should include Hector Camacho in the top 25. Not even honorable mention? There are some names there he could actually take the place of like Tommy Morrison & Naseem Hamed based upon pure records, etc. Love him or hate him, people don’t realize that Camacho’s career spans FOUR decades with a record of 79 & 6, 38 KO’s. Personally, I couldn’t stand Naseem Hamed’s copycat style and “Camacho-like” theatrics but somehow he mangaged top consideration in a rather short career comparatively which is quite subjective to me. Both being southpaws, Hamed did possess more power in his grotesquely unorthodox style but he lacked many of the other components like counterpunching, combinations and overall boxing skills that Hector was a master of. A head to head fight between these two guys in their primes would’ve been an interesting one and fun to watch.
Fran beat me to it. Ray “windmill” White was fun to watch I seen him fight live a few times. Never a dull moment.
Why didn’t Oscar De La Hoya fight Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. that would have given Julio a chance for redemption of his father and furthermore proven he could fight wtih the best.