Who do you think was the best all around boxer of all time and why?

Question

I feel it was Rocky Marciano because of his undefeated record, fighting much larger opponents, a straw jaw, and iron fists. To me Ali wasn't even close. Duran and Marvelous Marvin would be the next closest.

Answer 1

Roy Jones Jr. because he is that good.

Answer 2

sugar ray robinson is my pick as best all rounder of all time, and the reasons are thus:

he could box, punch hard  with either hand, excellent reflexes, he could take a punch, fast hands, fast feet, he could knock an opponent out while going backwards, sometimes defended his title as little as 6 weeks apart.....

henry armstrong would probably be no 2 because of his all action style of throwing non stop punches from start to finish, and because he once held the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight titles at the same time, and fought to a draw while going after the middleweight belt and made close to 20 defences of the welter title.

then willie pep, muhammad ali, benny leonard, and roberto duran in any order.....marciano would make the top 15 though....he was as tough as nails and a finest heart of any champion, punched hard, took a good punch and never lost his cool when faced with defeat.

Answer 3

Remember, this is one of those opinion questions and there is no right or wrong answer. Marciano was great, but in his later years he did not have a lot of competition.

I still believe Ali was the greatest because of his size, speed, talent, and know-how about boxing. He was also a great self promoter.

Ali was not defeated in a title bout until he was over 36 years old. By then he had been boxing almost 25 years. He should not have tried so many come-backs. But in his prime, he truly was the greatest.

Answer 4

i think tyson in his earlydays was to mean and to strong for anyone he was a pure throw back but sadly fame and fortune came along

Answer 5

I agree with you completely on all counts except I put Duran at #1 because he dominated the 135 division like no other for 8 years and then moved up 12 pounds and beat Leonard without even a tune-up. Then he fought competitively with those much larger GREAT fighters for 10-15 years AFTER his prime as a lightweight. The guy was unbelievable!!!!

Answer 6

I agree with you that Marciano was the best ever - his record speaks for itself. I would also add Evander Holyfield to your list as well.

Sadly, many latter day boxers destroy their image and invincibility by trying to continue well past their sell-by dates. Ali and Tyson are prime cases in point.

Answer 7

To be fair, each weight class should have it's champion.

Heavyweight

Ali

Louis

Frazier

Johnson

Light Heavy Weight

Bob Foster

Middle Weight.

Sugar Ray Robinson

Sugar Ray Leonard

Commentator

Burt Sugar

Howard Cosell

Answer 8

The guys I have heard that were close to the top in all categories were

Henry Arstrong

Benny Leonard

Sugar Ray Robinson

Answer 9

Rocky Marciano deserves a lot of credit without any doubt to me for what he accomplished in the ring with his undefeated record  despite being smaller and having a short reach by making up for it with heart, desire, and two iron fists.  49-0-0 with 43 kayo's is still the mark everyone strives for in the heavyweight division.  He was the man who refused to lose.

As great as Rocky was, the greatest overall fighter in the history of boxing has to be Sugar Ray Robinson.  Of his first 100 fights he had an astonishing record of 97-1-2 and at one point had a record of 132-3-2 at the end of 1952 after losing to Joey Maxim, he retired before returning to the ring in 1955.  He was the welterweight champ and 5 time middleweight champ beating people like LaMotta, Graziano, Armstrong, Gavilan, Basillio, and Fullmer among many others in his great career.  He could do it all in the ring and was tough losing by knockout only once in 200 career fights that to Maxim due to exhaustion in a fight he was clearly winning.  He was a great boxer, had power and good footwork.  That is my reason for my opinion that he was the best with all due respect to many other all time greats.

Answer 10

Marciano, thru no fault of his own, was the benefactor of a transitioning division. Most of who he fought were older champions who were past their time. Again, not his fault, but contributes.

If you make the case that Floyd Mayweather is not the best P4P because of his opposition, the same could be said of Marciano.

Best overall boxer of all time, agreed, is Sugar Ray Robinson. He had it all and had HELLACIOUS fights because of such stiff opposition.