Rich O'Brien's Pound-For-Pound Greatest Fighters

SI Staff | Nov 18, 2009

Rich O'Brien's Pound-For-Pound Greatest Fighters

Mickey Walker

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The "Toy Bulldog" was a relentless, aggressive puncher who took on and beat everyone from welterweights up to heavies, as well as (according to legend, at least) the entire Notre Dame football team one drunken night.

Ricardo Lopez

John Iacono/SI

Mexico's greatest fighter, El Finito won his first world title in 1990 at 106 pounds and retired 11 years later with only a draw against Rosendo Alvarez (whom he beat in a rematch) marring his record. The 5-foot-5 Lopez was a flawless fighter, best described as a "mini Joe Louis."

Benny Leonard

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Second only to Duran at lightweight, Leonard was a brilliant defensive wizard who had speed, power and unparalleled ring smarts. He was basically unbeatable until his mother made him retire.

Sam Langford

Hulton Archive/Getty Images

The 5-foot-7 Langford fought at lightweight up through heavyweight, but never got a chance at the title. Having beaten Langford once early in his career, heavyweight king Jack Johnson consistently ducked the fighter known as the "Boston Terror," who was one of the hardest punchers in boxing history. In his autobiography, Jack Dempsey wrote, "The hell I feared no man. There was one man I wouldn't fight because I knew he would flatten me. I was afraid of Sam Langford."

Joe Gans

Durant File/SI

His nickname was the "Old Master," and it fit perfectly. He was decades ahead of his time.

Ezzard Charles

Mark Kauffman/SI

The greatest light heavyweight ever and boxing's classic boxer-puncher, Charles was 2-0 against Charlie Burley and 3-0 against Archie Moore.

Henry Armstrong

AP

When you hold world titles in three (real) weight classes at once, you've pretty much got the pound-for-pound angle covered.

Roberto Duran

James Drake, Hank de Lespinasse, Tony Triolo, Manny Millan/SI

Perfect at lightweight and brilliant as he moved up, Duran had every tool in the world and fought with a kind of joyous ferocity that never failed to be thrilling.

Harry Greb

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The greatest middleweight ever, Greb fought and beat everyone up to and including heavyweights. Plus, he was blind in one eye for much of his career.

Sugar Ray Robinson

Hy Peskin, Neil Leifer/SI

The term "greatest pound-for-pound" was invented to account for how good the welterweight champ and five-time middleweight titlist was. That says it all.