who's the greatest boxer of all time?????

Just for sheer power and excitement, I'd have to go with Eric Esch. 

Sweet thread bro!

the consensus g.o.a.t. is sugar ray robinson and we are talking about the welterweight version of him, It's a shame that the only footage of him at this stage of his career are about 15 min of highlights that do alot of jumping around and do not show any full rounds, most of the fights of him on tape were when he was past his best, the best full fight of him  is the 6th  fight between him and jake lamotta, great fight but lamotta was at the end of the line and had problems making weight. the welterweight robinson was a beautiful combanation puncher with one punch ko power in either hand, good movement, solid defence and a rock solid chin,   SAM LANGFORD was by far the most feared fighter who ever lived, he fought from lightweight to heavyweight, when this man 150 lbs heavyweights did not want to fight him, He was one of the hardest punchers of all time as well as being as tough as they come, don't get me wrong I am a huge jack dempsey fan, but he wanted no part of Langford. In an interview when Dempsey was in his 50's he said that he wasn't sure that even on his best day if he could of beat Langford and this statement is coming from one of the greatest himself. It was because Langford was black that he didn't receive a title shot in a racist america, but still anyone who knows anything knows he is one of the greatest fighters to ever breath a breath,  I also beleive that JOE GANS was the farther ahead of his competition than any fighter ever, he was the lightweight champ from 1902-08 and was about 30 years ahead of his time, a master boxer in an era of brawlers, Gans defence,counterpunching skills were unmatched, he also had the heart of a lion, fighting the last few years of his career with tuberculosis in his lungs, he would have to conserve his energy, and look to ko his opponents with perfectly times counterpunches because the disease left him so weak, he also won in the 42 round in his fight with battling nelson and were talking about 3 min rounds here. they called Gans the Old Master and for good reason,    Also HENRY ARMSTRONG must be mentioned here, he held the featherweight, lightweight and welterweight titles all at the same time and thats when their was 8 weight divisions, not 15 like today and 1 champion per division, not 4 or 5. Armstong had tremendous stamina, and may be the strongest fighter ever in a pound for pound sence, he also had unusual head movement that was hard for opponents to figure out. he put unbelievable pressure on his opponents, not giving them a moments rest and his chin was top notch, he also should of held the middleweight title but was robbed against C. Garcia a man he had previously offically beaten before. also check out the lightweight version of ROBERTO DURAN, so aggressive yet still responsible defensively, fought with competative flair that was unmatched as well as having devastating power, when people think of Duran they think of the leonard, hearns and hagler fights, he was  past his best in those fights, especially the latter 2, the lighweight Duran was a monster, check the ken bucannon fight,  he seemed unbeatable that night and as far as pure boxing skill WILLIE PEP stands alone, untouchable during his prime years,he was also a great counterpuncher and was a wonder to watch,once won around without throwing a punch because of his defensive brilliance making his opponent miss everything and looking foolish. I also believe that If SALVADOR SANCHEZ did not die so young he would be mentioned much more than he is now, he was a pokerface with great counterpunching skill, nice power, a solid chin and I believe he is the greatest conditioned athlete who ever lived, he never seemed to get winded not matter how tough of a fight he was in, HARRY GREB was most likely the toughest man to ever live, he just came staight at you, his stamina was top notch, he was one you from ding to dong, he never let up and he never stopped punching he was also a dirty as they come,when he was a middleweight he would often fight lightheavyweights and heavyweights, the man tried to get a fight with Jack dempsey when he was middleweight champ, but it never came off, he was the only man to defeat tunney, I also believe that SANDY SADDLER was greatly underrated I would never say that he was the best, but he is among the best, pressure , pressure pressure as well as dirty inside fighting is what you got for him as well as being probly the hardest punching featherweight ever, beat pep 3 out of 4

The experts say Sugar Ray Robinson and I could be lazy and type that in but I never saw him fight BUT they are experts and I am not. Ali was my favourite. I always wonder just how good he could have been if he didn't spend 4 years in jail. The Ali that fought Liston was an awesome fighter. He had everything. Foot movement, awesome speed, punching angles etc etc. Then after 4 years in jail he still fought at a really high level (though not the same). He was heavier, slower but incredibly still found ways to win fights he never should have won.

Duran, Hearns, Hagler and Leonard. These guys are all time greats in my opinion. The last 20 years, I haven't seen anything to compare to the guys I just mentioned. Roy Jones was a special fighter but the last 5-10 years will destroy his legacy. He always had a glass jaw but with his speed and athletic ability he would always stay out of trouble. Now I know why he was so safety first. To me Mayweather and Pacquaio are over rated. I think Duran/Leonard/Hearns destroy these guys at 147. I mean destroy. Ok Manny is not a 147 fighter, but they are sooo many fighters from 106-135 who I think would destroy Pacquaio. Manny or Floyd are nowhere my top 10 ATG..

CHARLEY BURLEY was one of the greatest defensive fighters of all time, as well as being a very good puncher, but he never received a title shot because the colour of his skin, burley was one of those guys who never got the money he deserved so for most of his career he had to work a day job and one day when he was working a day shift at the airport, he got a call  from Archie Moore's people because his original opponent had pulled out last min and they needed a replacement, the thing was that the fight was that night, burley gladly agreed to the fight, but the crazy shit is he finished out his shift at the airport, hopped on a plane from pittsburgh to chicago and then proceded to beat the hell out of archie moore, who is a true ring legend and all time great himself, so on not even a full days notice and after working a full shift at work he beat moore. amazing. moore's career spaned from 1936 to 1963 and he fought everyone along the way, when he was asked who the best fighter he ever fought was, he said burley without hesitatin. also eddie futch one of the great trainers to ever live, called burley the greatest all round fighter that he ever saw.   RAY LEONARD was a complete fighter who could do it all, he got the best of duran,benitez,hearns and hagler enough said. MAHAMMAD ALI AND JOE LOUIS are legends that need no write up

BERNARD HOPKINS

1. Sugar Ray Robinson:

We never got to see him in his prime at Welter. But he still looked like the G.O.A.T. in the videos I've seen. He had every talent and skill you can think and wasn't afraid to test himself

2. Sugar Ray Leonard:

The "experts" tend to list many oldtimers at #2 who I know about but have never seen enough footage of. However, I have SRL's career set and in my view SRL is an all-time great who would give anyone at Welterweight (including SRR) trouble.