Honorable Mention

Oscar De La Hoya

The Golden Boy of boxing was an extremely talented fighter. He competed between 1992 and 2008 and had a monumental impact in the world of boxing and sports in general.

In the 1992 summer Olympics, he won a gold medal for the United States, setting himself up for an equally impressive professional career, in which De La Hoya won 11 world titles in 6 different weight classes.

After a sixteen-year-long career, and a record of 39-6, De La Hoya retired in 2009, as one of the best, and highest-paid boxers of all time.

Lennox Lewis

is another exceptional boxer who deserves an honorable mention. He competed from 1989 to 2003 and was one of the most decorated fighters of his time.

Lewis is a three-time world heavyweight champion, a two-time lineal champion. To this day, he remains the last heavyweight boxer to hold the undisputed championship.

Top 10 All-Time Best Boxers

10. Roy Jones Jr.

Roy Jones Junior competed in boxing from 1989 to 2018 and retired with a record of 66 wins and 9 losses.

Jones held multiple world championships in four different weight classes, including titles at middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight. At the height of his career, he was the Unified Retained WBA, WBC, IBF, IBO, WBF (Federation), IBA, and The Ring light heavyweight champion.

Roy Jones Junior also made a comeback recently and fought the great Iron Mike Tyson in an exhibition bout.

9. Henry Armstrong

Henry Armstrong competed as a professional boxer between 1931 and 1945, and he bought a lot of attention to the lower-weight classes.

He was a three-division world champion, winning world titles at featherweight, lightweight, and welterweight. Armstrong also made a record by defending his welterweight title 19 times.

He was named fighter of the year by Ring Magazine in 1937 and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1991.

8. Manny Pacquiao

There are a few bigger names in Modern boxing than Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao. The Filipino phenom is also the only eight-division champion in boxing history.

Pacman started boxing at the age of 14 and turned professional at 16. He has a record of 71 fights, out of which he has won 62 and lost 7, with 2 draws. Pacquiao won 12 world titles in 8 different weight divisions.

Pacquiao is the only active boxer to make it into this list, he will be fighting  Errol Spence Jr., for a shot at another world title, later this month.

Pacquiao is also a very popular public and political figure in the Philippines, he has made a name for his ferocious and resilient style in the ring, while being a compassionate and soft-spoken philanthropist outside the ring.

Pacquiao is currently a Senator of the Philippines and the party president of the ruling PDP–Laban party.

7. Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Floyd “Money” Mayweather is not just one of the richest boxers, but one of the richest athletes in the entire world. Mayweather’s Lavish lifestyle and outspoken personality do take the spotlight, but apart from being a very talented boxer, Mayweather was also an exceptional businessman, and he always found a way to put himself in a position to make more money.  

During his career, Mayweather won fifteen world championships from super featherweight to light middleweight, including the Ring magazine title in five different weight classes and the lineal championship in four weight classes. He retired as an undefeated champion, with a record of 50-0.

He is regarded by many as the best defensive boxer of all time, and he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame this year.

6. Sugar Ray Leonard

Sugar Ray Leonard is one of the biggest names in Boxing and is regarded by many as one of the greatest boxers of his time. He competed between 1977 and 1997, retiring with a record of 36 wins, 3 losses, and 1 draw.

Throughout his career, he won world titles in five weight divisions and the lineal championship in three different weight classes. He is also the former, undisputed welterweight world champion.

He is a two-time Ring magazine fighter of the year and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of fame in 1997.

5. Mike Tyson

Mike Tyson, the youngest heavyweight champion of the world, is one of the biggest stars the world has ever seen.

Tyson competed between 1985 to 2005 and retired with a record of 50 wins and 6 losses. He is a two-time heavyweight world champion, and also held the unified WBA, WBC, IBF, and The Ring heavyweight titles in 1989.

He is a 2-time Ring magazine fighter of the Year and was inducted into the International Boxing hall of fame in 2011. Tyson even made a comeback last year in 2021 and had an exhibition fight against Roy Jones Junior.

4. Joe Louis

The “Brown bomber”, Joe Louis was one of the most impactful boxers of his time. He competed from 1934 to 1951 and retired with a record of 63 wins and 3 losses.

Joe Louis holds the record for being the longest-reigning heavyweight champion of the world. He won the NBA, NYSAC, and The Ring heavyweight titles in 1937, and retained them till 1950, staying the champion for over 12 years. He defended his titles 25 times, which is also a standing record.

Louis was named fighter of the year four times by The Ring magazine in 1936, 1938, 1939, and 1941. He was also awarded the congressional gold medal in 1981. He died the same year, at the age of 66.

3. Rocky Marciano

Rocky Marciano was one of the most exciting heavyweight fighters of his time. He competed in the heavyweight division from 1947 to 1955.

With a record of 49-0, he is the only heavyweight boxer to retire with an undefeated record. He also holds the record for the most consecutive wins at heavyweight. He was the unified  NBA, NYSAC, The Ring, and lineal heavyweight champion, and defended his titles six times before retiring as a unified world champion.

Rocky Marciano died in 1969 at the age of 45. He was inducted into the International Boxing hall of fame in 1990.

2. Sugar Ray Robinson

Regarded by many as the greatest boxer of all time, Sugar Ray Robinson is second on our list. He competed from 1940 to 1965 and won world titles in two weight classes. He also holds the record for the third-longest win streak in professional boxing, with 91 consecutive wins.

Robinson ended his career with a record of 128 wins, 1 loss and 2 draws with 84  knockouts. He was inducted into the Boxing Hall Of Fame in 1990.

The Ring ranked him as the best pound-for-pound fighter in history, and he was named “welterweight of the century”, “middleweight of the century”, and overall “fighter of the century”.

Sugar Ray Robinson passed away in 1989 at the age of 67.

1. Muhammad Ali

At the top of the list, there can be no other than “The Greatest”, Muhammad Ali. With his Vibrant personality, colorful speech, charisma, and unmatched boxing abilities, Ali became the most popular boxer of his time.

He won the gold medal at the 1960 Olympics and went on to become the first boxer to become a three-time heavyweight world champion. Ali ended his career with a record of 56-5 with 37 KOs.

To this day, Ali remains the only three-time lineal heavyweight champion. He was named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year six times and has more Ring “Fight of the Year” bouts than any other fighter

Muhammad Ali was one of the inaugural inductees of the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990, the year it was formed.

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