Who is the greatest boxer of all time?
It's a question that is probably impossible to find a definitive answer to, but it's one we all love to debate as boxing fans.
Some would say Muhammad Ali, some would say Floyd Mayweather. It truly is a question that has a plethora of potential answers.
With the growth of the sport over the last century, boxing has seen a growing amount of quality, technical fighters step foot in the ring, so defining who is the greatest of all time really is a tough task.
However, just recently, Ring Magazine ranked their top 100 boxers in history, rating showstoppers from the previous 97 years, and the list is flooded with star names including Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao and legends such as Roy Jones Jr, Sugar Ray Leonard and of course Muhammad Ali.
Now looking through all 100 of the boxers Ring Magazine named and ranked would leave us, and you as the reader, here all day, so instead, we've decided to look into their top 30.
Jun 6, 2021; Miami, Florida, USA; Floyd Mayweather Jr. (Green Trunks) stands in the ring prior to his fight against Logan Paul (not pictured) at Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
If you are interested in seeing who makes the entire top 100, however, we'll provide links to their rankings at the bottom of this article.
But without further ado, here's Ring Magazine's top 30 boxers of all time!
30. Dick Tiger
29. Harold Johnson
28. Billy Conn
27. Carlos Monzon
26. Oscar De La Hoya
25. Sammy Angott
24. Young Corbett III
23. Marvelous Marvin Hagler
22. Alexis Arguello
21. Carlos Ortiz
20. Evander Holyfield
LAS VEGAS - APRIL 10: Evander Holyfield celebrates his eighth-round TKO victory over Francois Botha in their heavyweight bout at the Thomas & Mack Center April 10, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
19. Sugar Ray Leonard
18. Ike Williams
17. Pernell Whittaker
16. Henry Armstrong
15. Jose Napoles
14. Roy Jones Jr.
13. Jimmy McLarnin
12. Bernard Hopkins
11. Julio Cesar Chavez
10. Archie Moore
9. Manny Pacquiao
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JULY 20: Manny Pacquiao blows a kiss to the crowd as he celebrates his split-decision victory over Keith Thurman in their WBA welterweight title fight at MGM Grand Garden Arena on July 20, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
8. Ezzard Charles
7. Willie Pep
6. Floyd Mayweather
5. Emilie Griffith
4. Tony Cazoneri
3. Muhammad Ali
2. Joe Louis
1. Sugar Ray Robinson
Whether or not you agree with the list, there’s no denying they are all absolute legends of the sport.
With such a complex list, many were puzzled as to how Ring Magazine made up the list, but the fighters were ranked in terms of wins against other champions, wins and losses to opponents in higher and lower weight classes, as well as unranked opponents.
For instance, if a no.2-ranked bantamweight defeated the no.2-ranked featherweight, 126 was divided by 118 and then multiplied by standard win/loss points, making the win worth 9.61 points to the bantamweight and the loss a deduction of 3.2 points for the featherweight.
If the featherweight won, 118 would be divided by 126 with the win worth 8.42 points for the featherweight.
It seems like it was a highly complexed ranking, but one we're very grateful to the Ring Magazine for doing.
If you did want to see their full 100, follow this link and scroll back through their rankings.