Boxing's Greatest Fighters

Wanna fight? Boxing's most entertaining historian picks the best fighters of all time. Boxing's most entertaining writer picks the greatest fighters of all time.No one is more qualified to answer the time-honored question "who was the greatest fighter?" than Bert Randolph Sugar. In Boxing's Greatest Fighters, the former editor of The Ring magazine not only tells us who the greatest fighters are, but tells us the order of their greatness.Could Sugar Ray Robinson have beaten Muhammad Ali? Could Sugar Ray Leonard have beaten Sonny Liston? The answer, most experts agree, would be "no." But what if, as Bert Sugar has done here, one were to take all the boxers and "reduce them in the mind's eye to the same height, the same weight, the same ring conditions?" The answers come out a lot different.And while some fans may express outrage that Rocky Marciano is not in the top 10 and Marvelous Marvin Hagler is barely in the top 50, others will nod sagely when they read why Sugar selects Henry Armstrong and Willie Pep as better than just about anybody else.So, whether you read Boxing's Greatest Fighters cover-to-cover, or merely flip to your favorites, be prepared, at the bell, to come out arguing. For Sugar makes "The Sweet Science" one helluva sweet quarrel. Easily the most enduring of all sports questions is "Who was/is the best . . . ?" Perhaps in no sport is the question more asked and argued over than in boxing. And in boxing perhaps none is more qualified to answer the question than Bert Randolph Sugar.In Boxing's Greatest Fighters, not only does the former publisher of Ring Magazine tell us who the best fighters were, he lists them in order.Could Sugar Ray Robinson have beaten Muhammad Ali? Could Sugar Ray Leonard have beaten Sonny Liston? The answer, most experts agree, would be "no." But what if, as Bert Sugar has done here, one were to take all the boxers and reduce them in the mind's eye to the same height, the same weight, and the same ring conditions? The answers would be quite different.And while some fans may express outrage that Rocky Marciano barely makes the top twenty, and Marvin Hagler staggers into the top seventy-five, others will nod eagerly when they read that Harry Greb and Benny Leonard were better than just about anybody.So whether you read Boxing's Greatest Fighters cover to cover, pick yourfavorites at random, or simply browse through the many rare photographs, "atthe bell, come out arguing."