Why Jim Jeffries has dropped in my rankings:

While I do not question Big Jeff's athleticism, strength, or endurance there are 3 reasons for dropping him from my list:

1. He only won 18 pro fights.
2. There is a lack of good quality film in which to make a realistic assessment of his ability.
3. His punching power is over rated based on his record. The claim that he hit as hard as Foreman or Liston seems nonsensical based on an overall lack of early round knockouts. Jeff wore down his opposition he did not overpower them early.

If one is considering all era's and all rules, e.g. 45 round fights to the finish, both 5 and 10 oz gloves, bare knuckles, rules that allowed a lot of holding etc., then Jeffries could be argued into the top 5. However, when assessing boxing as a modern sport the standard should be a 20 foot ring, 8-10 oz gloves, modern rules and a 15 round standard that dominated most of the last 100 plus years.

All time great Jack Dempsey has dropped a few sports and pioneer Jack Johnson has dropped out of my ratings.

Jack Dempsey has dropped a few notches. I do believe that Dempsey was a very vicious fighter and ruthless attacker but also realize that he excelled against certain types of opponents, on film he struggled against clever boxers. For more on this see Frank Lotierzo's expose' Jack Dempsey: An Observation Through The Lens

Jack Johnson has dropped off of my list.

1. Some people have compared Jack Johnson to Muhammad Ali in terms of talent but Johnson did not have Ali’s concrete chin and durability.
2. His vaunted defense was fine against someone who threw 1 or 2 punches at a time like his competition did but many of the things he did would not hold up against a more sophisticated attack. Any defensive boxer is most vulnerable to pressure. When studying the films again I noticed the swarmers he fought were simply horrendous. They attacked in a straight line, which is ineffective and makes them vulnerable to Johnson’s punches coming straight at him. They also followed him around the ring like a puppet and did not know how to cut off his escape routes. As Mike Tyson points out at the beginning of the 1988 BBC video "Tyson and the Heavyweights" the things Johnson did would be more difficult to do in a modern ring against a more sophisticated attack because he wasn’t elusive with his body but just picked the punches out of the air one or two at a time and this would be very difficult to do against "consistent punching". .One can see Sam McVey, Jim Flynn, Jim Johnson, Tommy Burns, Frank Moran, and Jess Willard heads straight up , rather than chin down, no head movement or upper body movement, and little footwork, if any. One can see wild, winging punches .We see linear direct line attack with NO side to side upper body movement or level changes. One does not see defensive responsibility when they attack but are simply wide open. It doesn’t matter how old the film is, one can still see these things if one knows what they are watching.
3. The fact that he drew the "color line" against his own race to a great extent also factored into his rating. He fought Sam Langford when he was a middleweight who only weighed 156 pounds, all of his bouts against Sam McVey were when he was under the age of 19, he fought Joe Jeannette in Jeannette's 4th pro fight whereas he was a veteran of around 30 pro fights and in their last fight Jeannette still had only 21 fights as of their final meeting. Once all 3 reached the peak of their careers and were legitimate threats to the title Johnson refused to give any of them a title shot. Whereas Joe Louis barred no one and Rocky Marciano fought everyone who was their Johnson was the biggest ducker in history.

In his book50 Years at Ringside Fleischer rated the all time heavyweights in a number of categories. Here is Cox’s Corner’s up to date list.

• Best Overall Boxer: Muhammad Ali
• Fastest: Muhammad Ali
• Best Fundamentally: Joe Louis
• Best Jab: Larry Holmes
• Best Left Hook: Jack Dempsey, Joe Frazier
• Best Right Cross: Joe Louis
• Best Uppercut: George Foreman, Mike Tyson
• Best Counter Puncher: Joe Louis
• Best Knockout Puncher (Power AND Accuracy): Joe Louis
• Best Combination Punching: Joe Louis
• Hardest One Punch: George Foreman
• Best Body Puncher: Joe Frazier
• Best Finisher: Joe Louis
• Best Footwork: Muhammad Ali
• Best Defense: Joe Frazier
• Strongest Physically: George Foreman
• Best Conditioned: Rocky Marciano
• Best Chin: Muhammad Ali
• Best Competition: Muhammad Ali

Note: I put Joe Frazier as the best defensive heavyweight because he made Muhammad Ali miss more in their 71 fight than all of his other fights put together and that's barely an exaggeration. Frazier did have the highest slip and suck rate of any fighter I studied on film. Jack Johnson does not win this category for the reasons given above, he was good for his time but the things he did, sliding straight back and picking off 1-2 punches at a time, would not hold up in a modern ring. Jersey Joe Walcott is the conversation for his footwork, slips and jukes.

Light-heavyweight Ratings:

1. Sam Langford
2. Gene Tunney
3. Ezzard Charles
4. Tommy Loughran
5. Mike Spinks
6. Archie Moore
7. Bob Foster
8. Roy Jones Jr.
9. Billy Conn
10. Philadelphia Jack O’Brien

Middleweights Ratings:

1. Harry Greb
2. Bob Fitzsimmons
3. Carlos Monzon
4. Marvin Hagler
5. Stanley Ketchel
6. Bernard Hopkins
7. Charley Burley
8. Marcel Cerdan
9. Dick Tiger
10. Jake Lamotta

Welterweight Ratings:

1. Ray Robinson
2. Ray Leonard
3. Mickey Walker
4. Thomas Hearns
5. Joe Walcott
6. Jose Napoles
7. Kid Gavilan
8. Emile Griffith
9. Ted “Kid” Lewis
10. Luis Rodriguez

Note: Floyd Mayweather’s career does not give him a top 10 spot. Luis Rodriguez, for example, had a better career than Floyd beating Emile Griffith, Benny Paret, Hurricane Carter, Curtis Cokes, Georgie Benton and Bennie Briscoe. I cannot in all honesty put Mayweather in the top 10 welterweights based on a career of hand picked opponents and having never unified a major title. Floyd avoided fights with Mosley, Margarito and Pacquiao when they meant something. He waited for these opponents to slow down and fade before considering facing them. Mayweather just does not have the competition to be considered a true all time great. I am not convinced that Floyd would beat any of the top 10 all time welterweights.

Lightweight Ratings:

1. Joe Gans
2. Roberto Duran
3. Benny Leonard
4. Pernell Whitaker
5. Aaron Pryor
6. Barney Ross
7. Tony Canzoneri
8. Julio Cesar Chavez
9. Jack Blackburn
10. Ike Williams

Featherweight Ratings:

1. Henry Armstrong
2. Willie Pep
3. Alexis Arguello
4. Sandy Saddler
5. Kid Chocolate
6. Salvador Sanchez
7. Abe Attell
8. Jim Driscoll
9. Johnny Dundee
10. Manny Pacquiao

Bantamweight Ratings:

1. Eder Jofre
2. Terry McGovern
3. George Dixon
4. Carlos Zarate
5. Rueben Olivares
6. Panama “Al” Brown
7. Pete Herman
8. Manuel Ortiz
9. Kid Williams
10. Jeff Chandler

Flyweight Ratings:

1. Jimmy Wilde
2. Pascual Perez
3. Pancho Villa
4. Jimmy Barry
5. Fidel LaBarba
6. Frankie Genaro
7. Benny Lynch
8. Fighting Harada
9. Miguel Canto
10. Ricardo Lopez

All Time Pound 4 Pound

1. Ray Robinson
2. Joe Gans
3. Sam Langford
4. Harry Greb
5. Joe Louis
6. Henry Armstrong
7. Muhammad Ali
8. Roberto Duran
9. Ray Leonard
10. Benny Leonard

  Sugar Ray Robinson in his prime

• Ray Robinson's ability, record and level of competition puts him at the top. 128-1-2 at his peak that included winning the welterweight and middleweight titles. The argument is who is second best.

• Joe Gans is the great forgotten fighter, equal in ability to Robinson and better defensively. Although he had a great record he participated in some well known fixed fights and must take a back seat to Robbie in terms of his record and level of opposition.

• Sam Langford was the greatest fighter to never win a title and deserves to be ranked among the very best. The "Boston Tar Baby" was feared because of his rare skill and heavy handed hitting. The discovery of the film of Joe Jeannette has raised the estimation of his ability in the eyes of many. Langford is one of the 3 greatest fighters in history. Watch my film short on Sam Langford

• Harry Greb had the greatest record in boxing history, he fought the toughest competition of all time in any era and any weight. Every time one studies his record there is a new gem to behold. He was a whirlwind of motion, attacking from all angles and never gave an opponent a chance to get set.

• Joe Louis was the best fundamental heavyweight in history and one of the best p4p. The "Brown Bomber" had the greatest lineal title record (25) to go along with his feared hand speed, punching power and laser accuracy. He threw some of the most beautiful short punches ever seen on film and his combination punching was remarkable to behold.

• Henry Armstrong's feat of holding 3 major weight titles simultaneously puts him in the top 5. An inexhaustable pressure fighter who wore down his opposition with a relentless attack.

• Muhammad Ali was the fastest heavyweight ever and the most elusive boxer in the ring. He defeated the best competition in heavyweight history.

• Roberto Duran was the best fighter of my lifetime along with Muhammad Ali and Ray Leonard. He had a peak record of 72-1 and defended the lightweight title 12 times before moving up and winning the welterweight and middleweight titles. He is the only former lightweight champion in history to win a legit middleweight title.

• Ray Leonard was as skilled as any boxer of any time. He had speed, movement, classic combinations, good defense, a reliable chin and killer left hook. He defeated outstanding competition in his short career beating Hall of Famer's Wilfred Benitez, Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler.

• Benny Leonard a genius of boxing strategy. He defeated the best competition to ever appear at one time in the history of the lightweight division.

The final spot was a close race between Benny Leonard, Willie Pep, Bob Fitzsimmons, Jack Dempsey, Jimmy Wilde and Eder Jofre. Benny Leonard could beat you in more ways than could Pep who was a pure boxer or Fitz, Dempsey and Wilde who relied more on their punch. Eder Jofre was as talented but Leonard simply beat better competition.