Rummy’s Corner: Welcome to Part 4 of the Boxing Survey Series. In this edition, we shift our attention towards the Lightweight division in an attempt to rank the greatest Lightweight boxers of all time.
That is what this is all about. The Boxing Survey Series is simply an attempt to rank the greatest boxers of All Time. 24 participants were surveyed in total, with each being required to supply and submit nine total lists. Each participant provided a Top 15 list for each of the traditional eight weight classes – flyweight, bantamweight, featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight, and each participant also submitted a Top 25 list of the all-time best boxers during the long rich history of the sport. No ties were allowed, just straightforward lists numbered sequentially. The participants are those who generally express great interest in the realm of learning more about the wonderful history of professional boxing. In an attempt to help create an element of surprise, the scoring system was not revealed to the participants during the period when the open survey was underway.
Spoiler alert! For the first time in the Survey, tie-breaking protocol was necessary for the Top 10 results.
The current Lightweight limit of 135 pounds was established in 1909, but the division’s history runs back even further. There have been many outstanding Hall of Fame boxers who made a name for themselves in the Lightweight division, including names like Benny Leonard, Ike Williams, Packey McFarland, Roberto Duran, Joe Gans, and Henry Armstrong to name a few. In more recent times, boxers like Manny Pacquiao, Pernell Whitaker, Floyd Mayweather Jr, Oscar De La Hoya, and Juan Manuel Marquez have all spent time at this weight class. Currently, Vasyl Lomachenko is the unified WBO/WBA Lightweight Champion, Devin Haney is the WBC titlist, and Teofimo Lopez is the IBF titlist.
So who is the greatest Lightweight of all time? And who are the Top 10 Lightweights in history? This survey attempts to provide an answer to both of those questions, while also exploring a deeper look into historical Lightweight rankings.
This edition of Rummy’s Corner is the 4th of 9 parts in the new Boxing Survey Series, which will review scoring system while also going through the Top 10 point tallies among Lightweights while examining some of the survey data. Please watch and enjoy the video for the results of Part 3 of the Boxing Survey Series – the Lightweight division.