Greatest Boxers of All Time

For the larger part of the 20th century, only Major League Baseball could hold a candle to boxing as the most popular sport in the United States — a fact that’s probably foreign to modern sports fans. 

But boxing’s reign produced some of the most memorable moments in sports history, including a fight that drew in a television audience that exceeded 1 billion worldwide. For a long time, the marquee fights were key sports moments for every calendar year. 

The true legends of the sport aren’t just the household names we all know as sports fans … but you probably know most of them. Here’s a look at the best boxers of all time. 

Born: July 10, 1922 (New York, New York) 

Died: Sept. 19, 2017, 95 years old (Aventura, Florida)

Record: 83-19-4

Primary weight class: Middleweight/light heavyweight

Bottom line: Boxer Jake LaMotta’s life was the subject of the Academy Award-winning film “Raging Bull,” directed by Martin Scorsese and starring Robert De Niro as LaMotta, with De Niro bringing home Best Actor honors. 

LaMotta learned to fight as a child in The Bronx, where his father had him fight other boys to entertain adults in the neighborhood and collected money for the fights to pay the rent. LaMotta then refined his skills in a boys’ reformatory as a teen.

He makes this list almost purely for his ability to take punches unlike perhaps any other boxer who ever lived and for his six-fight series against Sugar Ray Robinson, in which LaMotta went 1-5 but earned a tremendous amount of acclaim. 

Born: July 13, 1956 (St. Louis, Missouri)

Record: 31-1

Primary weight class: Light heavyweight

Bottom line: Michael Spinks and his brother Leon Spinks both shot to fame at the 1976 Summer Olympics, where they both won gold medals. Michael turned pro and won his first 31 professional fights during a stretch that included becoming the undisputed light heavyweight champion, 10 successful title defenses and finally becoming the heavyweight champion by defeating Larry Holmes. In fact, Michael was the first reigning light heavyweight champion to become heavyweight champion. 

Michael’s career ended with a knockout loss at the hands of Mike Tyson in 91 seconds in 1988, which was the only loss of his pro career. Michael was a rarity in the boxing world, as he never returned to the ring and has lived in relative anonymity since then, shunning the spotlight. 

Born: Oct. 15, 1858 (Boston, Massachusetts)

Died: Feb. 2, 1918, 59 years old (Abington, Massachusetts)

Record: 42-1-3

Primary weight class: Heavyweight

Bottom line: This is my sentimental pick for a lot of reasons — mainly because coverage of John L. Sullivan’s boxing career basically invented sports journalism. 

The Boston Strong Boy became the first gloved boxing heavyweight champion, which isn’t nearly as impressive as the title he held before that as the bare-knuckle champion. 

Sullivan dropped out of Boston College his freshman year to play pro baseball for $40 a week before becoming a pro fighter, where his documented record of fights does little to tell the actual story of his career. Sullivan reportedly won over 450 fights in his career and once fought a championship bout that lasted 75 rounds. 

Born: Jan. 21, 1985 (Khasavyurt, Dagestan ASSR, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union — now Khasavyurt, Dagestan, Russia)

Record: 19-0

Primary weight class: Light heavyweight

Bottom line: The only active boxer to make this list, Artur Beterbiev has proven to be one of the greatest light heavyweights of all time. He finally became the undisputed light heavyweight champion of the world in 2022, with his ascent to the top slowed by a nasty legal battle with a former manager that saw him fight just once in 2017 and 2018. 

Beterbiev has won every match he’s fought since 2013 by knockout or stoppage.