There’s lots of boxing rich countries (or sovereign states, as it were) out there, each with their own legacies and lists. You got the US, the UK, Japan, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, Argentina, Panama, Cuba, Ukraine, to name a few. More than many other sports, boxing invites people within a country to debate their own greatest fighters.
That being said, we here in Puerto Rico do the same. There tend to be disagreements based mostly on age, but also personal preferences. So I thought I’d start this thread to invite others to rank their own countryman fighters all-time, as well as chime in on other lists.
So without further ado, I’ll present my own list of Puerto Rican all-time boxers. (For purposes of this list, I’ll include only male boxers. Hence, Amanda Serrano won’t be on the list).
Xander has a ways to go, although he’s young and presumably has his whole career still ahead of him. He’s taking a big bite right now… let’s see how that goes. But win or lose, I see it as a positive for his career. When looking back at his resume, it’ll show that he fought great fighters early on in his career.
Before Xander though, I would be eyeing Oscar Collazo. He doesn’t get much press, being a little guy. But if he unifies at 105 and goes up and dominates at 108, he could be in consideration as well.
It would be interesting to see a list from your side of the pond as well. Especially since you guys have had relatively recent success at heavyweight.
BTW, I noticed you didn’t mention Kostya. True, he was born in Russia. But he IS listed as Australian in most boxing sites. Also, I’m surprised you didn’t mention Katsidis.
unlike some other aussies i don’t feel the need to claim things that weren’t made here, so you want see guys like peter jackson, kostya tszyu or vic darchinyan on my list
michael katsidis was in some great wars but he’s well behind others from here
I was happy to see Ken Buchanan rated highly on your list. I was also happy not to see Tyson Fury there. Although I’m sure some of the other British guys would beg to differ. I’m also in full agreement about Lennox Lewis being #1.
Xander has not done anything in the sport yet to warrant even having a discussion of him on his next fight had it not been that he is slated to go up against Boots.
Lightweight Duran is a top 10 fighter of all time. De Jesus dropped and legit beat a prime Duran. Yeah, Duran beat him in the rematch and tortured him in the rubber match. It doesn’t take the win away. That win over Duran is better than any win any PR fighter has. Ever. The fact that he’s not even in some people’s top 10 is absurd and shows one’s true lack of knowledge.
Actually, De Jesus dropped him twice. First in their first fight in MSG, and then in their rematch in Panama which Esteban eventually lost by KO. Reason why Duran visited Esteban on his death bed. Lots of mutual respect.
Yeah, Esteban definitely top 10, although to me he’s a toss-up for top 5. He’d definitely nudge someone from the top 10.
Probably the reason why Esteban isn’t included in the top 10 of some boxing sources is because he had fewer title defenses than some of the others on the list. Maybe not a fair measurement, as his division was pretty stacked during that era. But beating an undefeated (at the time) Duran, and dropping him in two different fights certainly weighs a lot.
Yeah, top 10 for me, and he’d probably bump off one of the fighters I listed before.
Tragically, Esteban’s career was ended perhaps prematurely by prison, and later on dying of AIDS.
I watched De Jesus on ESPN old archive boxing against Duran and he was amazing. Very skilled and fast hands. The fact he beat Roberto and dropped him twice illustrated his quality.
Duran was a destroyer and nothing is worse than the hands of stone wanting revenge staring across you in the ring. I would run a mile.
Duran was not only a destroyer. He had a mean streak in him as well. He famously had a fight vs a Lou Bizzarro in 1976. Bizzarro was a previously unbeaten contender from Italy, but representing his hometown of Erie, Pennsylvania.
Bizzarro ran all fight long, evading and clutching onto Duran… frustrating the hell out of him. When Duran finally caught up with him and KO’ed him in the 14th round… Duran wheeled around and made a disgusted gesture as if to say… “Finally!”
Although I’m sure some of the other British guys would beg to differ. I’m also in full agreement about Lennox Lewis being