Chronology of 90's Boxing Pound For Pound Number One Race

[Stuart]

I made this video to pay tribute to the best boxer's of the 1990's.

Also because I'd like to set a few myths straight;

1) Oscar De La Hoya was a serious fighter in the 90's not just a socialite boxer.

2) Roy Jones was dominant in the 90's but he faced weaker competition than everyone else on the pound for pound list.

3) Pernell Whittaker was a very effective, simple economical fighter for the most part of his career.

These are just myths that I have encountered, you might not have heard all of these things.

For those who might not be interested in my video but might be interested in a debate, the pound for pound year end no. 1 chronology according to the ring magazine goes like this;

1990 - Julio Cesar Chavez

1991 - Julio Cesar Chavez

1992 - Julio Cesar Chavez

1993 - Pernell Whittaker

1994 - Pernell Whittaker

1995 - Pernell Whittaker

1996 - Roy Jones

1997 - Oscar De La Hoya

1998 - Oscar De La Hoya

1999 - Roy Jones

 

[Headhunter]

Meh p4p rankings are nothing but opinions there's no eye of actual way of determining it and it ends up being more of a popularity contest

 

[CB Jones]

Roy Jones was the man.

Beat Bernard Hopkins, James Toney, and John Ruiz.

He dominated everyone he fought in his prime.

IMO he was the best pound for pound in the 90s and Mayweather was the 2000s p4p

 

[Gweilo]

There was some great memories, it's difficult, Charvez, would be my choice, but in the twilight of his career and his taxi driver fights, probably would be a clear winner if the time frame was 85 to 95. It is a tough choice, but my favourite part of the video was in the Trinidad v campos fight, and the comment about campos blocking punches with his face, Penllyn with out the drug problem could have topped it, and I agree dela hoya was a great fighter, but being under Don king, and having the name the golden boy, made a lot of boxing fans dislike him. But we have to put into context, we saw Ray lenard in the video, at 39, then in the 2000's we saw the emergence of Joe Calzaghe, beat Hopkins and Jones Jr, yes it is only opinions, but who would be lb for lb all time.

 

[Stuart]

There was some great memories, it's difficult, Charvez, would be my choice, but in the twilight of his career and his taxi driver fights, probably would be a clear winner if the time frame was 85 to 95. It is a tough choice, but my favourite part of the video was in the Trinidad v campos fight, and the comment about campos blocking punches with his face, Penllyn with out the drug problem could have topped it, and I agree dela hoya was a great fighter, but being under Don king, and having the name the golden boy, made a lot of boxing fans dislike him. But we have to put into context, we saw Ray lenard in the video, at 39, then in the 2000's we saw the emergence of Joe Calzaghe, beat Hopkins and Jones Jr, yes it is only opinions, but who would be lb for lb all time.

Glad you liked it.

I thought Whittaker was probably the fighter of the 90’s personally although yeah if you included the late 80’s Chavez would have a stronger case.

 

[JR 137]

Like the others, mid 80s-mid90s, easily Chavez. I loved watching him fight. He could “box” he could brawl. He just wore guys down and KOed them in the middle rounds.

For the life of me I can’t remember who it was that almost beat him, but got KOed in the last 30 seconds or so of the 12 round. He dominated Chavez the entire fight, and Chavez still found a way to win. That’s true greatness.

 

[Stuart]

Like the others, mid 80s-mid90s, easily Chavez. I loved watching him fight. He could “box” he could brawl. He just wore guys down and KOed them in the middle rounds.

For the life of me I can’t remember who it was that almost beat him, but got KOed in the last 30 seconds or so of the 12 round. He dominated Chavez the entire fight, and Chavez still found a way to win. That’s true greatness.

I think you are thinking of Meldrick Taylor

 

[Gweilo]

I think the period discussed is probably the best era to date, a few years before, and a few after,, I think at present, the promoters, the TV companies, and the politics of arranging a fight, means, unless the figures add up for big business, boxing will lose ground to ufc etc., I can remember watching some of these fights, and getting excited and nervous, as let's get ready to rumble, and the tale of the tape was read out, I actually got a letter through the post from my landlord, telling me to keep the noise down, as other tenants complained about me shouting at the TV, at 3 or 4 am GMT, when all the big fights were MSG or mgm casino at the time. I loved boxing of this era, none of this prince go and hide after 1 loss naseem Hamed, I really thought he was going to be a real legend (although I new he would be caught 1 day) , showing my age now, just like Nigel Benn, going to make a come back at 55, there's only 1 way that's going, even though his opponent is 44, he will look good for a couple of rounds, then night night, I'm rambling, had a few beers, Roberto Duran, now there's a good hard man, i will stop there, or I will start talking about sugar ray robinson. Good night, I'm gonna listen to some tunes.

 

[CB Jones]

Like the others, mid 80s-mid90s, easily Chavez. I loved watching him fight. He could “box” he could brawl. He just wore guys down and KOed them in the middle rounds.

For the life of me I can’t remember who it was that almost beat him, but got KOed in the last 30 seconds or so of the 12 round. He dominated Chavez the entire fight, and Chavez still found a way to win. That’s true greatness.

Poor old Meldrick Taylor...Richard Steele stopped the fight with only 2 seconds left in the fight. Taylor was ahead on the scorecards.

Taylor was never the same after that fight...it cost him big.

Never liked that decision by Steele. Stopping the fight after an 8 count with 2 seconds left in the fight was a crappy way to lose in a title fight

 

[Gweilo]

Let's put the cat amongst the pigeons

 

[Gweilo]

A fantastic fighter, in an era, when his skin colour deemed him a 2nd class citizen, so for me, this man is truly, the best lb for lb fighter ever, as he conquered his opponents, along with social injustice.

 

[JR 137]

Poor old Meldrick Taylor...Richard Steele stopped the fight with only 2 seconds left in the fight. Taylor was ahead on the scorecards.

Taylor was never the same after that fight...it cost him big.

Never liked that decision by Steele. Stopping the fight after an 8 count with 2 seconds left in the fight was a crappy way to lose in a title fight

I agree, it was a horrible way to lose. Especially to a guy who was around 100-0. While I think Steele shouldn’t have stopped it with that little time left, Taylor was clearly KOed. Steele asked him I think 3 times if he wanted to continue, and Taylor was unresponsive. No “yes,” nod, hands up, etc. He was clearly out. If it was any other round or even over a minute left in the fight, no one would’ve criticized Steele.

Taylor was KOed. Doesn’t matter if it’s 1 second in or 1 second left. You get KOed, you lose. I’m a HUGE Chavez fan, and I felt terrible about that fight. Everyone did. But that’s what makes boxing (and now MMA) so unique - you can dominate every second of a fight, but if you get caught, it’s all over. Same way in an actual fight. Chavez didn’t catch him with one lucky shot, but it’s the same thing.

Side note - as much as Taylor dominated that fight, seeing both of them side by side after it was over, Taylor looked like he got his a$$ kicked all night while Chavez looked like he only went a few rounds. It was the oddest thing.

 

[JR 137]

A fantastic fighter, in an era, when his skin colour deemed him a 2nd class citizen, so for me, this man is truly, the best lb for lb fighter ever, as he conquered his opponents, along with social injustice.

Most experts I’ve seen say Robinson was the best fighter ever.

I hate getting into best ever. I never saw Robinson, Ali, etc. fight in real time. I only comment on people I saw fight while it was happening. In my era, being 43 years old, I put Julio Cesar Chavez as the best.

Mike Tyson easily could’ve been. His downfall was he realized he could knock anyone out with one punch. He somehow forgot he had to move to A. set up that punch; and B. to not get hit back. He reportedly trained for 3 days for the Buster Douglas fight. The hard work that he put in to dominate everyone slowly went away leading up to Douglas. He also started moving less and less. His footwork and slipping are what made him a very difficult target and put him in the perfect spot to unload on his opponents. Towards the end of his career, he was standing up straight and just swinging away, becoming a punching bag for guys like Holyfield and Lewis.

 

[CB Jones]

Side note - as much as Taylor dominated that fight, seeing both of them side by side after it was over, Taylor looked like he got his a$$ kicked all night while Chavez looked like he only went a few rounds. It was the oddest thing.

Taylor was landing 2-3 punches to Chavez 1.....but Chavez punches were like sledge hammers compared to Taylor"s.

And with Chavez' toughness he just slowly chopped him down.

 

[CB Jones]

The 80s had a few of my favorite p4p monsters....

Chavez
Aaron Pryor
Marvin Hagler (IMO he beat Leonard)

It is a shame Aaron Pryor's career got derailed due to drug addiction.

 

[JR 137]

The 80s had a few of my favorite p4p monsters....

Chavez
Aaron Pryor
Marvin Hagler (IMO he beat Leonard)

It is a shame Aaron Pryor's career got derailed due to drug addiction.

I loved watching Marvelous Marvin Hagler. One of my favorite fights of all time was the Hagler-Hearns slug fest. I was in 3rd grade, and it was one of the first fights I genuinely remember watching. That fight was single handedly what turned me into a boxing fan. And I don’t think I’ve seen a better fight since.

And yeah, Hagler got robbed against Leonard.

 

[Stuart]

Side note - as much as Taylor dominated that fight, seeing both of them side by side after it was over, Taylor looked like he got his a$$ kicked all night while Chavez looked like he only went a few rounds. It was the oddest thing.

Agreed and then in both De La Hoya fights Chavez came away looking like he had been hit in the head with a shovel.

Not that anyway suggested it but it kind of shows fights really shouldn’t be scored based on what you look like at the end.

Certain areas like the chin and temple don’t tend to show that much damage but then the eyes and mouth can swell up easily.

 

[punisher73]

Most experts I’ve seen say Robinson was the best fighter ever.

I hate getting into best ever. I never saw Robinson, Ali, etc. fight in real time. I only comment on people I saw fight while it was happening. In my era, being 43 years old, I put Julio Cesar Chavez as the best.

Mike Tyson easily could’ve been. His downfall was he realized he could knock anyone out with one punch. He somehow forgot he had to move to A. set up that punch; and B. to not get hit back. He reportedly trained for 3 days for the Buster Douglas fight. The hard work that he put in to dominate everyone slowly went away leading up to Douglas. He also started moving less and less. His footwork and slipping are what made him a very difficult target and put him in the perfect spot to unload on his opponents. Towards the end of his career, he was standing up straight and just swinging away, becoming a punching bag for guys like Holyfield and Lewis.

Yep, by the time the Douglas fight happened, Don King had sunk his claws too far into Tyson and the team that got him where he was, and he listened more to Don King filling his head than his trainer(s). D'Amato and then Rooney coached him on the style he used so successfully in his early career.

 

[punisher73]

If you like boxing history in that time frame, a really good book is "Four Kings" by George Kimball. It highlights Halger, Hearns, Duran and Leonard.
https://www.amazon.com/Four-Kings-L...sr_1_1?keywords=4+kings&qid=1569929378&sr=8-1

 

[punisher73]

Speaking of the Chavez/Taylor fight and squeaking out the win. Anyone want to talk about the robbery from the Chavez/Whitaker fight?