Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson are almost universally accepted as the best two fighters that the sport has ever produced, but boxing legend Teddy Atlas has a different opinion.
Ali, the self-proclaimed – and understandably so – ‘Greatest’, had it all; the skill, the entertainment, the speed, and the personality. It is everything that would be wanted from the ‘face’ of the sport, although that saying was less common during his period of heavyweight dominance.
Meanwhile, Sugar Ray Robinson was the very reason why the phrase ‘pound-for-pound’ was coined, well clear of his divisional rivals, fighting with impressive regularity and daring to be great by competing above his natural division.
As a result, when fight fans discuss who can be labelled as the ‘best ever’, the easiest response is often either ‘both Robinson and Ali’, or one of boxing’s most common catchphrases, ‘it is [about] what you like’.
Yet, when Atlas named his top 10 fighters of all time, on his YouTube channel, he opted for neither Ali or Robinson, and instead sided with Henry Armstrong, whose iconic 1938 efforts remain as one of the most astonishing year’s of any fighter in history.
“He defended the welterweight title 18 times in 27 months, that is pretty good. You ain’t ever gonna have a fighter like that again, you ain’t never going to have a man like that again, never.
“He wins the featherweight, welterweight and then the lightweight title, wins all three titles within 10 months, and he fought a man, a very good fighter, named Ceferino Garcia for the middleweight title.
“Most everyone who saw the fight said that he won, but he didn’t get the decision, he would have had the middleweight title too.”
“Yes I am talking about the one and only Henry Armstrong. I wish people knew more about this man.”
‘Homicide Hank’ had been the only boxer to claim the undisputed title in three separate weight divisions, but the feat was replicated by Terence Crawford back in September, who joined that elite club with a legendary win over Canelo Alvarez.
