25 Dariusz Michalczewski
“THE TIGER” was a long-reigning WBO champion at light-heavyweight and while the big unification fight with Roy Jones never materialised, the Pole ended up beating many of the same men, including Richard Hall, Derrick Harmon, Montell Griffin and Virgil Hill. His legacy would have been enhanced if he’d added air miles to his long list of WBO title defences.
24 Michael Moorer
MOORER was one of the most destructive light-heavyweights we had seen in a long time and his highlight reel of KOs was growing with each title defence until he moved up to challenge the big boys. He became the first ever southpaw world heavyweight champion with a win over Evander Holyfield but made history for all the wrong reasons when old George Foreman scored that historic one-punch win over him.
23 Kostya Tszyu
THERE was a time, after the Australia-based Russian had wiped out an old Julio Cesar Chavez, when Tszyu seemed unstoppable. His two-round blitzing of then-27-0 Zab Judah was phenomenal, although that fight might be best remembered for Judah losing it afterwards and launching a stool at the referee. Still, Tszyu was, for quite a while, the dominant force at 140lbs until he ran into Ricky Hatton.
22 Andre Ward
ALTHOUGH frustratingly inactive of late, the super-middleweight has been in one of the sport’s hottest divisions in recent times and he’s cleaned it out with resounding wins over fellow champions including Carl Froch, Arthur Abraham and Mikkel Kessler. He’s yet to be truly tested in his 28 wins.
21 Joe Calzaghe
THE Welsh super-middleweight star was unbeaten and rounded out his career with a unification win over Mikkel Kessler then Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones, albeit when the latter in particular was past his best. A southpaw with fast hands, resilience and a breakout win over American Jeff Lacy, Calzaghe was a first-ballot Hall of Famer in 2014.
