Roy Jones Jr has revealed who he believes to be the top three boxers to ever lace up a pair of gloves.
Jones is often mentioned in that conversation himself, having had a remarkable career which saw him claim world honours in four divisions at middleweight, super middleweight light heavyweight and even heavyweight.
The triumph at heavyweight saw him become the first former middleweight champion to win a world title in the banner division for over a century, whilst he also held undisputed honours at 175lbs from 1999 to 2002.
Jones spent a number of years throughout the 1990s and early 2000s as the pound-for-pound number one in the sport, and it is three other fighters that once held that honour who he has named as his greatest trio of all time.
“I’ll put Ali first, I’ll probably put Sugar Ray Robinson second, and I’ll probably put Roberto Duran third.”
It comes as no surprise to see Jones place Muhammad Ali at number one on his list, with the heavyweight legend known as ‘The Greatest’ for a reason.
He transcended the sport throughout the 1960s and 1970s, claiming wins in some of the most iconic fights of all time, including the Rumble In The Jungle against George Foreman and the Thrilla In Manila against Joe Frazier.
Ali’s career slightly overlapped with that of Robinson’s, who had an extraordinary career in his own right, becoming world welterweight champion from 1946 to 1951, whilst also winning the world middleweight title on multiple occasions.
At one stage Robinson had a record of 129 wins, 1 defeat and 2 draws, going on a 91-fight unbeaten streak in the process, before hanging up the gloves with 174 wins from 201 fights.
Duran also racked up over 100 wins during his own illustrious career, as he became world champion at lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight.
He earned wins against fighters such as Sugar Ray Leonard and Iran Barkley during that time, and it is clear to see just why Jones rates Ali, Robinson and Duran so highly.
