Hopkins is being discussed in another thread. Hopkins is a perfect example of a great fighter who did his greatest work at different weight classes. You see this type of great fighter when a guy had a long career or, just was able to fight up in weight. Archie Moore is an example of the former, Gene Tunney of the latter.
The problem is these guys often defy being listed as an ATG at any particular weight class. So, while we can say "Michael Spinks was one of the greatest light heavies" does this make him better than someone like Usyk who was a phenominal light heavy but whom has split his professional time as a legitimate heavy weight contender? Spinks can be compared to other great light heavies, but fighers like Michael Moore, Archie Moore, and Usyk the comparison does not reflect their abilites as a whole. EVEN a great fighter like Archie Moore, or Ray Robinson, we still have to split their resume when comparing in a single division. Again... Andre Ward: fought up but basically fought his career and best as a middle weight, so when throwing his name in for ATG status he gets the benefit of having his best work considered *... Even a fighter like Holyfield suffers because some of his best work was split between divisions.
So where do we put these "Ronin" fighters when making our "lists?"
*Ward foughtb about 80% or so as a middleweight as I figure it.
The problem is these guys often defy being listed as an ATG at any particular weight class. So, while we can say "Michael Spinks was one of the greatest light heavies" does this make him better than someone like Usyk who was a phenominal light heavy but whom has split his professional time as a legitimate heavy weight contender? Spinks can be compared to other great light heavies, but fighers like Michael Moore, Archie Moore, and Usyk the comparison does not reflect their abilites as a whole. EVEN a great fighter like Archie Moore, or Ray Robinson, we still have to split their resume when comparing in a single division. Again... Andre Ward: fought up but basically fought his career and best as a middle weight, so when throwing his name in for ATG status he gets the benefit of having his best work considered *... Even a fighter like Holyfield suffers because some of his best work was split between divisions.
So where do we put these "Ronin" fighters when making our "lists?"
*Ward foughtb about 80% or so as a middleweight as I figure it.
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