Teddy Atlas' 10 Greatest Pound-For-Pound Boxers in History

Teddy Atlas' 10 best pound-for-pound boxers

Teddy Atlas, who is a legendary boxing coach, commentator, and analyst, as well as one of the most intelligent minds in the sport, recently had his own say on the pound-for-pound debate on his podcast ‘The Fight,’ and produced some very interesting and some would say, controversial takes on the debate.

Atlas spoke about and produced his very own list of the 10 greatest ever pound-for pound fighters, and while there are some names on his list who you would typically expect to be included in such a debate, such as Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson, the boxing expert also put some forgotten and somewhat underrated fighters in his list among the typical superstar names who many people are aware of.

10 Roberto Duran

Professional boxing record: 103-16

“He was a great lightweight, and then he upset the world by winning the welterweight title. I’m sorry he’s not higher on the list.”

9 Sugar Ray Leonard

Professional boxing record: 36-3-1

Sugar Ray Leonard’s name is constantly brought up when discussing the greatest boxers of all time, as he is one of the most well-rounded and adaptable fighters to have ever graced the sport. Leonard possessed pretty much every skill a high-level boxer would dream of having, but also had the intelligence to back up the skill which made him unbeatable when he was at his best. As well as his talent, Leonard’s accolades are also incredible, as he was a five-weight world champion and an Olympic gold medallist.

“If you can take the ‘Sugar Ray’ name and get away with it, without embarrassing the name, and he did. He made us think of another Sugar Ray.”

8 Joe Louis

Professional boxing record: 66-3

“An ambassador for the sport, and an ambassador for humankind.”

Joe Louis' professional boxing record
69 fights	66 wins	3 losses
By knockout	52	2
By decision	13	1
By disqualification	1	0

7 Harry Greb

Official boxing record: 108-8-3-1-179 (NC/newspaper decisions/draws)

“He fought over 100 fights while blind in one eye! An incredible man from an incredible time. Nobody out-toughed him.”

6 Benny Leonard

Official boxing record: 89-6-1-3-120 (NC/newspaper decisions/draws)

“Untouchable for such a long time, he held the lightweight title for eight years.”

Benny Leonard's official boxing record
219 fights	89 wins	6 losses
By knockout	70	5
By decision	17	0
By disqualification	2	1
Draws	1
No contests	3
Newspaper decisions/draws	120

Professional boxing record: 229-11-1

When people think of the best defensive geniuses in the history of boxing, the names which are typically brought up are the likes of Floyd Mayweather and James Toney. However, arguably the biggest defensive mastermind of them all is Willie Pep, even though he isn’t spoken about as much as the more mainstream greats. To emphasise just how defensively brilliant Pep was, there was a story which followed him throughout his career that he once won a round without throwing a single punch, simply based on his movement and defence. Despite not being as well-known as some of the other fighters mentioned by Atlas, Pep’s influence on fighters is huge, and legends such as Mayweather and Pernell Whitaker have directly credited Pep as an inspiration.

Willie Pep's professional boxing record
241 fights	229 wins	11 losses
By knockout	65	6
By decision	164	5
Draws	1

4 Muhammad Ali

Professional boxing record: 56-5

“Cus D’Amato used to tell me that Ali, before he went into exile, the only time you touched him was when the referee made you touch gloves with him!”

Muhammad Ali's professional boxing record
61 fights	56 wins	5 losses
By knockout	37	1
By decision	19	4

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3 Sam Langford

Official boxing record: 178-30-38-8-60 (NC/newspaper decisions/draws)

“He fought from lightweight to heavyweight, he was avoided by all world titleholders.”

2 Sugar Ray Robinson

Professional boxing record: 174-19-6-2

“174 wins! Greatest footwork, greatest speed. He was majestic, just beautiful to watch.”

1 Henry Armstrong

Professional boxing record: 152-22-9

Taking the number one spot on Teddy Atlas’ list of the greatest pound-for-pound fighters in boxing history is Henry Armstrong. Although Atlas has publicly admitted that Armstrong is his favourite fighter of all time, which may typically suggest some bias in his ranking, the former simultaneous three-weight world champion is undoubtedly one of the best boxers ever. The Mississippi native still remains to this day the only fighter ever to hold world titles in three separate weight divisions at the same time, which is one of the most impressive accolades ever.

“My favourite fighter of all time. He defended the welterweight title 18 times in 27 months! You’ll never have a man like this again. Fought at featherweight, welterweight, and then (for) the lightweight title, wins all three titles within 10 months.”