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lbs for lbs - who is the greatest of all time?
I am asking about boxing, not any other form "martial art"
My opinion - Jack Johnson.
He was 20 years ahead of his term, the first modern boxer in an era of brawlers... a masterful defensive fighter who could also hit like a mule when he wanted to (see Stanley Ketchel...)
He thought in an era of unbelievable racism (in one of his title fights a band at ringside played a song "all coons look alike to me" - excuse me for even repeating such an obscene thing). He didnt just fight James Jeffries, he though the whole of white America, he thought 80 millions, and whipped them all. Most of his career he could have finished his opponents much more easily but was forced to carry them to make the fights seem closer and generate more hype.
The level of racism he faced really was shameful, utterly unbelievable, not just amongst common people, but even so called respectable papers and media... and for most of his life Johnson simply behaved as if it didnt exist and did whatever he wanted. It was enough to send him into nervous collapse, and kill his wife at one pont. But it wasnt enough to beat him. They sent him to prison for daring to marry a white woman - and in prison he lorded it up and did whatever he pleased - he even registered a patent for a new tool he designed! They couldnt find anyone to beat him until he finally was blackmailed into taking a dive when he was almost middle aged. The press would want to take pictures of him eating watermelons, and he would make them listen to him playing clasical music on the violin.
What he achieved, he did on his own terms. He didnt behave like a "humble black", he behaved like a champion and lived like a king. Joe Louis was a wonderful puncher, but he couldnt have beaten Jack Johnson once in a hundred tries, nor Marciano, nor Dempsey.
And noth withstanding what he achieved as a person, the whole mas of hate and pressure and prejudice against him... above all of this he was a master boxer... in his prime almost impossible to hit cleanly, skilled beyond comparison amongst all of his peers.
That's why I rank Jack Johnson as the best lbs for lbs ever.
Honourable mention to Sugar Ray Robinson, George Foreman and Jimmy Wilde (The Ghost with the Hammer in his Hand - in my opinion the hardest puncher at his weight who ever entered the ring)
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"Do not tell lies, and do not do what you hate,
for all things are plain in the sight of Heaven. For nothing
hidden will not become manifest, and nothing covered will remain
without being uncovered."
The Gospel of Thomas
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