10 Best Pound For Pound Boxers Of All Time
8. Sugar Ray Leonard
AP/Press Association ImagesRecord: 36-3-1, 25 KO Fought Between: 1977-1997
Titles won: Seven championships in five weight divisions. Two time WBC Welterweight Champion, WBA Welterweight Champion, WBA Junior Middleweight Champion, WBC Middleweight Champion, WBC Super Middleweight Champion and WBC Light Heavyweight Champion.
Epitomising style and grace in the ring, Sugar Ray Leonard was one of the most technically gifted boxers ever to lace up the gloves and helped create the 'super fight' in boxing. He had every tool a boxer needs at his disposal and, in an era filled with some of the best boxers the sport has ever seen, was one of the most successful in history.
Born in North Carolina in 1956, Sugar Ray had a great amateur career culminating in winning the Olympic gold medal in the light welterweight division at the age of just 20. He made his professional debut in 1977 and by August 1979 was fighting for the welterweight title. By November he unified the division and had a record of 38-0. He avenged the first loss of his career against Roberto Duran in a rematch that saw Duran actually quit in the eighth round.
Sugar Ray went on to fight and beat legendary fighters like Tommy Hearns and Marvin Hagler giving him one of the most impressive resumes in boxing. He was also the first fighter to earn over $100 million in prize money and helped boxing become a global and incredibly financially rewarding sport as TV rights were sold all across the globe off the back of the super fights he participated in.