The greatest boxers of the 1960s - PART 2

The greatest boxers everisthe years of the last century - PART 2

The five best who were part of a golden era in the sport

In the previous installment, we met five of the classiest boxers of the 1960s. Years where the dominance of certain athletes helped the sport spread around the world. We recall that in the top ten for now we find Bob Foster, Luis Rodriguez, Nino Benvenuti, Dick Tiger and Emil Griffith. But who do we think are the top five? We will find out from the next lines.

The final train for the top five catches Fighting Harada. The Japanese Masahiko Harada is absolutely dominant in the flyweight category, but he has a total of 55 successes in 62 fights not only in it, but also in the next two categories in boxing. The Tokyo-born competitor was definitely one of the impressive names in the sport in the 1960s. Defeating Edder Joffrey twice doesn't just happen, and Harada manages to do it. He won the flyweight title, and at the end of the decade he almost won the featherweight title as well. Most of the Japanese's wins are really significant, and that's why he's ranked so high here. Successes over Bernardo Carabajo, Pone Kingpeach, Jose Medel, Alan Rudkin and the two wins over Joffrey are proof that Harada is arguably the greatest Japanese boxer of all time.

Considered invincible until the fight with Muhammad Ali, Sonny Liston takes the next, fourth place in our ranking. He is also the first heavyweight competitor. The Arkansas-born boxer won the world heavyweight title, knocking out Floyd Patterson in the first round in 1962. A year later, he repeated his success in the second leg. "The Big Bear," as he was nicknamed, had been a contender for the honor since the 1960s, but Patterson refused to give him a chance, which only allowed Liston to train even harder. Liston was far from the most beloved competitor at the time in the United States, but his successes in the ring were unprecedented. On February 25, 1964, he was to defend the world title for the second time, and 43 of the 46 sports reporters polled thought he would win by knockout against Cassius Clay, who later became known as Muhammad Ali. . Still, Liston loses the meeting, and with it his honor. The invincible is already defeated.

Third place goes to Carlos Ortiz. Although not one of the most talented boxers, Ortiz deserves the prestigious ranking mainly due to his impressive number of victories, which include victories over Joe Brow, two over Ismael Laguna and Flash Ilord. Five wins that are convincing enough to put Ortiz here. The Puerto Rico native has won 61 of his 70 matches. 30 of his wins have been by knockout, which is more than incredible for a lightweight and light heavyweight boxer. Ortiz challenges Joe Brown to a world title fight at a time when Brown is one of the most dominant fighters in the lightweight division, having made 11 defenses of the title in five and a half years. The style of the two was identical, but Ortiz's brilliant technique prevailed and he won after a hard-fought 15-round fight.

At the foot of the summit remains Eder Joffrey. A Brazilian architect who is better known for his amazing skills in the boxing ring. Joffrey racked up 37 wins before winning the world bantamweight title. This happened in a game against Eloy Sanchez played in Los Angeles on November 18, 1960. Four months later, success followed with a technical knockout in the tenth round over Piero Royo. Joffrey had seven successful defenses of his title before falling to former bantamweight champion Fighting Harada on May 17, 1965 in Nagoya, Japan. It was Joffrey's first loss since the 1956 Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. In 1966, a rematch with Harada followed, which was again won by the Japanese, and this forced Joffrey to give up boxing at the age of 30. In the 70s, the Brazilian became world champion again.

Number one for the sixties is undoubtedly Muhammad Ali. Born Cassius Clay in Louisville, Kentucky, the boxer is considered one of the greatest of all time. The style, speed and dominance over great names in the sport has not been matched by any other boxer to date. Ali won the world heavyweight title by defeating Sonny Liston, despite being considered an underdog. Almost unbeatable in the 1960s, he refused to enlist in the United States Army and was out of the professional ring for almost three years. Years when he was considered to be at his best. Still, easy wins over Ernie Terrell, Zora Foley, Cleveland Williams, Henry Cup, George Chuvalo and Floyd Patterson made him the greatest boxer of the 1960s.