Guys are we watching the best there ever was?

[gilgamesh]

I mean. At 40. He started at 106 pounds guys. He's been in the biggest money fight of all time. That guy retired. He's still going. He just beat a top guy. I mean wow. What a great, great fighter. Take it in guys. You don't see these often in a lifetime.

[marciano1952]

The Best There ever was will always be up for debate....

But damn if i wasnt impressed by Pac tonight.....I picked him to win but the way he won and the fight he fought at the age of 40 was god damned impressive....Thurman had the best recent Resume at 147 with wins over Garcia and Porter coming into this fight and Pac beat him up for most of the fight.....

[elterrible]

The best of the last 30 years for sure. I've got him top 5 all-time.

[jeff_lacy_ko]

No but that was pretty impressive

[straycat]

He challenged himself and was willing to put legacy above his pocket book. Mayweather is definitely an all around better fighter than Manny but no question who did more for the sport.

[Hillsinitialrebirth]

Not the best ever, not even the best of this generation(that's Floyd)…but DAMN...the guy is an ATG, and it's a pleasure to watch him fight. Manny at his best, was an absolute monster, and even at his advanced age, and being damn near shot(for him), he still can go out there and beat younger champions.

But when you talk about Manny, and the guys he's fought, beaten, and lost to(Floyd, JMM, Morales, MAB, Cotto, Oscar, Bradley, etc, etc, etc...), it just shows how good he, and those guys really are/were. I mean, Manny was way past it last night, and really beat the crap out of Thurman. Floyd was past it, and Canelo couldn't even win a round against him. Just shows how much better those guys were, than a lot of these guys are now.

Now Spence and Crawford are two entirely different animals, and I'd expect this version of Manny to lost to them(probably be stopped). But that takes nothing away from his greatness, and what he did last night was special.

[mekane]

Hopkins is the best I've seen since following boxing, but I think Manny is 2nd. In terms of accomplishments, Pacquiao has the nod there, because he had the luxury of better opposition to face in his prime,

[Canvas]

He's made a case for himself. I'll never see anything like him again.

[ObJuan13]

No... but he’s a top tier ATG. I’m one of those guys who doesn’t think much of Thurman but Pac being 40 with a shit ton of wear and tear on him and still having enough in the tank to beat him is very impressive.

[yoloswaggy911]

That mother fucking footwork was a thing of beauty! The way he just turned Keith and busted him up? Wow!

The ability to hang in there and take the best of Keith Thurman and not allow him back into the fight? Amazing.

I thought the SD card was absolute bullshit.

[Cagiva9]

You could certainly make a case for it depending on the criteria for judging.

[jeff_lacy_ko]

Hopkins is the best I've seen since following boxing, but I think Manny is 2nd. In terms of accomplishments, Pacquiao has the nod there, because he had the luxury of better opposition to face in his prime,

Hopkins adjusted his style as he aged to stay effective. It's incredible manny can still fight the same way he always has at 40!

[mofo2]

Manny has been an incredible fighter, but i'm not convinced the best that ever was; my only regret is that Floyd avoided taking the fight with him at a point in his career when he was at his very best!!

[Canvas]

The thing I keep going back to with Pac, is that he is a natural featherweight who grew into a lightweight ....who beat on the best at welterweight and Jr Middle. He's a little guy. Like OP said, he started as a fucking flyweight.


And he's just done it again at age 40. Amazing.

[Danielk015]

Manny took some bombs from an inspired Thurman last night, an undefeated young buck with win against other top 147 fighters in Garcia and Porter. And Manny made Thurman wheel back in pain and grab his mouthpiece out. At 40 years old. Such a great fight. I was an early fan of Manny as I have a lot of Pinoy friends. From the first fight I saw of him live again Lebwaba to this fight against Thurman, it has been a great pleasure and as a fight fan, a true honor to watch Manny fight against the best, win lose or draw.

Absolute beast and truly one of a kind.

[USMILMAN]

Kind of hard putting him #1, but seeing him do what he is doing at his advanced age is incredible. SRR, SRL, Ali, all of them took beatings once they were over the hill. Manny has fought The Who’s who of boxing for the past 20 years, and it has been an absolute pleasure watching a true all time great. He has given all what they have wanted.

[TopNotch86]

I mean he’s never been as good as Floyd I thought that wasn’t even debatable anymore to be honest. I mean at 38 years old, he completely outclassed a younger version of manny. he’s for sure am ATG and has done remarkable things in this sport. He’s up there but definitely not best ever. Heck idk if Floyd’s even worthy of that it’s too hard to compare different eras

[mekane]

Hopkins is the best I've seen since following boxing, but I think Manny is 2nd. In terms of accomplishments, Pacquiao has the nod there, because he had the luxury of better opposition to face in his prime,

Hopkins adjusted his style as he aged to stay effective. It's incredible manny can still fight the same way he always has at 40!

He was really good in his prime, too. Look how close he took prime Jones (I saw you just scored that) who is a terrible style for Hopkins, even before he completely changed his style to a defense first in the next 4-5 years.

Fury is the best Heavyweight I've seen. I started watching after Ali though so I'm not including him.

This one aged pretty well

I have a lot of respect for Fury's boxing skills though, he's the only heavyweight with elite skills out there.

Don't take the bait. Don't do it!!

[ObJuan13]

I like Fury a lot, but the best HW you’ve seen?? That’s a stretch.

[Just a guy]

Can we think someone is the best we've seen and yet see that guy lose to someone else?

I don't think that Manny's style matches up well with Floyd, but he is much more impressive over anyone not named Mayweather than Floyd ever would be. Where he started his career in terms of weight and how he had that run where he blitzed pretty much anyone not named Marquez is just incredible. He was taking out top guys like it was nothing for a moment.

It would be hard for me to say that he is the absolute best ever, but it is also hard for me to place his appropriately because I think that head to head is important, but do we think that Tarver was better than Roy Jones? I don't... but there is the matchup. Do we think that De La Hoya's all time position is above Pernell Whitaker? I don't, but there is the matchup. Is Leon Spinks ahead of Muhammed Ali? Nope... but there is the matchup. Buster Douglas better than Tyson? I could go on...

[ObJuan13]

Can we think someone is the best we've seen and yet see that guy lose to someone else?

I don't think that Manny's style matches up well with Floyd, but he is much more impressive over anyone not named Mayweather than Floyd ever would be. Where he started his career in terms of weight and how he had that run where he blitzed pretty much anyone not named Marquez is just incredible. He was taking out top guys like it was nothing for a moment.

It would be hard for me to say that he is the absolute best ever, but it is also hard for me to place his appropriately because I think that head to head is important, but do we think that Tarver was better than Roy Jones? I don't... but there is the matchup. Do we think that De La Hoya's all time position is above Pernell Whitaker? I don't, but there is the matchup. Is Leon Spinks ahead of Muhammed Ali? Nope... but there is the matchup. Buster Douglas better than Tyson? I could go on...

I hear that, Manny is a top tier ATG, but the counterparts for the other guys you mentioned just aren’t Floyd Mayweather... Tarver, Spinks, Oscar and Buster just aren’t Floyd.

To me eye test and resume beat all... And just on eye test alone, Roy is better than either, SRR is also better (again, based on eye test alone). There are few other guys I’d say are just as good like SRL, Ali and some old school guys I don’t feel comfortable mentioning cuz I just haven’t seen enough...

But combining obvious talent and skill with resume, how the hell could anyone be better than Ray Robinson? And I’m not some guy who’s in love with old school fighters just because, but come on? The guy beat just about everyone in the era of 1 champ per division, all the way from lightweight almost to LHW... He’s the undisputed GOAT to me

And Floyd just looked like a better fighter than Manny to me. They both have countless wins in impressive fashion, but we all know which one had more tools. Floyd is a genuine top 10 guy to me, it’s crazy to consider him #1 but it’s almost equally crazy to have him outside of the top #20 when u step back and “rewatch” his career... His talent was ATG elite like SRL type, his skill was ATG elite like a Willy Pep type, and his resume is top 3 at worst (it’s 1 or 2 for me) of his era.

Pac falls a little short of that to me and the head to head is only a small piece why. I think his talent was nearly equal to Floyd, less skilled with an equal resume. And I can’t put him ahead of Floyd if I have him tangibly worse along with losing the head to head.

Others may disagree of course

[Canvas]

GOAT is a conversation that goes nowhere in my opinion. Comparing eras is just pointless. And then add in the pound for pound factor of different sizes...it's just a waste of time to me. I understand I am in the minority on this.

Ray Leonard is the one fighter I idolised the most. The heroes of your childhood will always remain giants to you. Wayne Gretzky is like that for me too. But I have never seen anything quite like Pac, and I suspect I never will again.

[gilgamesh]

For the record I think it's pretty well unanimous that Gretzky is the Greatest there ever was at Hockey right? It seems like there's a lot of debate to be had in virtually every sport, but Gretzky has the Hockey God trophy pretty well locked up lol. Or at least so I've been told by a fair number of Hockey fans.

[TheSickness316]

For the record I think it's pretty well unanimous that Gretzky is the Greatest there ever was at Hockey right? It seems like there's a lot of debate to be had in virtually every sport, but Gretzky has the Hockey God trophy pretty well locked up lol. Or at least so I've been told by a fair number of Hockey fans.

I'm not much of a hockey fan, but some of my relatives are and it is unanimous with everyone they've talked to over the years. You're right on the money about Gretzky.

[Hillsinitialrebirth]

For the record I think it's pretty well unanimous that Gretzky is the Greatest there ever was at Hockey right? It seems like there's a lot of debate to be had in virtually every sport, but Gretzky has the Hockey God trophy pretty well locked up lol. Or at least so I've been told by a fair number of Hockey fans.

Jordan is pretty much looked at this way in basketball(which I agree). You hear strong arguments about Kareem, Magic, Bird, Dr. J, Kobe, and the millenials will throw Lebron around...but Jordan is pretty much looked at as the greatest basketball player ever.