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Boxing’s ‘Fighter Of The Year’ Winners Ranked From GOAT To Absolute Journeyman
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Boxing's Fighter of the Year award-winners since 1985 have been ranked, with Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao at the top, while Mike Tyson is labelled 'Overrated'.
SPORTbible has put the last 30 boxers to win the prestigious Ring magazine Fighter of the Year award into their TierMaker category. Money Mayweather and the Pac Man - a three-time winner of the award - are in boxing's 'GOAT' conversation for their longevity and brilliance.
They're joined by arguably the greatest middleweight champion ever: Marvelous Marvin Hagler. But keeping less-than-marvelous company is Iron Mike.
The young Tyson was a jaw-droppingly destructive young heavyweight. But he peaked at age 23 and lost to his era's major rivals in Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield.
He's joined in the 'Overrated' category by 1995 winner Oscar De La Hoya - a multi-weight champion, but a man who also lost many of his biggest fights. Riddick Bowe and Donald Curry sit alongside Oscar and Iron Mike, as great boxers who still never achieved their full potential.
The 'Legend' category contains the likes of pound-for-pound icons Roy Jones Jr, Pernell Whitaker, Julio Cesar Chavez and Bernard Hopkins.
Five currently active boxers are tipped to join them as 'Future Legends', including heavyweight Tyson Fury (twice a winner of the Ring award, in 2015 and 2020) and Canelo Alvarez.
Any boxer who wins the Ring FotY honours is top quality. But 'Solid' contains the likes of Britain's Hitman Ricky Hatton, plus light-heavyweights Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson, who aren't quite on the level of some of the greats who've previously claimed the award.
:crown::astonished::crown:For only the fifth time in 92 years and for the first time in 35 years, we have shared honors for Ring Magazine Fighter of the Year: @Tyson_Fury and @TeofimoLopez. MASSIVE CONGRATULATIONS to both champions! #boxing #TysonFury #TeofimoLopez :flag_gb::flag_us: pic.twitter.com/Y5fMkaM8u8
- Bible of Boxing (@ringmagazine) December 21, 2020
Unfortunately, while he's as brave and tough as they come, Jamaica's Road Warrior Glen Johnson might be the strangest name on this elite list.
Johnson won Ring Fighter of the Year in 2004, the year he knocked out a shop-worn Roy Jones and narrowly upset Antonio Tarver. But he lost the rematch to Tarver - one of 21 defeats on his record - and at world level was essentially a gatekeeper/journeyman who lost to the best.
SPORTbible's TierMaker ranking of Ring Fighter of the Year winners (1985 to 2020) is below.
GOAT: Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Marvin Hagler
Legend: Roy Jones Jr, Pernell Whitaker, Evander Holyfield, Julio Cesar Chavez, Bernard Hopkins, Juan Manuel Marquez, Andre Ward, Felix Trinidad
Future Legend: Tyson Fury, Canelo Alvarez, Teofimo Lopez, Vasyl Lomachenko, Oleksandr Usyk
Underrated: Carl Frampton, Sergio Martinez, Michael Carbajal, James Toney
Overrated: Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya, Riddick Bowe, Donald Curry
Solid: Ricky Hatton, Sergey Kovalev, Paulie Ayala, Adonis Stevenson, Vernon Forrest
Journeyman: Glen Johnson
A fair ranking or are we completely crazy on this one? Let us know in the comments.
All imagery: PA Images/TierMaker/The Ring
Topics: Mike Tyson, Tyson Fury, Manny Pacquiao, Boxing, Canelo Alvarez, Floyd Mayweather
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