Who are the ten 'modern masters' of boxing?

First topic message reminder :

Top of the morning to you all, chaps. A difficult day on 606v2 for obvious reasons - I'm hoping that a bit of good, old fashioned debate will be the best tonic for us all.

As someone who (perhaps fairly, at times) gets a bit of stick for favouring the old-timers in the tapestry of boxing history, I thought it would be a worthwhile exercise to give the 'modern masters' a moment in the sun, and see if we can agree on which men have been the cream of the crop of the past quarter of a century which, I believe, is just about as close to the definition of a 'generation' as you can get.

I think 1987, with it being the end of the fifteen round era and the like, is a convenient starting place for us all. Which men, do you think, have been the stand out operators since then? To avoid any pedantry, I implore you to only include men whose careers have been in full bloom between 1987 and the present day, rather than seeing 1987 as a strict cut off point. For instance, despite his career stuttering on for another ten years from the year in question, Ray Leonard wouldn't be fit for inclusion, whereas Julio Cesar Chavez, despite winning his first world title in 1984, certainly would be.

As I'm sure we all appreciate, trying to rank fighters is always a personal and, at times, almost arbitrary task, but it would be interesting to see what level of agreement, if any, we can reach on this - particularly as I've decided that I'm going to include fighters who are still currently active, which I know is a pet peeve amongst some of you!

After a fair bit of deliberation, I've come up with this:

1) Pernell Whitaker
2) Floyd Mayweather Jr
3) Julio Cesar Chavez
4) Manny Pacquiao
5) Roy Jones Jr
6) Bernard Hopkins
7) Ricardo Lopez
8) Azumah Nelson
9) Khaosai Galaxy
10) Jeff Fenech

Needless to say, there's a host of exceptional fighters snapping at Fenech's heels for that last spot, the likes of Oscar De la Hoya, Marco Antonio Barrera, Lennox Lewis and Ivan Calderon included.

After my top two, which is basically nigh-on set in stone, I'm having a great deal of difficulty even as I write this! The trio of Chavez, Pacquiao and Jones, and the order they should be in, is giving me a headache in particular. Chavez the best of the three if we look at sheer consistency and career numbers, Jones arguably a candidate for the number one spot if we combine the aforementioned with level of utter dominance (a department in which he has almost no equal), Pacquiao a man whose weight-defying exploits make him one of the very few who can be compared to someone like Henry Armstrong on any scale at all; what to do with the three of them!?

In particular, I think it's important that Lopez and Galaxy, two truly outstanding little'uns, get their due here. Granted, if it was all down to eye-catching names, they'd struggle to make the list. However, as I'm sure Tino will attest to, Lopez was poetry in motion, totally dominant across his chosen division in a way similar to how Whitaker and Jones were at Lightweight and Light-Heavyweight respectively. Khaosai Galaxy, likewise, campaigned in a divison which has never really taken off outside of the Orient, but again, he made himself so unquestionably the king of the 115 lb weight class, it's impossible to ignore him here. The likes of Pical, for instance, were no pushovers - considered Khaosai's nearest rival in many quarters, the Thail crushed him with contempt.

Anyway, I'm rambling on here. Can we reach anything even approaching universal agreement here? How would you rejig the names I've come up with, which new ones would you introduce, and who would be thrown on the scrap heap to make way for them?

Let me know who are the modern masters in your eyes, lads. Cheers!

Lopez beats Calderon I think and quite handily too. Shares the earlier rounds and gets countered frequently (for him!), adjusts after 4 rounds and starts dominating calderon and wouldn't be surprised with a late KO. The reach and the considerable difference in power play the biggest parts in an intriguing little match up. Any follow up fights are comprehensively Lopez

Would definitely have Trinidad in my top 10 modern day fighters brilliant record up to fighting Bhop who was simply too big for him,replaces Fenech for me.

ShahenshahG wrote:Lopez beats Calderon I think and quite handily too. Shares the earlier rounds and gets countered frequently (for him!), adjusts after 4 rounds and starts dominating calderon and wouldn't be surprised with a late KO. The reach and the considerable difference in power play the biggest parts in an intriguing little match up. Any follow up fights are comprehensively Lopez

As I said earlier Shah, I think Lopez would win a series 3 zip, but I can't see them being easy. Calderon was a magician with outrageous talent, enough to make life difficult for the very best in history. I think Lopez beats him but that is just a reflection on how good he was and nothing less than that. There are guys that Lopez could have put away early and didn't. Guys that were far worse than Calderon and not as elusive. I think Ivan, in his prime, would see the final bell.

I just dont think theres a single thing that Calderon does better than Lopez - who does everything either that little bit better/quite a bit better and has the physical advantages. I have my doubts about a KO as well but perhap see him eager to finish the show against such a distinguished opponent.

88Chris05 wrote:Oscar must still be kicking himself today over the Trinidad fight. I can understand the calls for him getting the decision, but what he was thinking during those last three or four rounds, I'll never know.
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I believe he was simply knackered.
Liked the shout for Fenech, I would include him.The first Azumah Nelson fight proved his greatness and a bad decision-even though Nelson was apparently ill(though I don't think his excuse was as bad as eating dodgy oysters,like dear old Oscar once foisted on us.

In terms of dominance, has to be Ricardo Lopez. Sweet Pea was a genius. Guillermo Rigondeaux was an amateur phenom and will forever be a hero of mine. Katie Taylor is also a future legend. I love that girl!