It’s become the currency of pound-for-pound status.
Oh sure, it’s good to be a great fighter. But unless you’ve supplemented the status by capturing title belts across multiple weight classes, you’re doomed to a seat at the P4P kids’ table.
In fact, no fewer than seven of the 10 fighters on The Ring’s most recent best-of-the-best list have been champions at more than one weight – including four who’ve reigned in at least three divisions, though Gervonta Davis’ claim to superiority at 130, 135 and 140 is the modern definition of dubious.
Once upon a time, though, it meant a bit more.
Though it’s easier now with in-between weight classes and myriad sanctioning bodies, a measure of old-school greatness was whether a fighter could translate success into titles up or down the ladder.
Make no mistake, simply dominating one division and never leaving it is no vice. But some of the best fighters of all time have shown their stuff against challengers of all shapes and sizes.
Here are the 10 of the very best — ranked by impressions left by their weight-class journeys.
10. Bob Fitzsimmons (66-8-5, 59 KO)
Titles: Middleweight (1891), heavyweight (1897), light heavyweight (1903)
The oldest of the top-10 entries was a three-division champ when being a three-division champ was far more of an accomplishment. In fact, the turn-of-the-century Brit was the first boxer to pull off the feat and remained the only former middleweight champ to win a heavyweight title until Roy Jones Jr. did so in 2003. Fitzsimmons was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame as an old-timer in 1990. Far from a giant, he would be more suited to super middleweight or light heavyweight in modern times.
9. Alexis Arguello (89-8, 70 KO)
Titles: Featherweight (1974), junior lightweight (1978), lightweight (1981)
One of the staples of CBS boxing coverage in the early 1980s, Arguello earned more public acclaim through television appearances at lightweight – including a 14th-round TKO of then-unbeaten Ray “Boom” Mancini – than he had while conquering 126 and 130 pounds. He ultimately fell short in two bids to become the sport’s first four-time champion, losing twice to Aaron Pryor at 140. A strong technical fighter with good power, Arguello could be troubled by fleet-footed boxers in his prime but little else.
8. Manny Pacquiao (62-8-2, 39 KO)
Titles: Flyweight (1998), junior featherweight (2001), junior lightweight (2008), lightweight (2008), junior welterweight (2009), welterweight (2009), junior middleweight (2010)
The Filipino was a favorite of the hardcore fans for his entertaining style in the early years before becoming an international phenomenon with an unprecedented climb up the weight-class ladder. Though he didn’t always chase the premier fighter in a division to capture his belts, no one can deny his rise from flyweight dynamo to welterweight punisher was remarkable.
7. Henry Armstrong (150-21-10, 101 KO)
Titles: Featherweight (1937), welterweight (1938), lightweight (1938)
The first fighter to hold three weight-class titles simultaneously will remain the only one for as long as modern sanctioning bodies dictate that champions give up one belt to defend another. Armstrong held three belts when there were only eight overall weight classes, and he narrowly missed gaining a fourth when his bout against middleweight claimant Ceferino Garcia was judged a draw in 1940. His perpetual motion style and good chin would have served him well and frustrated opponents from any era.
6. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (50-0, 27 KO)
Titles: Junior lightweight (1998), lightweight (2002), junior welterweight (2005), welterweight (2006), junior middleweight (2007)
The top man in most legitimate pound-for-pound debates until his retirement in 2015, Mayweather began his career with an Olympic bronze medal in 1996 and was a professional champion at 130 pounds two years later. He became the top man in four subsequent weight classes in a five-year stretch between 2002 and 2007 and his fast hands, defensive prowess and ring smarts would have made him a tough out for any of history’s best fighters.
5. Roberto Duran (103-16, 70 KO)
Titles: Lightweight (1972), welterweight (1980), junior middleweight (1983), middleweight (1989)
One of the fiercest fighters at any weight, Duran was a menace at 135 pounds before skipping up to 147 to bully an unbeaten Ray Leonard. His career seemed doomed when he surrendered in a rematch, but he reinvented himself with a massacre of Davey Moore at 154 and went on to stun Iran Barkley at 160 six years later. His actual boxing skill was often undervalued because of his persona, which was enough to unnerve all but the heartiest of opponents.
4. Ray Leonard (36-3-1, 25 KO)
Titles: Welterweight (1979), junior middleweight (1981), middleweight (1987), super middleweight (1988), light heavyweight (1988)
The second greatest “Sugar Ray” of all time was a superstar before he threw a professional punch, but he quickly proved his mettle and captured his first title at age 24. A memorable pair with Roberto Duran and a classic showdown with Thomas Hearns all occurred at 147, but Leonard cemented his legacy by returning from hiatus to shock middleweight Marvin Hagler in 1987. His belts at 168 and 175 are less legitimate given his opposition and the catchweight at which the dual-title coronation took place, but he earned every bit of his overall acclaim by performing his best against his best opposition.
3. Thomas Hearns (61-5-1, 48 KO)
Titles: Welterweight (1980), junior middleweight (1982), light heavyweight (1987), middleweight (1987), super middleweight (1988), cruiserweight (1999)
In a comparison based solely on a given fighter’s body of cross-divisional work, few compare to Hearns, who was a fearsome puncher in his early days before using superb boxing skills to engineer several later victories. The 154-pound KO of Roberto Duran was as vicious as any on a big-fight level, and he outboxed Ray Leonard in their 1989 rematch at super middleweight only to be denied by the judges in a disputed draw. His range of 43 pounds between titles (welterweight and cruiserweight) is rivaled only by Pacquiao (112 to 154) among the multi-title greats.
2. Roy Jones Jr. (66-9, 47 KO)
Titles: Middleweight (1993), super middleweight (1994), light heavyweight (1997), heavyweight (2003)
Though he’s better known to younger fans as a declining 40-something who wouldn’t let it go, Jones was far more than that while establishing himself as the sport’s best over a decade-plus. His one-sided defeats of champions like Bernard Hopkins, James Toney, Mike McCallum, and Virgil Hill set a standard of athletic greatness. His 2003 defeat of 226-pound heavyweight titleholder John Ruiz was his last truly spectacular moment in the ring. The victory improved him to 48-1 as a pro and made him just the second ex-middleweight champ to win a heavyweight title.
1. Ray Robinson (173-19-6, 108 KO)
Titles: Welterweight (1946), middleweight (1951)
The measuring stick for a half-century’s worth of great fighters and the inspiration for a few that have followed him into the ring, Robinson mixed pure boxing artistry with breathtaking one-punch power. He won the welterweight crown as a 25-year-old before making the jump to middleweight and holding that division’s title on five separate occasions. His rivalries with brawlers Jake LaMotta and Carmen Basilio are the stuff of bull vs. matador legend, and only heat prostration kept him from capturing the light heavyweight crown in 1952 — when he retired on his stool after 13 rounds with Joey Maxim while far ahead on the scorecards.
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This week’s title-fight schedule:
TUESDAY
WBA/WBC light flyweight title – Osaka, Japan
Kenshiro Teraji (champion/No. 1 Ring) vs. Carlos Canizales (No. 1 WBA/No. 8 Ring)
Teraji (22-1, 14 KO): Fourth title defense; Second reign, held WBC title from 2017-21 (eight defenses)
Canizales (26-1-1, 19 KO): Sixth title fight (3-1-1); Held WBA title from 2018-21 (two defenses)
Fitzbitz says: Canizales is loaded with street cred and worthy of a title fight but he’s running into a truly elite operator at 108 pounds. It won’t be a rout, but Teraji should win it. Teraji by decision (75/25)
WBA flyweight title – Osaka, Japan
Artem Dalakian (champion/No. 4 Ring) vs. Seigo Yuri Akui (No. 1 WBA/No. 10 Ring)
Dalakian (22-0, 15 KO): Seventh title defense; Nine KOs in first 14 scheduled 12-round fights
Akui (18-2-1, 11 KO): First title fight; First fight scheduled for 12 rounds
Fitzbitz says: Dalakian has beaten a cross-section of fighters at 112 pounds while his challenger has yet to compete in a 12-rounder. Expect Dalakian to win in a mid-late rounds grinder. Dalakian in 9 (95/5)
Last week’s picks: None
2023 picks record: 47-18 (72.3 percent)
Overall picks record: 1,298-426 (75.2 percent)
NOTE: Fights previewed are only those involving a sanctioning body’s full-fledged title-holder – no interim, diamond, silver, etc. Fights for WBA “world championships” are only included if no “super champion” exists in the weight class.
Lyle Fitzsimmons has covered professional boxing since 1995 and written a weekly column for Boxing Scene since 2008. Reach him at fitzbitz@msn.com or follow him on Twitter – @fitzbitz.