Who inspires you as a boxer? Is there a particular boxer that made you want to become one yourself? It is not uncommon for someone to look up to their boxing idols for those days when they are struggling with training or whenever they feel like we need an extra push.
The idols in boxing are usually your favorite boxers who can be anyone from the famous Muhammad Ali to your coach or sparring partner. It is just anyone who inspires you in a positive way. However, there are some athletes that can be considered boxing idols of all time because of their large amount of achievements in the sport all over the world. Today, we will mention 11 of them and a little bit about their personal and professional history.
11 of the favorite boxers of all time
We selected the top 11 fan-favorite boxers that Wikipedia lists as the most popular of all time. Tell us in the comments which one is your favorite and why!
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. was born in 1977 and was a professional boxer, active from 1996 to 2007, 2009 to 2010 and 2011 to 2015 and lastly a one-fight comeback in 2017. He held multiple world titles in five weight classes and the lineal championship in four weight classes. He retired with an undefeated record.
However, Mayweather did not only achieve several prizes in professional boxing, but he also managed to get awards in amateur boxing. He won a bronze medal in the featherweight division at the 1996 Olympics, three US Golden Gloves championships, and the US national championship at featherweight.
Additionally, Mayweather is a two-time winner of The Ring magazine’s Fighter of the Year award (1998 and 2007), a three-time winner of the Boxing Writers Association of America Fighter of the Year award (2007, 2013, and 2015), and a six-time winner of the Best Fighter ESPY Award (2007–2010, 2012–2014). ESPN also ranked him as the greatest boxer of the last 25 years.
He is also often referred to as the best defensive boxer and the most accurate puncher in history. According to Wikipedia, Mayweather was involved in boxing from a very young age and it was his grandmother who saw his potential. “I think my grandmother saw my potential first,” he said. “When I was young, I told her, ‘I think I should get a job.’ She said, ‘No, just keep boxing.’”, you can read on the said website.
Fernando Vargas
Another of the most favorite boxers of all time is Mexican-American Fernando Javier Vargas. He was born in 1977 and competed from 1997 to 2007. He won twice the light-middleweight world championship, becoming like this the youngest boxer in history to win this prize at the age of 21.
While Vargas was still competing as an amateur he obtained a bronze medal in the light welterweight division at the 1995 Pan American Games and also reached the second round of the welterweight bracket at the 1996 Olympics. Some of his famous rivals are Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, and Ricardo Mayorga.
Apart from boxing, Vargas has experienced acting and reality television. He had a role in the film Alpha Dog and was also a guest star on the television show Moesha. Finally, in 2014, Vargas and his family participated in the reality show on Mun2 television called Welcome to Los Vargas and in the reality contest Top Chef Celebrity.
Bob Hope
Bob Hope is another one of the boxing idols on our list. He was born in 1903 and died at 100 years-old in 2003. He was not only a boxer but also an English-American stand-up comedian, actor, singer, dancer and author. (Perhaps boxing is not so dangerous after all, right?).
His boxing career was brief and took place in the late 1910s where he used the name Packy East. He had three wins and one loss. Hope then moved on to show business in the early 1920s as a comedian and dancer and eventually even made it to the stages on Broadway. He also hosted the Academy Awards 19 times!
Even though he only boxed for a brief period of time, his long and active life makes him one of the most famous boxers of all time.
Art Aragon
Art Aragon, born as Arthur Benjamin Aragon in 1927 was a Mexican-American boxer in the lightweight division. He passed away in 2008.
During his fighting career, which began in 1944, he faced many of the toughest fighters of the moment. He was unfortunately involved in a series of accusations of conspiring to fix fights in his favor, and a conviction in California in 1957.
Aragon was also eventually romantically involved with Marilyn Monroe, Jane Mansfield and other Hollywood stars. He also participated in various film and television projects as well as made appearances as himself in several boxing films.
Chuck Liddell
Charles David “Chuck” Liddell was born in 1969 and is a mixed martial artist and also a former UFC light heavyweight champion. His experience is in Kenpo, Karate and Kickboxing as well as Brazilian jiu-jitsu and wrestling.
According to Wikipedia, he is credited as one of the people who helped MMA enter the mainstream of American sports and entertainment and in 2009 he was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Liddell was introduced to boxing by his grandfather when he was a child, which led him to learn Koei-Kan karate at the age of 12. In college, he played football and also wrestling. He holds an amateur kickboxing record of 20 wins and 2 losses and 16 of those wins were by knockout. This fighter’s debut in the UFC took place in 1998 with a victory over Noe Hernández. He continues to train in San Luis Obispo, California where he attended college.
Joe Louis
Joseph Louis Barrow, known professionally as Joe Louis, was born in 1914 and died in 1981. He was an American professional boxer who competed between the years 1934 and 1951, period in which he eventually reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1949.
Joe Louis is considered one of the best heavyweight boxers of all time, ranked number one in The Ring magazine list of the “100 greatest punchers of all time”. He was also nicknamed Brown Bomber and is widely regarded as the first person of African-American descent to achieve the status of a nationwide hero within the United States, according to information from Wikipedia.
He was born in Alabama where his parents had been children of former slaves. While a teenager living in Michigan, he began to spend time at a local youth recreational center, as an alternative to gang activity. There, where his mother believed he was attending violin lessons, he learned how to box. There is a legend that says that he used to hide his boxing gloves inside his violin case. Louis’ debut in boxing occurred in early 1932 at the age of 17.
Oscar De La Hoya
Oscar De La Hoya is a former Mexican-American professional boxer, who is also a boxing promoter since 2002 and since 2018 a mixed martial arts promoter as well. He competed from 1992 to 2008 winning multiple titles in six weight classes, including the lineal championship in three weight classes. BixRec considered him as the 11th best boxer ever and he was also nicknamed “The Golden Boy of Boxing” by the media after his participation in the 1992 Olympic games.
De La Hoya was named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year in 1995, and was its top-rated fighter in the world, pound for pound, in 1997 and 1998. He was also the top pay-per-view earner making approximately $700 million in revenue. He was later surpassed by Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. He retired in 2009.
Since 2002 he owns Golden Boy Promotions, which is a combat sports firm and promotes the sport. In 2018 he was considering running for the United States presidency.
Mickey Rourke
Philip Andre “Mickey” Rourke Jr. is an American actor, screenwriter and former boxer from the United States, born in 1952. He participated in amateur boxing obtaining a record of 27 wins and 3 losses.
When Mickey was a teenager he loved sports and also took up self-defense training at the Boys Club of Miami where he learned boxing skills and started his amateur career. He won his first match at age 12 under the name Phil Rourke. He also became the sparring partner of former World Welterweight Champion Luis Rodríguez. Rodriguez, from whom he claims to have received a concussion.
After another concussion in 1971, his doctors advised him to take some time off the sport, so he did. It was in the 1980s that he started participating in comedy and drama films. He had a comeback in boxing in 1991 and retired completely in 1994. He returned to mainstream Hollywood in 2005.
Wladimir Klitschko
Klitschko is a Ukranian former professional boxer born in 1976 who competed from 1996 to 2017. He was the world heavyweight champion twice and also held the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, Ring magazine and lineal titles. According to his page in Wikipedia, he is considered to be one of the best in his division of all times.
Other things for which Klitschko is known for is his knockout power, his strong jab, straight right hand and left hook, as well as footwork and mobility, which is considered unusual for boxers his size.
This athlete represented Ukraine at the 1996 Olympics and obtained the gold medal in the super-heavyweight division. He then turned professional where he won many fights and obtaining several titles, such as the world heavyweight champion. He also holds the record for the longest cumulative title reign of all time with 4,382 days as world heavyweight champion, and defeated 23 opponents for the world heavyweight championship, the most in history.
Mike Tyson
Mike Tyson, born in 1966 as Michael Gerard Tyson, is an American former boxer professional who was an active competitor from 1985 to 2005. He was a heavyweight world champion and was the youngest boxer to win a heavyweight title at 20.
He is known for his intimidating way of fighting and also for his controversial behavior inside and outside the ring. Nonetheless, he is part of the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.
Some of Tyson’s nicknames are Iron, Kid Dynamite and The Baddest Man on the Planet. However, not everything has been prizes and winnings for this fighter, he was convicted of rape in 1992 and sentenced to six years in prison. He was released after serving three years. In 1997 his infamous “ear bite” while fighting Evander Holyfield made him even more famous around the world. He was disqualified from that fight.
He was also the lineal champion in 1998 when he knocked out Michael Spinks in 91 seconds of the first round and he defended his titles nine times. He also participated in the 1981 and 1982 Junior Olympic Games and won gold medals.
Sugar Ray Leonard
Ray Charles Leonard, better known as Sugar Ray Leonard, is an American former professional boxer born in 1956. He is also a motivational speaker and an occasional actor. He is considered one of the greatest boxers of all time and competed between 1977 to 1997 winning several world titles in five weight divisions.
Leonard was also part of “The Fabulous Four”, a group of boxers who fought each other throughout the 80s: Roberto Durán, Thomas Hearns and Marvin Hagler. In this decade, he was also the first boxer to earn more than $100 million and was also named the “Boxer of the Decade”. On their part, the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) named him Fighter of the Year in 1976, 1979, and 1981.
Did we miss your boxing idols? Name him or her below and tell us what are you inspired the most from this person! Don’t forget to take a look at our list of best boxing movies for inspiration.
