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Top 50 middleweights ever - No 2, Sugar Ray Robinson

Placing Sugar Ray Robinson only second on any list seems odd. Much like the idea of Muhammad Ali not being the best heavyweight of all time, a case can be made, but what's the point?

Robinson changed boxing, a man who showed that speed and movement could be as potent weapons as strength and power. He is also the only boxer who would be a shoe-in for a top five place in two divisions.

Top 50 middleweights ever - No 3, Marvelous Marvin Hagler

Marvelous Marvin Hagler dominated boxing in the early Eighties, as no middleweight had since Sugar Ray Robinson. He is remembered as the hard man from a glorious era of fights that made Caesars Palace the centre of the boxing universe. His classic win over Thomas Hearns, his brutal come-from-behind stoppage of John Mugabi and his controversial loss to Sugar Ray Leonard will remain talked about for years to come.

Top 50 middleweights ever - No 4, Carlos Monzon

Carlos Monzon was an Argentine legend, a hard man, lived a violent life, died a violent death, which, as we go through this list, sadly, makes him fit in well with some of the middleweight greats around him.

In the ring he was uncompromising, he wasn't smooth, he broke opponents down, walking forward, hammering punches in without technique. He didn't outbox opponents, he battered them.

Top 50 middleweights ever - No 5, Bernard Hopkins

Legacy and legend are Bernard Hopkins's two favourite words. Old school is another (well it's two words really). Most of that legacy is built on the ten-year run that made him the longest reigning world middleweight champion in history. But does Hopkins really get the credit he deserves? He certainly doesn't think so.

Top 50 middleweights ever (6-7)

We are inching towards the top spot and it's getting tougher to decide between the remaining champions. The next two is a real stretch across the years, featuring one boxer who died 98 years ago and one that is still active.

Top 50 middleweights ever (8-10)

How's this for a line-up of champions, taken at the American Boxing Writers Dinner in New York in 1964. Most people would recognise Muhammad Ali (actually then, he was still Cassius Clay) on the right and Jack Dempsey on the left. The guy Ali has his arm around is Willie Pastrano, who soon after would become world light-heavyweight champion. The little guy is Mickey Walker and some would claim he was as good as any of them. He is certainly good enough to make it to the next part of our middleweight list.

Top 50 middleweights ever (11-15)

Approaching the top ten and the decisions are not getting any easier. Jake LaMotta (pictured), who would be in many top-tens, features at the top of this section. As always, comments, or top-fives or tens, are welcomed.

Top 50 middleweights ever (16-20)

So we get to the top 20 and this is only the first division. But hopefully the debate will increase as we get to the very top. The next five include four that must be household names to any boxing fan in the UK, plus one who has largely slipped from boxing history. Feel free to add your comments.

Top 50 middleweights ever (21-30)

A brief break from the full-throttle schedule of top-class boxing we have entered and a lack of racing from Cheltenham gives me the chance to get back to our list of top 50 middleweights, where decisions are starting to get tougher as the bigger names appear.

And, blimey, this bit of the list was tough. A combination of a few names I was surprised to see still there and others whom I was expecting to make the top 20. There are three names here whose greatest achievements were in other divisions, but overall I'm glad that there is a nice spread of different eras. As always, comments are very welcome.

Top 50 middleweights ever (31-40)

Here is the latest section of the greatest middleweight list, apologies for the delay. I wanted to wait for the Pavlik-Taylor rematch (for obvious reasons) then, while I was away in New York, was worried I had omitted Nino Benvenuti from the list (I hadn't).
Comments, as always, welcomed.

Top 50 middleweights ever (41-50)

The top 50 middleweights of all-time starts here. The middleweight division has probably delivered more excitement over the years than any other - right from the days of Stanley Ketchel though to last year's Kelly Pavlik-Jermain Taylor fight. But who will be top? Hagler, Leonard, Greb, Monzon, Robinson, LaMotta..?

Your comments as always are welcomed, as are your own top tens.

The greatest boxers ever - the rules

From next week I shall be starting the latest in our rundowns of the greatest boxers of all time and will be starting with the greatest 50 middleweights of all time.

Pound-for-pound ratings November 2007

The weekend's action saw two of the world's top pound-for-pound boxers in action. Joe Calzaghe unified the world super-middleweight title with his brilliant win over Mikkel Kessler, while, in Tucson, Arizona, Juan Manuel Marquez outclassed Rocky Juarez. Get two boxing fans together and they will draw up completely different pound-for-pound lists. Here's mine, feel free to comment.