Chronology of 90's Pound for Pound Race

[Stuart_boxer]

Pound for pound year end number one;

1990 - Julio Cesar Chavez

1991 - Julio Cesar Chavez

1992 - Julio Cesar Chavez

1993 - Pernell Whittaker

1994 - Pernell Whittaker

1995 - Pernell Whittaker

1996 - Roy Jones Jr

1997 - Oscar De La Hoya

1998 - Oscar De La Hoya

1999 - Roy Jones Jr.

Toney snuck in there on some lists towards the end of 1994 very briefly before getting thrashed by Roy Jones.

Who do you think was the fighter of the 90's?

[QueensburyRules]

Pound for pound year end number one;

1990 - Julio Cesar Chavez

1991 - Julio Cesar Chavez

1992 - Julio Cesar Chavez

1993 - Pernell Whittaker

1994 - Pernell Whittaker

1995 - Pernell Whittaker

1996 - Roy Jones Jr

1997 - Oscar De La Hoya

1998 - Oscar De La Hoya

1999 - Roy Jones Jr.

Toney snuck in there on some lists towards the end of 1994 very briefly before getting thrashed by Roy Jones.

Who do you think was the fighter of the 90's?

- -Plenty others snuck in there too.

Nobody thought JC or a stinker like Pea was the greatest ever, but Roy was.

Had he retired after the first Tarver fight, a large number of media and fans would have thought so.

[Rusty Tromboni]

- -Plenty others snuck in there too.

Nobody thought JC or a stinker like Pea was the greatest ever, but Roy was.

Had he retired after the first Tarver fight, a large number of media and fans would have thought so.

I wasn't really into Boxing in the early 90s. I liked Moorer because he was from near my hometown. But that was it as a serious fan.

But even as someone uninterested, I remember Chavez being famous.
Roy was a considered a greater fighter?

Looking back, Chavez stepped it up against stiffer competition while Roy leveled off.

[Stuart_boxer]

Looking back, Chavez stepped it up against stiffer competition while Roy leveled off.

Toney was ranked pound for pound number one going into the Jones fight and Jones thrashed him. I think the Ring voted it the biggest, big fight thrashing in 20 years.

I am assuming you are basing that opinion off Jones losing to Tarver at the end of his career which was more due to age, weight loss etc.

I think the Toney win was probably a bit over rated because Toney cut so much weight but I don't think it would be accurate to say that Jones was a big fight choker.

[GhostofDempsey]

I'd say it was between Roy and Oscar. To be a fan at that time and watch their careers unfold was an exciting time to be a boxing fan. To watch Jones incredible hand speed and reflexes making easy work of his opponents and to watch Oscar break his opponents down as he got better with each fight was everything you could ask for from the sport. We can look back in hindsight and see flaws or second guess some of their decisions, but to be a fan at that time and follow their respective careers with anticipation of their next opponent and their path to greatness, that was part of the fun. Knowing Oscar would be on a collision course with Trinidad and the anticipation of that fight, only for the event to be a huge disappointment was a precursor to May/Pac. Both Oscar and Trinidad were considered the best of the division and neither of them fought that way.

[ShoulderRoll]

Those 4 were all elite fighters.

Roy Jones rested on his laurels after a while, unfortunately. HBO should have demanded better opponents.

[care4ameatball]

One guy from the 90s although maybe not P4P ever the best because he only fought at strawweight but my dad used to tell me about him was Ricardo "Finito" Lopez, he used to tell me he was the best boxer he ever saw in terms of purity and I would have to say he's quite the beauty in the ring, sucks he never really accomplished much in terms of names and never moved up past light flyweight where he only fight like two times but he would've been P4P great if he ever moved past strawweight for sure.

[The Old LefHook]

How they were considered then and how they are considered now are miles apart. Jones was once regarded as the most phenomenal specimen to ever step into a ring. Now he is comic relief as he licks his lips more than a pit bull eating peppers, and folks realize he was an underachiever and would not go out of his way to fight the best when they were still good.

Jones himself knows his legacy is laughed at. It kills him. He has always been desperate for adoration and thought he would go down as the greatest of all time, at least in his best divisions. But no. He is quite lucky to make the top 10 in his divisions in the eyes of most fans. Not a single classic fight on his resume. Y'all musta' forgot. He was not even close to as good as we once thought. By contrast, the legacy and reputation of Ray Leonard just keep getting better, and sparkle more each passing year.

[QueensburyRules]

Those 4 were all elite fighters.

Roy Jones rested on his laurels after a while, unfortunately. HBO should have demanded better opponents.

- - When Dariuz showed up on the cusp of breaking Rocky's 49-0 record to make that blockbuster fight, Roy and HBO suits dismissed him and the fight.

Dariuz lost his next fight to howls of derision by our AOL squad, and then Roy one punched into Bolivia to hushed shock by that HBO squad though there were a few mocking celebrations.

[Rusty Tromboni]

One guy from the 90s although maybe not P4P ever the best because he only fought at strawweight but my dad used to tell me about him was Ricardo "Finito" Lopez, he used to tell me he was the best boxer he ever saw in terms of purity and I would have to say he's quite the beauty in the ring, sucks he never really accomplished much in terms of names and never moved up past light flyweight where he only fight like two times but he would've been P4P great if he ever moved past strawweight for sure.

Yeah. But being technically sound and smaller than most Middle School girls isn't that special.

Why are there even divisions below 112 pounds!?!?

I am sure if we went back to ring-side weigh-ins, we'd see many of the lower weight divisions disappear altogether.

Lopez is fun to watch. But I am more impressed by Liston, for all his flaws. And most impressed with Marquez, whom I think contemporaries and history have both overlooked for his greatness. He fought Mayweather, right? Why didn't Mayweather ever fight Golovkin?