Muhammad Ali
Julio Cesar Chavez
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Julio Cesar Chavez leads 2 of 2 categories. Our all-time ranking places Muhammad Ali at #2 and Julio Cesar Chavez at #9.
The case for Muhammad Ali
The most consequential figure in boxing history and, by his own and much of the world's reckoning, the greatest heavyweight. Ali finished 56-5 with 37 knockouts, but his record undersells him: a draft-refusal exile stole three-and-a-half prime years, and he returned to win the title twice more, becoming the first three-time lineal heavyweight champion. He beat a murderer's row of champions, Sonny Liston, Joe Frazier, George Foreman and Ken Norton, in fights that defined the sport: the 1964 Liston upset, the Fight of the Century, the Rumble in the Jungle, and the Thrilla in Manila. As a young heavyweight he moved and jabbed like a middleweight, revolutionizing what a big man could do; as an older one he showed extraordinary chin and ring guile with the rope-a-dope. His athletic gifts, showmanship and moral courage made him the most recognized athlete on earth.
The case for Julio Cesar Chavez
The greatest Mexican fighter and one of the finest body punchers who ever lived, Chavez was unbeaten in his first 90 professional fights, a run of 89-0-1 spanning 1980 to 1994 that is among the longest in boxing history. He finished roughly 107-6-2 with 86 knockouts and won world titles in three divisions, super featherweight, lightweight and light welterweight. He holds the record for most world title fights, 37, and title-fight wins, 31. His signature nights include the last-second, near-miraculous 12th-round stoppage of Meldrick Taylor in 1990 with the fight slipping away, and a title defense before roughly 132,000 fans at Estadio Azteca in 1993, a record boxing crowd. His method, methodical pressure, a granite chin, and merciless work to the liver and ribs that broke opponents down over rounds, made him a national hero in Mexico and a fixture at the top of pound-for-pound lists through his prime.