Hi all, it's with sincere thanks that I give gratitude to everyone with their help on
this top 50 list, and now I'm having thoughts on how to expand to a new top 100 boxing HOF RC list that includes the previously selected cards as well as other HOFers and iconic boxers. As before, I compiled a tentative 'next 50' list by referencing:
Bert Sugar's 100 greatest boxers of all time
Ring Magazine's Top 80 boxers of the Past 80 Years
Sports Illustrated top 50
Associated Press Fighters of the Century (5 member panel, Dec 1999)
IBHOF inductees
Any boxer on all 5 of the above lists (and not in the previous top 50 all time RC list already compiled) was included below, with the exception of boxers that as far as I could see had no cards anywhere near their playing days (f.ex Eder Jofre). I also tried to include a few more of the modern boxers to make the list a bit more contemporary. The highest ranking players on at least 3 or 4 of the 'top' lists were then cross referenced with the IBHOF list where applicable, bringing me to 50 names. Cards were the earliest true RC that I could find (with massive thanks to Alan's initial efforts due, of course), with the exception of a couple of cases where only one card is known to exist, which more or less makes it uncollectible as a set/list imho:
1886 N167 Old Judge Jem Carney
1886 N167 Old Judge Jack McAuliffe
1887 N184 Jack Dempsey (also N174 Old Judge, A&G N28)
1890 Mayo Barbados Joe Walcott
1901 Ogdens Terry McGovern
1901 Ogdens Philadelphia Jack O'Brien
1902 Ogdens George Dixon
1908 Ogdens Jim Driscoll
1908 Ogdens Abe Attell
1909 E75 American Caramel Battling Nelson
1910 T218 Mecca Young Corbett
1915 Cope Brothers Ted 'Kid' Lewis
1920 W529 Johnee Dundee
1920 W529 Jack Britton
1921 W551 Harry Greb
1921 W551 Pancho Villa
1926 Spalding Champions Tiger Flowers
1928 Greiling Panama Al Brown
1928/29 La Morena/Tab de Ind los Angola Kid Chocolate
1928/29 La Morena/Tab de Ind los Angola Tommy Loughran
1928/29 La Morena/Tab de Ind los Angola Jimmy McLarnin
1935 United Tobacco Barney Ross (before '41 release?)
1940 Spanish Boxing Serie A Billy Conn
1947 Cummings Rocky Graziano
1947 Cummings Ike Williams
1947 Cummings Manuel Ortiz
1951 Ringside Sandy Saddler
1951 Ringside Kid Gavilan
1966 Panini Dick Tiger
1966 Panini Fighting Harada
1967 Panini Emile Griffith
1967 Figuritas Sport Pascualito (Pascual) Perez
1969 Panini Bob Foster
1969 Panini Jose Napoles
1970 Panini Ruben Olivares
1972 Figuritas Starostra Carlos Monzon
1982 Panini Thomas Hearns
1982 Panini Wifred Benitez
1982 Panini Salvador Sanchez
1987 Panini Julio Cesar Chavez
1991 Kayo Roy Jones Jr
1991 Kayo Alexis Arguello
1991 Ringlords Lennox Lewis
1992 Impel Oscar de la Hoya
1996 Ringside Marco Antonio Barrera
1997 Browns Floyd Mayweather Jr.
1998 Japan World Boxing Khaosai Galaxy
1999 Japan World Boxing Manny Pacquiao
1999 Browns Bernard Hopkins
2001 Rookie Review Wladimir Klitschko and Vitaly Klitschko
other potential boxers for inclusion that i could not find cards for or are otherwise perhaps borderline 'top 100' cases, with my suggested strongest candidates in bold for those I could find cards for:
Eder Jofre (no cards?, 1991 AW)
Charley Burley (no cards?)
Aaron Pryor (nothing before 2008?)
Joe Brown (no cards? 1998 Futera Platinum boxing legends)
Miguel Canto (no cards?)
Carmen Basilio (1991 Kayo, 1958 Rekord)
Nonito Donaire (no cards?)
Carlos Zarate (no cards?)
Jimmy Bivins (no cards?)
Peter Jackson (1888 N332 Hess)
Earnie Shavers (1991 AW)
Kostya Tszyu (1994 Browns)
Beau Jack (1948 Leaf)
Maxie Rosenbloom (1930 La Estrella)
Erik Morales (1997 Browns)
Felix Trinidad (1996 Ringlords)
Julian Jackson (1991 Ringlords)
Juan Manuel Marquez (2008 Topps Co-Signers)
Fidel LaBarba (1926 Spalding Champions)
Matthew Saad Muhammad (1982 Panini)
What do you guys think? I'd love to hear your thoughts both on who should / should not be included, and if there are any earlier issues of the players listed above to update this list accordingly. Thanks again, and I'm already looking forward to the debate and discussion.