British boxing legends Joe Calzaghe and Lennox Lewis are in agreement on who they believe is the greatest fighter of all time.
Welsh icon Calzaghe is often commended for being one of the greatest British fighters of all time. He reigned as the WBO world super-middleweight champion for a decade, making no less than 20 successful defences of his crown before he drew the curtain on his career with a record of 46-0.
In a resurfaced interview with the BBC, Calzaghe spoke fondly of the late-great Muhammad Ali, who he claims is the ‘greatest boxing and sporting icon ever’.
“In a 1,000 years time people will look back and say he was the greatest. He is the greatest boxing and greatest sporting icon of all time. He was my inspiration, I tried to copy some of his moves as soon a I started boxing at the age of 10 or 11.
“Boxing is the hardest sport in the world and in a time when he was champion, it wasn’t a great sport – it was on a bit of a downward spiral but he transcended the sport with his personality and style. People loved him, he was someone completely different, he backed it up in the ring and everybody wanted to tune in and watch him fight.”
Another legendary heavyweight that took the sport by storm is Lewis, who established himself as one of the greatest of all time during the peak of his powers.
‘The Lion’ became a three-time world heavyweight champion along the way, which included a reign as the undisputed champion back in 1999.
Speaking to Hard Rock Bet, Lewis was tasked with naming his top five fighters of all time, and agreed with Calzaghe as he revealed none other than ‘The Greatest’ Ali at number 1 on his list.
“Muhammad Ali, Jack Johnson, [Marvin] Hagler, George Foreman, Joe Louis there you go,”
Whilst Ali is often credited for having outstanding boxing ability, the Kentucky-native is also known for having such a remarkable influence on the sport itself where he was able to inspire generation after generation of young fighters.
