James Toney and Bernard Hopkins have named the same fighter as the greatest to have ever laced up a pair of gloves.
‘Lights Out’ Toney rose to prominence during the 1990s where he would become the IBF world champion at middleweight and super-middleweight, defeating the likes of Mike McCallum, Anthony Hembrick and Iran Barkley throughout this period.
Hopkins also made a name for himself during this era, although the bulk of his success came during the early 2000s where he racked up victories over fighters such as Oscar De La Hoya, Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright and Antonio Tarver.
In a resurfaced conversation with the media, ‘The Executioner’ named the late, great Sugar Ray Robinson as the greatest fighter of all time in his eyes.
“The best fighter ever is Sugar Ray Robinson. To me the best fighter after that is Muhammad Ali, and then the debate starts from on and on from there.”
Toney agrees with his countryman, as he revealed on the WiseNuts Podcast that he believes Robinson is the greatest to have ever graced the sport.
“Ali ain’t the greatest fighter of all time, when he was Cassius Clay he was great, Ali is trash. The greatest fighter of all time is Sugar Ray Robinson, that guy was beautiful, he fought beautiful. Ali wanted to be him, that was Ali’s idol, Ali tried to fight like him but he couldn’t do it.”
Robinson – who has inspired countless styles and skillsets in the modern day – rose to stardom during the 1940s, becoming a world champion on six separate occasions throughout the course of his 201 fight professional career which spanned between 1940 and 1965. Many other fighters, including Ali himself, shared the same high praise that Hopkins and Toney delivered.
