The young boxing star gamely named his top five boxers of all time.
Four-time NBA champ Draymond Green, former NBA star Cuttino Mobley, jewelry designer and music producer Ben Baller, and one of boxing’s marquee talents today in Ryan Garcia sat together for an episode of the sports show Uninterrupted. Apparently, one of the things that these distinguished individuals had in common was their love for the sport of boxing.
As they came across the topic, Draymond asked the other three guests to name their top five boxers of all time. As expected, the name Muhammad Ali was mentioned by everyone. It was the one thing that they didn't debate about. Other legendary punchers who came up in the discussion were knockout artist Mike Tyson, the sport’s two most popular Sugars — Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Leonard.
When it was time for Ryan Garcia — the only real boxer in the panel — to give his five best pugilists ever, the 24-year-old slugger didn’t take too long to respond.
His interchangeable top two were three-time heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali and the pound for pound all-time great Sugar Ray Robinson.
“The top one comes from either Ali or Sugar Ray Robinson . . . When you look back, Ali actually thought Sugar Ray Robinson was the best fighter of all time.”
Naming his third and fourth boxer was where it got a little tricky, but only for the die-hard fans of Manny Pacquiao. Garcia wasn’t hesitant at all to put Floyd Mayweather Jr. at no. 3 over the Filipino boxing icon. Aside from in-ring talent, he also cited the Money Mayweather's marketing genius.
“My third one would be Floyd Mayweather Jr. because I feel like Floyd had it all. At the beginning in his natural weight class, he was knocking everybody out, killing everbody. Then he adjusted to the higher weight classes, outboxed everybody . . . Smart businessman as well, especially in the ring.”
Pacquiao, the only eight-division champion in the world, is Garcia's fourth-best of all time. The ultra-talented Roy Jones Jr., who dominated the light heavyweight division, rounded out his list.
After reading this, who will you be rooting for in the April 15 super fight between Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis?