This is Rummy's Corner.
Good evening boxing fans and welcome to Part
4 of the Boxing Survey Series.
This open Survey was conducted in the Classic
Section of BoxingForum24.com and 24 volunteers
participated.
Each participant provided a Top 15 list for
each of the traditional 8 weight classes.
Today we will be exploring the Lightweight
division.
I did not personally participate in the Survey,
as I did not want my opinions to influence
the final outcome.
This is the scoring system.
Pretty straightforward.
100 points for a 1st place vote, 80 points
for a 2nd place vote, and so on, according
to these point values.
So everyone who participated was responsible
for allocating a total of 453 points.
With 24 participants, the most points any
individual boxer can accumulate in any given
weight class is 2,400.
One aspect of the scoring that was not previously
applicable for the other Top 10 finishes.
Let's look at Henry Armstrong's placement
in the Featherweight Survey as a quick example.
Armstrong finished in 6th place.
There were no ties.
But in the event someone else had had that
same 730 point total, in order to try and
break-up ties for the Top 10, we would next
look at Total Lists and 1st Place Votes to
act as a tie-breaker.
If those numbers are also the same, then it's
a true tie.
But these are the two categories that are
being used to try and break ties.
Spoiler alert, there is a tie in the Lightweight
Top 10.
Let's take a look and find out where!
#10 is Freddie Welsh.
205 points for Welsh and he made appearances
on 17 out of 24.
This score is on the lower end of what we've
seen so far in 10th place.
#9 is Packey McFarland.
424 points for McFarland and he appeared on
19 out of 24.
And just a quick note, those records you see
at the bottom - that data is coming from BoxRec,
which I believe is an incredible resource
for boxing fans.
You may see some of these records listed differently
elsewhere where they handle older newspaper
decisions differently.
But just for clarification, the listed records
are coming from what's currently on BoxRec.
#8 is Henry Armstrong.
532 points and 20 out of 24 for him.
This marks Henry Armstrong as the first boxer
in the entire Survey Series to be revealed
in the Top 10 for two different weight classes.
Armstrong also finished in 6th place in the
final Featherweight tallies.
That is mighty impressive stuff.
#7 is Carlos Ortiz.
He accumulated a total of 581 points and made
appearances on 22 out of 24 Survey lists.
So more mentions for Ortiz than the boxers
who finished just behind him.
#6 is Tony Canzoneri.
He received 705 points and appeared in a perfect
24 out of 24.
So Canzoneri is the first Lightweight reveal
who enters the exclusive All 24 club.
#5 is Ike Williams.
855 points for Ike, and he also received a
perfect 24 out of 24 mentions.
But on the whole Ike was held in higher regard
than Canzoneri.
#4 is Pernell Whitaker.
950 points for Sweet Pea, and he received
mentions on 23 out of 24.
So Whitaker just missed out on getting 1,000
points, and he also just missed out on the
All 24.
But he was damn close on both.
#3 is Joe Gans.
He did extremely well.
1,478 points, 23 out of 24, and Gans also
received five 1st Place Votes.
So Gans is the first Lightweight to become
a member of the 1,000+ points club, and those
five 1st Place Votes - that is a significant
dissenting faction.
This is the most 1st Place Votes for any boxer
finishing 3rd place to date.
So now for that tie-breaker I mentioned earlier.
I'm sure a lot of you can guess the remaining
two names, where the tie-breaking protocol
was implemented for the first time.
At #2 we have Benny Leonard.
An incredible 1,955 points, a perfect 24 out
of 24, and nine members of the Survey view
Benny Leonard as the greatest Lightweight
of all time.
Mighty impressive tallies across the board
for Leonard.
But at #1 we have Roberto Duran.
He also earned 1,955 points and he also appeared
in a perfect 24 out of 24.
But the difference here was 1st Place Votes.
Duran received ten 1st Place Votes, which
was just one more than Benny Leonard received.
So this is the entire Top 30 statistical breakdown
for the Lightweight Survey.
Honestly, I was surprised there was a tie
for the top spot.
I figured we'd get some ties in the Top 10
along the way, but here we are.
Roberto Duran and Benny Leonard both received
1,955 points, and Gans had a hefty total in
his own right.
I believe these are the correct three Lightweights
at the Top, and the ordering of these names
can be completely swapped around in every
possible way and still look strong.
I think the entire Top 15 looks pretty strong
here, and I think you can make a case for
those guys towards the bottom of the Top 15
- Ambers, Mayweather, Brown, Arguello, Chavez
- you can make the case that any one of them
belongs inside the Top 10.
And then if you look at the other guys who
did finish in the Top 10, I like Sweet Pea
at #4 and I think the rest of those boxers
from Ike Williams through Packey McFarland
- you can swap some of those names around
a little and make some tweaks.
But once again, I think this is another solid
final result.
One thing I will say is there seems to be
less consensus here than there was at Featherweight.
So far Featherweight is the only weight class
where everyone who finished in the Top 10
appeared on at least 20 different Survey lists.
That degree of consensus doesn't exist here
in the Lightweight Survey, although it's not
too far off.
So in total there were 37 boxers mentioned
in the Lightweight Survey, 3 new members of
the 1,000+ points club, and 4 new members
of the All 24.
So we have a slight dip in the total number
of boxers mentioned, and the two elite clubs
have numbers on par with what we've been seeing.
Again Roberto Duran and Benny Leonard were
tied for the high score, each earning 1,955
points.
But Duran edged it out with the tie-breaking
protocol, where he had the most 1st Place
Votes with ten.
So we had a strong consensus on Flyweight,
Bantamweight, and Featherweight, but we had
nothing of the sort here at Lightweight.
Right now Willie Pep still has the high score
to beat, and Pep also still has the most 1st
Place Votes.
That's it for this one.
Next up will be the Welterweight division,
which I hope to have finished as soon as I
can.
Once again, a special thanks to the 24 participants
who took the time and effort to create and
submit their Survey lists.
Without them this survey would not exist.
Please share your thoughts on the Lightweight
results in the comment section.
Thanks for watching everyone, I hope you enjoyed,
and have a wonderful night!
This is Rummy's Corner.
