Muhammad Ali
Roberto Duran
Stat by stat
Bars are scaled to the leader in this list.
The verdict
Roberto Duran leads 2 of 2 categories. Our all-time ranking places Muhammad Ali at #2 and Roberto Duran at #6.
Head-to-head FAQ
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The case for Muhammad Ali
The most consequential heavyweight case on this list: three-time champion, 56-5 record, and the political stage that outlived the ring. Ali never shared a ring with Mike Tyson — Ali's last fight was December 1981; Tyson's pro debut was March 1985 — so this VS page is peak-era teaching marks, not a real head-to-head.
The case for Roberto Duran
Manos de Piedra, Hands of Stone, fought across five decades and four weight divisions, from a terrifying lightweight to a middleweight champion, over 119 professional bouts. His record of roughly 103-16 with 70 knockouts is anchored by one of the great division reigns in history: as lightweight champion he made 12 defenses and lost only one of his first 72 fights, a run of destructive pressure fighting, body punching and inside mastery that many rate the finest lightweight ever. He beat Ken Buchanan, Esteban DeJesus, Sugar Ray Leonard, in the 1980 Brawl in Montreal, Iran Barkley and Davey Moore, winning titles at lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight. The infamous No Mas surrender to Leonard in their rematch was a stain, but his ferocity, longevity, still competitive into his fifties, and sheer will made him a fighter's fighter and one of the most beloved and feared competitors the sport has known.