Pedro Oliveira
One of the most difficult things to achieve in any fighting sport is to go through an entire career without suffering a single defeat. In boxing, going undefeated is something so hard to achieve that only 15 athletes have been able to do so, at both amateur and professional level, since the creation and practice of the sport.
Therefore, we bring you a ranking with the 5 most emblematic and important names that managed to finish their professional careers without losing a single time. Here, we list the top 5 undefeated boxers who have ever stepped into the ring.
Edwin Valero
With a short but explosive career, the Venezuelan boxer is the only one in history to achieve a knockout in his favor in all of his fights. He has a record of 27 victories in a period of 8 years as a professional. His overaggressive and offensive style could not be challenged while he was active, and unfortunately he was arrested after being accused of murdering his wife. He would commit suicide while in jail in 2010.
Valero was never able to expand his legacy and set foot on the international boxing rings due to his abrupt end.
Ricardo López
Considered the best boxer at mini and light flyweight, the native of Cuernavaca had one of the most impressive careers in one of the most competitive boxing countries there is, Mexico.
López achieved 51 wins (38 by KO) and only one draw that puts a stain on his record. He is one of the few Latino boxers that has gone undefeated, and that had to defend the title of three championships in his career, with a record of 21 opponents from 1990 to 1998 for the WBC mini flyweight title. There is no doubt that López is one of the most complete fighters to have ever stepped into a ring in the last few decades.
Joe Calzaghe
Calzaghe’ s name is undoubtedly not mentioned as much as it should be mentioned. He has maintained one of the most impressive and solid careers of the last 40 years. With a record of 46-0 (with 32 KO’s), he managed to keep hold of his title when he was active, at super-middleweight and light-heavyweight, throughout his 15-year career, which made him one of the most successful undefeated boxers of all time.
He faced some of the biggest names in his category, and he proved to be one of the best boxers to ever step into the ring. He won against Bernard Hopkins, Mikkel Kessler, Chris Eubank and Roy Jones Jr. among many others.
Calzaghe, referred as the best Anglo-Saxon of all time in the discipline, held his title at the middleweight class for more than 10 years. He defended it against 20 opponents, more than anyone else in history in that class.
Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Little can be said about the biggest star in boxing in the 21st century, at least, economically. Mayweather has a record of 50 wins, 27 KO’s, and no losses in his 21 years in the industry, making him the best undefeated boxer in the sport’s modern era.
He dominated every division he was in, with a total of 15 championships between the super featherweight, lightweight, light welterweight, welterweight and light middleweight class. He is considered the best defensive boxer in history for his agility in the ring, his ability to evade contact, and because all his attacks are very precise.
Floyd is a strategist rather than a fierce fighter, and he has faced big names like Oscar de la Hoya, Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, Juan Manuel Marquez, among others.
Rocky Marciano
He is considered one of the legendary boxers in history, and the most undefeated fighter of the sport. He is also the only heavyweight boxer to this day. Marciano had a huge influence on boxing in the 1950s, and he made way for the global growth of the sport.
With a record of 49-0 (43 KO’s) and having defeated the biggest names, including Joe Walcott Jersey , Ezzard Charles and Roland La Starza, Marciano owns the highest knockout percentage in the history of the class at 85.7%.
His style revolutionized boxing. His incredible stamina in the ring, his resistance against impacts, the power in his fists, and the ability to take direct blows to the face better than anyone else, made Marciano one of the most acclaimed personalities of the 1950s, as well as owner of one of the richest legacies in American boxing.
