10 Most Inspiring Boxing Posters of the Legendary Fighters
Boxing is one of the most popular combat sports in the world. The first boxing competitions were held already in the ancient times and remain extremely popular today. Though many people consider this kind of sports too fierce, many young people got engaged in it every day. If you do boxing or are simply a fan of this sport, you may like our selection of the most inspiring boxing posters, featuring the legends of this sport.
Contents
Sugar Ray Robinson Posters
Sugar Ray Robinson
Sugar Ray Robinson, born Walker Smith Jr., is the greatest pound-for-pound boxer of all time, who competed in welterweight and middleweight. He is known for his ability to fight in almost any style from brawling to counterpunching. He had great speed and precision as well as used his opponents’ weaknesses very well.
Robinson started his professional career at the age of 19, in 1940. From 1943 to 1951, he had the unbeaten streak of 91 fights, the third longest in the boxing history. From 1946 to 1951, he held the world welterweight title. In 1951, he won the middleweight title before retiring in 1952 and regaining the title in 1955. Sugar is the first boxer, who won the divisional world championships 5 times. In 1990, he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
In 1999, Sugar Ray Robinson was called welterweight of the century, middleweight of the century as well as overall fighter of the century by the Associated Press. In 2003, he got to the list of the greatest punchers by the Ring magazine. Moreover, Sugar is the best welterweight and pound-for-pound boxer of all time according to the International Boxing Research Organization.
Muhammad Ali Posters
Muhammad Ali poster
Muhammad Ali, born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr., is one of the most influential and celebrated sports personalities of the 20th century. Being one of the best heavyweight boxers of the century, he is still the only lineal heavyweight champion, who won the title 3 times. In 1999, he was called one of 100 Most Important People of the 20th Century.
Training in boxing since he was 12, Ali got the worldwide recognition in 1960 after he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight at the Summer Olympics. His professional career started the same year. In 1964, he already had the WBA, WBC and lineal heavyweight titles. In total, Muhammad was 3-time Lineal champion, 2-time WBC champion, 3-time WBA champion, 3-time NABF champion, 2-time AAU champion and 2-time Golden Gloves champion.
Muhammad Ali was called fighter of the year 6 times (more than any other fighter) and was ranked as the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time by the Ring magazine and The Associated Press. Moreover, he was called the greatest athlete of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated, the sports personality of the century by the BBC and the third greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN SportsCentury.
Henry Armstrong Posters
Henry Armstrong
Henry Armstrong, born Henry Jackson Jr., is a legendary boxer, who competed in featherweight, lightweight and welterweight divisions. He was often nicknamed as Hurricane Henry and Homicide’ Hank.
Henry started his professional career in 1931, being 19 years old. In 1937, he won his first World Champion title in featherweight division. In a year, he gained the title of the World Welterweight Champion. And the same year, after losing some weight, Armstrong gained the World Lightweight title, becoming the first boxer to hold world championships title in three different weight divisions at the same time.
In 1937, Armstrong was called Fighter of the Year by The Ring magazine and in 1940, he got the same title from the Boxing Writers Association of America. In 2007, he was called the second greatest fighter of the last 80 years by The Ring. He is also the third greatest boxer of all time according to ESPN.
Joe Louis Posters
Joe Louis
Joe Louis, born Joseph Louis Barrow, is one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. He is often nicknamed as “Brown Bomber”. He is known for his record of knocking out 23 opponents in 27 title fights, including 5 world champions.
Joe made the professional debut in 1934, winning all the matches of his first year. In 1937, he became world heavyweight champion and held the title till 1949. In 1936, 1938, 1939 and 1941, he was called fighter of the year by The Ring magazine. In 1941, he got the Sugar Ray Robinson Award.
In 2005, Joe Louis was called the best heavyweight boxer of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization as well as the greatest puncher of all time by the Ring magazine. In 2007, he was 4th on the ESPN.com’s list of 50 Greatest Boxers of all time.
Willie Pep Posters
Willie Pep
Willie Pep, born Guglielmo Papaleo, is considered as one of the best fighters of the 20th century, inducted to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990. His style is known for speed, finesse and elusiveness.
Pep started the professional career in 1940, aged 18. In 1942, he became the World Featherweight Champion and held the title till 1948. In 1949, he retained the title of the world champion, but lost it in a year. In 1945, Willie was called fighter of the year by The Ring magazine.
In 2005, the International Boxing Research Organization called him #1 featherweight fighter of all time in addition to the title of the best featherweight of the 20th century by the Associated Press. Also, he is ranked third greatest fighter of all time by Bert Sugar and fifth on ESPN’s 50 Greatest Boxers of All Time list in 2007. In 2014, Pep was called the Greatest Featherweight Ever by the Houston Boxing Hall of Fame.
Roberto Duran Posters
Roberto Duran poster
Roberto Duran Samaniego is known as a versatile brawler and pressure fighter, nicknamed “Manos de Piedra” (“Hands of Stone”). He held the titles of the world champion in 4 different weights: lightweight, welterweight, light middleweight and middleweight. Competing from 1968 to 2001, he is the second boxer in the history, who competed for 5 decades after Jack Johnson.
Duran made a professional debut in 1968, being 16 years old. In 1972, he gained the WBA lightweight champion, The Ring lightweight champion and Lineal lightweight champion titles and held them till 1979. From 1978 to 1979, he was the WBC and Undisputed lightweight champion. In 1980, Roberto was the WBC, The Ring and Lineal welterweight champion. In 1983-84, the boxer held the title of WBA super welterweight champion and in 1989, he was the WBC middleweight champion.
Roberto Duran is called the best lightweight of the 20th century by the Associated Press, the fifth greatest fighter of the last 80 years by The Ring magazine, 8th greatest fighter of all time by Bert Sugar.
Benny Leonard Posters
Benny Leonard
Benny Leonard, born Benjamin Leiner, is a legendary lightweight boxer. He is the member of the National and International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame, the Ring Magazine Hall of Fame, the World Boxing Hall of Fame and the International Boxing Hall of Fame.
Leonard made a professional debut in 1911. In 1917, he became the lightweight world champion and held the title till 1925. The boxer is known for his speed and ability to think fast on his feet as well as for being a hard hitter.
Benny Leonard is ranked as #1 lightweight and #8 best pound-for-pound fighter of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization. He is 8th in the list of The Ring magazine of 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years and 7th in the ESPN’s list of 50 Greatest Boxers of All Time. Benny was also called the second best lightweight ever by BoxRec.
Jack Johnson Posters
Jack Johnson
Jack Johnson, born John Arthur Johnson, is the first African American world heavyweight boxing champion. He was nicknamed as Galveston Giant. Jack’s boxing style consisted of fighting defensively until his opponents were tired and fighting aggressively in the rest of rounds.
Johnson made the professional debut in 1898. In 1903, he became the World Colored Heavyweight champion and held the title till 1908. In 1908, he gained the world heavyweight title and held it till 1915. In 1914, Jack became the Oldest World Heavyweight Champion and lost the title in 1919.
In 2002, Jack Johnson was called one of 100 Greatest African Americans by scholar Molefi Kete Asante. The boxer had many important matches throughout his career, but his fight against James J. Jeffries is often referred as the “fight of the century”. He is also a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame and the World Boxing Hall of Fame.
Jack Dempsey Posters
Jack Dempsey poster
Jack Dempsey, born William Harrison Dempsey, is one of the most popular boxers in history, who is considered as a cultural icon of 1920s. He was nicknamed as “Kid Blackie” and “The Manassa Mauler”. The boxer is known for his aggressive fighting style and exceptional punching power.
In 1919, he became the world heavyweight champion and held the title till 1926. From 1922 to 1926, Jack was The Ring heavyweight champion. Many fights of the boxer set money and attendance records, including the first million-dollar rate in the match against Georges Carpentier and the record $2 million gate in the fight against Gene Tunney, which is called “The Long Count Fight”.
In 1950, Jack Dempsey was called the greatest fighter of the past 50 years by the Associated Press. The Ring magazine ranked him as 10th all-time heavyweight as well as 7th greatest puncher. He is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. Moreover, the boxer’s fights, endorsements and some other ventures made him one of the richest athletes in the world.
Sam Langford Posters
Sam Langford
Sam Langford, nicknamed Boston Tar Baby, Boston Terror and Boston Bonecrusher, is called “Greatest Fighter Nobody Knows” by ESPN. The fighter competed in various weight divisions from lightweight to heavyweight.
Langford won his first title in 1907, becoming the World Colored Middleweight Champion. Later, he was the World Colored Heavyweight Champion for the record 5 times. He held the title from September 1909 to December 1911, from April 1912 to May 1914, from November 1914 to January 1916, from February 1916 to January 1917, from May 1917 to April 1918. The boxer never won the world title and is often referred as the greatest boxer not to win a world title. The reason for that was that heavyweight champion Jack Johnson refused to fight with him.
Sam Langford is ranked second in The Ring’s list of 100 greatest punchers of all time. BoxRec called him 3rd greatest heavyweight boxer of all time, 9th greatest pound-for-pound boxer of all time and the greatest Canadian boxer of all time.
So, these boxing posters are great motivational tools for those, who do this kind of sports. These fighters are legends of boxing and are inspiring role models for others. Moreover, their examples are inspiring even for those, who aren't engaged into boxing.
