On July 4, the best American boxers, decade by decade

Shidonna Raven
1 hour ago
1 min read

This Article has been curated by UDBN

July 4, 2025

For over a century, the United States has been at the center of the boxing universe. The U.S. has hosted the great majority of history’s biggest fights – be they in New York, Chicago, New Orleans or, since the mid-80s, most likely on or adjacent to Las Vegas Boulevard – and those fights were as likely as not to involve at least one American fighter.

That dominance is eroding, boxing’s center of gravity threatening variously to relocate to Saudi Arabia, England, and Japan, among others. But, to misquote Monty Python, the U.S. boxing scene isn’t dead yet, and on the occasion of the country’s 249^th birthday, we’re taking a look at the best of the best over the Marquess of Queensberry era, for most of which the best boxer in the U.S. in any given decade was almost invariably the best in the world.

So, happy birthday, ‘Murica. You’re not what you were: older, angrier, and altogether less pleasant. And all those pesky other countries insist on having their own opinions, champions, and major boxing cards.

But here’s to what has been and what you’ve brought to the boxing world so far.

Here are the best American practitioners of the Sweet Science each decade since boxers began putting on gloves:

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