BOXER’s take huge pride in their unbeaten records and how long they can remain undefeated in the ring.
It’s rare to see a long undefeated streak, such as Julio Cesar Chavez’s 89-0 professional start or Jimmy Wilde’s 93-0 outset.
Here is our list of the top 10 longest winning streaks in boxing.
10: Rocky Marciano: 49-0
Rocky Marciano joins the rare list of boxers who finished their careers undefeated.
The heavyweight fought professionally from 1947 to 1955, and conquered the division in 1952 by winning the title.
Marciano’s best wins came against Ezzard Charles, Joe Walcott, Joe Louis and Archie Moore.
Nicknamed The Rock from Brockton, he successfully defended his belt six times before calling it a career in 1955 at the age of 32.
In eight years as a professional, Marciano amassed an unblemished record, with 43 victories coming by knockout.
Marciano is ranked as the fourth greatest heavyweight boxer in history by BoxRec.
On August 31, 1969, a day before his 46th birthday, Marciano died on board a small private plane when the aircraft hit a tree shortly after takeoff.
9: Andre Ward: 32-0
A San Francisco native, Andre Ward shocked the boxing world when on September 21, 2017, he announced his retirement from the sport.
At just 33-years-old, Ward wrote, “I want to be clear – I am leaving because my body can no longer put up with the rigors of the sport and therefore my desire to fight is no longer there.
“If I cannot give my family, my team, and the fans everything that I have, then I should no longer be fighting.”
Ward fought from 2004 to 2017 in the super middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, winning world titles in both classes.
He was awarded Fight of the Year in 2011, by Ring Magazine.
His last two fights came against Sergey Kovalev, whom he defeated twice to retain his IBF and WBO light heavyweight titles.
8: Larry Holmes: 69-6
Larry Holmes might be one of the most underrated heavyweight champions of all time.
Holmes started his professional career going 48-0 and finished off his with a record of 69-6.
Holmes competed from 1973 to 2002.
Nicknamed The Easton Assassin, he held the WBC Heavyweight title from 1978 to 1983.
During his career, Holmes defended his titles against 19 opponents before finally losing in 1985 to Michael Spinks.
Holmes had notable fights against Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield in 1988 and 1992.
His final fight was on July 27, 2002 in Norfolk, Virginia, where he defeated Eric Esch by a 10-round unanimous decision.
7: Willie Pep: 285-17
Willie Pep competed professionally for 26 years from 1940 until 1966.
He started his career with a 62-0 record before losing his first professional fight to Sammy Angott in March 1943.
After that loss Pep went on a second streak, winning his next 72 fights to establish himself as arguably the greatest featherweight of all time.
As one of the greatest defensive fighters in the sport, Pep was able to continue fighting into his forties.
Throughout his career, Will O’ the Wisp, as he was nicknamed, fought in 304 fights.
He won 285 fights and lost 17.
6: Carlos Monzon: 87-3
In 1963, during the early stages of his career Carlos Monzon lost three fights while still competing at the club level in Argentina.
After falling to a 16-3 professional record in October 1964, Monzon never lost again.
By the time Monzon hit the world-class level, he had developed into a dominating fighter. He became a major superstar in South America and highly regarded champion around the world.
Nicknamed Escopeta, or shotgun, Monzon fought in the Middleweight division and went unbeaten in more than 80 fights until he retired as the undisputed champion in 1977.
5: Roberto Duran: 103-16
Roberto Duran had one of the shortest unbeaten streaks, but like Willie Pep he went on a second unprecedented winning run.
Nicknamed Manos de Piedra, or Hands of Stone, Duran competed from 1968 to 2001 in seven different weight classes.
He started his professional career going 31-0 before losing to Puerto Rican, Esteban de Jesus in 1972.
After losing his first bout, Duran won his following 41 fights before losing to Sugar Ray Leonard eight years later in 1980.
Manos de Piedra established himself as arguably the greatest lightweight in boxing history.
He was the most dominant pound-for-pound fighter of the 1970’s before moving up to welterweight.
Duran capped off his career in 2001 when he fought Hector Camacho, where he lost by UD.
Duran finished his career with a 103-16 professional record.
4: Floyd Mayweather Jr: 50-0
Floyd Mayweather Jr is one of just 15 boxers in history to have stepped away from the sport with an unbeaten record.
Mayweather competed in five different weight divisions, winning 15 major titles throughout his career. He also holds a perfect 50-0 record.
Nicknamed Money, Mayweather is often referred to as the greatest defensive boxer of all time because of his ability to avoid getting hit by his opponents.
From 1996 till 2017, Mayweather fought some of the sports greats such as Oscar De La Hoya, Manny Pacquiao, Saul Canelo Alvarez, Miguel Cotto and Juan Manuel Marquez.
He has kept his money flowing with a string of exhibition fights, most recently against Mikuru Asakura in Japan.
3: Sugar Ray Robinson: 173-19
Sugar Ray Robinson dominated the boxing world during the forties and fifties.
After starting his career 40-0, Robinson suffered his first loss against the Bronx Bull Jake LaMotta in February 1943.
After the loss, Robinson won 88 fights before he was upset by Randy Turpin in July 1952.
During that streak, Robinson collected first the welterweight and then the middleweight world titles.
From 1940 to 1965, Robinson competed in four different weight divisions and ended his career with a 173-19 record.
2: Julio Cesar Chavez: 107-6
Arguably the greatest start to a professional boxing career in the modern era, Julio Cesar Chavez dominated the sport by winning his first 89 fights.
From 1980 to 2005, Chavez competed in four different weight divisions winning six world titles.
Chavez holds the record for the most total successful title defenses with 27 and most title fight victories with 31.
His first professional loss came against Frankie Randall in 1994.
Chavez is ranked as the 18th best boxer of all time, pound-for-pound by BoxRec.
He is ranked #24 on ESPN’s list of top 50 Greatest Boxers of All Time and 18th on The Ring’s top 80 Best Fighters of the Last 80 Years.
The Mexican finished off his career with a 107-6 record.
1: Jimmy Wilde: 132-3
In 1911, Jimmy Wilde made his professional boxing debut by knocking out Ted Roberts in three rounds.
It would be the beginning to the greatest start in boxing history.
Wilde would fight an astonishing 28 times in 1911, finishing the year with a 27-0-1 record.
By the end of 1914, he had recorded the longest unbeaten record in boxing history of 93-0-1 – a record that still stands today.
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The United Kingdom native competed in the flyweight division and was the first flyweight world champion.
For four years, Wilde remained unbeaten in boxing until Tancy Lee handed Wilde his first professional loss by way of TKO in the 17th round.
Overall, Wilde competed in 136 fights, he won 132, lost three and one ended in a draw.
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
