WORLD'S GREATEST EVER BOXER ANNOUNCED

Sugar Ray Robinson is the Greatest Boxer the World has ever seen, according to fight fans worldwide. Muhammad Ali was voted as the Greatest Ever Heavyweight of all time, just beating Mike Tyson. Manny Pacquiao gathered the second highest number of votes in winning the Featherweight category, polling more than 50% of the vote.

"The selection of Ray Robinson as the Greatest Ever Boxer shows that fans of all ages understand the legend he created. In the individual weight categories the winners represented several eras. Robinson carried the banner of the 40's and 50's with his wins at middleweight and welterweight, and then the fans went up through the years with Roberto Duran, Muhammad Ali, Wilfredo Gomez, Ricardo Lopez, Roy Jones Jr and Manny Pacquiao as their selections," said Al Bernstein, a member of the nominations jury.

Fellow jury member Ron Borges said: "Well, now that the votes have been counted boxing fans have something new to argue about. Manny Pacquiao greater than Muhammad Ali? There's a generational battle for the ages. Yet one constant remains. For 60 years now one name has been listed above the rest - Sugar Ray Robinson - and so it remains today, after the finally tally of The Greatest Ever's worldwide balloting. Glad to see you can count on something is this world.''

Fans worldwide have been voting for their Greatest Ever fighters in the eight traditional weight categories of Flyweight, Bantamweight, Featherweight, Lightweight, Welterweight, Middleweight, Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight. The nominated fighters were selected by a jury of boxing analysts - Al Bernstein, Tom Hauser, Ron Borges, Jean-Philippe Lustyk and Colin Hart. Over 500,000 votes have been cast since June at www.greatestever.com.

Sugar Ray Robinson was the only fighter nominated in two categories - welterweight and middleweight - and he won them both. In terms of total votes cast, Manny Pacquaio came second with Muhammed Ali coming third. Listed below are the top three fighters in the global vote.

Winners

World's Greatest Ever Boxer - overall

1.Sugar Ray Robinson 2. Manny Pacquiao 3. Muhammad Ali

World's Greatest Ever Heavyweight

1. Muhammad Ali 48% 2. Mike Tyson 16% 3. Rocky Marciano 11%

World's Greatest Ever Light heavyweight

1. Roy Jones Jnr 37% 2. Archie Moore 17% 3. Joe Calzaghe 14%

World's Greatest Ever Middleweight

1. Sugar Ray Robinson 47% 2.Marvin Hagler 24% 3. Bernard Hopkins 12%

World's Greatest Ever Welterweight

1. Sugar Ray Robinson 39% 2. Sugar Ray Leonard 36% 3. Oscar de la Hoya 10%

World's Greatest Ever Lightweight

1. Roberto Duran 33% 2. Henry Armstrong 22% 3. Floyd Mayweather 14%

World's Greatest Ever Featherweight

1. Manny Pacquaio 56% 2. Willie Pep 15% 3. Salvador Sanchez 8%

World's Greatest Ever Bantamweight

1. Wilfredo Gomez 32% 2. Ruben Olivares 12% 3. Carlos Zarate 10%

World's Greatest Ever Flyweight

1. Ricardo Lopez 27% 2. Jimmy Wilde 20% 3. Michael Carbajal 12%

Source: greatestever.com