Kellerman calls Mike Tyson “best P4P fighter of the 1980s”

P4p is subjective. Factoring in Tyson's enormous public presence like Dempsey had in the 1920's, I can see why Kellerman rhinks this way--if that is in his criteria. Tyson also had zero close fights in the 80s (he didnt lose till 1990). He was a finisher (usually), and that is conclusive. He also unified all 3 relevant belts and defended.

Biggest thing against Tyson is that he didn't destroy a long list of hall of famers. But he did fight the best available guy throughout the 80s, and while the standouts weren't there like in the 90's, there was some real talent in that time, they just weren't truly elite.
 
Not of the entire decade, no. Arguably of the late 80's, yes, specifically from 1988-1989. Mike didn't even win his first major world title until the mid-80's (late 1986). In his next fight in 1987 he unified his WBC title with the WBA to become a two-belt unified champion. That same year he also unified the newly created IBF title to become undisputed champion in what was the three-belt era (which started in 1983). The next year, in 1988, he became lineal champion and picked up The Ring Magazine title. He defended those titles a number of times, his WBC title a total of 9 times to close out the decade strong, undefeated, undisputed, and the lineal champion.

As a result, Mike was formally P4P rated No. 1 by The Ring in 1989 which was the first year they published their P4P rankings.
The Ring magazine inaugurated its Pound For Pound Annual Ratings with the 1989 list.
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1989
  1. Mike Tyson
  2. Julio Cesar Chavez
  3. Pernell Whitaker
  4. Michael Nunn
  5. Antonio Esparragoza
  6. Meldrick Taylor
  7. Azumah Nelson
  8. Raul Perez
  9. Virgil Hill
  10. Marlon Starling
The Ring Magazine's Annual Ratings: Pound For Pound--1980s
 
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It's debatable

Obviously from 85-90 I think he is the clear number 1

It's sad how short his peak was
 
actually i just checked and ray beat benetiz at the end of 79

so he would have hearns hagler and duran in the 80s but not wilfredo

i dunno if that makes it closer but i guess it does
 
I’m glad you guys actually made some good points instead of just saying “hEaVywEiGhtS cAnT bE P4P” <45>

Kellerman is just one of these guys that puts a lot of stock in the “eye test”
 
I posted The Ring's P4P ratings in 1989 but that doesn't do us any good as it only covers a single year from the 80's. So, I dug up KO Magazine's P4P ratings for the whole decade. According to that popular publication, which was The Ring's greatest rival at the time, the answer is Hagler (@Hagler). He was their P4P rated No. 1 from 1983-1986 after entering the P4P picture in 1981. That's 4 consecutive years during that decade of having been voted the top boxer in the polls by their writers, pundits, and fighters.
KO Magazine "Best Fighter" Poll: A Survey of the Experts
The panel of experts for KO magazine's annual Best Fighter Poll included a cross section of writers, broadcasters and fighters.
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KO awarded points for each vote a fighter received: 15 points for a first-place vote, 12 points for a second-place vote, nine for a third-place vote, seven for a fourth-place vote, six for a fifth-place vote, five for a sixth-place vote, four for a seventh-place vote, three for an eighth-place vote, two for a ninth-place vote, and one for a 10th place vote.
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1980
1. Roberto Duran - 96
2. Sugar Ray Leonard - 93
3. Wilfredo Gomez - 88
4. Danny Lopez - 65
5. Pipino Cuevas - 54
6. Alexis Arguello - 40
7. Larry Holmes - 32
8. Wilfred Benitez - 26
9. Vito Antuofermo - 25 (tie)
9. Matthew Saad Muhammad - 25 (tie)

1981
1. Thomas Hearns - 116
2. Sugar Ray Leonard - 108
3. Marvin Hagler - 76
4. Larry Holmes - 75
5. Alexis Arguello - 62
6. Wilfredo Gomez - 58
7. Eddie Mustafa Muhammad - 28
8. Matthew Saad Muhammad - 24
9. Wilfred Benitez - 18
10. Roberto Duran - 13 (tie)
10. Aaron Pryor - 13 (tie)

1982
1. Sugar Ray Leonard - 142
2. Alexis Arguello - 97
3. Marvin Hagler - 76
4. Salvador Sanchez - 72
5. Wilfred Benitez - 68
6. Larry Holmes - 61
7. Jeff Chandler - 25
8. Eusebio Pedroza - 18
9. Aaron Pryor - 17
10. Thomas Hearns - 14 (tie)
10. Dwight Muhammad Qawi - 14 (tie)

1983
1. Marvin Hagler - 147
2. Aaron Pryor - 93
3. Larry Holmes - 91
4. Michael Spinks - 66
5. Jeff Chandler - 57
6. Thomas Hearns - 45
7. Alexis Arguello - 29
8. Wilfredo Gomez - 28
9. Hector Camacho - 24
10. Eusebio Pedroza - 12

1984
1. Marvin Hagler - 112
2. Aaron Pryor - 77
3. Larry Holmes - 72
4. Eusebio Pedroza - 66
5. Hector Camacho 50
6. Jeff Chandler - 47 (tie)
6. Sugar Ray Leonard - 47 (tie)
8. Michael Spinks - 45
9. Thomas Hearns - 34
10. Donald Curry - 26

1985
1. Marvin Hagler - 150
2. Hector Camacho - 86
3. Michael Spinks - 85
4. Donald Curry - 78
5. Thomas Hearns - 42
6. Barry McGuigan - 32
7. Milton McCrory - 25
8. Pinklon Thomas - 22 (tie)
8. Julio Cesar Chavez - 22 (tie)
10. Larry Holmes - 21

1986
1. Marvin Hagler - 138
2. Mike Tyson - 92
3. Donald Curry - 59
4. Thomas Hearns - 52
5. Edwin Rosario - 47
6. Azumah Nelson - 45 (tie)
6. Michael Spinks - 45 (tie)
8. Evander Holyfield - 32
9. Julio Cesar Chavez - 26
10. Hector Camacho - 22

1987
No Poll

1988
1. Mike Tyson - 144
2. Julio Cesar Chavez - 118
3. Evander Holyfield - 65
4. Sugar Ray Leonard - 55
5. Jeff Fenech - 44
6. Michael Nunn - 33
6. Azumah Nelson - 32
8. Jung-Koo Chang - 23
9. James (Buddy) McGirt - 21
10. Sumbu Kalambay - 18

1989
1. Mike Tyson - 147
2. Julio Cesar Chavez - 91
3. Meldrick Taylor - 61
4. Michael Nunn - 60
5. Evander Holyfield - 56
6. Pernell Whitaker - 46
7. Sugar Ray Leonard - 28
8. Jeff Fenech - 27
9. Azumah Nelson - 18
10. Marlon Starling - 16
 
To recap, as far as the actual rankings are concerned, Mike was voted P4P No. 1 by KO Magazine from 1988-1989 and also rated P4P No. 1 by The Ring Magazine in 1989. Meaning that late 80's Mike has actual proof that he was regarded as the P4P king at the time. Unfortunately for him, however, Hagler was viewed as P4P king for twice as long by that same publication over that same decade and he was in the P4P picture longer as well.

Therefore, Marvin Hagler was the “best P4P fighter of the 1980s” based on longevity (time spent at the very top) and the length of time in which he was present in the P4P conversation altogether.
KOMag.8707.jpg
 
XThe GreatestX said:
actually i just checked and ray beat benetiz at the end of 79

so he would have hearns hagler and duran in the 80s but not wilfredo

i dunno if that makes it closer but i guess it does
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U could argue Ray lost to Duran in 79, was losing to Hearns before he stopped him, should've lost to Hagler and should've lost to Hearns in the rematch, which he admitted he lost.
 
DeJulez said:
U could argue Ray lost to Duran in 79, was losing to Hearns before he stopped him, should've lost to Hagler and should've lost to Hearns in the rematch, which he admitted he lost.
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well he stopped hearns
and made duran quit

i never thought the hagler fight was close
 
There is one other way to look at who the best fighter was of that decade through the ‘Fighter of the Decade’ award or by counting how many times each was ‘Fighter of the Year’. Sugar Ray Leonard was voted The Ring Magazine's ‘Fighter of the Decade’ in the 80's but it could've just as easily been Hagler since Leonard only won ‘Fighter of the Year’ once that decade, Hagler won it twice, though he obviously lost to Leonard head-to-head. Hagler, Hearns & Tyson were all 2× ‘Fighter of the Year’ award recipients during that decade per the Boxing Writers Association of America and The Ring Magazine. I'd still say it's Hagler based on his P4P rating and longevity there in the actual rankings per KO Magazine.
 
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mozfonky said:
hagler and ray proved more.
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That's the idea of looking at the P4P rankings, which were around back then, along with the rest of their achievements over that time period. It was realistically a two man race between Hagler & Leonard. After those two it would've come down to Hearns & Mike.

Hagler has the best combination of P4P longevity (longest P4P #1 reign) and he was one of three fighters that won ‘Fighter of the Year’ twice that decade. Unless you see it how The Ring did at the time and edge Leonard over Hagler due to his win over him (which really helped his case in making him ‘Fighter of the Decade’). Overall though, Leonard wasn't viewed as the P4P king as long as Hagler was and he only won ‘Fighter of Year’ once during the 80's.
 
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