Japanese fighter Naoya Inoue has been hailed as the the best boxer in the world after his defeat of Stephen Fulton with an 8th round TKO (technical knockout) in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Moreover, ESPN boxing writer Mike Coppinger has described him as an all-time great after he sent Fulton crashing to the canvas, adding the WBC and WBO junior featherweight belts to his other titles.
He won his first world title in just his sixth professional fight in 2014 and has won belts in four different divisions, with 22 knockouts in his 25 fights.
In his last 12 bouts, Inoue has beaten four world champions or number one ranked contenders, along with another five wins over top-five ranked fighters in their divisions.
Inoue, nicknamed "The Monster," is known for his punching power as well as his speed and timing, giving him a knockout ratio of more 92 percent.
He is the current unified super bantamweight world champion and is also the former undisputed bantamweight world champion, having held the WBA (Super), IBF and Ring magazine titles between 2019 and January 2023, and the WBC and WBO titles between 2022 and January 2023.
Inoue, 30, has started his career with 25 straight victories, is showing no signs of slowing up and is ready to take on all-comers.
But how does his record compare with the greatest boxers of all-time? Does he have the stats to back up the claims that he is at the top of the pile when it comes to fighting in the ring?
The top six boxers of all-time, according to Bet MGM, are Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson, Joe Louis and, top of the list, Muhammad Ali.
Only two of those remained unbeaten throughout their careers, albeit they had many more pro fights that Inoue has had so far.
Manny Pacquiao (62-8-2)
Pacquiao has the illustrious distinction of being the only boxer in history to win eight world titles in different weight divisions.
The Filipino superstar began his career as a 106-pound flyweight and after winning the world title in that division in 1998 went on to claim titles in the super bantamweight, featherweight, super featherweight, lightweight, light welterweight, welterweight and super welterweight divisions.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. (50-0)
One of the two fighters in the top six to have remained unbeaten during their careers, Mayweather holds the record for most straight wins, beating Rocky Marciano by one.
Mayweather's 50 victories, one of which was over Pacquiao, included 27 knockouts.
He racked up 11 world title wins and holds the record for the most world titles held simultaneously with five.
Rocky Marciano (49-0)
The second undefeated boxer on the list, Marciano had 43 knockouts in his 49 wins in the heavyweight division.
From November 1952, he defended his title six times, including twice against Jersey Joe Walcott, and only retired from the sport because he wanted to prioritize his family.
Tragically, Marciano died in a plane crash aged 45 in 1969.
Sugar Ray Robinson (174-19-6)
Sugar Ray Robinson showed that he could be at the top of his game for long periods with nearly 200 fights across 25 years.
During that time, across the welterweight and middleweight divisions. he had a streak of 40 consecutive victories in the early years of his career before a phenomenal 91-fight winning streak later on.
Robinson competed in 22 world title fights and won 14, including seven knockouts, and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 1990.
Joe Louis (66-3)
Joe Louis has the distinction of being the longest-tenured heavyweight champion, holding the title for 11 years, during which he also served in the military.
Of his 66 wins, 52 saw him knock his opponent out and he holds the record for world title fight wins with 27, including 23 knockouts.
The only time that he was KO'd himself was when he came up against Marciano, in his last professional fight in 1951.
Muhammad Ali (56-5)
Muhammad Ali is often regarded as the greatest of all-time and the boxer himself would shout out a similar refrain as loudly as he could during a legendary career.
Ali defended his heavyweigt title on 11 occasions before he was stopped for the first time by Joe Frazier.
He was not perturbed by this setback and recaptured the title on two further occasions. Ali also became the first heavyweight champion to claim the heavyweight crown after coming back from retirement.
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