We are in the middle of my so-called "Millennium List" on Friday Night Fights, and as promised, I will here defend my picks for the greatest fighters at the millennium.

In the first place, I decided that rather than listing my 10 all-time greatest fighters pound-for-pound, which I have already done on Friday Night Fights, and on ESPN.com, I would instead give my pick for greatest fighter in the history of each of the classic eight weight divisions. Compiling this list meant that I had to leave out two fighters who rank higher in a pound-for-pound sense than they do in any one particular weight division. The two fighters I am referring to are Sam Langford (career 1902-1926) and Henry Armstrong (1931-1945).

	Whitaker, not Duran, is Max's choice for lightweight honors.

SAM LANGFORD
Langford was an even match with a prime Joe Gans and Jack Blackburn, arguably two of the five greatest lightweights ever, and a prime Joe Walcott, one of the five greatest welterweights ever. Langford carried a prime Stanley Ketchel (one of the five greatest middleweights ever) through the six rounds of their non-title bout, and knocked out a still-green Tiger Flowers (one of the ten greatest middleweights ever) in two rounds.

At light heavyweight, Langford took care of Hall of Famer Philadelphia Jack O'Brien (albeit an old O'Brien) in five. At heavyweight, Langford held wins over the much larger Harry Wills and Joe Jeannette, while they were both at their peaks. Jack Johnson held a huge weight advantage, and subsequently won a hard-fought decision over Langford. Johnson never gave Langford a rematch. Jack Dempsey's people turned Langford down as a challenger when Langford was 40 years old and nearly blind. Langford used to accurately predict not only the round in which he would stop his opponent, but also the side of the ring where they would fall. Langford was considered by many the greatest fighter of the first half of this century.

HENRY ARMSTRONG
Henry Armstrong, of course, held titles simultaneously in three separate weight divisions (feather, light and welter). When he fought and beat Ceferino Garcia for the middleweight title Armstrong was given the draw instead of the win. Armstrong had already beaten Garcia in a welterweight title defense. If you count the draw at middleweight as a win, as all of the old-timers I have ever talked to do, and you realize that Armstrong lost the lightweight title to Lou Ambers because he was penalized five points for low blows, then you come to the conclusion that Armstrong very nearly held four world titles simultaneously. He nearly did this when there were only eight world titles in all of boxing, which means that Armstrong nearly held half of all of the titles in the sport. Today, a fighter would have to hold 26 titles simultaneously to equal such a mark. Armstrong did make 19 title defenses at welter, but for reasons I will be happy to get into in one of our chat rooms, he cannot be rated ahead of Ray Robinson at welter.

In choosing the greatest fighter in the history of each weight division, what is foremost in my mind is the quality of the prime. That is, I am concerned with the fighters who achieved the very highest levels of excellence, and then maintained that very highest level for a substantial period of time. In considering fighters who fought in multiple weight divisions, I rate them in the division where they were at the height of their powers. I define this as their "natural weight."

Now for my picks in four of the eight classic weight divisions:
Flyweight - Jimmy Wilde (1910-1923)
Wilde is an easy choice. During Wilde's time, most fights in the United States that went the distance were called "no decisions," which meant that the only way to officially win a fight was by knockout. Luckily, Wilde fought in England for most of his career, so he only had 11 no-decisions. He won 130 of his 134 other fights, 99 of them by knockout. He routinely gave up weight to larger world class fighters, and never lost in his prime. Considering he was fighting in an era when 50 percent was a stellar knockout percentage, and that he was usually the smaller man, Wilde must be considered just behind Stanley Ketchel as the greatest puncher, pound-for-pound, in the history of boxing.

The runner up at flyweight is Miguel Canto, the defensive wizard who made 14 title defenses in the 1970's.

Bantamweight - Eder Jofre (1957-1976)
Jofre was considered by most, the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world in the early 1960's. Those who did not feel that Jofre was the best pound-for-pound felt that Sonny Liston was. Jofre was undefeated throughout his entire prime, which included nine title fights, all won by knockout. When, at the age of 30, struggling to make the bantamweight limit, he finally lost a close fight, it was to a prime Fighting Harada. Harada, the greatest Japanese boxer ever, won two close decisions against Jofre, both of them in Japan. After the second Harada fight, Jofre retired. Three years later he came back at featherweight, won 14 straight, challenged for the title at 126, won it on points, and then defended it against one of the greatest featherweights ever, Vincente Saldivar. Jofre knocked Saldivar out in four rounds. Jofre fought seven more times in his career, winning all seven fights. The two not-at-his-peak losses to Harada were the only two losses of Jofre's 78 fight career.

Carlos Zarate is the runner-up at bantam. In his prime in the 1970's, he never really lost at bantamweight, and he knocked out almost every bantamweight he ever faced. His "loss" to the very good Lupe Pintor was one of the most outrageous decisions of the decade. He had less success than Jofre when he moved up in weight, losing to the slightly larger fellow Hall of Famer Wilfredo Gomez by knockout. Jofre was also the more well-rounded fighter of the two. No knock against Zarate, who after all, I am rating as the second greatest bantam ever, but where there is an edge, it goes to Jofre.

Featherweight - Willie Pep (1940-1966)
At featherweight, Willie Pep never lost in his prime, despite fighting dozens of contenders. Pep began his career with 63 straight wins, several of those wins coming against world-class fighters. He finally lost a close decision to Sammy Angott, who was lightweight champ and had a weight advantage on Pep. After the Angott fight, Pep went on to win the featherweight title and make a bunch of defenses, cleaning out the division of all of its rated contenders while going unbeaten in another 70 some odd fights.

Add it up, through over 130 fights, Pep never lost at featherweight. In 1947, when Pep was 25, he was involved in a plane crash. Although he came back from the crash at a world-class level, he was never the same again. In 1948, no longer at his best, he finally lost his first featherweight fight. The great Sandy Saddler, possibly the second greatest featherweight ever, beat Pep three out of four fights. Pep outpointed Saddler over 15 rounds in their first rematch. The fact that Pep was able, past his prime, to beat a prime Saddler even once, is remarkable, and it indicates to me that had Pep been in his prime, he would have won the rivalry. Among the standout fighters Pep beat at his best were featherweight great Chalky Wright and bantamweight great Manuel Ortiz.

Henry Armstrong might have beaten even a prime Willie Pep. His non-stop punching attack may have over-taxed even Pep's defense. Armstrong's career at featherweight, however, was too short. In addition, Armstrong's most effective weight was around 138, 140 lbs., which makes his natural weight much higher than the limit for this division.

Lightweight - Pernell Whitaker (1984-present)
In 1988, Whitaker was robbed against Jose Luis Ramirez for the lightweight crown. It was the best thing that ever happened to him. George Benton, Pernell's trainer, transformed him after the first Ramirez fight from a runner to a boxer. In 1989, during the Ramirez rematch, Benton told Whitaker in the corner after the third round "Perfect, Ray Robinson couldn't do it any better." No one could have done it any better than Whitaker did it during his prime as lightweight champ. Whitaker never lost in his prime. His label as a runner is totally unwarranted. As early as the Ramirez rematch, even the announcers at ringside were aware that Whitaker had already undergone a metamorphosis from runner to boxer, and they (Alex Wallau and Dan Dierdorf) commented on it.

The only guy a prime Whitaker ever ran from was the great Azumah Nelson. Nelson was shut out over 12 rounds. As were Ramirez and Greg Haugen. Freddie Pendleton was also dominated. When Whitaker knocked out Juan Nazario in 1990 in a round, he became the first undisputed lightweight champion since Roberto Duran in 1978. Since then how many undisputed 135-pounders have there been? None. Whitaker was the only one in 22 years. Here are some of the lightweights since Duran who never did unify the title (and I am not sure they could have even had they tried): Alexis Arguello, Hector Camacho, Julio Cesar Chavez, Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley.

Whitaker has been forcing himself onto greatest-ever lists. The only undisputed lightweight champs to win the welterweight title? Barney Ross, Henry Armstrong, Roberto Duran and Pernell Whitaker. The only official four division champs in the history of boxing? Ray Leonard, Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns and Pernell Whitaker. Whitaker's prime was at lightweight, so that was his natural weight class. But he moved up to 140 and shut out Harold Brazier and then Rafael Pineda to win the junior welterweight title.

Next Whitaker moved up to win the welterweight title (WBC and linear) from Buddy McGirt, a guy no one else wanted to fight. Then Whitaker whipped Chavez, the second-best lightweight of the era (behind Pernell of course). The Chavez fight took place at a time when Chavez was at his best. Early in Chavez' career, at 130 and 135 pounds, he started fights very slowly, giving away the first several rounds. After the Meldrick Taylor fight at 140, Chavez started jumping on guys from the outset. He fought the fight of his life against Whitaker, beginning very quickly, cutting off the ring better than he ever had, and going to the body ferociously and consistently. It was Pernell, who was slowed down by the weight increase, and was no longer at his best. In addition the reason the fight took place at 147 is because Chavez ducked Whitaker at 140. By beating McGirt, Whitaker forced Chavez' hand. Next, Whitaker moved up to junior middleweight and decisioned Julio Cesar Vasquez. Outside of one technical loss, Vasquez was unbeaten in over 50 fights, including 10 title defenses (among them a knockout over the recently celebrated Winky Wright).

Add it all up: undisputed lightweight champ, with eight title defenses at 135. Won a higher percentage of title fight rounds than any dominant lightweight champion in history. Never lost a round in his brief stint at 140. Won the linear title at 147. Made eight defenses at welter. Beat the best junior middle in the world for the 154-pound title (yes, Vasquez was better than Terry Norris at the time, who would soon be beaten by Simon Brown). Spent at least five years as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Totally dominated future Hall Of Famers Nelson and Chavez. Pernell was certainly the best fighter, pound-for-pound, in the world beginning when he beat Haugen in 1989, and ending, perhaps, when Roy Jones beat James Toney in 1994. In 1997 the majority of observers, including this one, felt that Whitaker was robbed of his title against Oscar De La Hoya. I did not see a fight where I thought Whitaker lost until, as a 35-year-old, blown-up lightweight, Whitaker was beaten by a prime, 25-year-old, dominant welterweight, Felix Trinidad.

Runner up here is Roberto Duran (1967-1999). Tough to argue against Duran, but I think Whitaker was a little more dominant at his best. Duran beat everyone at lightweight, but often struggled more to do it than Whitaker did. His title-winning fight was a close, competitive fight with borderline great Ken Buchanan. It ended when Duran was awarded a TKO for a low blow. He never gave Buchanan a rematch. Duran was then surprised, knocked down and beaten by Esteban DeJesus in a non-title fight. In retrospect though, DeJesus was another Buchanan-level borderline great. Duran also avenged the loss to DeJesus twice in title fights. Duran was naturally larger than Whitaker, so he was able to compete with all-time great Marvin Hagler at middleweight, something Whitaker could have never done. Duran also beat a prime Sugar Ray Leonard at welter, something Whitaker may not have been able to do. The lack of Whitaker-level domination of almost every round against everyone, and the loss to DeJesus combine to give the slightest of edges at lightweight to Pernell. Maybe. The Roberto Duran of 1978 versus the Pernell Whitaker of 1989 is my pick for the best, highest level, most even match-up in boxing history.

Second runner-up is Benny Leonard (1911-1932). Oh, for crying out loud, look it up already, I'm sick of typing! Briefly, I'll tell you that Leonard was considered by most the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world during his championship reign (1917-1923). Looking back now, I would dispute that claim, because for several of those years I think middleweight champ Harry Greb was a hair better. Leonard beat every lightweight in the greatest-ever lightweight era (though he struggled at times). He also beat the leading featherweight and welterweights of his day. Had Leonard beaten Mickey Walker at 147, he might be number one on my lightweight list. He maybe should be number one anyway. Ditto Joe Gans, the lightweight champ on and off, between 1902 and 1908. Up until the emergence of Ray Robinson, whenever the topic of the greatest fighter ever was discussed, the three names that were perhaps most often bandied about were Benny Leonard, Sam Langford and Joe Gans. Whitaker-Duran-Leonard-Gans at lightweight is almost too close to call. If forced though, that is my order - Whitaker 1, Duran 2, Leonard 3, and Gans 4.