Date: Late Summer 1980.

Time: Early afternoon.

Place: My mom’s car.

Significance: Assembling my first historic top-10 list.

In the wake of Roberto Duran’s victory over Sugar Ray Leonard in “The Brawl in Montreal,” the November 1980 issue of “Big Book of Boxing” (an early product of London Publishing which later owned THE RING) asked readers to assemble a list of the 10 greatest welterweights.

In addition to Leonard and Duran, the 20-page spread offered profiles and thumbnail stats for Mysterious Billy Smith, the original Joe Walcott, Ted “Kid” Lewis, Jack Britton, Mickey Walker, Young Corbett III, Jimmy McLarnin, Barney Ross, Henry Armstrong, Sugar Ray Robinson, Kid Gavilan, Carmen Basilio, Emile Griffith, Jose Napoles, Carlos Palomino, Wilfred Benitez and Pipino Cuevas. The final rankings would be determined by a points system, where the first-place fighter earned 10 points, the second-place fighter nine, and so on.

The article was particularly educational because it was the first time I read about many of these fighters in such a concise format. It also challenged my 15-year-old mind to address a fighter’s worth in a historic sense, something I would do on a regular basis starting in 2001 when I became an elector for the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

I pored over each profile repeatedly and assembled a number of mock lists before coming to a final verdict. My decision-making process was hobbled by the fact that I had not seen video of any one of these fighters save for Palomino, Benitez, Cuevas, Leonard and Duran. This was decades before YouTube; heck, VHS recorders for home use was in its infancy. Thus, I relied solely on what the article presented to me. Since all the fighters mentioned in the article were champions, I decided to rate them based on their title reigns. Sound familiar?

I recall putting Jose Napoles’ name first because I was impressed by his long stay at the top, as well as descriptions like “smooth,” “seemingly effortless,” and “classic boxer-puncher who outclassed most of his foes.” I also remember putting Henry Armstrong’s name second but I don’t recall the rest of the order. One thing I didn’t do, however: I didn’t write down Leonard or Duran’s name because they lacked the longevity the other fighters had in the division.

I dutifully inked in the names, cut out the form provided in the magazine, mailed it to the proper address and waited for the results.

They were revealed two issues later, and they were surprising. Though Robinson got the most votes, Duran was second – a classic case of “prisoner of the moment” thinking – while Armstrong, Napoles and Leonard rounded out the top five. The poll form also provided a “write-in” section and the respondents used it liberally. Thomas Hearns finished seventh while Luis Rodriguez, Fritzie Zivic, Lou Brouillard, Jackie Fields, Sam Langford and Billy Graham, among others, received votes. On the ludicrous side, featherweight Sandy Saddler got a fourth-place vote from one reader and counterpart Willie Pep earned one seventh-place nod.

In retrospect this exercise proved an excellent training ground, for I had no idea I would end up assembling top-10 lists every week for this web site. It’s funny how life works out sometimes.