3. Felix Savon – Cuban heavyweight (1992-2000)

Savon’s 6-foot-5 height, muscular physique and crunching right-hand power reminded many of the legendary Teofilo Stevenson. In two ways, Savon surpassed his compatriot.

First, he amassed a 14-0 record (including one walkover) in Olympic competition, two more than Stevenson. Second, he defeated a deeper and superior pool of competitors. In 1992 he defeated American Dannell Nicholson and Dutchman Arnold Vanderlyde en route to a gold medal win over David Izonritei (better known as David Izon). In Atlanta four years later, Savon defeated David Defiagbon 20-2 to capture his second gold and in Sydney he wound up his incredible run with wins over American Michael Bennett (RSC 3, 23-8) in his second fight and future heavyweight titlist Sultan Ibragimov (21-13) in the final. Finally, outside the Olympic realm, Savon amassed an extraordinary 362-21 overall record (though Savon says he won 442) while Stevenson’s overall mark was a reported 302-22.

So why does Savon land at number three? Because he didn’t dominate his opposition as robustly. He defeated Nicholson by only 13-11 in 1992 and Ibragimov by eight points in the 2000 gold medal match. Nine of his matches were won on points while those above him blasted out more than their fair share of opponents. 

Of course, the computerized scoring system that ruled Savon’s era forced an emphasis on “points boxing” that punished crowd-pleasing aggressors and rewarded those who preferred a style akin to fencing. To his credit, Savon adjusted accordingly and won his distance bouts by an average of 10.9 points per match.