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In preparation for Friday night's ShoBox: The New Generation card, which will feature a handful of American Olympians from the 2012 games in London turning pro, Steve Farhood of Showtime Sports shares a top ten list: The best pro fighters who came from Team USA since 1976. For more on Friday's hopefuls, click here.
1. Sugar Ray Leonard: Beat Thomas Hearns, Wilfred Benitez, Roberto Duran and Marvin Hagler, and won titles from welterweight to light heavyweight. The best fighter I've ever covered.
2. Floyd Mayweather: Has rarely been challenged, much less beaten. The last man to defeat him: Serafim Todorov at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
3. Pernell Whitaker: Defensive wizard Whitaker is among greatest lightweights of all time. His crowning achievement was domination of Julio Cesar Chavez (though judges called the fight a draw).
4. Roy Jones Jr.: Virtually untouchable in his prime. He was such a special talent that he rose to heavyweight and won a share of that world title.
5. Oscar De La Hoya: Carried boxing on his golden shoulders. Fought everyone from Chavez to Mayweather to Bernard Hopkins, and won titles at six weights.
6. Evander Holyfield: Amazing overachiever was the best cruiserweight in history and went on to beat Riddick Bowe and Mike Tyson at heavyweight.
7. Michael Spinks: Forget the loss to Tyson at heavyweight; he was a brilliant boxer and huge right-hand puncher in a lengthy reign at 175 pounds.
8. Andre Ward: Already in the top two or three of today's pound-for-pound rankings. He has the potential to rise even higher.
9. Michael Carbajal: It's not easy for a 108-pounder to be named Fighter of the Year, but Carbajal did so. He raised the profile of the lighter weights as much as any other fighter.
10. Virgil Hill: A master boxer who enjoyed a pair of reigns as light heavyweight champion. He was beaten only once, by Hearns, during an awesome 10-year title run.