H&G All-Time Index public fighter card
Joe Gans
Lightweight · United States
Joe Gans ranks #42 in the H&G All-Time Index at Lightweight, with a 89.30 All-Time Index score and a 147-10-16 professional record. His career span on this page is 1891-1909.
- All-time rank
- #42Elite Greats
- H&G All-Time Index
- 89.300-100 ranking index. This is the number that orders the list.
- Career record
- 147-10-16Professional wins, losses and draws.
- Active years
- 1891-1909
- Data Confidence
- MediumCareer evidence is substantial, but the public date range needs review. Treat close ranks with a wider margin.
Career story
How Joe Gans's rating rose and fell year by year, with his peak marked.
Yearly peak-form Elo rating points. This curve is separate from the 0-100 ranking index.
Show the year-by-year numbers
| Year | Peak-form Elo rating |
|---|---|
| 1895 | 1,524 |
| 1896 | 1,554 |
| 1897 | 1,599 |
| 1898 | 1,642 |
| 1899 | 1,672 |
| 1900 | 1,706 |
| 1901 | 1,734 |
| 1902 | 1,740 |
| 1903 | 1,734 |
| 1904 | 1,713 |
| 1905 | 1,693 |
| 1906 | 1,692 |
| 1907 | 1,678 |
| 1908 | 1,642 |
Why this ranking
Joe Gans ranks #42 with a 89.30 score on the 60-100 H&G All-Time Index. In one case a result was later reversed: he beat Battling Nelson once, then lost to him in a later fight. He also fought George 'Elbows' McFadden 5 times, going 4-0-1 across that series. The honest tension is that the sustained head-to-head rating signal sits below the field of ranked fighters, so this placement rests more on résumé signals than on peak rating level. Data Confidence is Medium, so the rating should be read with wider uncertainty. Peak-form Elo is 1,740 (±147), separate from the 60-100 career Index.
What lifts or lowers this ranking
Bars show each weighted signal's relative size. Gold lifts the placement; grey holds it back.
A narrow signal for lineal, explicit undisputed or major multi-belt class control in this release data; it is not a full title history.
How much repeat elite-year presence supports the all-time case.
How much the record is helped by wins over contemporaneous title-level opponents.
How much major title evidence supports the rating.
Same-era separation left after the shared peak and sustained rating signal is removed.
Collapsed signal from peak rating, sustained rating and same-era separation.
Compare and explore
Put Joe Gans next to any other ranked fighter, or open the tools built on the same rating data.
Top fights
The highest-ranked fighters Joe Gans actually faced, biggest names first. Each one opens the head-to-head tool with the pair filled in.
- Terry McGovern#115 · Index 83 · 1900
- Sam Langford#146 · Index 82 · 1903
Ranked-vs-ranked bouts from the pinned fight archive, ordered by opponent ranking. An objective record of who they shared a ring with.
Great rivals he never fought
Ranked fighters who shared a recognised division and whose competitive careers overlapped, with no bout between them on record. Each name opens the head-to-head tool with the pair filled in.
- Tommy Ryan#19 · Lightweight / Welterweight · 9 overlapping years (1899-1907)
- Abe Attell#97 · Lightweight · 5 overlapping years (1905-1909)
- Packey McFarland#149 · Lightweight / Welterweight · 5 overlapping years (1905-1909)
- Jack Root#152 · Lightweight · 8 overlapping years (1899-1906)
- Stanley Ketchel#167 · Welterweight · 7 overlapping years (1903-1909)
- Owen Moran#168 · Lightweight · 8 overlapping years (1902-1909)
Shared recognised division, overlapping competitive years, no recorded bout between them. A measured pattern only.
Linked style profile
8-axis style breakdown
Joe Gans also has a reviewed style profile with radar scores, study notes and diagnostic comparisons.
About this rating
Rankings: H&G All-Time Index v2.0.0. Reflects fights up to , the most recent on record. The ratings are fixed to that point, so fights after it are not yet included.
The rating itself is built from the 99 bouts we hold full data for from 1899 to 1909, which is why this count differs from the professional record above.
For the data-minded
Peak-form Elo rating: 1,740 (peak dated 1902-06-01). This best-point rating sits on its own scale and is not directly comparable with the 0-100 index.
The peak estimate carries an uncertainty band of about ±147 Elo, so read close comparisons with care.