The Iceman
Jean-Yves Thériault
Unusual finishing power for the American middleweight division, with a long and repeatedly defended title reign.
Jean-Yves Thériault held a world middleweight title for longer than almost anyone in the American full-contact era, defending it repeatedly through the 1980s. He remains the most successful Canadian in the sport's history.
His reputation was built on finishing power unusual for the division — a knockout rate that made his title defences short and decisive at a time when the American scene was often criticised for producing point-fighting in gloves.
He belongs to the group of fighters whose careers sit entirely within the above-the-waist code, which makes cross-era comparison genuinely difficult: the question of how he would have fared against leg kicks has no answer, because he was never required to find one.