Top 10: Most dominant sportsmen of the 21st century

The definition of Dominant is “to have power and influence over others”.

In sporting terms dominance is less focussed on the actual “power and influence” an athlete holds over their rivals. The real measure of an athlete’s dominance is their path to the top and their ability to stay there.

Dominating in any sport is no mean feat. However, the nature of certain sports lend themselves to dominant athletes more than others.

Individual sports are more likely to see more dominant performers, with only 1 of the top 7 in this list coming from a team sport.

Dominating and winning also come hand in hand. It’s difficult to call a player truly dominant until they have a significant amount of success in their respective field.

Before this list begins a few qualifiers…

• I decided late on that this list would be just SportsMEN as it was just too difficult to narrow down sportspeople of both genders to just 10.

• This list only covers the last 20 years as this is the period in sporting history I’m most familiar.

• With so many greats to choose from, this list could’ve been a top 100! So I had to factor in the competitive environment within the sport when making the shortlist.

• That ruled out a lot of athletes in more peripheral sports, particularly Ronnie O’Sullivan who might be worthy of topping this list if it wasn’t for the decline in popularity of snooker since the 80’s.

And so…

10) Sachin Tendulkar (Cricket)

I always knew Tendulkar was one of the greatest batsmen of all-time. Upon researching his career, I realised I had underestimated his dominance of world cricket.

He held the number 1 spot in the ICC Test batsmen rankings for a total of 1,157 days during his career.

Tendulkar is the highest international run scorer of all time in both Test and ODI cricket. As well as recording the most centuries.

He is worshipped like a god in India and was crowned ESPN Cricinfo’s “Cricketer of the generation” highlighting how talented the little genius was .

9) Cristiano Ronaldo (Football)

If this was a list based on the best athletes of the 21st century then this man, as well as the one below him, would make up my top 2.

However, strictly in terms of dominance, the nature of football counts against them.

In his last season at Manchester United Ronaldo showed that he was the best footballer on the planet. What he then went on to do at Real Madrid showed that he was one of the best footballers of all time.

Pace, Power, Skill and most notably an eye for goal. Ronaldo has scored 725 career goals, making him Real Madrid & Portugal’s all time leading goalscorer.

It’s not just goals he’s scored. Throughout his career he’ s picked up: 5 Ballon d’Ors, 6 League titles (Premier League, Serie A & La Liga), 5 Champions Leagues, A European Championship and a Nations League title.

This is just a few highlights from a long list of honours, Cristiano has been a force of nature in Football ever since he arrived at Manchester United in 2003.

8) Lionel Messi (Football)

Where you find one the other often follows! Whether that’s in the record books or on Ballon d’Or podiums.

These two really are interchangeable. Both have been the greatest players in the world for what seems like forever!

But for me the dominance of Messi is slightly greater due to the areas of the pitch he works in.

He is the best passer of the ball I have ever seen (possibly of all time) therefore he pops up all over the pitch to influence games. Whereas the majority of Ronaldo’s impact comes in the final third of the pitch.

Messi has scored 724 career goals, leading the all-time goal scoring and assists tally for both Barcelona & Argentina.

Leo has an equally impressive trophy collection with: 6 Ballon d’Ors, 10 domestic titles, 4 Champions Leagues, an U20’s World cup and has been to 3 major finals with Argentina (2x Copa America, 1x World Cup).

7) Roger Federer (Tennis)

The Swiss powerhouse has been winning tennis majors for as long as I can remember. A true sporting icon.

Federer has won the most grand slams in Men’s tennis with 20. He has also appeared in more finals than any other player with 31.

All of this whilst all time greats: Djokovic, Nadal and Andy Murray have been at the peak of their powers.

He has won Wimbledon a record 8 times. His grand slam wins have spanned from 2003 to 2018 spending a record 310 weeks as the number 1 seed throughout his career.

Federer was the face of tennis when I was growing up and is likely to go down as the greatest of all time.

6) Usain Bolt (Sprinting- 100m, 200m & 4x100m Relay)

The fastest human being of all time.

Bolt has won 8 Olympic gold medals and 11 World Championship gold medals.

Bolt currently holds the world record for the 100m, 200m & 4x100m relay. He has also run all 3 of the fastest times over 100m ever recorded (3rd fastest is joint).

Coupled with these obscene records he is one of the most celebrated Olympians of the modern era. He was voted the IAAF world athlete of the year 6 times.

With the reputation of sprinters tarnished by drug scandals as Bolt rose to fame. The Jamaican restored faith in men's sprinting.

5) Phil Taylor (Darts)

Phil Taylor was dominant, he cannot be ignored no matter what your opinion is on darts.

World Champion a record 14 times between 1995 & 2013. During his illustrious career, “The Power” won 214 professional tournaments. 85 of which were major accolades.

He also took the World Matchplay crown 16 times, the first in 1995 and last in 2017. Exaggerating the stranglehold of success Taylor had on Darts for such a considerable period of time.

Phil Taylor has recorded 11 career nine dart finishes, more than anyone else on record. He also holds the record for career 3 dart average with 101.28.

A truly dominant force in his field, his greatness helped distance the PDC from the BDO as the premier circuit in world darts.

4) Michael Phelps (Swimming)

Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time. His medal tally tells you all you need to know about how much better he was than his competition.

23 Golds, 3 Silvers and 2 Bronze medals in the Olympics. 26 Golds, 6 Silver and 1 Bronze at the World Championships.

The American has also set 39 World Records throughout his career. As well as this he collected 8 Golds in Beijing, more than anybody in history in one games. An astounding record for an unbelievably successful athlete.

3) Tiger Woods (Golf)

Although he is yet to eclipse Jack Nicklaus’ 18 majors, he is still regarded by many as the greatest golfer of all time.

Tiger currently has 15 majors, his most recent coming in last year's Masters where Tiger upset the odds to win his 5th green jacket.

Tiger’s dominance comes less from the statistics and more from the manner in which he made it to the top.

He burst onto the scene winning at Augusta in 1997 aged just 21, making Woods the youngest person to win the Masters. Overpowering other Golfers on the tour with his trademark long drives and his ability to putt under pressure was unrivalled.

Between 2000-2001 Tiger held all 4 major titles, this incredible feat was named “The Tiger Slam”.

Tiger notched 82 PGA tour wins, the most of all time (tied). Woods still competes to this day and his performance at Augusta in 2019 shows there is still some fire in his belly as he hopes to chase down Nicklaus’ record.

2) Floyd Mayweather Jr. (Boxing)

Undoubtedly in the debate as the greatest boxer of all time.

Floyd is undefeated in all 50 of his fights, not only this but his career spanned into his 50’s after coming out of retirement multiple times.

Floyd held titles across 5 weight classes and was the lineal champion in 4 of those. He boasts a record of 26 world title fight victories, 23 lineal title fight victories, 12 wins against current/former lineal champions and 3 wins against international hall of fame inductees.

Big victories against Canelo, Pacquiao, Hatton, De La Hoya, Hernandez and Cotto assert Floyd’s dominance in the ring.

In terms of technical boxing ability and "The sweet science" you will not find anyone who comes close to Mayweather during this century.

Mayweather used his “Money” persona to act as the villain to sell fights which consequently made him the highest earning sportsperson of the last decade.

1) Lebron James (Basketball)

Might not be a popular choice from a brit but it’s one I wholly stand-by. Though he might not have won the most championships (just 3) he plays basketball unlike anybody on the planet.

Not only that but he plays unlike anyone I have seen throughout history, a true jack of all trades.

First of all he’s a freak athlete with natural athletic ability and talent. He won rookie of the year on entry to the NBA straight from high school aged 18 after being selected 1st overall in the draft. Since then Lebron has been an “All star” every single year.

Lebron can do it all. He can be a scorer, taking the top scorer title in 2008 as well as being the only player in history to average at least 25.0 points a game over 15 consecutive seasons.

He plays “Both ways” (attack and defence) as he has made the NBA all defence team 5 times and was en route to lead the league in assists this year. Which also proves his longevity.

He has been voted “Finals MVP” (Most Valuable Player) in each of the 3 finals series he has won.

Despite only being voted the “League MVP” 4 times, Lebron has been the consensus best player in the league since 2010 at the latest. The MVP in the NBA is not given to the best player in the league. The voting is often far more political.

Lebron’s style of play is summed up in one word, Dominant. If you disagree or have never watched Lebron, then I urge you to do so and I doubt you will disagree.

Who is your most dominant sportsman of all time? Do you think I’ve missed anyone off the list?