THE “REAL” POUND FOR POUND TOP TEN!
July 15th, 2009 By Brian Gorman
Pittsburgh, PA- Is there any list harder to accurately compile than boxing’s pound-for-pound best? Many compete in distant weight classes, never sharing the same ring or even common opponents. Imagine having to decide the best in men’s and women’s golf or tennis while handicapping for gender, or better yet, the best auto racers in the world in NASCAR and Formula One. Yet, we commonly judge our sport’s elite in this manner, pretending that real rules govern the compilation.
HOW DO WE DECIDE THE POUND-FOR-POUND BEST?
With an influx of potential new stars threatening to penetrate lists (most notably found in the Ring, on Espn.com and on other top sites) currently dominated by veterans, let’s consider the accuracy, or perhaps the complacency, of these lists. Regardless of the so-called standards to which the leading commentators refer, only one question should guide us in deciding the sport’s pound-for-pound best: Who does his job the best right now? For a ranking that often cannot be earned by direct challenges inside of the ring, what other criteria could possibly work? With that, here’s my list:
1) (tie) “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs): Why must Mayweather rank below Pacquiao and others simply because he retired? He’s active again now, so let’s rank him where he belongs among active fighters. With equal speed and better size and defense, I slightly favor him over his only equal in the sport right now….
1) (tie) Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao (49-3-2, 37 KOs): A true great, with Mayweather back his path to clear supremacy only requires a victory over the Mayweather-Marquez winner.
3) Juan Manuel “Dinamita” Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs): It takes two all-time greats to keep the lightweight (135 lb.) champ, and Pacquiao’s nemesis, at this spot.
4) Paul “the Punisher” Williams (37-1, 27 KOs): A combination of unheard of physical characteristics and amazing volume make up for some decreasing technical deficiencies of this man who scours five weight classes, looking for unwilling opponents.
5) Nonito “the Filipino Flash” Donaire (21-1, 14 KOs): Perhaps just entering his prime at 26, Donaire at his best is a masterful boxer-puncher, a real natural.
6) “Sugar” Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs): Resurgent with trainer Naazim Richardson, and the current best in the sport’s best division, Mosley however still has styles he cannot beat.
7) Juan Manuel “Juanma” Lopez (26-0, 24 KOs): I place this potential pound-for-pound heir this high because, if a round robin were held between him, Israel Vazquez, Rafael Marquez and Celestino Caballero at 122, he’s my pick.
8) Bernard “the Executioner” Hopkins (49-5-1, 32 KOs): With studio analysis and a training guide in the Ring, perhaps he should change his nickname “the Professor.” Only his age and a recent .500 record prevents him from a higher ranking.
9) “Bad” Chad Dawson (28-0, 17 KOs): Cruiserweight (200 lb.) champ Tomasz Adamek has had a monster career, but remember that, with the exception of one big right hand late in their bout, Dawson schooled him.
10) Israel “Magnifico” Vazquez (43-4, 31 KOs): A ring warrior with a champion’s heart, in the last 10 years he’s beaten everyone he faced, avenging his only two losses.
MY NEXT TEN
11) Rafael Marquez (38-5, 34 KOs)
12) Ivan “Iron Boy” Calderon (32-0-1, 6 KOs)
13) Miguel Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs)
14) Vitali “Dr. Ironfist” Klitschko (37-2, 36 KOs)
15) Wladimir “Dr. Steelhammer” Klitschko (53-3, 47 KOs)
16) Ronald “Winky” Wright (51-5-1, 25 KOs)
17) Kelly “the Ghost” Pavlik (35-1, 31 KOs)
18) “King” Arthur Abraham (30-0, 24 KOs)
19) Glen “the Road Warrior” Johnson (49-12-2, 33 KOs)
20) Vic “the Raging Bull” Darchinyan (32-1-1, 26 KOs)
Take Floyd off the list and then its perfect…
im cool with the pac/floyd tie but i would but pac number 1. i dont know about paul williams being so high.. really until he gets a big fight against a prime top fighter i just wouldnt put him at number 4. the same goes for juanma. im puerto rican, but he just hasnt done enough to be top ten poun for pound. him and paul williams probably will beat everyone in there respective divisions but until they do they should not be ranked that high paul should be cracking in the 8th spot and juanma maybe 15 the highest. and honestly juanma ahead of a lot of fighters on this list is kinda overdoing it. i think he will be be ranked among the best in due time but wins over ponce deleon and penalosa dont get you a top 10 spot maybe a top 20 based on potentional. i have to say the same for nonito. good fighter but truly only one real solid win. i think he needs to fight some tougher quality whatever him and gary shaw went through killed his momentum. seriously he’s co-headlining latin fury cards. . and plus putting the klitchkos over anyone else on the list is head scratching. replace them with maybe um guys like nate cambell, joan guzman, juan diaz, mikkel kessler,..just my opinion
This is one of the stupidest p4p lists I have ever seen.
1) I think that it is stupid to have Paul Williams at number 4. The man lost 3 fights ago, remember!!!!! … and it was not a lucky punch. He was schooled over 12 rounds. How can he rank above Bernard Hopkins? Paul Williams has yet to defend a title, or to even beat a top 15 p4p guy.
2) Juanma Lopez at number 7. Likewise, he has yet to beat a top 30 p4p, then how can he rank number 7!
3) Nonito Donaire at 5!!! Wow!!!! His only great victory does not look as good now that an unknown has beaten Darchinian.
4) Winky Wright above Arthur Abraham and Kelly Pavlik!!!!! Winky is too old now to be ranked above the two best fighters in his own division.
I think that this list was placed as a joke, and not really as a real list.
Hasegawa deserves to be looked and So does Adamek. Otherwise a good list. I would hold off having Floyd on the list until we see what he looks like after his comeback.
Guzman…will he ever just fight someone?:) 1 fight in 07; 1 in 08+two pullouts and a suspension; nothing even scheduled this year; what a waste of talent he is.
Mayweather deserves to be on list but no way #1. I would have hopkins over Williams and Wright would not be on the list.
Guzman has to fight anyone……..
floyd’s not officially active again until he completes his comback fight…if you consider him active, what if he kept putting off a fight for one reason or another for the next 3 years, is he active? no
Why not put Pac or Mayweather @ #2 since you have one twice? Is there not a #2 on the list?
Abraham beats Pavlik without raising a sweat, and should be rated above both Pavlik and Wright
Very good list. Except for Juanma Lopez. To be P4P best one must beat the man in his division and Juanma is running from Caballero. Is caballero the best in the division? He has to belt to prove it and have fought on the road as an underdog all his life, so that would give him more merit the Juanma until proven otherwise.
Arthur is better than Pavlik IMHO.
The funny thing about Pacman and Floyd is that they both pick and choose their opponent because of the money they generate. Pacman is a disgraced for making Cotto drain himself to 144 lbs. That will not be a well earned victory, should he win. If Cotto proves he can be equally good a 144 lbs, than he should beat Pacman.
Cotto is not the best defensive fighter out there and he probably lost to both Mosley and Clottey, but both fight were close and the decisions weren’t robbery. If anything the Mosley fight was more of a robbery as Mosley dominated the late rounds and a could find 7 solid rounds for Mosley in that fight. A couple of round could have gone either way, but I have only 3 solid rounds for Cotto in that fight.
And if Floyd and JMM fight at a catchweight, JMM is also a disgrace, right? The JMM/Floyd “weight” issue “mystery” is ridiculous; were it at 147, why couldn’t that just be said?
Mayweather at a no.1 tie? He gave up his ranking when he retired. He needs signature victories to try and reclaim it. I like Williams, but 4 seems too high a spot for him. Guzman is definitely a waste of talent. So much unfulfilled potential. Vitali ranked ahead of Wladimir? Certainly not based on beating J.C Gomez i hope
Your P4P list is horrible. JuanMa is a HBO creation and will get distroyed like the others once he fights someone that fights back.
Paul Williams is too high, way too high.
By your logic, all Joe Calzage needs to do is say he’s coming out of retirement and his in the top 3 on your list
PBF has done nothing in 2 years but still takes the top spot. Really shameful. He barely deserved it when he was active, let alone now.
Oh, great. “Who does his job the best right now?” you said, and yet you rank the Pretty Fraud at “1a” even though he hasn’t fought for nearly 2 years now, and hasn’t fought a prime welter (his natural weight) ever. Heck, he hasn’t even fought a prime Jr Welterweight when he was campaigning there ages ago. The last meaningful fight he was in worthy of praise was the 2nd fight with Castillo way way back in 2002! That’s SEVEN years ago! And now, he’s going to fight JMM, who is a future HOF and a great warrior, but is a lightweight!
So let’s see, since that time, PBF went up two divisions winning 10 bouts against the likes of Sosa, N’dou, Corley, Bruseles, old Gatti, Mitchell, Judah, Baldomir, old dela Hoya, and Hatton. The Pacman meanwhile was the super bantam champion in 2002 and since then, went up FIVE(!) divisions, going 14-1-1, including 5-1-1 against the 3 Mexican Musketeers, and also looked sensational in destroying ODLH and Hatton.
So let’s ask again, Who does his job the best right now? Isn’t the answer pretty obvious?
Pac had another draw (TD6 Agapito Sanchez).