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Philippines, 17 Apr 2024 |
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Ralph Rimpell’s P4P list By Ralph Rimpell PhilBoxing.com Tue, 17 Dec 2019  Once again it’s time for me to give my opinion as a boxing writer on who the best fighters “Pound for Pound” (P4P) in the world are and where they currently rank. A lot has happened since my last article on this subject last March 2019. Some of the fighters on the previous list are not listed, have lost fights, won fights, been sidelines due to injuries, sign with different Promoters/Advisors, etc. Theirs is still a buzz (interest) in the boxing world regarding future match ups that may or may not materialize and boxing is here to stay. As usual for those of you who will ask, W** t** f*** is Ralph Rimpell? in a blog or comment section, read my bio. Let’s begin. 
1. Terrance “Bud” Crawford (36-0, 27KOs) – Former undisputed Jr welterweight champ (all 4 major sanctioning bodies) and current WBO welterweight champion. He was ranked as the #1 best P4P on the last list and remains there for this list. Last Saturday he defeated his mandatory WBO challenger, unknown Egidigus Kavaliauskas who was previously undefeated with good punching power. Kavaliauskas came to fight and it can be argued he scored an unofficial knockdown of Bud. Fans can criticize Bud because he hasn’t beat fellow unified champ (WBC/IBF) Spence and WBA champ Pacquiao. That’s not his fault as he has been actively chasing “big fights” with them in vain. Bud is even talking about leaving the 147lbs division for 160lbs division in search of “greener pastures” (“big fights”). Let’s hope Crawford-Spence happens in 2020 once Spence recovers from his car accident. 
2. Vasyl Lomachenko (15-1, 14KOs) - Arguably the best amateur fighter ever. Research his amateur background and you’ll see why. After 16 professional fights he has won 5 world titles in 3 weight divisions. Wow! Who does that? Only Vasyl Lomachenko! His only loss came to a future Hall of famer and former world champion Orlando Salido, which was a split decision loss in Lomachenko’s second professional fight for a world title. For Lomachenko to move to the #1 P4P spot he has to beat 1 of 2 fighters or both. Those two fighters are Gervonta “Tank” Davis and Miguel Berchelt. Lomachenko-Davis doesn’t seem likely any time soon as they fight for different Promoters, but Lomachenko-Berchelt seems more likely as they both fight under the Top Rank Banner. 
3. Wanheng Menayothin (54-0, 18KOs) – It’s really a lack of respect not to acknowledged this fighter by not putting him on all P4P list in boxing. I commend Oscar De La Hoya for signing Wanheng to Golden Boy (GBP)! Prior to his signing to GBP, I have called on major Promoters to sign him. He’s undefeated and the WBC mini-flyweight champion since 2014 (12 defenses). Remember Pacquiao started out as a flyweight champion before conquering the higher divisions. At this point in Wanheng’s career it appears unlikely he will move up to a higher division. To move up this list Wanheng has to unify his division and likely stay undefeated in the process. 
4. Gennady “Triple G” Golovkin (42-1-1, 35KOs) – His first reign as middleweight champion was from 2010-2018. In the process he unified the title and kicked a lot of ass! He was a feared champion. Nobody began to call him out (challenge him) until he began to look human (start to get hit more by punches and score less knockouts). His two fights against Canelo (officially a draw and a loss) were controversial with many people believing Golovkin won both those two fights. He is in his second reign as a middle weight champion after winning the IBF belt Canelo was stripped of when defeated Derevyanchenko back in October 2019 of this year. He ranks # 4 on this list because he is clearly not the same fighter at the age of 37, but is still a very dangerous and world class fighter. 
5. Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao (62-7, 2, 39KOs) - People are always writing Pacquiao off (saying he is finished). After he lost a controversial decision to Bradley and suffered a KO loss to former world champ and future hall of famer Juan Manuel Marquez there were calls for him to retire. He rebounded and finally landed the mega fight with Mayweather which he lost due to an injured shoulder. After another controversial loss to a fighter named Jeff Horn he has beaten top fighters like Matthysse, Broner, and Thurman. He is now the WBA welterweight champion. Pacquiao’s last 3 opponents were all former champions or current champions that were younger than him. Now that Mayweather has indicated he will return in 2020 perhaps Pacquiao will get the rematch he yearns for against Mayweather. 
6. Canelo Alvarez (56-1-2, 36KOs) - Canelo simultaneously holds 3 titles in 3 weight divisions (middleweight, super middleweight, and light heavyweight). Not too many people know which division he will stay in. We last saw him impressively knocked out Sergey Kovalev to win the WBO light heavyweight title. None of the other light heavyweight champions including the retired Adonis Stevenson wanted to fight Kovalev. Talk that Canelo beat Kovalev because he was finished is nonsense. 
7. Errol Spence (26-1, 20KOs) – He is the unified WBC and IBF welterweight champion. He was last seen annexing the WBC title from Shawn Porter. Fans are begging for a unification match against WBO champ Terrance Crawford. Crawford and his promoter Bob Arum want it. Unfortunately, Spence had a car accident and was injured last October (2019). It was initially reported Spence can resume his boxing career, but Spence would not be back until summer of 2020. Bob Arum said according to his reports, Spence will be out longer than reported and a Spence-Crawford match will not happen in the foreseeable future. I always say, make the “big fight” as soon as the public has interest and it makes financial sense because anything can happen. RR Why? What if Spence was permanently injured or lost to Porter? What if Crawford had lost to Amir Kahn? Hopefully when Spence returns and if Crawford has not retired the fight can be made. 
8. Mikey Garcia (39-1, 30KOs) He is a 4 division champion. He was last seen attempting to become a 5 division champion when he came up short against WBC and IBF champ Errol Spence back in July of 2019. He’s trying to get back in the win column campaigning for a big fight against Manny Pacquiao or another top welterweight. To move up this list he has to land a big fight at welterweight and win. 
9. Miguel Berchelt (37-1, 33KOs) This guy is a beast and King of the 130lb division. After learning from a surprise loss back in 2014 before becoming champion, he has reeled off 16 wins all of them stoppages except for 1 fight and has become the man with the WBC title. If he were to face Lomachenko it would be a “pick ’em” fight. He could conceivably beat Lomcahenko and Tank Davis if he was matched up with either one. Berchelt is one tough Hombre! 
10. Gervonta “Tank” Davis (22-0, 2l KOs) A rising star. He has won two world titles in the 130lbs division and is attempting to win another title in the 135lb division later this month. Lomachenko is ready and willing to fight Tank. Berchelt is also willing to fight Tank. If Tank is become one of the faces of boxing like Pacquiao or Canelo, he has to defeat fighters like Lomachenko and Berchelt. It’s no secret Lomachenko wants to unify the lightweight division. Hopefully if Tank wins his next fight, they can unify their titles. Contact: RLuvsboxing@aol.com ***Ralph Rimpell is a writer based out of New York and is a Boxing Correspondent for Philboxing.com. Ralph holds an undergraduate degree from City University of New York. He has been a Boxing Writer for over ten years having written for several top boxing websites on the World Wide Web. Before becoming a writer, Ralph's passion was for professional wrestling until he realized professional wrestling was entertainment and not a real sport. It was at that time the 1984 US Olympic team made up of future stars such as Evander Holyfield, Meldrick Taylor, Pernell Whitaker, etc. entered the professional ranks and signed with promotional outfit Main Events.It was also at that time a young exciting Heavyweight originally hailing from Brooklyn named Mike Tyson also turned professional and became the face of boxing. Young boxing fan Ralph just couldn't get enough of boxing as a large part of it was being broadcast on "free TV". As time went on, Ralph felt boxing writers were not being forthcoming with their boxing coverage, opinion pieces, interviews, etc. So Ralph decided to write an article and submitted it to a Boxing website thinking it would be deleted and ignored by the Editor. To Ralph's surprise his article was posted on their website and the readers embraced it. The rest is history. "I thank God for the Internet because it has created opportunities for writers like myself who likely would not have been given an opportunity to write for print publications. I hope someday soon to expand my role in Boxing on different levels." -- Ralph Rimpell Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ralph Rimpell.  |
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