Pound-for-pound is a term used in boxing to describe a fighter’s abilities in relation to fighters of different weight classes.
As fighters in vastly different divisions do not compete directly, accessing top pound-for-pound talent is subjective, and ratings vary.
Enter Chris Algieri (20-0, 8 KO).
A relative unknown to the boxing establishment outside of New York, Algieri burst into prominence by defeating red hot jr welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov on HBO last summer.
Dropped twice in Round 1 by the heavy-handed Russian, Algieri battled back and used his reach, speed and boxing ability to mitigate Ruslan’s subsequent attacks. In the end, his efforts were enough to convince two of the three judges he deserved the nod.
Prior to that fight, Algieri promised to bring the goods… and he delivered. And ever since he signed to fight superstar Manny Pacquiao, he’s been making more of the same promises.
“Even if it is (close to his home) I plan on dominating the fight. I don’t want to leave anything in the judges? hands. I am going to dominate the fight from the beginning,” Algieri recently told BoxingScene.com.
So what if the improbable happens… again?
Would an undefeated record and back-to-back wins over Ruslan Provodnikov and Manny Pacquiao catapult Algieri into the Top 10 pound-for-pound?
Maybe. If Algieri earns a stoppage or thoroughly dominates the fight legend, who is currently ranked in the top 5 by most boxing media outlets, his efforts may merit a top ten ranking.
Perhaps No. 9 or 10.
You may have never heard of him until a few months ago, but he is unbeaten. Moreover, last February Algieri defeated a highly-ranked contender named Emmanuel Taylor (then 17-1) on ESPN. Taylor was ranked fourth by the International Boxing Federation at 140 pounds at the time. In their scrap, Algieri won at least seven of the ten rounds and, even then, appeared to be fighting on an elite or semi-elite level.
Combine his “0” with back-to-back-to-back wins over a surging contender, a well-respected champion and a Top 5 ranked superstar and one would have to seriously consider him a Top 10 fighter should he complete the trifecta in 2014.
Of course, and as noted previously, he’d probably have to defeat Manny more convincingly than he did Provodnikov.
