Last year’s El Paso Times “Best of Boxing” list stirred up a variety of opinions. So here’s a celebration of boxing’s best — 2004 edition:
The 2004 List
Pound for Pound: 1. Bernard Hopkins; 2. Floyd Mayweather; 3. Antonio Tarver; 4. Winky Wright; 5. Roy Jones Jr.; 6. Manny Pacquiao; 7. Juan Manuel Marquez; 8. Marco Antonio Barrera; 9. Cory Spinks; 10. James Toney; 11. Oscar De La Hoya; 12. Erik Morales.
Punchers: 1. Manny Pacquiao; 2. Antonio Margarito; 3. Diego Corrales; 4. Rafael Marquez; 5. Alexander Munoz; 6. David Tua; 7. Antwun Echols; 8. Acelino Freitas; 9. Ricardo Mayorga; 10. Miguel Cotto.
Boxers: 1. Winky Wright; 2. Floyd Mayweather; 3. James Toney; 4. Antonio Tarver; 5. Marco Antonio Barrera; 6. Cory Spinks; 7. Sharmba Mitchell; 8. Chris Byrd; 9. Roy Jones Jr.; 10. Mark Johnson.
Chin: 1. James Toney; 2. Bernard Hopkins; 3. Lovemore N’Dou; 4. Oscar De La Hoya; 5. David Tua.
Right hand: 1. Manny Pacquiao; 2. Diego Corrales; 3. Miguel Cotto; 4. Acelino Freitas; 5. Bernard Hopkins.
Left hook: 1. Marco Antonio Barrera; 2. Juan Manuel Marquez; 3. Antonio Margarito; 4. Antonio Tarver; 5. Ricky Hatton.
Jab: 1. Floyd Mayweather; 2. Winky Wright; 3. Marco Antonio Barrera; 4. Felix Sturm; 5. Jermain Taylor.
Body puncher: 1. Juan Manuel Marquez; 2. Marco Antonio Barrera; 3. Antonio Margarito; 4. Oscar De La Hoya; 5. Shane Mosley.
Referee: 1. Joe Cortez; 2. Tony Weeks; 3. Kenny Bayless; 4. John Schorle; 5. Tony Orlando.
Blow-by-blow: 1. Jim Lampley; 2. Barry Tompkins; 3. Joe Tessitore.
Expert announcers: 1. Emmanuel Steward; 2. Al Bernstein; 3. Roy Jones Jr.
Prospect: 1. Jermain Taylor; 2. Kermit Cintron; 3. Jerson Ravelo.
Cities: 1. Las Vegas; 2. New York; 3. Los Angeles.
Best news: 1. WBC going bankrupt; 2. Boxing on NBC; 3. De La Hoya challenging Hopkins.
Network: 1. HBO; 2. Telemundo; 3. Showtime.
Ring announcer: 1. Jimmy Lennon Jr.; 2. Michael Buffer.
Best of ’04 so far: 1. Pacquiao-Marquez; 2. Morales-Ch?vez; 3. Cotto-N’Dou; 4. Klitschko-Sanders; 5. Mayweather-Corley.
Best of 20 years ago: 1.Marvin Hagler; 2.Thomas Hearns; 3. Michael Spinks; 4. Donald Curry; 5.Larry Holmes.
Best of the past 25 years: 1. Sugar Ray Leonard; 2. Pernell Whitaker; 3. Julio C?sar Ch?vez; 4. Marvin Hagler; 5. Thomas Hearns; 6. Larry Holmes; 7. Roberto Duran; 8. Evander Holyfield; 9. Mike Tyson; 10. Roy Jones Jr.; 11. Mike McCallum; 12. Michael Spinks; 13. Bernard Hopkins; 14. Felix Trinidad; 15. Aaron Pryor; 16. Alexis Arguello; 17. Salvador Sanchez; 18. Azumah Nelson; 19. Lennox Lewis; 20. Wilfredo Gomez. Still “The Greatest”
Best all-time heavyweights: 1. Muhammad Ali; 2. Joe Louis; 3. Larry Holmes; 4. Rocky Marciano; 5. Jack Dempsey; 6. George Foreman; 7. Jack Johnson; 8. Lennox Lewis; 9. Sonny Liston; 10. Joe Frazier; 11. Evander Holyfield; 12. Gene Tunney.
Best fights of the past 25 years: 1. Hagler-Hearns; 2. Ward-Gatti 1; 3. Ch?vez-Taylor 1; 4. Barrera-Morales 1; 5. Pryor-Arguello 1.
Matthew Aguilar may be reached at [email protected]; 546-6166.
