Yeah, so this list is a few days delinquent. I’d like to say it was because I was so dazzled by the action in the Wladimir Klitschko-Jean-Marc Mormeck fight this weekend that I couldn’t get around to compiling the power rankings.
However, seeing as George Washington’s birthday was just a few weeks ago and part of his myth is the thing about not telling a lie, I can’t say that’s the truth. Unless by action you mean Mormeck’s face and its ability to catch flush right hands from Klitschko, in which case there was a lot of action.
The Brothers Klitschko are still high on this list, and from what I’ve seen out of the heavyweight challengers of the world over the past few years, they are likely to remain in our top ten until they retire. Remember though, that this is our own home-brewed way of determining which boxers have had the most impressive outings over the last three years, and not a pound-for-pound list – though the Klitschkos surely belong somewhere on that list too. See this page for more details.
In any case, now that I finally got around to this, we might as well get into the rankings:
Boxer Power Rankings – March 2012
1. Lucian Bute – 20.89 – Interestingly, upcoming opponent Carl Froch gets to fight Bute even though he lost the Super Six final. That’s a quality fight that should test The Charmer in a way that will make him prove he belongs in this spot.
2. Vitali Klitschko – 19.56 – If only Vitali would have finished off Dereck Chisora, he’d be in the No. 1 spot right now. Alas, I don’t think he’s losing any sleep over it. He looked good, though, and not like someone who is ready to hang up the gloves just yet.
3. Nonito Donaire – 19.31 – The split decision against Wilfredo Vazquez Jr. was silly in the sense that the Filipino Flash clearly won the fight. Still, that’s two straight performances where he wasn’t at his best, and certainly the “overrated” talk is unlikely to go away until he stops someone. He’ll get a chance to do that to Cristian Mijares in July.
4. Canelo Alvarez – 18.10 – Let’s see a show of hands: Who thinks Canelo’s fight with Shane Mosley could get ugly for Sugar Shane? I do, even though it pains me to admit it. Alvarez can’t look past Mosley, though, and I don’t expect he will.
5. Amir Khan – 15.68 – King Khan gets his rematch with Lamont Peterson in May, this time in Las Vegas instead of D.C. That shouldn’t make a difference, though Khan will have to change things up at least a little if he wants to avenge his loss from the first fight.
6. Sergio Martinez – 14.14 – Maravilla is fighting for something called the WBC diamond middleweight title when he takes on Matthew Macklin in a few weeks. Is that better than a gold belt? Inquiring minds want to know!
7. Yuriorkis Gamboa – 12.18 – What in the heck is going on with this guy? Gamboa had a big fight lined up against Brandon Rios and then disappeared right before the press conferences to promote the fight. Weird stuff.
8. Wladimir Klitschko – 11.83 – This number was before he smashed in Mormeck’s face – I got lazy, remember? So it goes without saying that Wlad will be further up the list next month. Mea culpa big guy.
9. Manny Pacquiao – 11.80 – After months of losing the PR war with Floyd Mayweather, Pac-Man kind of looked like a sympathetic figure again when he revealed that Floyd tried to stiff him on the purse of their hypothetical super-fight – something that Floyd confirmed, then went a step beyond by insulting Pacquiao’s intelligence. Regardless, Manny needs to be focused on Timothy Bradley, who may have the right style to give him fits.
10. Robert Guerrero – 9.90 – No, The Ghost didn’t get this spot by calling out every boxer in the world. We don’t award points for that, as admirable as it is. But man, the step down from Mayweather to Selcuk Aydin is about as big as it gets.
