HAPPY Easter Sunday fight fans. It wasn?t exactly a busy 1st quarter for the ?Sweet Science?, but nonetheless there were a couple of significant fights that took place.
Here?s our pound for pound update for the 1st quarter of 2015.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. (47-0, 26KOs). Money ended 2014 as the sport?s reigning king and did not fight during the first quarter of 2015. This coming May, we all know he is headed into the biggest challenge of his career as he faces off against Manny Pacquiao
Pacquiao is No. 3 in our list and so at this stake for this bout will also be the top spot in these rankings.
Floyd was initially pegged by odds-makers as the heavy favorite, but Pacquiao?s backers have lately made the betting line closer. Still, I expect Floyd to be the favorite in this fight owing to his stature and unblemished record.
Wladimir Klitschko (63-3, 53KOs). No change here as ?Dr. Steelhammer? will be fighting for the first time this year on April 25 against Bryan Jennings (19-0, 11KOs)
Bryan who, you say? Well, this isn?t exactly a superfight, but remember that this is the heavyweight division, which is now a desolate, barren landscape.
Klitschko turned 40 last month, which also lands him in that rarefied, distinctive class of fighters who have held titles at this age. In his case, he actually holds the WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO crowns which is simply astounding.
Manny Pacquiao (57-5, 38KOs). There?s another Pacquiao biopic coming up, called ?Kid Kulafu? starring Robert Villar as the young Pacquiao. The trailer looked promising, and I believe this one will do better than the one starring Jericho Rosales back in 2006. Too bad they are doing this biopic now and couldn?t wait until May 2, 2015 where Pacquiao is expected to give the greatest performance of his career.
Timothy Bradley (31-1, 12KOs). Desert Storm looked shaky in December against Diego Gabriel Chaves (23-2, 19KOs) and their fight ended in a split draw.
Bradley threw more punches and opted to trade more in this fight but Chavez also landed his fair share of leather, even managing to fracture Bradley?s chin.
Still, the Bradley deserved to win that fight, and the scorecard turned in by Judge Julie Lederman (116-112 for Chaves) was clearly horrendous.
Roman Gonzales (42-0, 36KOs). Last February, Gonzales picked up where he left off in 2014 when he went on a murderous tear, stopping all of 4 of his opponents.
He stopped Valentin Leon in 3 rounds, and although Leon is clearly just a journeyman, I admire Gonzales? activity. These days, you rarely see the top tier fighters fight more than 3 times a year.
Guillermo Rigondeaux (15-0, 10KOs). The shifty elusive Rigondeaux finally found an opponent that made it a difficult fight for him for a change, in lanky Japanese fighter HisashiAmagasa.
Rigo was knocked down twice in this fight, but he dug deep and found the resolve to survive and score a knockdown of his own in round 9.
Juan Manuel Marquez (56-7, 40KOs). No change here as the 41-year -old Marquez fought only once last year. He had the same output in 2013 and I won?t be surprised if he hangs up the gloves soon. However, if Pacquiao beats Mayweather in May, expect ?Dinamita? to come roaring back to life for that much intriguing 5th bout.
Sergey Kovalev (27-0, 24KOs)- 2014?s breakout fighter started off this year with a bang by stopping the formidable Jean Pascal in 8 rounds last month. There seems to be no stopping this prodigious Russian fighter and this early he is making a strong case for fighter of the year honors.
Gennady Golovkin (32-0, 29 KOs). The rampaging GGG enters our rankings as Andre Ward is kicked due to inactivity. Last February, he stopped the game Martin Murray in 11 rounds, leaving behind a trail of destruction in the middleweight division unseen since the days of Marvin Hagler.
Miguel Cotto (39-4, 32KOs)- The resurgent Cotto is finding it hard to look for opponents and this may cost him his spot on these rankings. He is being rumored to face Canelo Alvarez in May but as nothing has been finalized yet
LAST ROUND. It?s on a dear friend, Nini Gonzales-Gaite, who recently celebrated her birthday. Cheers!
