I love basketball. I can’t lie. If there was a BA, (Ballaholics Anonymous) I’d never get to step five. But if there was one mistress to my balling obsession, it’s my passion for fighting. Yes, I love fight sports. Boxing and MMA in particular. Last week I threw a boxing reference to my piece about Kobe, LeBron and Danny Granger and received a ton of positive responses from readers. I guess there’s more of you out there that share my love for both sports. My aim is to try at least provide a little of the other to fans and readers of each respective sport. Incidentally, most people who like fight sports like basketball anyway just like I do. But being able to keep tabs on both once in a while should encourage more interest for the other. Besides, I just think crossover articles are interesting, don’t you?
So on that note, I decided to intertwine the two sports once in a while here in my Pacers columns. And in the spirit of boxing and MMA’s pound-for-pound best lists, I have come up with my top 20 NBA pound-for-pound players list in relation to putting up my top 10 pound-for-pound boxers and top 5 MMA fighters in the world list.
For you Pacers fans and hoopheads that are not familiar with the pound-for-pound list, it’s the fight game’s way of mythically ranking their fighters disregarding weight class and is primarily based on a fighter’s record, opposition level, accomplishments and skill among others.
The basis for my NBA list would be individual stats, the player’s impact on his team, winning history and overall value outside the court as well.
So here we go, the first ever D Source NBA Top 20 Pound-For-Pound Best List together with the top 5 boxing and MMA lists:
Top 5 MMA
#5 Quinton “Rampage” Jackson (29-7-0) – Rampage is one of the strongest and hardest-hitting light heavyweights in the business. His sensation KO win against Chuck Liddell almost 2 years ago help boost his popularity and recently avenged his losses to Wanderlei Silva by knocking Silva out in round 1. A rematch with Forrest Griffin has been something a lot of MMA fans have been wanting to see since their fight ended with a bit of controversy. Rampage lost to Griffin via unanimous decision last year however some felt he should’ve won. #4 Miguel Torres (35-1-0) – The superstar of the lower weight class in the WEC, Torres is one of the sports best Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners. He can also strike and can beat his opponents in any way imaginable. #3 Georges St-Pierre (18-2-0) – GSP dominated one of the best mma fighters in the sport for a second time in BJ Penn last month. He is currently the UFC welterweight champ and is highly-regarded because of his all-around skills in jiu-jitsu, wrestling and striking. #2 Fedor Emelianenko (29-1-0 1 no contest) – Fedor is considered by fight fans as the greatest heavyweight to have ever fought in mixed martial arts. He held numerous titles in Pride and other martial arts tournaments. He possesses uncanny speed and killer instinct combined with his brute strength and killer instinct. His most recent victory was when he knocked out one of the best heavyweights in the game Andrei Arlovski. #1 Anderson “Spider” Silva (23-4-0) – The Spider is universally considered as the best pound-for-pound fighter in mixed martial arts. He is both dynamic, versatile and powerful. His striking, Muay Thai and kicks are the best in the business, coupled by his athleticism that enables him to pull off any kind of submission in the book. Silva is simply the best.
Top 5 Boxing
#5 Miguel Cotto 33-1 (26 KOs) – Only loss is now being looked with an asterisk as it came at the hands of Antonio Margarito who is now suspended together with his trainer for alleged cheating tactics with the way they wrap his hands. Cotto bounced back last weekend in emphatic fashion knocking out Michael Jennings for the WBO welterweight championship belt. #4 “Sugar” Shane Mosley 46-5 (39 KOs) – Recently knocked out Antonio Margarito after being written-off by most people. Margarito was regarded as one of the top 3 boxers and the top welterweight at the time. #3 Bernard Hopkins 49-5 (32 KOs) – Turned back the hands of time when he beat the then undefeated Kelly Pavlik. Hopkins has been one of this era’s true boxing legends. A sure first ballot hall of fame boxer. #2 Juan Manuel Marquez 49-4-1 (35 KOs) – Holds the Ring magazine’s lightweight belt and is considered one of the best ring tacticians. His 2 closely-contested fights against Manny Pacquiao elevated him as one of the sport’s bests. Will be fighting Juan Diaz at the end of the month. #1 Manny “Pac Man” Pacquiao 48-3-2 (37 KOs) – A freak of nature that can blind you with his speed and knock you out with his power. Relentless and overwhelming in the ring, Pacquiao has jumped and succeeded in multiple weight divisions and is compared to one of the all-time boxing greats Henry Armstrong. His most recent conquest was the destruction of boxing legend Oscar De la Hoya who was 20 pounds and about 5 inches naturally bigger than him. Pacquiao will be fighting Ricky Hatton on May 2.
