All of the recent talk about pound for pound rankings and the return of Floyd Mayweather, JR., against Juan Manuel Marquez had a lot of people asking me who the best really are today and if I am excited by today’s crop of fighters given the ongoing doubt cast upon the aforementioned match-up and its questionable ability to generate genuine superfight excitement that transcends the sport. My first response was always a quick “that’s a loaded question”, warning that my answer would take somewhere between three and five minutes, depending on my situation, energy level and who was asking it. Invariably, somewhere after my lengthy response I would be asked who I liked today, or rather, as a hardcore fan, who truly pulled me in beyond big promotion and marketing, and it got me thinking about a list I compiled in late 1999.
Looking over my notes from that period, I found a printed copy of an email I had sent to somebody outlining my favorite fighters of that period. Amazingly, two of the fighters that had made the list back then are still active, easily making my list today, while others have left the sport and moved-on with their lives or are lingering on in the sport on a part-time basis as mere fractions of what they once had been. In no particular order, my list from back in the day had Bernard Hopkins, Fernando Vargas, Pernell Whitaker, James Toney, Roy Jones JR and Floyd Mayweather, JR. Jumping forward to the fall of 2009, I’m older, wiser, and just as interested in quality boxing as ever before, even if it doesn’t flow my way like it once did. I decided to create a new list featuring six current fighters that have the ability to capture not only my attention, but my imagination. Keep in mind that this topic is at best subjective, and that my perspective is just a view point. Beyond this list there are dozens of other fighters I follow and consider myself a fan of, but these are the guys that I go out of my way to follow today. They are listed here for you, in no specific order.
Manny Pacquiao
What is there not to like about a five-division champion, six if you are into splitting hairs? Pacquiao, 49-3-2, 37 KO’s is that rare breed of willing warrior that seems to have broken through the plateau of later-career staleness and has tweaked his game just enough so that he seems to be ever-improving at a point where I once predicted he would be in steady decline. Amazingly, he did it just as he moved-up in weight in an aggressive campaign to stock his legacy and his bank account, as if both he and his trainer realized that the hourglass would soon be running short on grains of sand. Able to box more effectively than ever, Pacquiao is one of the rare one’s to have carried his considerable knockout power northward to amazing effect, as demonstrated with highlight reel stoppages over David Diaz and notably with Ricky Hatton. Carrying the added weight well, what he lacks for in height and reach is made-up with surprising foot speed and mobility, a facet that has seen to the effective delivery of his crisp combination punching. As of this writing the Filipino southpaw is scheduled to face Miguel Cotto on November 14th in a high-stakes welterweight mega-fight that may or may not have title implications. It’s a match that has its risks; Cotto is a gifted and fearless warrior in his own right with much to prove. I expect a classic, and regardless of whether you feel he will prevail against the larger Cotto or not, enjoy this modern-era approximate of Hammerin’ Hank while you still can.
Edgar Sosa
There’s a particular reason why I’ve taken to Sosa. Currently at 37-5, 21 KO’s, he’s the type of long suffering pug who paid his dues long before given a chance at the spotlight, hence the blemishes on his record. He won the WBC light flyweight title in April 2007 when he upset the popular and favored Brian Viloria by majority decision in a match he was not supposed to win. Not necessarily considered a long-term proposition as champion by some, in the thirty months since he won the title Sosa has to date successfully defended that title ten times with his most recent appearance being and emphatic beat down of the capable and talented Omar Soto. That’s busy 1980’s stuff right there. He may not knock the stuffing out of an opponent with one or two solid cracks, but he’s busy and hungry enough to put the pedal to the metal early and make it a quality exercise worth watching. And if you are like some who have questioned the level of his competition, question it no further. Not every foe will be top-five stock, but half of his defenses have been against solid contenders – which is more than you can say for some today who are not anywhere nearly as active as this proud Mexican warrior.
Old nemesis Viloria has since regained his championship stride having won the IBF Light Flyweight title earlier in the year. Hopefully 2010 brings about a unification mega-event that makes much in the way of sense as a much-anticipated rematch and for defining who at present is best at one-o-eight.
Roman Gonzalez
Affectionately known as “El Chocolatito”, the diminutive Nicaraguan power puncher, 24-0, 20 KO’s, turned pro at light flyweight in 2005. Known for putting intense pressure on his foes from behind the orthodox stance, Gonzalez loves to cap a match with his vaunted left hook, his primary means of accruing highlight reel knockouts. He won the WBA World Minimumweight title by flattening Yutaka Niida in four in September 2008. He has since managed to retain his title twice, the last appearance being an impressive and hard-fought unanimous decision over Katsunari Takayama. Not necessarily demonstrating his usual sharpness and motivation in his first title defense last February, “El Chocolatito”, and those watching him, enjoy the benefits of his notable power, something that has to date pulled him out of the fire when it has counted most. Try to catch this little power pack of a world champion if you can. You won’t be disappointed.
Tomasz Adamaek
The orthodox-stanced Pole, 38-1, 26 KO’s, won the vacant WBC light heavyweight title defeating the dangerous Paul “Firepower” Briggs by majority decision way back in May 2005. After making two successful defenses of that title, the latter being an off-the-deck performance in a much-anticipated rematch with Briggs, Adamek lost to slick speedster southpaw Chad Dawson in February 2007. In that title-losing effort, it is notable that despite being momentarily floored by the far quicker upstart, Adamek managed to floor Dawson late despite not being able to rally enough to pull out a dramatic win. In December 2008 after moving up a division where he would no longer need to torture himself to make weight, Adamek won the IBF Cruiserweight title and the vacant Ring Magazine Cruiserweight Championship with a dramatic back and forth split-decision victory over the talented Steve Cunningham, a win that now ranks as one of a very select few division classics, comparable to the very best wars ever seen at cruiserweight. Having floored the defending champion three times over the course of the match, and after absorbing considerable punishment on his own right, it is a match that many feel was the fight of the year for 2008.
To date, Adamek has successfully defended his title twice and at the time of this writing was scheduled to move up to the heavyweight division for a high-stakes showdown with fellow countryman Andrew Golota. I can only hope that Adamek keeps his weight at or just below 210lbs. and treats this match more as an event. He’s proven to have the right stuff to keep the cruiserweight division on the map and to date it looks as though he has found his groove campaigning at 200 pounds.
James Toney
Yeah, I know. “Lights Out” is from another era and he’s been more frustrating than scintillating over the last several years. In fact, if you remove his 2005 showing against John Ruiz from the picture, Toney, 72-6-3, 44 KO’s hasn’t given us something to really chew on since 2003, a year when he gave us a classic title-winning effort at cruiserweight and a time where he disassembled an aging Evander Holyfield like nobody had before. But I cannot help myself. There’s something strangely addictive about Toney’s old-school tactics and bloated appearance that serves as a Zen Lesson to all of those that make their fight picks based on sheer stats, athleticism and washboard abs. Like a handful of timeless old school greats before him, “Lights Out” understands the finer points of controlled combat; tricking his younger and larger foes into engaging him in close quarters, rolling and feinting his way to pocketing the rounds. Admittedly he is getting hit now more than ever before, and by foes levels beneath him in skill and experience, but at age 41 and with a supposed renewed sense of fire in his belly, something suggests that if James were to stay busy and keep his late night eating binges in check, he might just get himself to the point where the cagey old master might be able to lull a far bigger, far younger holder of a plastic strap into the ring and into a false sense of fistic security. Why do I believe it could still happen?
Floyd Mayweather, JR.
I am one of those fans that truly believes that Floyd, 40-0, 25 KO’s long ago proved himself as a great fighter and that he need not skip to the beat of Miguel Cotto or Shane Mosley’s drum to illustrate it. Yes, he is the smaller guy that spiteful fans love to hate, claiming that he needs to prove himself against the aforementioned, but such types overlook, conveniently, what “Money” did over a decade ago, five years ago, two years ago and again just a few weeks ago. I understand that. Boxing is a passionate sport and most fans cannot separate their passion and emotion when it comes to swallowing a bitter pill – and Floyd is today’s approximate of that bitter pill. Hey, it’s not like I’d I want to have the guy over for a barbeque. It’s about acknowledging what a great and rare ring talent he truly is.
Like Ray Leonard before him, “Pretty Boy” need not line-up for tickets and opportunities. He long ago earned the right to sit back and watch others work out the pecking order. Whether you like him or not, he shuts them all down, one way or another when the big dance arrives. Such ability is rare – and it’s rarely popular. Count me among the believers, and if a year from now he has shut down and waxed the current pound-for-pound king or the consensus best man at welterweight, don’t be surprised if the masses are trying their damndest to build-up somebody else as “the guy” Mayweather need prove himself against.
