It’s been a few years since the last time the El Paso Times celebrated the “Best of Boxing.” It’s a “best of” series that is sure to get the fight fans’ blood flowing.
Here we go:
The 2011 list Pound for Pound: 1. Manny Pacquiao; 2. Floyd Mayweather; 3. Nonito Donaire; 4. Sergio Martinez; 5. Andre Ward; 6. Juan Manuel Marquez; 7. Wladimir Klitschko; 8. Juan Manuel Lopez; 9. Timothy Bradley; 10. Yuriorkis Gamboa; 11. Amir Khan; 12. Miguel Cotto. Punchers: 1. Nonito Donaire; 2. Manny Pacquiao; 3. Yuriorkis Gamboa; 4. Juan Manuel Lopez; 5. Sergio Martinez; 6. Marcos Maidana; 7. David Haye; 8. Alfredo Angulo; 9. Kelly Pavlik; 10. Daniel Ponce De Leon. Boxers: 1. Floyd Mayweather; 2. Sergio Martinez; 3. Andre Ward; 4. Juan Manuel Marquez; 5. Nonito Donaire; 6. Timothy Bradley; 7. Chris John; 8. Fernando Montiel; 9. Mikkel Kessler; 10. Chad Dawson. Chin: 1. Juan Manuel Marquez; 2. Bernard Hopkins; 3. Marcos Maidana; 4. Brandon Rios; 5. Alfredo Angulo. Right hand: 1. Marcos Maidana; 2. Juan Manuel Marquez; 3. Floyd Mayweather; 4. Juan Manuel Lopez; 5. Wladimir Klitschko. Left hand: 1. Nonito Donaire; 2. Manny Pacquiao; 3. Sergio Martinez; 4. Yuriorkis Gamboa; 5. Juan Manuel Lopez. Jab: 1. Floyd Mayweather; 2. Sergio Martinez; 3. Andre Ward; 4. Wladimir Klitschko; 5. Vitali Klitschko. Body Puncher: 1. Juan Manuel Marquez; 2. Brandon Rios; 3. Miguel Cotto; 4. Humberto Soto; 5. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Advertisement
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1. Floyd Mayweather; 2. Andre Ward; 3. Bernard Hopkins. Speed: 1. Sergio Martinez; 2. Yuriorkis Gamboa; 3. Floyd Mayweather. Exciting: 1. Manny Pacquiao; 2. Nonito Donaire; 2. Yuriorkis Gamboa. Overrated: 1. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez; 2. Lucian Bute; 3. Andre Berto. Referee: 1. Kenny Bayless; 2. Joe Cortez; 3. Tony Weeks; 4. Steve Smoger; 5. Russell Mora. Blow-by-blow Announcer: 1. Jim Lampley; 2. Joe Tessitore; 3. Steve Albert. RING TONES News and opinion on the sweet science.
Expert Announcer: 1. Emanuel RING TONES News and opinion on the sweet science.
Steward; 2. Max Kellerman; 3. Al Bernstein. Cities: 1. Las Vegas; 2. Atlantic City; 3. Los Angeles. Network: 1. Showtime; 2. HBO; 3. ESPN. Ring Announcer: 1. Michael Buffer; 2. Jimmy Lennon Jr. Best … So Far: 1. Brandon Rios-Miguel Acosta; 2. Miguel Cotto-Ricardo Mayorga; 3. Andy Lee-Craig McEwan. Best Matchups: 1. Pacquiao-Mayweather; 2. Gamboa-Lopez; 3. Bradley-Khan. Best of 20 Years Ago: 1. Julio Cesar Chavez; 2. Pernell Whitaker; 3. James Toney; 4. Terry Norris; 5. Orlando Canizales. Best of Past 30 Years: 1.?Sugar Ray Leonard; 2. Manny Pacquiao; 3. Pernell Whitaker; 4. Julio Cesar Chavez; 5.?Marvin Hagler; 6. Thomas Hearns; 7.?Larry Holmes; 8. Bernard Hopkins; 9. Roberto Duran; 10. Evander Holyfield; 11.?Mike Tyson; 12. Floyd Mayweather Jr.; 13. Roy Jones Jr.; 14.?Mike McCallum; 15.?Michael Spinks; 16.?Felix Trinidad; 17.?Aaron Pryor; 18. Alexis Arguello; 19. Salvador Sanchez; 20.Azumah Nelson. 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 30 Years: 1. Hagler-Hearns (1985); 2. Ward-Gatti I (2002); 3. Chavez-Taylor I (1990); 4. Barrera-Morales I (2000); 5. Corrales-Castillo I (2005).
And finally …
Odlanier Solis — who was stopped in the first round by WBC heavyweight champ Vitali Klitshko on March 19 — wins the “Stupid Statement of the Year” award.
“If the injury had not got in the way, I would have taken him apart,” Solis said of Klitschko. “He is a boxing zero. I was surprised at how weak he is.”
Matthew Aguilar may be reached at [email protected].
