OBJECTIVE, SUBJECTIVE, & SOME OPINION AS WELL!
Millbrae, CA-I?ve formulated a number of ?pound for pound? lists in recent months because there has been so much parody amongst the ten best ?pound for pound? fighters today that you can throw all the names into a hat and draw from there make up your list. However, with a couple of weeks before the next big event, Floyd Mayweather vs. Zab Judah, the “pound for pound lists has become a little less clearer. Credit the change to Manny Pacquiao?s dominant win against Erik Morales, and Joe Calzaghe?s long awaited breakout performance against Jeff Lacy. As of today, fans can clearly distinguish the elite in boxing and where they should rank. However, to rank a middleweight ahead or behind a featherweight has its difficulties. Therefore, out of the dozens of criteria that can be used t make such lists, I have chosen three, that I think determine the ten elitists!
HOW WE COME UP WITH THE ?MAGICAL TEN!?
Dominance: A fighter must dominate in his current or past division. That means, not only the simple act of defeating top contenders but making the perceived challenge look as if he doesn?t belong in the same ring. Win streaks over a long period of time also proves a fighter?s dominance. This is a numerical criterion because it can be looked up in the record books. If you?re not sure a fighter dominated the top contender in his division, look at the scorecards for that particular fight.
Big Fights: Now this could be looks at as subjective criteria because what makes a prize fight a ?big fight?? To simplify, a big fight could be the top two fighters in a division fighting each other. Another way to judge a big fight is whether or not the fight was on PPV. Others include: a sell out arena, some mainstream media coverage, a pay check over $800,000, and a bout promoted and hyped at least 4 months in advance.
Resume: Records count for something; if they didn?t, then why even mention them? Unlike Mixed Martial Arts, a loss could really set the fighter back career wise. Winning 30 fights with 25 knockouts would impress many fans, but if the fighter had 10 losses attached to the record, he would not be considered a ?bad ass?. Title belts, as insignificant as it has become, also count because fighters do pay sanctioning fees and it is only right to reward them for what they paid for (assuming they win the title). Moving up in division also bolsters the resume because it is always tougher to fight bigger men when fighters move up in weight. I will use each criterion to evaluate every fighter on my pound for pound list.
Floyd Mayweather, Welterweight, 35-0 (24 KO?s)
Dominance: Undefeated, Mayweather is clearly a level above his competition. ?Little Floyd? has won 30 straight rounds since 2004 and has stopped his last three opponents. In terms of opponent quality, Mayweather did dominate the top contender at super featherweight, Diego Corrales, and twice defeated the best lightweight today, Jose Luis Castillo.
Big Fights: Mayweather has a big fight April 8th against Zab Judah, even though the excitement has subsided when Judah lost his title in January. And while the Thomas and Mack Center in Las Vegas will be packed, the consensus is a Mayweather victory is expected. Mayweather?s other big fights were against Diego Corrales in 2001 and Arturo Gatti in 2005. Many people favored the big puncher Corrales in that bout, but Mayweather went on to knock him down repeatedly, stopping him in 10 rounds. Although the bout was not on PPV nor the arena sold out, it was a breakout performance, which launched Mayweather into the top class of the pound for pound division. In his first PPV bout, he fought Arturo Gatti in Gatti?s second home in Atlantic City. Gatti was the star of the show, but Mayweather stole it from Gatti with one of the worst beat downs in a heavily hyped PPV since Lennox Lewis? knockout of Mike Tyson in 2002.
Resume: 14 world title fights and a pair of world championship in two divisions, with a title belt in a third, Mayweather has racked up some pretty good hardware. Floyd was named “Fighter of the Year” in 1998, and plans on winning a title a welterweight (as hallow as that maybe).
Winky Wright, Middleweight, 50-3 (25 KO?s)
Dominance: Other than three close or controversial decisions, Wright has been untouchable. One of the most difficult styles to overcome, Wright has won 11 straight bouts, with 7 of the being title bouts. In rounds where Winky does lose, it?s usually he who is allowing the fighter to win a round like when he suck his chin out there for Shane Mosley his hit in their rematch. Wright virtually pitched a perfect game against Felix Trinidad, which was also of the most one sided CompuBox stats over 12 rounds in recent times.
Big Fights: Winky also has a big fight coming up in June against middleweight champion, Jermain Taylor. However, Winky has defeated two ?red hot? fighters at the time, in Trinidad (coming off an emotional win against Ricardo Mayorga) and Mosley (fresh off another win against Oscar De La Hoya). The two wins against Mosley affirmed the belief he was a great fighter and his PPV bout with Trinidad was one of the top selling PPV?s in boxing last year.
Resume: Where Winky has fought is as impressive as the championships he?s attained. Wright has fought from South Africa to Argentina to England. Not afraid to fight in his opponent?s hometown, in his upcoming bout, he?ll enter Taylor?s territory as Memphis, TN, it’s much closer to Little Rock, AR than St Petersburg, FL, where Wright lives. He has also unified the major belts at 154.
Manny Pacquiao, Super Featherweight, 41-3-2 (33 KO?s)
Dominance: Pacquiao?s dominance has been of the entire lower weight divisions. From flyweight to super featherweight (18 pounds apart), Pacquiao has been at the top of each division. Since moving up to 122 pounds, Pacquiao has won 15 bouts, all by stoppage; an incredible feat for a featherweight. However, Pacquiao?s dominance over ring legends like Marco Antonio Barrera, and in the rematch with Erik Morales, this differs Manny from most of the pack. The reason Pacquiao has not reached the top of universal lists, were his loss to Morales the first time, and the Juan Manuel Marquez draw of 2004.
Big fights: In the Philippines, every Pacquiao fights is a huge fight. Crime drops every time Pacquiao enters the squared circle. In America, Pacquiao has fought one big fight every year since 2003. Fights against Marco Antonio Barrera and Juan Manuel Marquez captivated the die-hards, and casual fans alike. Pacquiao need only beat Marco again, and settle that draw with Marquez. However, his two PPV bouts against Erik Morales. this really showcased Pacquiao’s star power. Morales was already a huge star in boxing, but his two bouts with Pacquiao brought the best of the Mexican crowds and gave birth to the Filipino fan base, which can no longer be ignored.
Resume: Winning world titles at flyweight, jr. featherweight, and featherweight are Hall of Fame credentials by themselves. Pacquiao has also been considered the best fighter in the division he has fought. He also has the rare achievement of winning a world title in Thailand against the house fighter.
Marco Antonio Barrera, Super Featherweight, 61-4 (42 KO?s)
Dominance: Virtually a champion since 1995, Barrera has fought over ten past or current world champions. At 22, he dropped former World champion and 1988 Olympian Kennedy McKinney five times, before halting him in the 12th. Barrera has only lost two fights since 1998 and both were against arguably the two best featherweights of the new millennium, Pacquiao and Erik Morales. The ?Baby Faced Assassin? in 2005 blew out a weak mandatory in Mzonke Fana, and outclassed Aussie Robbie Peden.
Big Fights: Barrera has had his share of big fights. Marco was part of the first big featherweight PPV bout against Prince Naseem Hamed in 2001. Still one of the most energetic and loudest Mexican crowd I?ve heard for a prize fight, Barrera barely broke sweat in giving the Prince his only defeat. The second and third fights with Erik Morales were events were covered by the mainstream sports media and both sold out the arena that featured two Mexican fighters.
Resume: A champion in 122, 126, and 130, Barrera has at one point been the best fighter in three separate weight divisions and has fought the other top fighter in those divisions. A unified champion at 130, Barrera was one victory away from being a four time champion in as many weight classes
Ricky Hatton, Jr. Welterweight, 40-0 (30 KO?s)
Dominance: With 40 victories in 40 fights, Ricky Hatton is one of the most dominant fighters in boxing. Simple ?W?s? are not enough for the Hitman, as it is the manner in which he finishes opponents off makes him a class above most. 30 of his victories have come by way of knockout. Hatton does not simply end a fighter?s night with one punch, but batters and swarms his opponents into exciting finishes. Hatton has fought with cuts and has come back from knockouts to win fights. In his last two decision wins, Hatton hadn?t lost a round one two judges score card in both unanimous decision wins.
Big Fights: In England, every Ricky Hatton fight is a big fight. Ricky can literally sell out every arena and soccer stadium in Manchester. However, he?s only fought one high profile big bout against legend Kostya Tszyu. British fight fans were forced to stay up until 2:00 AM to see the match-up between a veteran champion and the young upstart challenger. In that fight, Hatton withstood a massive right hands from the strong Tszyu and walked through the champion, forcing him to quit before the start of the final round.
Resume: At 27, Hatton is only beginning to stack his resume with top names and multiple world titles. However, the first name on Hatton?s resume is Kostya Tszyu, a future hall of fame boxer. Along with winning the recognized World jr. welterweight title, he added the WBA belt in addition to the IBF diadem, knocking out Carlos Maussa. Hatton?s future conquest is the WBA welterweight title when he fights Luis Collazo in May.
Joe Calzaghe, Super Middleweight, 41-0 (31 KO?s)
Dominance: What?s up with these Brits dominating the competition? Calzaghe, like fellow countryman Hatton, is undefeated in 41 fights with 31 of them ending before the final bell. Calzaghe has not lost a round in his last three fights, 30 straight rounds in total.
Big Fights: Calzaghe has only one big fight, but finally showed the entire boxing world why he was undefeated and why he should be considered an all time great at 168. In a fight which was supposed to be a breakout fight for the young Olympian, Jeff Lacy, instead, was a shutout win (in rounds) for the veteran southpaw. England and the boxing world were shocked and amazed at how great Calzaghe looked against Jeff Lacy.
Resume: Calzaghe has been a world titlist since 1997 and eventually made his WBO title the true legitimate world championship. Only German Sven Ottke has racked up as many title defenses at 168 as Calzaghe, but Ottke retired in 2004. Calzaghe now adds the IBF title to his collection with 18 title defenses.
?TOP 15? POUND FOR POUND LIST MAY SERVE BETTER!
That?s it, the end of the list. Most pound for pound lists are at the minimum 10 and usually my lists have been 10. However, the fighters from one through six clearly prove themselves as the elite in boxing that fighters superseding them do not warrant the criteria I set. The lists could have been contracted to 5 or expanded if deemed necessary. This includes: Antonio Tarver, Jose Luis Castillo, Zahir Raheem , and Jermain Taylor. Although each fighter has won their share of big fights, which is why they are in most p4p lists, in terms of dominance and resume, each has not yet reached that elite status. However, these fighters are literally only one fight away (each fighter is scheduled in a big fight against a top opposition) from being added to the list or even replacing a fighter on the current lists.
