This is the fourth in a series of polls conducted with the help of an elite group of matchmakers and others with in-depth knowledge of boxing.
In three previous polls, Sergio Martinez was ranked as the #1 middleweight in the world, Chad Dawson reigned at 175 pounds, and Floyd Mayweather topped the list at 154 pounds. This month, the panelists turned their attention to boxing?s welterweight division.
Manny Pacquiao is #1 by a wide margin.
Azad Championship Report
The panelists were asked what would happen if twelve of the best welterweights in the world fought each other. This is about now; not how good a fighter was two years ago or how good he might be in the future. In reality, a round-robin tournament of this nature could never happen. It would require unmakeable matches and 66 separate fights. But fifteen of the most knowledgeable people in boxing agreed to predict the outcome of these fights.
The twelve super-welterweights chosen for consideration, in alphabetical order, were Devon Alexander, Selcuk Aydin, Randall Bailey, Andre Berto, Tim Bradley, Kell Brook, Robert Guerrero, Mike Jones, Paulie Malignaggi, Victor Ortiz, Manny Pacquiao, and Jan Zaveck.
Floyd Mayweather was not included on the list because his most recent fight was at 154 pounds.
Twelve matchmakers participated in the poll. Listed alphabetically, they were Jerry Alfano, Eric Bottjer, Robert Diaz, Don Elbaum, Brad Goodman, Charles Jay, Ron Katz, Mike Marchionte, Chris Middendorf, Joe Quiamboa, Ron Scott Stevens, and Bruce Trampler.
Teddy Atlas, Al Bernstein, and Steve Farhood rounded out the panel.
When the polling was done, 990 fight results were entered into the data base. Fighters were awarded one point for each win and a half-point for each draw (too close to call).
A perfect score (that is, each voter predicting that the same fighter would win every one of his fights) would have been 165 points. The results are:
Manny Pacquiao 161.5 points
Tim Bradley 141.5
Victor Ortiz 114.5
Andre Berto 104
Devon Alexander 96
Mike Jones 88
Kell Brook 76.5
Robert Guerrero 56
Paulie Malignaggi 53
Randall Bailey 41
Selcuk Aydin 37
Jan Zaveck 20.5
Eleven of the panelists think that Manny Pacquiao will beat Tim Bradley when the two men meet in the ring on June 9th. Three are picking Bradley. One elector called the fight too close to call.
A statistical breakdown of the polling results can be seen by clicking here.
Thomas Hauser can be reached by email at [email protected]. His most recent book (Winks and Daggers: An Inside Look at Another Year in Boxing) was published by the University of Arkansas Press.
