The emergence of several quality young boxers has made the bottom half of the Yahoo! Sports boxing rankings as competitive as they have been since their 2007 inception.
The October Top 10 remained the same except for Juan Manuel Marquez changing places with Nonito Donaire.
Adrien Broner’s latest win impressed many voters. (Getty)
The interesting battle, though, was for 10th, which Carl Froch has held since May. Froch, the IBF super middleweight champion, stopped Yusef Mack in the third round of a dominant performance on Nov. 17, doing his part to keep his ranking.
But lightweight Adrien Broner and super bantamweight Abner Mares are closing the gap fast. Each had extraordinarily impressive wins ? Broner stopped Antonio DeMarco in the eighth to win the WBC lightweight title, while Mares decisioned Anselmo Moreno to retain his belt ? and suddenly are worthy of serious consideration for the Top 10.
I’ve been voting for Froch in 10th, but changed my opinion in light of Mares’ solid win over Moreno, a highly skilled and vastly underrated opponent. Froch lost his biggest fight, to No. 2 Andre Ward, in one-sided manner. Mares’ won his going away, beating back a serious challenge.
Mares has also been on a great roll. In addition to Moreno, he’s racked up quality wins over Joseph Agbeko (twice), Eric Morel and Vic Darchinyan.
Broner also made a statement with his win over DeMarco. He clearly is talented enough not only to make the Top 10, but to be one of its fixtures near the top. But the issue from Broner’s standpoint is that DeMarco was the best opponent he’s faced by far. He doesn’t have the depth of quality opposition that either Froch or Mares have.
Though I went with Mares over Froch, the 28 who voted in the poll this month went for Froch by a solid margin. My own vote was, in order, for Floyd Mayweather Jr., Andre Ward, Manny Pacquiao, Sergio Martinez, Nonito Donaire, Juan Manuel Marquez, Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko, Timothy Bradley and Abner Mares.
With that, here are the latest Yahoo! Sports boxing top 10 rankings:
Mayweather
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr. Points: 373 (22 of 28 first-place votes) Record: 43-0 (26 KOs) Title: WBA super welterweight champion Last outing: W12 over Miguel Cotto on May 5 Previous ranking: 1 Up next: Nothing scheduled Analysis: Still has yet to indicate plans for resumption of career
Ward
2. Andre Ward Points: 232 (1 of 28 first-place votes) Record: 26-0 (14 KOs) Title: WBA, WBC super middleweight champion Last outing: TKO 10 Chad Dawson on Sept. 8 Previous ranking: 2 Up next: Likely Jan. 26 vs. Kelly Pavlik Analysis: Clearly the heir apparent to title of best boxer in the world
Pacquiao 3. Manny Pacquiao Points: 226 (5 of 28 first-place votes) Record: 54-4-2 (38 KOs) Title: None Last outing: L12 to No. 8 Timothy Bradley Previous ranking: 3 Up next: Dec. 8 vs. No. 5 Juan Manuel Marquez Analysis: Vows he will knock out Marquez, which he desperately needs
Martinez4. Sergio Martinez Points: 213 Record: 50-2-2 (28 KOs) Title: WBC middleweight champion Last outing: W12 Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. on Sept. 15 Previous ranking: 4 Up next: Likely against Martin Murray in 2013 Analysis: Still an amazing athlete at age 37
Marquez 5. Juan Manuel Marquez Points: 157 Record: 54-6-1 (39 KOs) Title: None Last outing: W12 Sergey Fedchenko on April 14 Previous ranking: 6 Up next: Dec. 8 vs. No. 3 Manny Pacquiao Analysis: A convincing win over Pacquiao is his aim
Donaire
6. Nonito Donaire Jr. Points: 149 Record: 30-1 (19 KOs) Title: IBF, WBO super bantamweight champion Last outing: TKO9 over Toshiaki Nishioka on Oct. 13 Previous ranking: 5 Up next: Dec. 15 vs. Jorge Arce Analysis: One of sport’s most complete fighters
W. Klitschko
7. Wladimir Klitschko Points: 91 Record: 59-3 (51 KOs) Title: IBF, WBA, WBO heavyweight champion Last outing: W12 over Mariusz Wach on Nov. 10 Previous ranking: 7 Up next: TBA Analysis: Looking unbeatable
Bradley
8. Timothy Bradley Points: 67 Record: 29-0 (12 KOs) Title: WBO welterweight champion Last outing: W12 over No. 3 Manny Pacquiao on June 9 Previous ranking: 8 Up next: TBA Analysis: Strangely quiet
V. Klitschko
9. Vitali Klitschko Points: 41 Record: 45-2 (41 KOs) Title: WBC heavyweight champion Last outing: TKO 4 over Manuel Charr on Sept. 8 Previous ranking: 9 Up next:TBA Analysis: Still dominant at age 41
Bute
10. Carl Froch Points: 39 Record: 30-2 (22 KOs) Title: IBF super middleweight champion Last outing: TKO5 Lucian Bute on May 26 Previous ranking: 10 Up next: TKO3 Yusef Mack on Nov. 17 Analysis: Continues to fight, and beat, highly ranked opponents
Others receiving votes: Miguel Cotto, 19; Abner Mares, 16; Adrian Broner, 12; Chris John, 4; Guillermo Rigondeaux, 3; Gennady Golovkin, 2; Roman Gonzalez, 2; Brian Viloria, 2.
