By Cliff Rold
With the significant results for the year tallied, and the anticipation for 2010 already building, this marks the final look at the top fighters in the sport for this year.
Not much has changed since Manny Pacquiao’s Welterweight win over Miguel Cotto provided the last shake up, but there has been enough in December to merit some shifts in the ratings. While others move, only one departs.
Exiting the top ten is Cotto. It is no insult to Cotto. The Puerto Rican star has faced a tougher field of comp over the last few years than almost anyone in the sport and deserves full credit for it, but the reality is he has also taken full punishment in the ring. Resume does not, in this case, overcome the combination of the performances of another and two brutal stoppage losses in Cotto’s last four fights.
The focal point remains the top two slots. The clock is ticking and the world will know soon enough whether Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather comes together on March 13, 2010 or not. If the answer is no, it will only mean postponing the inevitable…and probably milking a few extra dollars as the want to see them do battle grows to rabid levels.
Until they lock horns, it’s highly unlikely anyone climbs higher than third. In a sport which manages to field a top ten in seventeen weight classes, that’s not so bad.
These are the Boxing Scene Pound for Pound ratings.
1) Manny Pacquiao (50-3-2, 38 KO)
Age: 30
Current Titles: WBO Welterweight (147 lbs.); World Junior Welterweight (140 lbs.)
Career Titles: World Flyweight/112 lb. champion (1998-99); World Featherweight/126 lb. champion (2003-2005); World Jr. Lightweight/130 lb. champion (2008); additional alphabelts at 112, 122, 130, and 135 lbs.
Last Five Opponents: Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya, David Diaz, Juan Manuel Marquez
Next Opponent: TBA
The Take: This is Pacquiao’s spot to lose and Mayweather’s to take. Some would say take back, but unlike Pacquiao, Mayweather never made the demands on the top slot Pacquiao has. Mayweather sort of inherited it based on past accomplishment and visible talent as Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones faded from their peaks, later strengthening his position with a solid 2006-07 campaign. Conversely, Pacquiao has become nothing short of a phenomenon. His knockout win over Miguel Cotto on November 14, 2009, gave him a title claim in his record seventh weight class from Flyweight to Welterweight from ages 19-30. It adds more shine to a resume which featured a record fourth lineal World championship after Pacquiao’s May drubbing of Ricky Hatton. He skipped two classes, Jr. Bantamweight and Bantamweight, altogether. In six of seven classes, Lightweight excluded, he defeated either the perceived best man in class or someone with a strong claim to the top, defeating three easy future Hall of Famers in Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez at Featherweight and Jr. Lightweight. Once upon a time, Jimmy McLarnin and Tony Canzoneri were able to compete with world class talent across a similar scale variance. That was over seventy years ago. Roberto Duran did it in more recent vintage and Tommy Hearns started bigger but also played huge spreads. Only all-time greats have ever done what Pacquiao is doing right now. Readers may draw what conclusions they will from that.
2) Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 KO)
Age: 32
Current Title: None
Career Titles: World Jr. Lightweight champion (1998-2001); World Lightweight champion (2002-04); World Welterweight/147 lbs. (2007-09); additional alphabelts at 130, 135, 140, 147 & 154 lbs.
Last Five Opponents: Juan Manuel Marquez, Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya, Carlos Baldomir, Zab Judah
Up Next: TBA
My Take: Mayweather has taken so many lumps for his choices of opposition over the last few years that the general quality has become underrated. The underwhelming 2003-05 run was a disappointing waste of prime, but most his last five wins have come against good, sometimes very good, if not great opposition. It’s really the story of his career, even when he was fighting some beasts at 130 and 135 lbs. There’s a lot of good, even some very good, which make the picture of a great fighter, but Mayweather has lacked most what lays before him. In Manny Pacquiao, he has an undeniably great opponent. As good as Marquez has been from Featherweight through Lightweight, he didn’t fit that bill in a Welterweight fight. Pacquiao has proven he does. Mayweather’s accomplishments already make him a Hall of Famer, with genuine World championships at 130, 135 and 147 lbs. along with belts at 140 and 154. Now he has the sort of dance partner who can push his legacy towards the levels which Mayweather would claim he’s already reached. He’ll enter with advantages in defensive technique, height, and reach while probably giving up a hair in speed and certainly in power. It’s a perfect match-up for Mayweather and for the boxing world.
3) Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KO)
Age: 38
Current Title: WBA Welterweight
Career Titles: World Welterweight (2000-02); World Junior Middleweight (2003-04); Additional Alphabelt at Lightweight
Last Five Opponents: Antonio Margarito, Ricardo Mayorga, Miguel Cotto, Luis Collazo, Fernando Vargas (twice)
Next Opponent: January 30, 2010 vs. Andre Berto (25-0, 19 KO)
The Take: Shane Mosley can’t be blamed if his mind wanders already to some late date in 2010, to a moment when he might be able to snare a shot at the winner of Pacquiao-Mayweather. For his sake, he’d better not let it wander when next he steps in the ring. Andre Berto is a more serious threat than most realize, the first man Mosley has faced in years who will be markedly quicker of hand and young enough to have something to prove. It’s the sort of challenge Mosley has gained a reputation for and the perfect opportunity to get his career back on track after finding himself shelved for almost all of 2009 following a career re-defining victory over Antonio Margarito.
4) Paul Williams (38-1, 27 KO)
Age: 28
Current Title: None
Career Titles: Two alphabelt reigns at Welterweight
Last Five Opponents: Sergio Martinez, Winky Wright, Verno Phillips, Andy Kolle, Carlos Quintana (twice)
Next Opponent: TBA
The Take: Williams continues to find new ways to impress. In his last outing, he was hurt badly and dropped at the end of the first round and yet found a way, a will, to win by night’s end even if the scoring of the fight left the verdict with a less than ‘official’ feel. That the fight with Sergio Martinez took place at all is just as impressive. In a situation like what Williams found himself in, when a crack at World Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik fell apart, many a fighter would have looked for a placeholder opponent until the money fight could be resuscitated. Williams instead took on one of the elite Jr. Middleweights in the world and wound up in a Fight of the Year candidate. Few big names have had interest in Martinez just as few, once upon a time, had much interest in Antonio Margarito. Williams is building a big name by being the interested party and keeps passing tests. Avenging a loss? Williams came back from a decision defeat to stop Quintana in one round. Pushing aside the past? Williams became the first man to stop Phillips since the Reagan Administration and shut out Winky Wright. Now we’ve seen just how much heart he has in the Martinez war. He’s a fluid, exciting offensive fighter but lapses in defense could prove problematic if, in 2010, the heavy handed Pavlik ends up in the other corner as expected. If he can win there, he’s already said he’d be happy to do a rematch with Martinez. The one-time Welterweight (who still claims he can make it that far down the scale) is poised for a make or break year in terms of just how elite he will be.
5) Chad Dawson (29-0, 17 KO)
Age: 27
Current Title: None
Career Titles: Another Alphabelt at 175
Last Five Opponents: Antonio Tarver (twice), Glen Johnson (twice), Epifanio Mendoza, Jesus Ruiz, Tomasz Adamek
Next Opponent: TBA
The Take: This Light Heavyweight star in the making has put together an impressive run since toppling veteran Eric Harding in 2006. His win over Adamek was almost bell to bell control; Adamek has since established himself as the best Cruiserweight in the world and is now busting up Heavyweights. Johnson and Tarver give him wins over two recent, popular choices for Light Heavyweight champion of the World. Johnson was hell the first time around but Dawson showed his learning curve in a decisive technical victory in their November 2009 rematch. What Dawson has lacked is a compelling young opponent who can match his speed and play on his willingness to fight, sometimes to his own detriment. The Johnson rematch victory gave Dawson the interim WBC belt at 175. The full belt is held by the athletic and exciting Jean Pascal. Logically, the two would seem headed for a clash in 2010 and given the speed and willingness to battle both men have it should be a circled date on any boxing fan’s calendar.
6) Bernard Hopkins (50-5-1, 32 KO)
Age: 44 Years Young
Current Title: None
Career Titles: Ring Light Heavyweight/175 lb. titlist (2006-2008); World Middleweight/160 lb. Champion (2001-2005); Alphabelt titles at 160 lbs. from 1995-2005
Last Five Opponents: Enrique Ornelas, Kelly Pavlik, Joe Calzaghe, Winky Wright, Antonio Tarver
Next Opponent: TBA
The Take: After taking over a year off, Hopkins returned in December with a nice workout against the Middleweight Ornelas. It was supposed to be a shake the rust off moment as he prepared for a ‘generation in the making’ rematch with Roy Jones. Jones went and got dusted by Danny Green in Australia and Hopkins may just end up heading down under himself to face Green next. If so, it’s an interesting affair. Green is a better fighter than most realize, a fighter once expected to be a major player who had some bad luck, and a couple bad losses, at bad times. As another positive, Green’s also not a Middleweight, something Hopkins has faced in three of his five fights since moving to Light Heavyweight. Hopkins slides to this slot (from third) if only because the men above him are seeking out the toughest challenges now rather than coasting on past accomplishment. In Dawson’s case, that means actively seeking Hopkins while Hopkins picks his spots. The only real ratings that matter come when a fighter is gone and Hopkins has shored those up. He’s one of the game’s living legends and he’s earned the right, from a business perspective, to whatever he wants. Heading into 2010, others have earned the right to move ahead of him until Hopkins (inevitably?) reminds the world again just why he’s so special in the first place.
7) Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KO)
Age: 36
Current Title: World Lightweight/135 lb. Champion (2008-Present)
Career Titles: Alphabet titles at 126, 130 lbs.
Last Five Opponents: Floyd Mayweather Jr., Juan Diaz, Joel Casamayor, Manny Pacquiao, Rocky Juarez
Next Opponent: TBA
The Take: It may seem unfair for Marquez to drop in the ratings after Mayweather, even if he gains a spot back after Pacquiao-Cotto. He made a bold move, challenged the scale, and lost to a man who probably beats him at any weight. Life, much less boxing, is not fair and the calendar has much to do with his fall on this chart. The list of men who moved up in middle age, took a bad loss, and returned to be champions is short for a reason. Shane Mosley, as noted, has done it but Marquez isn’t quite the same caliber athlete. History says his best days will be behind him, particularly faced with the speed of young Lightweights. He could prove the world wrong but he’ll need to do so to move back to where he was. As it stands, he is a testament to patience. A fighter who waited years for his first belt, still more for a chance to be a star, has gone from good fighter to Hall of Famer all since 2004. The loss to Mayweather cannot change that and a proposed match with former Jr. Welterweight champ Ricky Hatton could be a nice reminder for all.
8) Hozumi Hasegawa (28-2, 12 KO)
Age: 28
Current Title: WBC Bantamweight
Last Five Opponents: Alvaro Perez, Nestor Rocha, Vusi Malinga, Alejandro Valdez, Cristian Faccio
Next Opponent: TBA
My Take: The old saying goes that punchers are born, not made. How then to explain the explosions coming from the fists of Japan’s Hasegawa, the world’s premiere 118 lb. warrior? For the fifth fight in a row, Hasegawa sent his opponent home early. To Alvaro Perez’s credit, he lasted longer than the four men before him, making it all the way into round four before being flattened. It’s not that his opponents have been world beaters. They have merely been good, solid professionals for the most part but two of them (Rocha and Malinga) had never been stopped. Hasegawa did both challengers in the first round. It’s an exciting turn for a fighter who looked like a win-by-work rate sort when he defeated the excellent Veeraphol Sahaprom for his belt in 2005. The way Hasegawa is dispatching of foes speaks to a fighter who, with ten title defenses under his belt, has reached the peak of his powers. The scuttlebutt has Hasegawa moving out of the Bantamweight division, with one publication even citing a possible bout at against the world’s top Featherweight, WBA titlist Chris John. John, like Hasegawa, is a double digit title defender and a clash would be the rare all-Asia clash that gets the English speaking boxing world buzzing. No matter who he faces, Hasegawa has proven his talent is too great to be restricted only to Japan any longer. The world needs to see him and Hasegawa has earned to right to show the world what he’s got.
9) Timothy Bradley (25-0, 11 KO)
Age: 26
Current Title: WBO Jr. Welterweight
Career Titles: Additional alphabelt at Jr. Welterweight
Last Five Opponents: Lamont Peterson, Nate Campbell, Kendall Holt, Edner Cherry, Junior Witter
Next Opponent: TBA
My Take: The exit of Cotto from this list makes room for Bradley, the best active fighter in arguably boxing’s deepest pool of talent today. There are some divisions which struggle to field more than five real candidates for the top of the class. Jr. Welterweight has a top ten which isn’t big enough for all of the talent swimming around. Bradley burst from the pack in 2008 with an upset win, on the road, over the long avoided Brit Junior Witter to win the WBC belt. Since then, he’s only faced one fighter (Cherry) who would be considered a softer touch and through 2009, Bradley found ways to look better in each outing. He came off the floor to win a unification battle with Holt and was dominating veteran former Lightweight titlist Nate Campbell before an accidental cut shortened their affair in the third. Perhaps most impressive, Bradley bested the unbeaten Lamont Peterson while showing off a fully developed toolbox. Bradley began aggressively, dropping Peterson, and then met him in the trenches for sustained warfare as Peterson willed himself back into the fight. As Peterson got close, Bradley changed tactics again, moving and boxing to contain the affair. He has become a genuine jack of all trades, a combination of elite speed, footwork, defense, and offensive activity who reminds that the application of the sweet science need not be dull.
10) Ivan Calderon (33-0-1, 6 KO)
Age: 34
Current Title: World Jr. Flyweight/108 lb. Champion (2007-Present)
Career Titles: Additional alphabelts at 105 & 108 lbs.
Last Five Opponents: Rodel Mayol (twice), Hugo Cazares (twice), Nelson Dieppa, Juan Esquer, Ronald Barrera
Next Opponent: TBA
The Take: Sliding a couple of spots to ten after Bradley and Hasegawa’s closing efforts in 2009, there is a temptation to drop Calderon from the ratings altogether after a blasé year. Perhaps it wasn’t what it appeared. While the circumstances were controversial, Rodel Mayol followed two competitive affairs with Calderon (a technical draw and loss, both shortened by cuts) with a win over the 108 lb. division’s longest reigning titlist, Edgar Sosa. Hugo Cazares, since his second loss to Calderon in 2008, has emerged as a serious force at 115 lbs. Arguably the best pure boxer of the decade, Calderon is certainly aging but his highest profile fights yet could be coming together in 2010. A showdown with fellow 2000 Olympian and IBF titlist Brian Viloria could, probably will, happen and give Calderon his biggest stage to date. Already an impressive 17-0-1 in title fights, Viloria as win number eighteen would only add to the most impressive little man career outside Asia since Ricardo Lopez ruled the bottom of the scale.
Five More Who Could Easily Be Here: Chris John, Nonito Donaire, Arthur Abraham, Miguel Cotto, Celestino Caballero
Five More Who Could Be Here Shortly: Andre Ward, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Andre Berto, Roman Gonzalez, Sergio Martinez
As always, feel free to agree…and disagree. This list is for entertainment purposes only and based purely on imagination, hypotheticals and conjecture just like every other pound for pound list ever written. Neither it nor any other such list made up of such illusory ingredients should be used to forward corporate agendas of any kind.
That doesn’t make it any less fun to argue about.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
Source: boxingscene.com
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