My Updated Top Ten Pound for Pound Fighters

by Matt Miller on Dec 11, 2006 2:47 AM EST in Boxing News Analysis

Scott is soon going to assemble an overall Bad Left Hook pound-for-pound top ten list. I thought I would go ahead and offer my personal take on it now since there aren't any more fights that will affect the list this year. Look for the overall list with all of the Bad Left Hook contributors' combined rankings soon.

Follow me below the fold for my personal list with comments on each boxer.

1. Floyd Mayweather Jr.

His punching accuracy is unparalleled. His speed is rivaled only by Mosley at his best. As a result of his family background, he has the ring intelligence of a much older boxer. He's strong enough to maintain some authority at 147. And he's unbeaten. The opposition he has faced is underrated, his only recent lackluster opponent being Sharmba Mitchell. Retirement bullshit aside, he has signed the biggest fight of his career and his toughest challenge yet in De la Hoya. Mayweather is lucky that character is not a criteria in P4P lists. But it it's not.

2. Manny Pacquiao

Pacquiao is the most exciting fighter in the sport, coming off the most impressive win of his career. His trilogy with Morales has already been enshrined as one of the greatest rivalries of all time. Incredible speed, even more incredible power, and ever-improving ring savvy. Roach has done his job. Pacquiao has done his. It's a great thing for the sport when its most beloved figure in the world is also one of the top three pound-for-pound best.

3. Winky Wright

Like Mayweather and Pac-man, Wright has sealed his status as one of the top pound-for-pound boxers in the world with a recent dominating win. Winky Wright has the most effective defense in the sport. He also has the best chin of any boxer in my P4P list, and may be second only to James Toney in this regard among elite fighters. He is also one of the sport's hardest trainers and has incredible endurance. Of all of my top ten P4P fighters, I believe he has had the best career opposition. I will never bet money against Winky Wright.

After that, it gets harder.

4. Marco Antonio Barrera

Eight time world champion Barrera ought to be on everyone's P4P list. I agree that he may be rounding the bend as a fighter, but his last fight was a clinic against Juarez--not much more exciting, but also no less overwhelming than Mayweather's win against Baldomir. Another ring general of the highest order with a star-studded list of elite opponents, Barrera has the P4P distinction of giving his fans not one but two of boxing's great recent trilogies.

5. Jermain Taylor

With his dominating win over Kassim Ouma, Jermain Taylor replaces Joe Calzaghe at the number five spot. Nevertheless, if and when Taylor moves up in weight and they meet, I pick Calzaghe to win in a tremendously competitive match. Indeed, Taylor vs. Calzaghe is the fight I most want to see right now. Taylor's athleticism is the equal of any boxer in the sport and will allow him to dominate all but the very best. He has the strength, speed, and counter-punching ability to be an all time great. But early mistakes against Ouma suggest Taylor still has some maturing to do in terms of ring savvy.

6. Joe Calzaghe

Inarguably, the greatest European boxer in the sport today, Joe Calzaghe's undefeated record hides a somewhat questionable roster of opponents. Nevertheless, what he did to Lacy may have been the single most impressive fight of 2006. A strong, smotheringly aggressive boxer at the peak of his game, Calzaghe needs to fight someone like Kessler, Taylor, or Hopkins very soon.

7. Shane Mosley

Of opponents that he might actually fight, Shane Mosley probably has the best chance of beating Floyd Mayweather Jr. His rival in speed and perhaps even his superior in terms of putting together combinations, Shane Mosley has the talent to beat anyone, if he can bring his A-game. It remains to be seen if his crushing victory against Vargas was due more to a return of the old Shane Mosley or Vargas' continuing downward spiral.

8. Bernard Hopkins (but not as a heavy)

With Hopkins officially unretired and looking at a jump up to heavyweight, I'm bringing him back in at number eight. But it's hard to assess. If I must judge him as a P4P heavyweight, then he shouldn't be here, but if I judge him at the weight of his last fight, he makes it for sure. What hasn't already been said about B-hop? He is surely in the twilight of his career, but his last win was a doozy, and I won't send him off until he either loses or quits for good.

9. Miguel Cotto

With his "liver punch of the year" award firmly in tow, Miguel Cotto enters my P4P list for the first time at number nine. Many of us here at Bad Left Hook expected Quintana to give Cotto trouble, but Cotto completely outclassed him with both skill and strength. Indeed, Cotto may be the most powerful top ten puncher in this P4P, in relation to his weight. I am adding Cotto to the list despite the fact that he just moved up to 147. He was just that impressive. Compare this to Hatton's attempt against Collazo to move up. The least experienced boxer on my list, Cotto is the hottest young fighter going right now.

10. Oscar de la Hoya

Give Oscar his due. Look at the opposition he has faced. Look at his last fight. Look at his next fight. De la Hoya deserves to be in the top ten. I am putting him over Hatton because Hatton should continue to be categorized based on the weight he last fought at, and Hatton is not top ten P4P at 147. At 140, we can talk.

Honorable mentions: Hatton (as I just said), Israel Vasquez, Rafael Marquez, Castillo, and, in theory, Wonjonkam.

Tweet Comment 1 comment | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

P4P

Here's my P4P list. It hasn't really changed too much since I last put one up. Anyways, here goes:

Floyd Mayweather Jr: Finally beat the legit welterweight champion in Carlos Baldomir. Now I'm looking forward to his May 6th showdown with Oscar de la Hoya, which will undoubtedly be next year's biggest fight. Win or lose, it would be ridiculous for the Pretty Boy to retire (as he said he would do), since he's just started to carry his own weight in PPV events and is finally getting big paydays. There are so many big showdowns down the road that his retirement could only be percieved as a way to avoid them.
Manny Pacquiao: Like Mr. Miller said, he is the most exciting guy in boxing right now. Not only that, he won't shy away from anybody. He all but sent Erik Morales into retirement, scoring a very impressive early TKO. I would love to see him fight Juan Manuel Marquez next, in a somewhat belated rematch of their 2004 draw.
Winky Wright: He did his job against Ike Quartey (who, in addition to being well past-his-prime, was fighting a couple of divisions above his natural weight). Not to take anything away from Winky: Over the last four years, no one--except perhaps Pacquiao--has faced such a high level of opposition. After the Quartey fight, Winky said he wanted Oscar, but he'll obviously have to wait a while for that. I'd like to see him fight Taylor again. For the record: I had no problem with that fight being declared a draw (though I did think Winky handled himself poorly after the decision was announced). The reason Winky is above Taylor in my P4P rankings is because of his level of opposition and his career achievements at both 154 and 160.
Jermain Taylor: He unanimously outpointed Kassim Ouma, who turned out to be a pretty game opponent. With his 'homecoming' fight out of the way, I expect his next fight to be a big one. He too has never been one to shy away from anyone. If the Winky rematch can't be made, then I would love to see him fight Joe Calzaghe or Edison Miranda.
Marco Antonio Barrera: He was very impressive in his win against Juarez. Like Matt said, it was a clinic, much like the one he put on against Prince Naseem Hamed. After all the great wars Barrera has given us, I have no problem with him resolving to be a boxer-first from here on out. He hasn't been reserved in saying he wants a rematch with Manny Pacquiao, and I would love to see it (if Top Rank and Golden Boy can work it out, that is). And I wouldn't be surprised to see Barrera take a similar boxing-first approach against Pacquiao and beat him.
Rafael Marquez: Perhaps because he fights at a lesser weight class, he is the lesser known of the Marquez brothers. Nonetheless, this guy is a wrecking ball. I'd put him up there with Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto in terms of being the most exciting boxers to watch right now. I still think he needs a big fight in order to gain more recognition. No one seems to want to fight him, though. I would pay $44.95 to see him fight Israel Vasquez any day of the week.
Shane Mosley: What a performance against Vargas. Take a look at Mosley's career record, and you'll see he's faced as good an opposition as any other guy on this list. He's only lost to two guys in his career: Forrest and Wright (unfortunately, he lost to both of them twice). Now he's going back down to welterweight, where he was pretty much unstoppable. I thought he looked as good as ever against Vargas. He still had a lethal combination of power and speed. Unless he ages overnight, I think he's still got enought to make some noise. Look for him on February 10th against either Luis Collazo or Kermit Cintron.
Joe Calzaghe: Calzaghe is the only guy to slip on my list, and here's why: After years and years of relative anonymity, facing mandatory challengers and often pulling out of fights with injuries, Calzaghe finally had his coming out party against Jeff Lacy. It was one of the most dominant performances of last year, without a doubt. But what has he followed that up with? An okay performance against a less-than-worthy opponent in Sakio Bika (who he couldn't KO). And now he's slated to face Peter Manfredo Jr. in April. Does anyone actually think Manfredo has a chance? Personally, I don't even think he deserves the title shot. Whereas I don't see anyone calling out Rafael Marquez, I've seen several guys call out Calzaghe. But he hasn't seemed willing to come to the US and take the big fight just yet. In my eyes, he's still lacking that career-defining fight. Let's face it, Lacy--as highly regarded as he was--was a relatively inexperienced one-dimensional fighter. Next year, I would like to see Calzaghe fight any of these guys: Mikkel Kessler (which makes the most sense), Jermain Taylor, Bernard Hopkins, Winky Wright or Tomasz Adamek. I think may have enough talent to beat any of them, but until he does, he's at #8.
Jose Luis Castillo: It's been a while since we've seen him in the ring, but he'll finally be fighting next month on the Hatton-Urango undercard on HBO. Look for him to face Hatton at some point in late spring/early summer. If that fight happens, I would pick Castillo to win by KO. I think 2007 will be a big year for El Temible, especially since he won't have to starve to make 135 any longer.
Israel Vasquez: His performance against Jhonny Gonzalez might just be the comeback of the year. Like Rafael Marquez, I think Vasquez is still in need of a marquee fight: either a unification or a move to a different division. I'd love to see him fight either Daniel Ponce de Leon or Marquez himself.

My next five:

Oscar de la Hoya (it's hard to rate someone who's only fought once in the last two and a half years. A win against Mayweather would more than do it)

Miguel Cotto (he looked very, very impressive in his welterweight debut, and he's now a two-division champ. He is my favorite fighter in the world right now, but still, in my opinion, he too needs a marquee fight in order to be considered a top P4P guy. A fight against Margarito would definitely do it, and that seems to be in the works)

Ricky Hatton (a move back down to 140 doesn't vow too well for him, especially after the beating he took against Luis Collazo)

Jorge Arce (a colorful, multi-division champ with a hell of a lot of power. Very exciting guy to watch)

Ivan Calderon (he's going on ten straight title defenses, and he's still undefeated. He may be the slickest boxer out there right now, Mayweather included. I mean, I've hardly ever seen this guy lose a round. Nonetheless, in order to crack the P4P list, he needs to either unify the title or move up a weightclass)

Note: Both Bernard Hopkins and Acelino Freitas have announced their retirements. There has been talk about both of them wanting to come back, but until they sign a fight, I still consider them both to be retired.

by Kevin Gonzalez on Dec 13, 2006 6:24 PM EST reply actions