My British Pound for Pound Top Five
Pound for pound rankings are a great thing. To me they are a contstant source of interest as I always enjoy seeing people's interpretations of which out of two boxers is the better, regardless of whether they weigh 200 or 106 pounds. Everyone has a different way of making their lists, some like to imagine what would happen if Ivan Calderon was a middleweight and whether or not he would beat Kelly Pavlik, others prefer to look solely at resumes. Some allow their personal feelings about fighter's entertainment levels and conduct outside of the ring to alter their views, often letting rationality leave them at such moments. However regardelss of how you make your p4p ranking it is still valid due the subjective nature of such a list and that is what makes these imaginary ratings and recognitions so great.
Now, boring introduction aside, I fancied making a British top five pound for pound list and here it is. Please post your own, or any quibbles you may have with mine.
Number 1- David Haye
I really wasn't sure about putting Haye at number one but really that was more to do with the fact that I don't like him than that he doesn't deserve it. Firstly he won the WBA and WBC cruiserweight titles from Mormeck who was ranked as the number one cruiserweight in the world by the Ring Magazine at the time via a 7th round TKO. Then he went on to unify against Maccarinelli by knocking him out in the second. After this he beat Barret and looked less than fantastic doing it, and won a heavyweight title from Valuev. I firmly believe that his best accomplishments are at cruiserweight but also see him as relatively very skilled and possibly promising in the division of giants.
Number 2- Carl Froch
Carl has good wins over Pascal and Taylor and a highly questionable win over Andre Dirrell. He is also slow and sloppy but it's hard for me to ignore big wins over talented fighters so it's only fair that he gets the number two slot. He has good power and a tough chin, plus he has massive heart and impressive will. Good for him!
Number 3- Ricky Hatton
He's done big things in the past, becoming the undisputed Junior Welterweight champion and his only two losses coming against p4p champions of the world. It was hard for me not to put him higher as he has arguably achieved more in his career than Froch or Haye however I am punishing inactivity here. Hatton hasn't fought in nearly a year whereas Froch is in the super six and Haye had a couple of heavyweight fights and has a fight with Ruiz lined up.
Number 4- Amir Khan
He is extremely talented and is improving in leaps and bounds under the tutelage of Freddie Roach. He has captured a title and embarrassed a frankly unworthy challenger. His boxing is great, his speed fantastic, his chin astoundingly bad. Right now he is a good bit below the three above him but a good chunk above those beneath him and I think it'll be staying that way for a while.
Number 5- Ryan Rhodes
Rhodes partook in an excellent fight with Jamie Moore for a European title and is perhaps the tenth best light middleweight in the world.
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Nice one - good to see a UK P4P up here
Funny things P4P lists, though, aren’t they? I mean, an exactly 2X scaled up version of any Flyweight champ would beat the shit out of any Heavyweight champ – they’d have so many strength and speed advantages it wouldn’t even be a contest. But that’s not what they’re about really, is it? It’s more complex and subtle than that, and much more subjective. Personally, I’d have Khan above Hatton; not for what he’s done, but what he could do. I’d also think about Cleverly or Brook or Mitchell in there, maybe…
Gotta love P4P lists!
Here is mine (expanded to ten). I view P4P rankings as equal parts resume and my view of their overall talent/skill level.
1) Carl Froch
2) David Haye
3) Amir Khan
4) Ricky Hatton
5) Nathan Cleverly
6) Darren Baker
7) Ryan Rhodes
8) Matthew Macklin
9) Kevin Mitchell
10) Ola Afolabi
Very good list
"If you sit there and watch a person take about an hour to tie his shoestrings, then you realize that whatever problems you got ain't that significant"
---Vernon Forrest 2006
by The Midnight Rambler on Dec 20, 2009 2:16 PM EST up reply actions
Out of intertest
why have you placed Amir Khan above Ricky Hatton?
"Honey i forgot to duck" - Jack Dempsey
by Drunken cutman on Dec 20, 2009 4:19 PM EST up reply actions
Just for kicks, I’ll throw one in:
1. Carl Froch
2. David Haye
3. Ricky Hatton
4. Amir Khan
5. Nathan Cleverly
6. Kevin Mitchell
7. Darren Barker
8. Ola Afolabi
9. Jonathan Murray
10. Ryan Rhodes
Bad Left Hook
"If bulls**t was poetry, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini's name would be Shakespeare." -- Dennis Rappaport
Drop Froch to #4,
and stick Kell Brook in at 8, and that’d be my list.
Boxing is the beginning of all sports. I'm willing to bet that the first sport was a man against another man in a fight. (Omar Epps)
No Macklin?
I’d probably have Macklin at #5.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
I’m not terribly crazy about him, though I like him. I think Barker takes him down if they make that fight (and I really hope they do).
Bad Left Hook
"If bulls**t was poetry, Ray 'Boom Boom' Mancini's name would be Shakespeare." -- Dennis Rappaport
Here is my top 15 which i posted on another site a couple of week back
1 Haye
2 Froch
3 Khan
4 Hatton
5 Cleverley
6 Mitchell
7 Murray
8 Macklin
9 Witter
10 Brook
11 Rhodes
12 Moore
13 Barker
14 Munroe
15 Rees

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