I was sitting here thinking to myself, "Man, P4P lists are kinda silly, because like, just having Vitali Klitscko and Manny Pacquiao on the same list is so extreme, they will never fight, so it's hard to imagine what it would be like if they were the same height and weight and stuff."

Then I thought "You know what would be useful? A P4P list of surrounding weight classes..because most fighters move up at least one weight class from the one they start in."

So, what would you top#10 look like if you combined the weight classes like so? Feel free to include explanations if you'd like.
Listed in pounds.

Flyweight P4P: 105-112
Bantamweight P4P: 113-118
Featherweight P4P: 119-126
Lightweight P4P: 127-135
Welterweight P4P: 136-147
Middleweight P4P: 148-160
Light Heavyweight P4P: 161-175
Heavyweight P4P: 176+

I'm withholding my opinion for now, because I' m pretty sure I'd be dead wrong about anything below 135lbs.

I was originally going to e-mail this to Scott, but I figured 'man, why not get everybody in on the fun?'

I write for Boxing World Magazine which is published out of Ohio and has been around for quite some time. It comes out quarterly and is a neat mag. Tom Huff is the editor.Twenty dollars per all 4 editions. It does not try to compete with The Ring but stands on its own independent thrust.

That disclaimer out of the way, there are very few other boxing mags out there. Of course, The Ring is the main one. Some of the posts on a recent thread stated that The Ring was now pretty much irrelevant. I will say this, if you go to a Barns and Nobel magazine section, you will likely find a host of UFC/MMA magazines but no boxing ones. Given the internet, that's not very surprising.

So the question is this: Do you find The Ring relevant or irrelevant given some of the recent content therein? And also given the recent change in ownership?

These may be leading questions and if so, interpret the issue any way you want.

What can we say about the Bantamweight and Super Bantamweight division? Stacked, difficult, talented, one of the best in boxing; all of the above apply in this regard. And for one star fighter in that weight division it's been sort of an inconclusive narrative about just how much better he is compared to the obvious talent around him. Nonito Donaire stole our attention when he knocked out Fernando Montiel. Boxing writers and fans were ready to put him on the pound for pound list that night because he dispatched the former champion in such a way that gave the perfect combination of brutality and poetry. He left Montiel flopping and floundering about on the canvas like a fish out of water; his introduction onto the boxing stage was a knock out on HBO.

But since then Donaire, who is the 4th best pound for pound fighter in the world, although I would move Andre Ward ahead of him based on resume alone, Donaire hasn't really had that follow up performance to match what he did to Montiel early last year. So far in fact his competition hasn't really gotten all that better either. Whether its a true flyweight like Omar Narvaez, or Cristian Mijares, his opponents aren't the names people want to see him fight. No one questions Donaire's talent, and I think it's a joke whenever fans or writers question the talent of a fighter because that fighter doesn't fight the second or third best guy in his division. There are plenty of factors that go into play when it comes to why or why won't a fighter face certain opponents.

However in Nonito Donaire's case he simply refuses to fight Guillermo Rigondeaux for whatever reason, although Donaire cites Riggy's lack of name recognition and drawing potential. Now we all know Guillermo is the second best Super Bantamweight in the world and some see him as the number one in that division. He's a late blooming amateur legend who hits hard, has speed, and is technically sound and intelligent. I don't see many around his weight beating him right now but that isn't to say he can't be beaten. So that brings me back to Nonito, there are several questions one must ask:

-Are the likes of Abner Mares, Anselmo Moreno, and Guillermo Rigondeaux catching up with the Filipino Flash?

-Did We hop on the Donaire Bandwagon Too Soon After the Montiel Fight? (Rating him above Andre Ward, Juan Manuel Marquez, Tim Bradley)

-Is Donaire Still the best at His Weight?

All important questions that need answers from Nonito. I never doubted his talent or his place among the very best at 118 and 120lbs, but at some point he'll have to face those elite names like Mares, Moreno, and Rigondeaux in order to separate himself from the pack. To be honest if I were to list the top Bantamweights and Super Bantamweights in the world right now, without looking at their resumes and focusing on projection and talent alone I would rate them in the following order:

Guillermo Rigondeaux

Nonito Donaire

Anselmo Moreno

Abner Mares

Toshiaki Nishioka

Jorge Arce

Shinsuke Yamanaka

Joseph Agbeko

Vic Darchinyan

Rico Ramos

One of the things we see in boxing is the climate of doubt on the part of many fighters who would otherwise take on equal opponents if not for the added pressure of avoiding a loss. One of the things I like about mma and the UFC in particular is their focus on actual fights rather than the need to focus on the record of their star fighters. Whether the fighter is undefeated or on a hot streak, promoters like Bob Arum are deathly afraid of someone with equally talent coming along and beating one of his fighters. Today it's more about the record than who you fought and that has taken a lot of the wind out of the sails in our great sport.

Hearns, Hagler, Duran, and Leonard, all equally great, all fought each other, all four in the Hall of Fame and all four of their legacies were elevated because they all fought each other. Holyfield, Lewis, Tyson, they all fought each other, Ali, Frazier, Foreman, they all fought each other, Barrera, Morales, Marquez, and Pacquiao, they all fought each other. These fights create superstars because they validate the fighter in ways a routine match up cannot. It's not a pox on the house of Donaire is he should face either of the big names in his division and lose. There's nothing wrong with losing to equal greatness or skill. Manny Pacquiao lost to Erik Morales and yet look where both men are today. Morales went on a late career tear, won a title and further proved his place as one of the great Mexican fighters of all time. As for Pacquiao well, the rest is history.

I hope Rigondeaux and Donaire share the ring sometime before the year is out. I mean yes I believe Riggy would beat him but there's nothing wrong with losing to a guy who in the grand scheme of things is in that same exclusive club of "The Fantastic Four": Donaire, Rigondeaux, Mares, and Moreno. i don't see anyone coming along and beating any of those guys because they are the four best Bantam and Super Bantamweights in the world bar none. A few weeks ago I mentioned Barry McGuigan and his man crush Carl Frampton, Frampton couldn't hang with those four guys, neither could Scott Quigg or Rendall Munroe. That's not to say Quigg, Munroe, and Frampton aren't capable of beating the other world level 118 and 120 pounders, but I wouldn't give them much of a chance against the little "big" four.

HOWLkins

A self-paean, spontaneously generatedby Bernard Hopkins on April 23rd, 2012

I’m here to answer some questions.

So I’m not going to get into a dog and cat fight and I ain’t the cat.

At the end of the day,

I really don’t have too much to say

but this is protocol.

But right now it’s too much for me to say.

The only thing I want to do is this show.

Whoever can make it, make it.

Whoever don’t, don’t, but it will be on TV.

Because I’m a legend.

Just watch what the establishment might do

because there’s another person that will want to …

a list of so many young fighters and we never saw them again.

Some ran into the trees

understand what I’m up against.

And when you understand

that for years and years and years of my career,

I don’t think as far as you all do.

I know where to think

and I know where to cut it off.

I just want to lay the platform out there

for everybody who’s on the air

listening that I understand

that you have to dig in the bag of tricks

or a rabbit out of the hat,

because it’s what else are you going to ask me?

I will see a rabbit out of a hat.

So you got to find these things to create what, a conversation.

You’re going to want to come up and shake my hand

and tell me how great I am.

And that’s when I’m going to say, “Thank you,” and go home and sleep in my bed

that I haven’t been in for nine weeks.

if I was any other fighter, from top to bottom,

it would be already there before you know the next move.

The next move would’ve not been even a question of where that person would go, where that fighter would go.

But see, I didn’t already establish a lot of things

that you can’t really see

things will be great and dandy after this fight

because they’ll find an excuse to say,

“Well Chad Dawson wasn’t.”

There’s one thing everybody on this line can understands and knows;

But when it comes to me, I guess the predictors; they know what my track record is.

They know what my track record is.

I don’t have to repeat that.

I don’t have to repeat that.

I’ll just say we’re on the countdown right now, and any other

sticky coat questions or scenarios.

I’ll just continue to kick the naysayer’s ass

in and out of the ring,

because that’s the task

that I’ve always been up against.

you’re dealing with Bernard Hopkins.

You’re dealing with Bernard Hopkins.

There is no home court advantage

for Bernard Hopkins.

A lot of us want to be a lot of things

that we can’t be yet or never.

That’s the game changer, and instead of

six, five, four, three, two, one or

even up to eight, nine, ten and 11,

that’s the game changer

The rules are different for me, man.

The rules are different.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, I’m too much of a veteran to go for that okie doke.

There’s a game out of the ring.

I hear the whispers.

I hear the whispers.

It’s all a game.

Why do you think I’ve been quiet?

Because to be quiet, until this media phone conference—

because if I don’t say anything

and I don’t do anything

then they can’t accuse me and charge me,

“Well you know, Bernard, witness here.”

Tell your granddaughter, your grandson,

your kids for the older guys,

you’ll miss what you took for granted when time gone.

I’m gonna rewrite the book.

I’m gonna rewrite the book.

So I’m trying to eliminate a monster

let the cat out of the bag since we kind of close.

It’s not a crime. It’s very unique, I would say.

It’s very strange in a good way,

if strange can be mentioned in a good thing.

So they rely on other excuses

to downplay Bernard Hopkins’ uniqueness

I have been on the road but I recently saw this piece on another site. I quote, in part from Robert Ecksel who writes about a recent Ring Mag article klisting the best middleweights of all time:

"...There’s nothing wrong with Sturm and Abraham, per se, except for the fact that they no sooner belong on the list than does my proctologist.

"The inclusion of Sturm and Abraham suggests—I can’t bring myself to use the word means—The Ring believes they are greater middleweights than Jake LaMotta, Charley Burley, Sugar Ray Leonard, Bob Fitzsimmons, Dick Tiger, Mickey Walker, Thomas Hearns, Marcel Cerdan, Roy Jones Jr., James Toney…and the list goes on.

According to The Ring, the top-10 greatest middleweights of all time are:

1. Bernard Hopkins (1995-2005) 2. Carlos Monzon (1970-1977) 3. Marvin Hagler (1980-1987) 4. Harry Greb (1923-1926) 5. Stanley Ketchel (1908-1910) 6. Ray Robinson (1951-52/1955-57/1958-60) 7. Felix Sturm (2003-04/2006/2007-present) 8. Les Darcy (1915-1916) 9. Gene Fullmer (1957) 10. Arthur Abraham (2005-2009)"

As I have often stated. many young writers today simply don't write within the context of boxing history. Reportedly this one was written by an esteemed (1) member of the BWAA.

What is your reaction to tne list?

I will refrain (for now) from stating mine for fear of being banned by Scot :)

I used to love to root against Floyd. I never denied his brilliance in the ring but I believed very strongly at one time that we would see Floyd exploited once he went up in weight against broader, bigger, and stronger opponents. I wagered against him twice. One was his fight with De La Hoya. I figured the bigger Oscar would start to carry the fight from round 7 onward with a brutish strategy designed to hurt a smaller man and, as a result, win it with a SD.

The other lost wager was when I picked Shane Mosley to win. I even held out for the chance that Mosley could win from a flash knockdown or even a knockout. Even with hindsight, that possibility wasn't out of the question. While it nearly happened in round 2 of their fight from a Mosley righthand, Mayweather just proved to be too much and by the later rounds, Mosley was a whipped fighter.

Putting aside Mayweather's antics and personality, the guy -- even at age 35 -- operates on a different level than most fighters. He is clearly the best fighter out there. His remarkable defense and ring intelligence often neutralizes his opponent's strengths to the point they are entirely ineffective by the middle rounds. Meanwhile, he's beating them to the punch, landing combos, along with several very underrated straight rights -- the kind that quickly close up eyes. That point was illustrated against a youthful and strong, Victor Ortiz -- a big-bodied welterweight. Even before the controversial knockout, Ortiz was already showing the signs of early punishment from cleanly landed Mayweather punches.

Continue reading this post »

4/24/2012

(http://espn.go.com/boxing/story/_/id/7850840/alfonso-gomez-forced-fight-vs-jessie-vargas-back-spasms

Gomez is out with back spasms, ho'pefully we hear a replacement announcement by vthe end of the week.)

I just found this video online and thought i'd share it here as a way to hype what i think will be the fight of the night on May 5th. Theres no date for when the sparring took place, my best guess is today.

Mike Alvarado and Alfonso Gomez sparring

Alfonso Training

A l f o n s o G o m e z - J e s s i e V a r g a s will open what i see and hope will be a great night of fights and our moneys worth.

Poll

whats your predictions for this one?

33%

Vargas By KO/TKO

3 votes

33%

Vargas By Decision

3 votes

11%

Gomez By KO/TKO

1 votes

22%

Gomez By Decision

2 votes

0%

Draw

0 votes

9 votes | Poll has closed

Lets just say I heard some things. But, "I ain't one to gossip so you didn't hear this from me" - Miss Jenkins. Anybody see ZAB end any talk about the "up and coming Vernon Paris Hilton" He outclassed him from the opening bell. I watched it from the 3rd row in Brooklyn within an earshot of the movers and shakers at Main Events who he is signed with. Right after the first round which ended with a bone crushing combo on Paris Hilton, it was obvious Vernon wasn't ready. The people in front of me began mentioning the urgency of his contract extension with Main Events beyond this summers' expiration. Now, here it gets interesting. I also know that BOB ARUM is interested in signing ZAB for a fight with Marquez. Marquez wants to fight a "lefty".He wants to fight at 140. He is at the end of his career and wants to fight again very soon. If Marquez finally shows his age, and Zab is clearly victorious,it leads to a big momentum swing behind ZAB to fight another big Bob Arum fighter. Pac anyone? If Marquez wins, it paves a path to Pac man Marquez 4. Either way, dont say I didn't tell you first. BOB ARUM IS SIGNING ZAB JUDAH TO FIGHT MARQUEZ.

Since there is no post up yet on Mayweather/Cotto 24/7, I am forced to start a FanPost about this all by itself:

Continue reading this post »

This is from BoxAnne, but she's having trouble posting FanPosts at the moment so I'm giving it a shot for her. - Scott

Once again we're all appalled at the travesty that last night's had-to-be-corrupt judging of Abril vs Rios clearly was. For starters, I've collected the NSAC contact info so those interested in protesting the decision to them can do so. I know I'm too tired to do so till tomorrow, wouldn't blame anyone for being too damn tired of the whole thing to do it at all, but we have seen it work, especially in cases when heavy-hitters like Rafael are making suicidal remarks over a decision. Because the commissions are named by the governors, I've included the Governor of Nevada, Brian Sandoval's info too. You could just write one letter, send to both addresses, no need for two compositions.

NEVADA STATE ATHLETIC COMMISSION
555 E. WASHINGTON AVENUE, SUITE 3200
LAS VEGAS, NV 89101
TELEPHONE (702) 486-2575
FACSIMILE (702) 486-2577

http://boxing.nv.gov/ for e-mail form. Suggest writing "To the attention of Keith Kizer, the current executive director.

Governor Brian Sandoval's contact e-mail is http://gov.nv.gov/contact/governor/

I'm going to repeat these addresses as the first comment, as they won't link from a fanpost, oddly.

Let's get over our exhaustion for the sake of our sport, and tilt at windmills again. Sometimes it works, worth a try. Better than whinging away amongst ourselves.