Out with the Old (Man): BScene’s Pound for Pound Top Ten
By Cliff Rold
What have you done versus what have you done lately?
In deciding how to weigh the various fighters across boxing’s seventeen weight classes there are all sorts of variables taken into account. Ultimately, they often come down to that simple question in determining who should be there at all.
Since defeating reigning Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik in October 2008, now 45-year old future Hall of Famer and genuine great Bernard Hopkins has floated from one pole to the other. He took over a year off after Pavlik, returning with a contest against fringe Middleweight Enrique Ornelas late last year and then signed for a rematch with Roy Jones Jr. despite Jones having been stopped in one round against Danny Green the same day as Hopkins-Ornelas.
The Jones rematch is in the books.
Hopkins won.
For now, Hopkins is coming out of the pound for pound top ten.
Anyone who saw the twelve rounds last Saturday is unlikely to argue. Hopkins had been given the benefit of the doubt for a while, his year long layoff overlooked where normally it would have removed his from the ranks. The benefit remained through Ornelas but, against Jones, Hopkins looked slower than he ever has, initiated a night full of fouls, and reacted terribly when suffering his own medicine in return.
It adds to a complicated measuring scale already in place. Since rising to Light Heavyweight in 2006, Hopkins has taken only one fight against a man who originates in that weight class. Pavlik and Winky Wright were Middleweights brought in at an awkward 170 lb. catchweight; Joe Calzaghe, who defeated Hopkins, was a Super Middleweight rising to the Light Heavyweight limit. To his credit, clearly Hopkins could say he was at least fighting some fantastic men from the divisions below.
There’s been nothing fantastic since.
Now, not only is Hopkins not fighting Light Heavyweights while campaigning there, he is not fighting genuine contenders. Jones, despite an elite name, entered not regarded as a top Light Heavyweight anymore. Were Hopkins younger it would probably all be measured differently but he isn’t younger and nature eventually has to win.
Because he’s Hopkins, there may yet be a final awe-inducing performance like Pavlik. Perhaps Hopkins will get interested in a fight with Chad Dawson; maybe he’ll lure Heavyweight David Haye into the fight Hopkins says he wants. It should be bet against. It is more likely that Hopkins has permanently reached the point where his pound-for-pound ratings are weighed exclusively against history’s greats. We’ll see.
Presently, Hopkins’s age, previous layoff, Ornelas, and Jones is enough to make room for someone else. In this case, it keeps one little man on the list and makes room for a fighter who, like Hopkins, set a title defense record in his primary weight class and managed a career redefining victory in his 30s.
These are the Boxing Scene Pound for Pound ratings.
1) Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KO)
Age: 31
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: Joshua Clottey, Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya, David Diaz
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: 33
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: May 1, 2010 vs. Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KO)
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 could have had an undeniably great opponent. Against a 39-year old Shane Mosley coming off a lengthy layoff, we’ll see. Being Mosley, an experienced pro who is never out of shape, one can presume he’ll still be one hell of a challenge. 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. Mosley gives him an opponent people have genuinely wanted to see him face for over a decade and, importantly, an opponent who his fans can point as every bit as impressive as those who have made up Pacquiao’s run.
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: May 1, 2010 vs. Floyd Mayweather (40-0, 25 KO)
The Take: It was supposed to be a unification contest in January with Andre Berto. Now, it’s something more. It’s everything Mosley could have asked for. On the heels of his mammoth knockout win of Antonio Margarito in early 2009, Mosley was the perceptual man at Welterweight. Inactivity, the rise of Pacquiao, and the man who briefly retired and vacated the lineal Welterweight crown without losing it, Mayweather, made his position tenuous. Mosley earned high regard with Margarito and string of mostly solid performances in a 7-1 run since a pair of losses to Winky Wright in 2004. It wasn’t entirely his fault that the fights he earned couldn’t get made last year. The Berto fight went away due in part to a natural disaster. Any other fighter, off for this long, likely falls out of the ratings. Mosley has a chance to say where he stays or goes of his own accord May 1.
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: May 8, 2010 vs. Kermit Cintron (32-2-1, 28 KO)
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. 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 and Cintron is a good way to stay busy. He’ll look for the winner of April’s Kelly Pavlik-Sergio Martinez Middleweight title fight after that.
5) Chad Dawson (29-0, 17 KO)
Age: 27
Current Title: Interim WBC Light Heavyweight
Career Titles: Another Alphabelt at 175
Last Five Opponents: Antonio Tarver (twice), Glen Johnson (twice), Epifanio Mendoza, Jesus Ruiz, Tomasz Adamek
Next Opponent: August 14, 2010 vs. Jean Pascal (25-1, 16 KO)
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 and now it’s the WBC’s regular titlist Jean Pascal. The two are headed for a clash and, given the speed and willingness to battle both men have, it should be a circled date on any boxing fan’s calendar. Should Dawson win, his claim to the Light Heavyweight crown is made complete.
6) 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: July 10, 2010 vs. Juan Diaz (35-3, 17 KO)
The Take: Marquez’s last outing, the ill fated move to Welterweight to try Floyd Mayweather, could obscure what Marquez got done in the fights preceding to earn acclaim. He gave Pacquiao everything he could handle, gave Casamayor and Diaz more than that. Now it appears Marquez and the younger Diaz will do it again for the Lightweight crown. Both will come in off of losses, above 135 lbs., but still are among the very best Lightweights in the world. How the 36-year old Marquez performs will say much about whether and where he remains on this list; so too will pending performances from those around him on the list. Marquez at his best was a special technician and his accomplishments provide him a measure of a benefit of the doubt for now, bumping him up a slot in the wake of the Hopkins removal.
7) Hozumi Hasegawa (28-2, 12 KO)
Age: 29
Current Title: WBC Bantamweight
Last Five Opponents: Alvaro Perez, Nestor Rocha, Vusi Malinga, Alejandro Valdez, Cristian Faccio
Next Opponent: April 30, 2010 vs. Fernando Montiel (40-2-2, 30 KO)
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. Those powers are set to be tested in a big way with WBO Bantamweight, and three-division total, titlist Montiel headed to Japan in April. It’s the first showdown between reigning Bantamweight title holders in decades and a chance for Hasegawa to show off what Japan has been privilege to watch for the last few years.
8) 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: June 26, 2010 vs. Luis Abregu (29-0, 23 KO)
My Take: Bradley is 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. Is the pending Abregu non-title fight a sign of Welterweight risings to come? If so, maybe the unification at 140 with Devon Alexander really should come as soon as possible.
9) Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (75-3-1, 39 KO)
Age: 32
Current Title: World Flyweight/112 lb. Champion (2010-Present)
Career Titles: World Flyweight (2001-07)
Last Five Opponents: Koki Kameda, Rodel Tejares, Takahisa Masuda, Julio Cesar Miranda, Shahram Toradide
Next Opponent: TBA
The Take: As one record-setting champion exits, another enters in acknowledgement of great accomplishment. Thailand’s Wonjongkam walked onto undefeated Koki Kameda’s home turf in Tokyo, a little slower and a little more reserved than he was in his prime, but with all the education that his many rounds have given him. He left the ring having regained lineal and WBC Flyweight honors, added recognition from Ring Magazine, and probably sealing his eventual induction to the Hall of Fame. The Kameda win also allowed for a new perspective on Wonjongkam. He was built and continued through an increasingly disappearing approach, lots of activity against lesser lights keeping him sharp for the taxing fights he would take. In recent vintage, since losing the title to rival Daisuke Naito in their third fight in 2007, he’s gone 10-0-1, made a strong case to having reclaimed the title in the fourth Naito fight, and bested solid contender Julio Cesar Miranda. Across his career, since the lone stoppage loss of his career in 1996, Wonjongkam has gone 66-1-1; he’s broken Hall of Famer Miguel Canto’s consecutive title defense record at 112 lbs. by three with seventeen; and now he has masterfully outboxed the biggest young star in the world below Bantamweight to reclaim his title. It all adds up to earned recognition as one of the best fighters in the world.
10) Ivan Calderon (33-0-1, 6 KO)
Age: 35
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: June 12, 2010 vs. Johnriel Casimero (14-0, 8 KO)
The Take: Calderon’s hold on the number ten spot is tenuous and he could be gone by the summer. Casimero is a decent young contender but fighters like Donaire, Caballero, and Alexander all have more meaningful fare coming up. For now, like Marquez, he retains some benefit of the doubt. He’s been inactive for less than a year and his last two opponents have gone on to impress. Mayol followed two competitive, if cut shortened, challenges of Calderon by winning a major title at 108 lbs. The man who, to date, has been Calderon’s defining rival, Hugo Cazares, has emerged as a legitimate force in the talented Jr. Bantamweight class. Combine that with an undefeated mark, quality title reigns in two weight classes, and Calderon’s standing as one of the, if not the, best pure boxer of his time and he remains rated for now.
Five More Who Could Easily Be Here: Chris John, Nonito Donaire, Anselmo Moreno, Bernard Hopkins, Devon Alexander
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.
