For the last few years the pound for pound picture has largely gone unchanged. Some fighters have come and gone, others moved around, but it has largely been a list enjoyed by a few. Klitschko, Mayweather Pacquiao, Marquez, Cotto, Ward and some others have sat there for years unchanging. The point of this article is to gauge who will be there once all of those names are gone.
James Sexton
Tyson Fury – ‘Wladimir Klitschko is an easy fight’
In an interview with BoxNation TV Fury discussed his upcoming bout with Christian Hammer and then inevitably went on talk about his proposed bout with lineal champ Wladimir Klitschko.
The interviewer asked Fury if there was any pressure knowing that he was within touching distance of a world title opportunity. Denis Boytsov was an undefeated fighter who earned a mandatory shot but then lost it to Alex Leapai before getting his opportunity.
Who are the top undefeated heavyweights today?
Today is a day where there is life in the heavyweight scene and we have more than a handful of great fighters currently active. Many of the top guys around have already recorded a loss on their records though. This is mainly thanks to the Klitschko brothers who in the past had a habit of smashing undefeated heavyweights to bits once they stepped up. Today we can see guys like Povetkin, Pulev, Tarver, Solis, Cunningham, Mansour, Hammer, Stiverne, Perez, Szpilka, Chisora and Arreola all being rated as amongst the best heavyweights between them, despite having a lot of losses between them. But if we removed them from the equation that would be the best heavyweights out there, purely including the undefeated fighters only?
Floyd Mayweather detractors already making excuses for Pacquiao’s impending loss
What I have come to learn from boxing fans over the years is that they are fickle, and hard to please. I certainly remember the days when I would tell myself, after Mayweather does this people will respect him, or, after Mayweather beats so and so people will respect him. What I have learnt now is that those who belittle Mayweather’s accomplishments today, are the people who will continue to do so until he retires. Some people simply refuse to accept that this man is by far the greatest boxer of this generation and anyone who refuses to put him inside the top 15 boxers pound for pound of all time is simply blind.
Price and Fury move closer to title contention with solid wins
David Price beat Irineu Beato Costa Junior via a sixth round TKO. Like Price, he had 2 losses on his record and was a decent fighter, but at the end of the day this is part of the rebuilding for Price and was a fight he was supposed to win. In 2012, Price was in a great place. He had just stopped domestic heavyweights Audley Harrison and Matt Skelton in a combined 3 rounds to defend his British and Commonwealth straps and was looking for an entry into the top of the world scene. Two back to back KO losses to Tony Thompson and he was back at the bottom and seemed to have nowhere to go. He decided to go through the slow process of rebuilding his reputation and in 2014 banked away three decent wins to start this process.
Martin Murray should have been the first man to take Golovkin the full twelve
The impressive thing about Murrays performance was that he found a way to avoid enough of Golovkins work to survive and what he couldn’t avoid he took well. He was knocked down two times in the fourth round mainly due to body work from Golovkin, but would then rally and get it together through the later rounds. Before a third knockdown which came in the tenth. By the time the eleventh round began Murray was visibly fatigued and did not look as though he was going to be able to keep up the fight for another six minutes.
Sanchez – Ward ‘two or three fights away’
In an interview with ThaBoxingVoice, trainer for middleweight KO machine Gennady Golovkin – Abel Sanchez discussed a potential matchup between triple G and the former king of the 168lb division Andre Ward.
Ward was rated by many fans and media sources as the number 2 pound for pound fighter after Mayweather in the sport for a good amount of time. Legal troubles have kept him out of the ring with just one appearance since 2012 against an undefeated, but limited Edwin Rodriguez. That was an easy decision for Ward, but now with a new contract, fans are looking for Ward to get back in the mix against the best fighters out there.
David Price – ‘I wanted to stay patient’
He was asked if he felt that he was too cautious in the first part of the fight. Many felt that Price was getting in rounds against a guy who was there for the taking and when given a big chance to shine like this Price should have shown himself to be a better fighter than he was on the night. Price replied to this by saying that he couldn’t listen to the people who would have him going in and taking risks from the first round. He wanted to box behind the jab, he wanted to build his confidence and get some rounds in, he wanted to wait for an opportunity before opening up the offence and turning up the pace, and to his credit when he found that opportunity he was brutally efficient.
Martin Murray reacts to stoppage defeat at the hands of Gennady Golovkin
‘First time I have been properly beat, and first time I have been stopped.’
In an interview with IFL TV after his fight with triple G it was obvious the disapointment that Martin Murray was feeling. He put in a spirited effort and did a lot more than many thought he was capable, but eventually was beaten by the king of the Middleweight division.
Murray showed good sportsmanship in saying it was a pleasure to share the ring with such a good fighter, but felt as though there was nothing more he could do in the ring to pull off the upset. Murray discussed the fact that in his career he had never been put down by any head or bodyshot and dealing with that for the first time in his career, three times in the fight was tough.
Abel Sanchez – Canelo doesn’t last 8, Cotto won’t go 5 with GGG
Abel Sanchez, the trainer for rising star and long time champ Gennady Golovkin has a lot of words for his fighter when discussing the biggest fights in the sport. This interview took place just prior to the Murray fight and Sanchez was saying it would be good for Golovkin to go the full 12 in preparation for these super fights. That fight ended up going 11 rounds, which is the longest of Golovkins career and if Sanchez is correct in his estimates then Murray lasted longer than either Cotto or Alvarez would.
I do see where Sanchez is coming from with these statements.