Trying to rank boxers across different eras is a difficult task, but it can also be a lot of fun, and hopefully that has been the case (and will continue to be the case) with these ongoing rankings experiments where we attempt to rank the best boxers from each weight class across different decades.
In Part 1 of the new “Top 10 by Decade” series, we began by exploring the heavyweight division with a formula designed to try and objectively identify the Top 10 heavyweights from each decade. Then we we worked our way south through the different weight classes, and today in Part 14, our attention is turned to the junior bantamweight division. Or if you prefer, also known as the super flyweight division.
For the junior bantamweight division, Ring Magazine only began doing divisional rankings in 1989. So for our purposes here, we will begin our analysis with the first full decade containing a complete data set of rankings, which in this case is the 1990s.
The junior bantamweight division lacks the rich history and tradition celebrated by the original eight weight classes, but even still, , and many talented pugilists have competed as junior bantamweights over the years, including Johnny Tapia, Vic Darchinyan, Fernando Montiel, Alexander Munoz, Suriyan Sor Rungvisai, Masamori Tokuyama, Gerry Penalosa, Martin Castillo, Carlos Cuadras, Omar Andres Narvaez, and Naoya Inoue just to name a few.
The main idea here with these ranking experiments is to try and eliminate personal bias and individual preferences, while also excluding all head-to-head considerations, both real and hypothetical. It is more a measurement of tracking the boxers who were perceived as having the most prolonged success in a given weight class over the course of a specific decade. This edition of Rummy’s Corner is the fourteenth episode in a series of “Top 10 by Decade” videos that will continue to be released over the course of the coming weeks as we march towards the grand finale top 100 countdown. Please watch and enjoy this newest installment series of videos – the junior bantamweight division! Or if you prefer, the super flyweight division.