18.08.04 – By Paul Ruby: A sad reality of the fight game today is that dollar signs and sanctioning bodies can impact the ranking system as much as a fighters’ accomplishments in the ring. This leads to the exultation of too many mediocre fighters who accrue countless wins against faceless opponents only to fail when matched against a solid opponent whose record and ability are commensurate with one another. There is constant talk about fighters being ‘protected’ and ‘over-rated,’ but in this article we will discuss ten fighters that you don’t hear about as much: The Under-Rated Warriors of Boxing. These are fighters who do not get the due respect that their skills and accomplishments should garner. They are all accomplished fighters and, despite often holding titles, they are not widely known among casual fans. It warrants mentioning that they are ordered by weight, and this is not a ranking system.
Lorenzo Parra – This Venezuelan Flyweight has amassed a record of 23-0, with 17 stoppages, but has had the same problem gaining recognition as so many other great fighters in lower weights. Last December, he outpointed the man most thought was the Super Flyweight kingpin in Eric Morel on a card headlined by Miguel Cotto. Morel, in fact, returned back to 115 after the loss and rebounded to win a title. A great match-up for Parra would be against Irene Pacheco to determine who truly is the dominant force at Flyweight.
Mark “Too Sharp” Johnson – Like Parra, Johnson has long had trouble garnering proper respect and recognition. More than that, he has been plagued by being unable to make big fights against top opponents. Now in the twilight of his career, boxing fans are starting to warm to the top 115-pounder in the world. Too Sharp’s 44-3 record is a bit deceiving because one of those losses was in the 2nd fight of career and the other two were against the next man in this list, Rafael Marquez, in fights that took place above Johnson’s peak weight. After those losses, Johnson rebounded, returned to his peak 115, and picked up the WBO belt. Many fans were lucky enough to Johnson’s speed, power, and technical prowess on the Showtime undercard of the Casamayor-Corrales rematch. Johnson is scheduled to face off against Luis Alberto Perez in November on the Ruiz-Golota undercard. Which one of those fights do you think is going to be better to watch?
Rafael Marquez – It appears the public is finally starting to come around with respect to Marquez. Juan Manuel’s younger brother is clearly the dominant bantamweight on the planet and deserves a place on the fringes of the pound-for-pound Top 10. Raf Marquez has won 11 straight bouts, including four victories against the contingent of Mark Johnson, Tim Austin, and Heriberto Ruiz. Rafael Marquez is one of the hardest hitters (pound-for-pound, obviously) in the game today and has the most dynamite uppercuts with both hands this side of Erik Morales – just ask Heriberto Ruiz.
Oscar Larios – Like Marquez, Larios is a tough Mexican fighter who is intelligent in the ring and very battle-tested. The WBC 122-pound king has amassed 13 victories in a row and, at 25, still has some good years left. He is a boxer-puncher that makes very good use of his 5’7 frame. He was seen most recently on a Spanish-language broadcast from one of America’s best venues for outdoor boxing, Sundance Square, in Fort Worth. Honestly, I would love to Rafael Marquez come up to 122 and test his chops against Larios in what I’m sure would prove an incredible fight.
Erik Morales – I’m sure plenty will question the inclusion of Erik Morales on this list, and rightly so. He is already a household name in boxing. My reason for placing him on this list is that I fear few fans actually know how good he is. I think he’s got some fights to win before being considered the best in the sport, but he is one of maybe five fighters who can make that claim right now. Morales also should be commended for having the heart of a true warrior and the skills to back it up. Morales, unlike most of the fighters on this list, has been lucky enough to have a rival in Marco Antonio Barrera who has brought out the best in him. Other than two barn burners against the Baby-Faced Assassin, Morales has dominated an incredible number of high-level fighters: Kevin Kelley, Junior Jones, Guty Espadas, In-Jin Chi, Wayne McCullough and others. I don’t know many fighters tough enough to come out of Tijuana with a record of 45-1 against the type of opponents Morales has fought.
Sharmba Mitchell – Like the other DC-area fighter on this list, The Little Big Man has had trouble getting the fights he’s needed to make himself a big name. It’s a shame because Mitchell is one of the most entertaining fighters around today. The big misconception about Mitchell and Winky Wright is that they lack punching power. Both Mitchell and Wright are large for their weight classes and hit harder than the vast majority of other fighters at their weights. Mitchell gets a bad rap for not having a lot of knock-outs, but it’s because he’s an old-school fighter who values defense, scoring blows, and not taking risks. Mitchell has tremendously low mileage on his body for almost 60 pro fights and could be a force at light welterweight for at least a few more years. The Little Big Man has called out Ricky Hatton in the past, but if I were him I would worry about the November re-match with Kostya Tszyu. If he manages to defeat Tszyu (easier said than done, obviously), I would push for a fight against Floyd Mayweather, Jr. If I were Pretty Boy Floyd, I would avoid that fight at all costs.
Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright – Wright talked for years about being under-respected, under-appreciated, and unable to make the big fight he needed. Now the unified light middleweight champion, Wright is primed to catapult himself into stardom. I’ll admit I didn’t believe Wright’s talk for years, but his performance against Shane Mosley made me into a disciple. Wright, like Mitchell, is miscategorized as a defensive specialist. He simply has a tight defense and is hard to hit, but he does not emphasize defense at the expense of offense. I really wish that fans could occasionally look past the lack of a high KO percentage and appreciate the tight defense, incredibly stiff jab, and combination punching of Winky Wright. I fully expect Wright to outbox Mosley again. If that happens, I would love to see him take on the next fighter on this list, Antonio Margarito. Another interesting, but unlikely scenario, would involve moving to middleweight and fighting Felix Sturm, who at times appears like an awkward, right-handed version of Wright.
Antonio Margarito – I think Margarito is the most under-rated fighter on this list. I believe he is on the best fighters on the planet and is a difficult match-up for anyone from welterweight to middleweight. He is next scheduled to take on Daniel Santos Pena for WBO 154-pound crown on the September 11th card, featuring Cotto-Pinto. Margarito has rocked 21 straight wins and has not lost in nearly a decade. He is the one who discovered ‘Six Heads’ Lewis’ lack of a chin and destroyed highly-touted prospect Hercules Kyvelos, making him look like a child in the ring for 4 minutes. I hope Margarito can secure the fights he needs to make him better known and I support him fully whether that’s at 147 or 154. At light middleweight, Winky Wright is an interesting fight, but so are Shane Mosley, Verno Philips, and Kassim “The Dream” Ouma.
David Lopez – The Destroyer’s career has taken a recent turn from club fighter to legitimate (almost) contender. Fighting with the La Brea Boxing Club, Lopez sports a relatively pedestrian record of 23-12, but is only now hitting his stride. Lopez has fought as high as 179, but has returned to middleweight. His renewed devotion to the sport can be seen in the fact that he came into his most recent fight at 157.75, his lowest weight in over 6 years. In that fight against Kirino Garcia, Lopez was on the verge of stopping him, but broke his left hand in the 5th and fought 7 full rounds only a right. All three judges awarded him a clean sweep of the 12 round decision. Lopez is a tough fight for virtually any middleweight. He is rangy, left-handed, and jabs well. Unfortunately, his unimpressive record will allow opponents to avoid him, but if he rebounds from his hand injury, he could get harder and harder to ignore. The fight I would love to see is Lopez against Jermaine Taylor. I think Lopez would have a hard time winning this fight, but could provide a very interesting foil to gauge Jermaine’s progress. Other good possibilities are Sam Soliman and Ray Joval, both of who I suspect would fall to Lopez in close fights.
O’Neill Bell – The cruiserweight division is arguably boxing’s least interesting division with too many of its potentially strongest fighters making the premature jump up to heavyweight. Another problem with the cruiserweight division is that the best fighter at the weight is getting none of the attention. O’Neill Bell is a heavy-handed cruiserweight out of ‘Hotlanta and, in my opinion, a superior fighter to Jean-Mark Mormeck and Wayne Braithwaite. Bell is one of the most entertaining boxers in the sport because he fights with reckless abandon. I have tremendous respect for skilled technicians like Sharmba Mitchell, but I cannot help overcome my basic instinct to love watching a guy who throws caution to the wind and bombs away. Bell lost his second pro fight, but still sports a record of 22-1. He has scored 21 knockouts with recent ones over the very tough Kelvin Davis and trial horse Derrick Harmon. He is scheduled take on the chinny, but always exciting Ezra Sellers on the Lamon Brewster-Kali Meehan/ Cory Spinks-Who Cares? undercard in early September. It could well be the most interesting fight of the night and the winner will be in line for a shot at the IBF title held by Kelvin Davis. A rematch between those two would be nice, as would Bell taking on Braithwaite, Mormeck, or British veteran Johnny Nelson.
So there you have it – my list of the most under-appreciated fighters in the game today. I chose to keep the list simply to fighters who have established themselves with impressive records and skills, but failed to garner the recognition they have certainly deserved. I hope that this may cause some fans to look at them more closely, but even if these guys continue to be ignored, I’m sure they’ll keep fighting on in search of the fame and dollars they deserve. That’s what they’ve done thus far, and I have no reason to expect anything less.