02.09.08 – By Ted Sares – There are many out there who bring electricity into the ring, but if forced to select five, here they are in no particular order. And keep in mind the emphasis here is on excitement and not necessarily skill. Kelly Pavlik is skilled and destructive, but in a perverse way may not be as exciting as Edison Miranda whom he destroyed.
1) Antonio Margarito. (37-5 ) My favorite style is a “stalk, stun and kill” type and that’s exactly what Tony brings to the fray. His stunning blow-out of Citron and classic win over Miguel Cotto puts him on just about any top list.
2) Manny Pacquiao. (47-3-2) His exciting whirlwind, in-and-out style combined with his systematic destruction of opponents makes this future legend an easy pick. Heck, he just might be a legend in his own time.
3) Christian Mijares. (36-3-2 ) The technically skilled Mijares, showing defensive skills that are astounding and a punch volume that is eye popping, brings tools into the ring that are reminiscent of other great Mexican fighters of yore. Yes, he is that good and so is his non-stop style of fighting..
4) Vic Darchinyan. (30-1-1)This rugged Australian by way of Armenia brings a special (maybe cocky) attitude into the ring that says, “I’m going to take you out.” While not the most popular fighter (perhaps for all the wrong reasons), no one can deny that he is one of the most exciting. When Vic works, most will watch because there usually are fireworks.
5) Miguel Cotto. (32-1) Heavy-handed WBC featherweight titleholder Jorge Linares might well have been my pick, but his inactivity keeps him off this list. Thus, despite his crushing defeat at the hands of Margorito, my choice is Junito whose style always brings with it an aura of scintillating excitement reminiscent of the Golden Ages of Boxing.
Honorable mention: Israel Vasquez, Rafael Marquez, Juan Manuel Lopez, Rey Bautista, Kelly Pavlik, Paul Williams, Arthur Abraham, Edison Miranda, Joel Julio, Ricardo Torres, Michael Katsidis, Jorge Barrios, Alejandro Berrio, Lucian Bute, Librado Andrade, Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, Daisuke Naito, Jorge Arce and Edwin Valero.
Interestingly, there are no heavyweights on my list, but that was the easiest thing to do.