Being the top man in Boxing’s Mythical, (Artificially Created) Pound for Pound Ratings has for many years been the ultimate goal that most prize fighters would strive for. The funny thing is, defining exactly what qualifies a fighter to be called a Pound for Pound Best isn’t easy.
If you have a long time champion (or champions as in the Klitschko’s) in a very weak division, does their total domination make them the Pound for Pound Best?
Or, if you have a guy who has lost a few times in a very strong division but proved himself the best at his weight through a series of fights is he the P4P Best because of the superior competition he’s had to overcome?
These are questions that are not going to be easily answered.
So, to pick a Pound for Pound Top Ten and have it make sense I had to choose a set of perimeters and guidelines and stick to it.
The Criteria:
First of all, I am only going off recent form. That means only the last two or three fights the fighter has had at the weight he is currently fighting at count, and that’s if he fights frequently. If he doesn’t fight frequently then it’s only his most recent fight. On this list no fighter gets credit for what he did five or six years ago. It is the most recent results that matter. It’s who he fought, how he fought, and the outcome.
I am also going to state that entertainment value counts. An entertaining fighter is fun to watch and is good for the sport because he brings in more revenue to any promotion he’s part of. Entertainment value does play a part in the placement of fighters on this P4P Top 10.
The way I’m doing this, in this Mythical, Magical Pugilistic Universe, everybody becomes a Middleweight. If in their most recent fight they were in a division where they were taller than most of the other top fighters in their division, then they are taller than most fighters in this Mythical Middleweight Division.
With this kind of reasoning, Vitali Klitschko is slightly shorter than Paul Williams, but he’s taller than Sergio Martinez. Manny Pacquiao is shorter than practically everybody and Andre Ward is roughly average height. As anybody who has followed Boxing knows, height and reach play a huge part in how a Boxing Match plays out.
Now we get to the real subjective part: Who has been the most impressive in their recent performances and therefore, who are the top Pound for Pound Fighters?
Before I get to the actual rankings I do need to make one statement: This is not a popularity contest! How many fans a fighter has does not impact even a little bit where that fighter is placed on this list.
Now, from #10 to #1 here is the Real Pound for Pound Top Ten.
#10: Lucian Bute
He’s been impressively eliminating his challengers. That’s why Bute belongs in the P4P Top 10.
#9: Andre Ward
The way Ward has performed in the Super 6 Tournament places him in the Top Ten P4P and one notch above Bute. A match between #9 and #10 would be very interesting. I have no doubt it will happen someday.
#8: Floyd Mayweather
I can already hear the Floyd fans screaming. That’s fine. Scream all you want. As stated before: This is not a popularity contest. I don’t care about any “0” on any record if you’re only going to fight once a year at the most. The bottom line is Floyd Mayweather fought a top five welterweight almost a year ago. He won. He hasn’t done anything since except make excuses. Everybody else on this list has done more recently. It’s not what you say you can do or what people believe you can do. It’s what you do that counts. This is as high as Mayweather deserves to be.
#7: Manny Pacquiao
I can hear the rumbling all the way from the Philippines as Pac-Maniacs are jumping up and down, shaking their fists and threatening to invade in waves. Even my wife just asked me if I was crazy. I am a Pac-Maniac myself so maybe I am. I love watching Manny fight. It’s like a real life David and Goliath taking place right in front of you. But let’s look at the facts. Pac Man’s last two fights, he fought an unranked Jr. Middleweight and a Welterweight known for going defensive for long periods of time when he eats some punches. Manny beat both guys easy. But you got to ask yourself, “So what?” This is not about him fighting guys who are naturally so much larger than he is. This is about how dominant he is in the weight division he last fought in. Is Pac Man dominant at Jr. Middleweight? The simple answer is, ‘No!” This is where he belongs.
#6 Timothy Bradley
What can you say about a titlist who seeks out other titlist and his top challengers, fights them and beats them? Maybe he doesn’t have the most exciting style but it’s not for lack of trying. Bradley is aggressive. He throws bunches of punches. He wins.
In Bradley’s last five fights he’s beaten two titlist (taking their belts) one ex-champion, one top ten challenger, and had one over the weight match with a hard punching welterweight. He’s also done this in a relatively short period of time. Timothy Bradley has more than earned his position on this P4P Top Ten List.
#5 & #4 The Klitschko Brothers: Since the Brothers “K” are both so dominant and similar in methods and results I’m letting Fight Night Champion decide who gets #4 and #5.
Result: Wladimir KO’s Vitali in 9. When Vitali got tired, Wlad flattened him. Brotherly love doesn’t mean a thing in cyberspace.
I am going to analyze both of these guys together since they basically are doing the same thing. Both are tall, hit hard, and are extremely skillful. They win without taking many chances. It may not be extremely exciting to watch but the Klitschko method is incredibly effective. Vitali has the better chin and Wladimir is the quicker, better athlete. Both of these guys are cleaning out the Heavyweight Top Ten. Unless David Haye provides some very big surprises the Klitschkos will continue total dominance of Heavyweight Boxing until they decide it’s boring even to them to keep bitch-slapping the rest of the Top Big Men. Domination is the key word here. The Klitschkos are dominant. That’s why they rank #4 and #5. If they were a bit more exciting they would probably be #1 and #2.
#3: Nonito Donaire
The left hook that destroyed Fernando Montiel all by itself would have placed Donaire on the P4P list. It was like something out of an old Kung Fu flick where they speed up the action to make a kick or punch look quicker than is actually possible.
No, it was real. I had to use the slow-mo to take a very close look. The punch was too fast to see the first time. God knows Montiel never saw it coming. That left hook alone would have put him on the list. Donaire is rated as highly as he is because he’s been pulling off moves like that one repeatedly for years.
Just take a look at the knockout he scored over Vic Darchinian. It was a razor-sharp, left hook counter. Vic was charging in, winging shots. Suddenly he’s down and dizzy. It was awesome.
Even if Donaire wasn’t a great technical Boxer he’d dominate most fighters with just his quickness. The thing is Nonito has great skill to go along with the speed. A few fights ago Nonito Donaire made a title defense and fought most of the fight as a southpaw. He just wanted to see how good he could be fighting that way. He did dominate the fight as a left hander.
Imagine what that must do to the opponent’s confidence. The guy is so good he can beat you while experimenting with new techniques just to see if he likes it.
Nonito Donaire is in a league of his own. If he keeps going like this he could soon be #1 Pound for Pound.
#2: Sergio Martinez
Martinez is a hairs-width away from being #1. It’s been stated in other places and I’ll restate it here, Sergio Martinez’ record in fights against top opposition for the last two years has been phenomenal.
Against Kermit Cintron: Martinez beat Cintron twice in one night and got screwed both times. Martinez won that fight. I don’t care what the record book says. It was a win.
Against Paul Williams the first time: It was an all action, close fight that Martinez won. He got screwed again!
At this point most fighters would go home and tell everybody in their country how the Americans cheated them out of being a world champion. Then they’d fight local guys and spend the rest of their career in obscurity. Not Sergio Martinez.
Next fight, against Kelly Pavlik: This was a war. Pavlik looked arguable to be at his best form in a few years and he was still busted up and broken by the end.
Against Paul Williams the second time: Martinez proved that the fight against Pavlik was more him being good than Pavlik being bad. In a match against the fighter most Jr. Middle and Middleweights avoid Sergio Martinez destroyed Paul Williams. It was a great display of spotting a weakness and exploiting it. You better not have any holes in your defense if you step in with this Champion. You’ll be shaking your head and wondering what happened!
Most recent fight, against Sergiy Dzinziruk: This is exactly what Great World Champions do against competent challengers. Dzinziruk started the fight with a tight defense and snappy quick punches. Martinez broke him down, dropped him multiple times, and ended the fight in fine fashion.
Great job! Developing Great Champion!
The thing that is frightening for Martinez’ challengers is Sergio looks like he’s getting better. Sergio Martinez deserves to be #2 Pound for Pound.
#1: Juan Manuel Marquez
First of all I throw out completely the result of the Mayweather fight. Marquez jumped up two weight divisions and even then fought a guy who wanted even more of an advantage by coming in over the contracted weight. It would be the equivalent of say Bernard Hopkins jumping up, fighting one of the Klitschkos and expecting him to be able to do anything.
It’s just not going to happen.
Juan Manuel Marquez’ last four fights:
Joel Casamayor: Marquez wore down and destroyed an excellent World Champion. Casamayor might be considered a Hall of Fame Fighter. Marquez solidified himself as an All Time Great with that victory.
Juan Diaz: A fight of the year candidate. Juan Diaz was at the top of his game. He may have beaten any other Lightweight in the world on that night. Marquez survived Diaz’ onslaught took over and destroyed him. It was awesome.
Juan Diaz 2: Diaz tried to adjust and box more. He was out boxed by the best boxer-puncher in the sport today.
Michael Katsidis: This is what Great Champions do when tough-minded challengers who fight like they’re palming a brick in each hand come after them. Katsidis came to rumble and got rumbled down. Juan Manuel Marquez does not run and hide. He comes forward, walking into the face of danger, slipping shots and making opponents pay.
These days every fight that Marquez has are displays of subtle defense and offense blended together.
Juan Manuel Marquez has earned the right to be called #1 Pound for Pound in the World. Who else could make Manny Pacquiao say he has no want to ever fight that guy again.
Enjoy this exciting All Time Great World Champion while you can.
Whether his next fight is his last, or it’s five fights from now, you can be certain that when Juan Manuel Marquez finally meets the one opponent no man can beat (Father Time) he will go down swinging.
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Boxing Quote: “They said that money talks, but the only thing it ever said to me was good-bye.”—Joe Louis
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B.L. Morgan is the author of Blood and Rain, Blood for the Masses, Blood on Celluloid and Night Knuckles through Speaking Volumes. http://speakingvolumes.us/authors_ebooks.asp?pid=79
He is also the author of Blood and Bones & You Play, You Pay through StoneGarden.net Publishing.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!!