Trying to rank boxers across different eras is a tricky task, but it can also be a lot of fun, and hopefully that has been the case, and continues to be the case, with this ongoing rankings experiment 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 all of the rest of the different divisions. Today in Part 12, it’s the junior featherweights – or, if you prefer, the super bantamweights.
For the junior featherweight division, Ring Magazine began doing divisional rankings in 1979. So for the purposes of this episode, we will begin starting with first full decade with a semi-complete set of data – the 1980s. But unfortunately, in 1987 and 1988 Ring Magazine only ranked the original 8 weight classes, before they began ranking the modern 17 weight classes continuously, beginning in 1989.
The junior featherweight division lacks the rich history and tradition that correlates with the original eight weight classes. But there have still been some very talented boxers to have competed in the weight class, including Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Manny Pacquiao, Israel Vazquez, Wilfredo Gomez, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Jaime Garza, and Kennedy McKinney 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 had the most prolonged success in a given weight class over the duration of a specific decade. This edition of Rummy’s Corner is the twelfth episode in a series of “Top 10 by Decade” videos that will continue being released over the course of the coming weeks. Please watch and enjoy this newest installment in this new series of videos – the junior featherweight division! Or, if you prefer, the super bantamrweight division!
