21.03.06 – By Lee Hayes: How quickly things can change in the sport of boxing. One minute Bernard Hopkins can be the #1 pound for pound king of the ring, with only an inkling of pressure for that top spot by someone as talented as “Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather, and the next, the entire top 10 can be turned upside down if not completely changed from top to bottom.
Only a year ago, you might have had Bernard Hopkins in first or second place. You almost definitely would have placed Kostya Tszyu and Erik Morales in the top ten. Well, a year has gone by and a lot of the names have to be replaced. There have been some surprising outcomes and some unexpected ones. For example, nobody could have predicted Vitali Klitschko’s retirement. A year ago many people thought Zab Judah had finally matured as he and his father had been trying to convince us of for half a decade, but we learned that almost surely was not true (yet again), and he lost in an upset against relative no-name Carlos Baldomir of Argentina. So in the tradition of letting out the old and bringing in the new, here is my current top ten pound for pound fighters as of March 21 st, 2006:
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr. – It’s pretty much accepted as a no-brainer that Floyd is probably the most talented fighter since Sugar Ray Robinson, and I don’t say those words lightly. His maturity and attitude are far from anything Robinson exuded, and he’s as arrogant as they get, yet, Floyd has all the talent to lead boxing for the next five years if he chooses to. But he would be best served to take a little bit of the chip off of his shoulder, because when he’s being charming, as he can be, he can sell tickets. He does have a nice, likable side to him. He just seems to prefer to try come off as a bad ass and its hurt his marketability and does nothing for the sport of boxing. At this point in time, in the middle of Mayweather’s prime, it’s hard to pick him to lose to anybody from 126 to 154lbs. That’s how good he is. With perfect defense, brilliant reflexes, blazing hand speed and power even in the higher weight classes, Mayweather is the closest thing to unstoppable.
2. Ricky Hatton – Some may say I’m jumping the gun by placing Hatton this high, but I’ll take that risk. Hatton has the whole package. He’s a brawler that can box. He’s got long range punches and short compact devastating shots as well. He is the most determined body puncher in the sport today, and in many ways he is a throw back fighter. All this plus Hatton is a murderous puncher. His punches can be heard fourteen rows back crackling off of his opponents face or hips. Ricky has the same determination that we saw in all-time great sluggers like Harry Greb, Mickey Walker, Henry Armstrong and Smokin’ Joe Fraizer. It’s the hardest way to fight, because a man has to be willing to take his opponents blows in order to deliver his own, and only the toughest SOB’s can fight that way and survive. I think it’s saying something that I would put Hatton in that club. He’s got a lot to prove, but he’s young and unlike the man I’ve placed at number one, when Ricky says he’ll “fight anyone, anywhere, anytime”, I get the impression he really means it. Obviously since Hatton and Mayweather fight at around the same weight, that is the fight to be made, and I think it would be a great battle. Anyone that thinks Floyd will toy with Ricky is kidding themselves. The kid from Manchester is for real and maybe Floyd can out box him or bust him up with cuts, but be assured, Floyd will be put through hell, and win or lose he’s going to feel like he was beaten up by the entire Manchester United Football team. What else can boxing fans ask for? It’s also not out of the realm of possibility that Hatton beats Floyd. Certainly he’s been more focused on boxing than Mayweather. He’ll also be the most physically imposing fighter that Mayweather has ever faced. If Ricky can crush Kostya Tszyu’s cheekbone with a single left hook, he’ll bust Floyd anywhere he can land, body, head, shoulder, groin, hips anywhere. Add to that his charming personality and boyish looks and Hatton is Yin to Mayweather’s Yang. Both of them are perfect fighting machines, yet it seems they couldn’t be more naturally different.
3. Manny Pacquio – The little Filipino that could. Manny Pacquio is Elvis, the Beatles, Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Leonard all put in to one. If you live in the Philippines that is. If you are merely a boxing fan that’s seen Manilla Ice fight, you know he’s for real and he can no longer be called a one armed fighter. He moves on his feet and thanks to trainer Freddy Roach’s constant insistence that Pacquio develop the right hand, Manny has become a complete fighter. With dominant victories over Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales (in their second fight), Manny is clearly in the top three pound for pound fighters in the world. His straight left hand is probably the single hardest, or more accurately devastating punch in the world. It’s delivered so fast and so straight that even the most talented counter punchers like Juan Manuel Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales were practically rendered defenseless to it. His draw with Marquez and points loss to Morales were both great fights that had fans of both Pacquio and his Mexican rivals on the edges of their seats respectively and something has to be said for that. It’s been almost five years since Pacquio was in a fight that couldn’t be described as exciting or action packed. He’s a threat to beat any of the three (Marquez, Barrera, Morales) in rematches, and he may even be able to cause havoc up in to the lightweights. Pacquio’s star has just began to shine and he’s a welcome addition to any fight card. His early reputation as the “Mexican Killer” was unwarranted and purely a management decision to try promote Manny. He is very respectful of the Mexican fans that have come out to see his fights and has openly welcomed them to cheer him as well as his opponents on. It’s hard to find a nicer guy than Manny in boxing.
4. Marco Antonio Barrera – Marco is on this list because unlike anybody else in the past fifteen years in the sport, it seems like no loss is too devastating to keep this guy down. His confidence is unflappable and he’s able to get right back to where he was, even after such a disappointing showing against Pacquio in November of 2003, when Barrera was stopped in 11 rounds. What’s not to like with this guy? His punches are textbook, particularly his jab and straight right hand. His counterpunching is tops in the business and who throws a better left hook to the liver than Barrera? When you add to that Barrera’s career level of opposition -a virtual “who’s who” list of the smaller weight classes over the past decade and a half- you see why Barrera is such a fan favorite, and a guy who’s become a huge star able to headline major Pay Per View events. Kennedy McKinney, Junior Jones, Erik Morales, Naseem Hamed, Johnny Tapia, Kevin Kelley, Manny Pacquio, Paulie Ayala to name a few. You’d think at this point in his career Barrera would be looking for a couple of easy paydays to pad his retirement, but it looks more likely to be a fight with young gun Rocky Juarez and then on to a rematch with the winner of the Pacquio vs Morales rubber match. The guy never ceases to amaze. To give you a moment of retrospect, Barrera has been more or less a part of everyone’s top ten pound for pound list for the past ten years, with only a bad spot here or there. He’s probably the best Mexican fighter of all time, including Julio Cesar Chavez.
5. Jose Luis Castillo – Since Erik Morales has dropped two straight fights and I’ve had to drop him to just below the top ten pound for pound fighters, it has left room for another devastating fighter coming out of Mexico. Jose Luis Castillo has spent years honing his craft and fighting top tier fighters. He is as strong as most welterweights and his boxing skills are generally under rated. His chin is far better than one who watched his thrilling battles with Diego Corrales may assume. That had more to do with the type of war they were in and the power of Corrales punches than Castillo’s chin. Almost everybody that saw him fight Floyd Mayweather in their first fight felt that Castillo probably did enough to win. I thought he had won the fight by two points. Since Floyd was much better in the rematch and both men’s stock has risen in the intermediate years, it only seems logical that these two great fighters should meet to complete their trilogy. It seems that it is Mayweather that has no interest in that fight, not Castillo. His wins over Jorge Paez, Stevie Johnston, Cesar Bazan, Juan Lazcano, Joel Casamayor, Julio Diaz, and Diego Corrales are at least as impressive as anybody else on this list outside of Barrera, and that’s why he’s here. Plus, he seems to be gaining momentum, and not losing steam. His best may still be in the next couple of years, which is incredible for a guy with 62 professional fights under his belt.
6. Joe Calzaghe – I know, he doesn’t like to fight in the United States, but that hardly makes him a rarity in a sport that is growing internationally every day. We all know robberies go both ways and fighters that venture to Joe’s side of the ocean take a risk, just as European fighters do when they take a chance by coming to Vegas. It’s just part of the sport and home court advantages have been around since boxing’s inception. The facts are that Calzaghe is the longest current reigning champion in the world, and he’s starting to get in to that rare Larry Holmes, Joe Louis territory being over eight years since he won his WBO strap. Now you may say that the WBO belt is not a “major” title, but I would argue much harder for Calzaghe than I would have 5 years ago. Part of that is because the WBO has risen in stature over the last half a decade and part of it is because the other alphabet belts have been hell bent on diminishing theirs. The truth is always this though, it’s the man that makes the belt. It’s the fighter that makes the champion and what he wears around his waist means nothing. For years my friends over in Brittan have been acting like loons over this guy and have been helping me acquire film footage of Joe in action. They kept assuring me that his hands were fast enough to compete with Roy Jones Jr., and I thought it was blasphemy. They said his chin wasn’t as shaky as a couple of flash knockdowns made it seem, and I doubted them. They said he could box or punch, even though I had heard persistent rumors that he was a pitter-pat slapping puncher with over rated punch power. Slowly though, after reading more about him and watching more of his fights I realized the guy was the goods. Speed to burn, yes, his hand speed would have been competitive with Jones Jr., even in Jr’s prime. Power in both hands, sure he slaps sometimes when he’s ripping combinations, but then again, so did Ali and Pernell Whitaker. The thing about Joe is that he mixes in hard punches with those slapping shots and that’s what makes him difficult to fight. You think you’re getting shoe shined and he will land a solid straight left, right hook or short uppercut. His punches seem to come from odd angles, even for a southpaw, and as evident in his recent fight with American sensation Jeff Lacy, Calzaghe’s chin is solid. So is his heart and his stamina. If his proposed fight with Roy Jones comes off, I would definitely pick Calzaghe, probably to end Roy’s career, and I think it would be a no brainer that he’s got Lacy’s number. His performance was even more dominant than that of Winky Wright over Felix Trinidad. His list of opponents he has victories over, which at one time seemed suspect now reads Chris Eubank, Robin Reid, Omar Sheika, Charles Brewer, Byron Mitchell and Jeff Lacy. That’s better than any other super middleweight in history, and deservedly so. Calzaghe is the best the division has ever had to offer. Sure there have been some great talents, but Calzaghe’s longevity and devotion to the division gives him the upper hand.
7. Antonio Tarver – I don’t know why, but it seems easy to dislike Tarver. Maybe it’s because of the way he humbled Roy Jones Jr., whom I really liked, maybe it’s because the guy who takes over from a legend always faces the backlash. I’m not sure what it is exactly. He’s got super heavy hands, a concrete chin and he throws a lot of punches. His trainer is one of the best in Buddy McGirt and he usually throws punches in combination. I thought his best performance was the rematch with Glen Johnson. His combinations were fluid and sharp. Any other light heavyweight would have succumb to those punches and only Johnson’s chin and chutzpah kept him on his feet. Tarver is 2-1 against Roy Jones Jr., and 1-1 with Glen Johnson. The two best light heavyweight contemporaries of Tarver’s career. That plus he’s murder in rematches. It’s hard to imagine him losing to anybody else in the division including Glen Johnson should they rematch. Unless he moves up to heavyweight for the big money, Tarver can pretty much sit around as king of the 175 pounders as long as he see’s fit. He’s that good.
8. Rafael Marquez – Little brother of Juan Manuel Marquez, Rafael is a bantamweight gem. He can do it all and he’s pound for pound one of the hardest punchers in boxing. His hands are so incredibly fast it isn’t hard to imagine him giving all-time bantamweight legends Michael Carbajal and Humberto “Chiquita” Gonzalez the fight of their lives, if not out right beating them to the punch with his superior hand speed. Keep in mind Gonzalez is one of my favorite bantamweights of any time period, and it’s not meant as a shot at the great little warrior when I make that statement. It’s just that Marquez is that good. Watching Rafael destroy Mark Johnson in their rematch and seeing him walk through Tim Austin like a hot knife through butter displayed his superior power and speed, but it’s the fact that he’s been untouchable since those fights that put him in this ranking on my pound for pound list. I can’t foresee anybody challenging him realistically unless he moves up to Jr. Featherweight to challenge Israel Vazquez, and even then I’d pick Marquez as a 2 to 1 favorite. Rafael is a great fighter, and in my opinion he’s even better than his brother, and quite a bit more exciting. Now, if only people would pay more attention to the bantamweights and the other little guys.
9. Ronald “Winky” Wright – There are going to be those that will slam my list for not including Wright higher up. In fact many place him as high as second and even a few people would dare say he’s as good as or better than Mayweather. Nonsense I say. Sure, Wright is a talented boxer, and he’s got great defensive skills. One of a kind defensive skills. But the fact is that he’s not exciting in the least. The most exciting fight he was ever in was against a very young inexperienced 17-0 “Ferocious” Fernando Vargas, and that fight wasn’t exciting because of Wright, it was Fernando’s youthful vigor and strength that imposed his will and forced Wright in to an action fight. After that point most of Winky’s career was made more or less by accusing Oscar De LaHoya, Felix Trinidad, Ike Quartey and alike of ducking him. There was definitely some truth to that accusation, as Oscar openly stated he had no interest in fighting Winky, although the reason probably had more to do with Wrights awkwardness and lack of marketability than anything else. This isn’t meant to be a knock on Wright so much as it is an attempt at a reality check. If Chris Byrd with his uncanny counter punching skills can’t be considered a top 10 fighter because of his lack of pop when he’s facing guys that out weight him by 50 lbs, I am certainly not interested in giving Wright a slide when he usually out weights his opponents nowadays and still has the punching power of a Jr. Lightweight. He’s boring, if dominant. Even when he stuns an opponent -which is incredibly rare- he doesn’t give up his defensive stature or arm punching to try take his opponent out. Sure, that makes for an effective fighter, but I personally cannot rank him in my top eight when so many other men have great talent and also power and guts to lay it on the line. If you ranked Wright higher, I can see your point and I’d say that’s “fair”, but I disagree. His fights against Mosely couldn’t have been at a more opportune time, with the Balco scandal, Shane’s internal battles with his father, the back to back losses to Vernon Forrest and the constant move up in weight. His one sided domination of Tito Trinidad will go down as his perfect fight. His work of art if you will. All signs seem to indicate that it’s downhill from there. It turns out that even after he got his respect, he’s still far to boring to be a headline fighter on a Pay Per View card.
10. Jorge Arce – Arce, or “little Duran” is a whirlwind of boxing euphoria. He’s talented, strong, punches hard and has balls the size of a Mexican bull. Before I had even heard that Arce fancied himself as a little Duran I saw the similarities. Anybody that got to witness the treat that was Jorge Arce vs Hussein Hussein I knows exactly what I’m talking about. The ability to fight through pools of blood and practically scoff at his opponents punches are only two traits that Arce holds in common with the legendary “Manos De Piedra”. He also has a relentless attack, punches anything that moves, and is absolutely vicious to go to battle with. Arce has been around for a long time and he’s just starting to get his dues. Maybe you could argue that a couple of other guys deserved this last spot over Jorge, but I’ve seen him fight enough to feel he gets the nod. I would be giving preference to heavier fighters simply because of their weight and exposure if I didn’t go with Jorge on this one.
Close runner-ups: Antonio Margarita, Jermain Taylor, Diego Corrales, James Toney (despite getting a gift against Hasim Rahman), Israel Vazquez and Juan Manuel Marquez.
Feel free to drop your personal current top ten pound for pound fighters.
This writer also welcomes your comments/suggestions: