Quarterly pound for pound rankings
by CLIFF ROLD, BoxingScene.com
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I'm glad I did. Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez II, like Israel Vasquez-Rafael Marquez III two Saturday's prior, proved to the world that from 122 to 130 lbs., four of the best fighters in the world are currently plying their trade. It's just too bad that two of them had to lose.
Beyond those results, there is also the debate at the very top. Since early 2006, arguments about just who is the best fighter in the world, sans weight, have largely boiled down to two names: Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. Considering what they have done across the weight scale, no one else really need apply.
My first list for Boxing Scene, last September, had the two of them tied. The next moved Floyd slightly ahead based on a blah 2007 schedule for Pacquiao. With Mayweather all but taking 2008 off, does Manny's win over Marquez shake things up again? Let's just say that where changes in this list's ratings and rantings are merited, they exist. Otherwise, this will look largely familiar to regular readers.
Let's consult the Boxing Scene Pound for Pound Quarterlies for March 2008.
1. (tie) Manny Pacquiao (46-3-2, 35 KO'S)
Age: 29 Current Title: World Jr. Lightweight/130 lb. (2008-Present) Career Titles: Lineal World Flyweight/112 lb. champion (1998-99); World Featherweight/126 lb. champion (2003-2005); additional alphabelts at 112, 122, &130 lbs.
I'll be up front and say that I'm among those who had Marquez narrowly edging Pacquiao out, but with two fighters that good and that close, the official verdict must stand. That presents us with a fighter for the ages no matter how you slice it. He's the only fighter in history to win the World title at 112 and 126 lbs.; the only one to win the World titles 112 and 130; and the only one to pull off that hat trick. Throw in an alphabelt at 122 and Pacquiao's blend of scale climbing and pressure fighting is as close to Henry Armstrong as today's fans may ever get. Now look at who he's been fighting. Barrera and Morales are locks for the Hall of Fame; Marquez is on the bubble in terms of wins but certainly merits strong consideration based on aesthetic evidence. Yes, Barrera may have been past it in the Pacquiao rematch last October, but he was also nip-tuck only months before with Marquez. Now Pacquiao heads up the scale in pursuit of a potential record fourth legitimate World title; he'll have to beat a solid contender and titlist in Diaz to move that direction and will be favored to do so. Think about it: He started his career at 108 lbs., meaning he's crossed a threshold of eight current and four "classic" weight classes and has improved along the way. Depending on what comes after and if he defeats Diaz, Pacquiao could easily have this spot to himself by the end of the year.
1. (tie) Floyd Mayweather (39-0, 25 KO)
Age: 31 Current Title: World Welterweight/147 lb. Champion (2006-Present) Career Titles: World Jr. Lightweight/130 lb. champion (1998-2001); World Lightweight/135 lb. champion (2002-04); additional alphabelts at 130, 135, 140, 147 & 154 lbs.
Floyd can't be dropped to the two spot — or lower — just yet. It's only been a few months since he knocked out reigning World Jr. Welterweight king Ricky Hatton and the first win over Oscar was a boost to his resume and financials. In terms of skill, Mayweather may be without peer. He's won three legitimate World titles and gone undefeated from 130 to 154 lbs. So what is the argument about? It's about a planned boxing schedule in 2008 so uninspired that to call Floyd the game's best is not a statement of fact but a forecast of where he might be when 2009 rolls around. It resurrects the ghosts of a lackluster string of bouts from 2003 to 2005 as well. No one can begrudge the sound business of Mayweather's established plans. If he and his team are assuming that his most meaningful bout, a showdown with Miguel Cotto, can both wait and be enhanced while he picks up checks at Wrestlemania and versus De La Hoya in a fight that no one thinks he'll lose, then so be it. As the fighters around him stake their claim in the ring, then he'll deservedly suffer while spending most of his time outside of it. Mayweather compares himself to Ray Robinson but at roughly the same age and with many more fights, Robinson was making top dollar and fighting top dogs. It doesn't have to be either/or.
3. Joe Calzaghe (44-0, 32 KO)
Age: 35 Current Title: World Super Middlweight/168 lb. Champion (2006-Present) Career Titles: Alphabelt titles at 168 lbs. since 1997 Last Five Opponents: Mikkel Kessler, Peter Manfredo, Sakio Bika, Jeff Lacy, Evans Ashira
Twice in the last two years he has faced undefeated and younger foes (Lacy and Kessler) many favored to defeat him; twice he has left jaws on the floor at the end of 12 rounds. Kessler made it tough early and late in November '07, but Calzaghe found that extra gear in the mid-rounds that only great fighters seem to have. Calzaghe is the ultimate example of a fighter whose fans should have trusted their eyes to decipher. He has long looked like one of the elite in the game regardless of weight. In cementing his claim as king at Super Middleweight, he has proven the eyes correct.
4. Israel Vasquez (43-4, 31 KO)
Age: 30 Current Title: World Jr. Featherweight/122 lb. Champion (2007-Present) Career Titles: World Jr. Featherweight (2005-2007); additional alphabelts at 122 lbs.
For years, Vasquez was one of those incredible crowd-pleasers that few thought of as one of the very best in the game until one day he just was. Now, having left fans in awe after an all-time great thrillogy with Marquez, Vasquez goes from working class tough to shoe-in Hall of Famer. Suddenly, the trilogy against Larios, the up from the deck win over Gonzalez in 2006...it all just means more. There can never be a discussion of the great Jr. Featherweights without him. Vasquez is proof that hard work and balls are just as important as natural athleticism in the ring. I don't know what's next for him but as long as it nets him a solid check he's earned it. Vasquez can know forever that a fighter one rarely thought of will never be forgotten.
5. Ivan Calderon (30-0, 6 KO)
Age: 33 Current Title: World Jr. Flyweight/108 lb. Champion (2007-Present) Career Titles: Additional alphabelts at 105 & 108 lbs. Last Five Opponents: Juan Esquer, Hugo Cazares, Ronald Barrera, Jose Luis Varela, Miguel Tellez
You'll read from many a knowledgeable scribe that this diminutive Puerto Rican champion might be the best pure boxer in the sport. Calderon can do it all in the ring short of knock opponents dead, making his inability thus far to lose all the more remarkable. His game is all skill with just enough thrill (usually) to make his fights worth watching; this is no Sven Ottke. After years as the uncrowned king at 105 lbs., Calderon outboxed and outgutted a much larger (at the opening bell) Cazares in August to cement his foothold among the game's elite by capturing the World title at 108 lbs. The similarly small Ricardo Lopez was marvelously underrated for years of his prime; no need to make that mistake twice with Calderon facing the near end of his. His intended fight with fellow Puerto Rican Dieppa is okay but Calderon's biggest test would come from excellent WBC titlist Ulises Solis. That fight needs to happen to justify Calderon remaining this high.
6. Rafael Marquez (37-5, 33 KO)
Age: 32 Current Title: World Jr. Featherweight (2007) Career Titles: Alphabelt Bantamweight/118 lbs.
With minor changes, I'll just about repeat what I wrote the day after Vasquez III: Marquez had the glossier dossier prior to his rivalry with Vasquez and, even in losing two of three, all he's done is add to the shine. After three early career stoppage losses that might have doomed him to be just "Juan Manuel's brother," Marquez found his way into the ring in 2001 and '02 with American Flyweight great Mark Johnson. Johnson marked his first great rival and Marquez ended Johnson's prime while emerging victorious in both those bouts. In 2003, he ended the run of another solid American, this one undefeated bantamweight Tim Austin, annexing the IBF belt at 118 lbs. in the process. Seven title defenses later, he stood out as one of the best Bantamweights to come around since the 1980s heyday of Jeff Chandler. His world title victory in the first Vasquez fight and the two subsequent losses put the icing on the cake. His has been a great career and it's not over yet.
7. Miguel Cotto (31-0, 25 KO)
Age: 27 Current Title: Alphabelt at welterweight Career Titles: Additional alphabelt at 140 lbs.
With consecutive wins over former World Welterweight champions Judah and Mosley, Cotto's quality is definitively established. The new debate is how far those qualities can take him. He gets no points for his next opponent. Gomez, a Season One Contender runner-up, seems like a guy who deserves a good payday but he has almost no chance against Cotto. Cotto does get points for future intentions; after Gomez, it appears he's headed towards the winner of Kermit Cintron-Antonio Margarito II this summer. If Cotto is still undefeated come the fall, he'll not only have expanded his mandate for a Mayweather bout but he'll have expanded the perception that he is the Welterweight acting like the division's champion.
8. Bernard Hopkins (48-4-1, 32 KO)
Age: 43 Current Title: Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight/175 lb. titlist (2006-Present) Career Titles: World Middleweight (2001-2005)
Having defeated in his career most of the best fighters on the scale below him (Trinidad, De La Hoya, Wright) and above him (Tarver), Hopkins now has the chance to defeat the only big name he's really missed. Given Calzaghe's recent form, and his installment as the odds favorite, a Hopkins win might be the greatest accomplishment ever for a fighter over the age of 40. No, it won't get the mass love that George Foreman-Michael Moorer produced, but in boxing terms it should. Will this be a great fight? Probably not, but it will be a clinic for those interested in the tricks and swerves that the masters pull off.
9. Juan Manuel Marquez (48-4-1, 35 KO)
Age: 34 Current Title: Alphabet title at 130 lbs. Career Titles: Alphabet titles at 126 lbs.
I was tempted to move him up based on the strength of his rematch performance with Pacquiao but who above him earned a trip down. It's a tribute to how strong boxing is right now. The question that intrigues me is whether or not Juan Manuel deserves a Canastota future and that's a rough one. His record isn't dotted with great wins but at his best he looks, has always looked, like a great fighter. The question could be made moot. He is getting farther from his peak but could have chances to add to his legacy. My suggestion is a showdown with Joan Guzman. With Pacquiao headed to 135 lbs., Marquez and Guzman are far and away the two best at Jr. Lightweight.
10. Cristian Mijares (34-3-2, 14 KO)
Age: 26 Current Title: Alphabelt at 115 lbs.
This is the only newcomer to the list and it was a tough call. Last time out, the ten spot was held down by World Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik and he certainly lost no favor in an excellent rematch with Jermain Taylor; he just got overshadowed by his undercard. Mijares appears to be the best fighter in the world at 115 lbs. and that counts heavily because 115 lbs. is as good a weight class as in any in the sport (and more talented than Pavlik's 160). It doesn't hurt that Mijares is displaying a skill set as good as any fighter, any weight, period. Undefeated since the summer of 2002, Mijares integrates offense and defense almost flawlessly and lately he's hard pressed to lose rounds against quality. His opposition is regularly world class and a scheduled fight with Munoz is the best of his long run. A win there and 115 lbs. could have an all-Mexican showdown between he and Fernando Montiel, who also looked fantastic on the Pavlik-Taylor II card against Martin Castillo, would leave purists breathless.
Five more who could easily be here: Joan Guzman, Kelly Pavlik, Mikkel Kessler, Fernando Montiel, Shane Mosley
Five more who could be here shortly: Jorge Linares, Koki Kameda, Chris John, Chad Dawson, Arthur Abraham
Feel free to agree...and disagree. This list is for entertainment purposes only and based purely on imagination, hypotheticals and conjecture just like every other pound for pound list ever written. Neither it nor any other such list made up of such illusory ingredients should be used to forward corporate agendas of any kind.
That doesn't make it any less fun to argue about.
Cliff Rold is a member of the Ring Magazine Ratings Advisory Panel and the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com.
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