P4P List
Compiled by Cain Bradley
Boxing fans love to debate superfights. Would Mayweather beat Klitchsko, unlikely the Ukranian is almost 100 pounds heavier. However fans use pound 4 pound rankings to work out who they think the best boxer is regardless of weight class.
1 Floyd Mayweather jr
Last fight: UD Shane Mosley
Next fight: 17/09/11 Victor Ortiz
Floyd Mayweather is the best. Sure it’s been over a year without a fight but Mayweather is the best. If you look at his last four opponents; De La Hoya; Hatton; Marquez; Mosley all were ranked pretty highly but Mayweather destroyed them. De La Hoya was the only one getting relatively close. Mayweather is the next level ahead of anyone else and there is no-one around that can beat him
2 Manny Pacquiao
Last fight: UD Shane Mosley
Next fight: 12/11/11 Juan Manuel Marquez
Manny Pacquiao is an inspirations to not only Filipino’s but people all over the world. Who would have thought in 1999 when Medgoen Singsurat beat him he would be an eight world weight world champion. While that is mightily impressive I’ve never been as impressed with Pacman as I have been with Mayweather recently. His last five opponents have been cherry picked in my opinion and I believe that Pacman has been very clever in who he has fought. Definitive wins over Mosley and then Martinez, Marquez or Bradley could persuade me.
3 Sergio Martinez
Last fight: Serhiy Dzinziruk TKO8
Next fight: Darren Barker 15/10/11
Martinez has always been a dangerous fighter. 33 years would be his first real chance at a title with an eliminator. He won it and waited 18 months for a shot at interim title. His big break really begun when he got his fight with ‘the most avoided man in boxing’ Paul Williams. In one of the fights of the year Williams grabbed a debatable majority decision. It was his next three fights which have him at number 3. Dominating Pavlik to win Middleweight titles, destroying Williams and obliterating Dzinziruk means that Martinez is one of the best fighters around. Martinez would be better off heading down to 154 with the potential for a superfight against a Welterweight moving up.
4 Juan Manuel Marquez
Last fight: Likar Ramos KO1
Next fight: Manny Pacquiao 12/11/11
The last four fights Marquez failed to win were against Mayweather, a debatable decision against Pacquiao, a hometown loss in a boring fight against Chris John and a draw after being knocked down three times against Pacquiao. In between this his last six fights have been wins over very good opposition. Marquez should be applauded for taking on who he does with a fight against Mayweather not one that he needed but above his optimum weight took on. Marquez will fight anyone and his fight against Pacquiao is a huge chance for the Mexican.
5 Nonito Donaire
Last fight: Fernando Montiel TKO2
Next fight: TBA
The love of the internet. If people on here tend to use forums only, then you’d be hard pushed to decide who was the best fighter in the world. Pacquiao or Donaire! He seems to me to be just a tad over-rated. His big fight wins are Darchinyan, Concecpion and Montiel. He is a good fighter to watch and often will provide knockouts in big fights. His big wins aren’t as big as any above him and for that reason he is behind them.
6 Timothy Bradley
Last fight: Devon Alexander TD
Next fight: TBA
Timothy Bradley is the possesor of possible the best abs in boxing. He is also possibly the best light welterweight around. A list of wins including Junior Witter, Nate Campbell, Devon Alexander is an impressive resume. He also shows a willingness to fight anyone with his unification bout against Alexander and a fight against Khan lined up. A win against Khan would edge him near my top three.
7 Bernard Hopkins
Last fight: Jean Pascal UD
Next fight: 15/10/11 Chad Dawson
The wily veteran is the oldest man on this list. His draw with the man who had beaten the man showed he is still competitive at 46. His last loss, and it was debatable, was against Joe Calzaghe one of the premier fighters of recent years. Hopkins also 4 fights ago took apart Kelly Pavlik and has been responsible I believe for his self destruction. He then drew and defeated Jean Pascal. B-Hop will remain on here until he can longer keep up with the best. He will be here for a long time at this rate!
8 Giovanni Segura
Last Fight: Eddy Zuniga KO1
Next Fight: TBA
A must watch fighter with pure, unrelenting aggression. It’s been a whirlwind 24 months for Segura who in 2009 knocked out Canchilla to win a light-flyweight world title. He would defend it three times, none of the fights went over 6 rounds. Late 2010 he’d moved up to Flyweight and was given a fight against the unbeaten Calderon. Calderon was ranked highly on pound 4 pound lists but Segura pressurised him and eventually the swarming was too much and a body shot finished Calderon in the 8th. In the rematch he destroyed Calderon knocking him out in the 3rd with a body shot. Segura has moved up to Flyweight in order to become a 2 time champion.
9 Andre Ward
Last fight: Arthur Abraham UD
Next fight: 29/10/11 Carl Froch
Andre Ward is one of 7 medallists at the 2004 summer Olympics who are all fighting at a high level. I have rated Ward the highest out of the lot of them. I wasn’t sure he belongs this high and belive that from around 8th downwards it gets very competitive. Andre is in mainly for his dominance over Kessler and three solid wins since. Andre Ward is for me one of the most boring fighters on this list and his last four fights against opponents that are of a good quality have all ended in decisions. Winning the super six would probably cement Wards place in the top 10.
10 Roberto Guerrero
Last fight: Michael Katsidis UD
Next fight: Marcos Maidana 27/08/11
Robert Guerrero is one of the lesser known boxers in the world. Formerly an IBF Super-featherweight world champion, Guerrero moved up to lightweight. He defeated former-lightweight champion Joel Casamayor in 2010. The defining fight of his career would come against Michael Katsidis who he dominated en route to a large unanimous decision. The fight against Maidana will give Guerrero the chance to be a three weight world champion
11 Miguel Angel Cotto
Last Fight: Ricardo Mayorga TKO12
Next fight: 03/12/11 Antonio Margarito
Miguel Cotto has been a top boxer since 2004. The names on his record are some of the best around. Pinto, N’dou, Corley, Torres, Malignaggi, Quintana, Judah, Mosley, Margarito, Clottey, Pacquiao, Mayorga. The defeat against Margarito will remain etched on my mind and probably his for a long time. Who knows if Margarito was adding illegal substances to his hand wraps, if he was then not only has he endangered Cotto but deprived the fan of a star. Since the Margarito fight Cotto just hasn’t been the same and he will attempt revenge in December.
12 Wladimir Klitcshko
Last fight: David Haye UD
Next fight: TBA
Possibly the most boring fighter on here, Klitchsko is not an appealing heavyweight champion. He does not go all out attacking but boxes behind a strong jab. It’s worked 55 times with his chin letting him down thrice. Beating David Haye showed the world that it easy to make the plan to beat Klitcshko but executing it is entirely different.
13 Roman Gonzalez
Last fight: Omar Salado TKO7
Next fight: 01/10/11 TBA
Standing at 5’2 Roman is the shortest boxer on this list. He is also pretty unknown due mainly to the fact he has campaigned at straw-weight and light flyweight. The youngest man on this list at 23, first dominated at straw-weight he then moved up to light flyweight. If a fight with Segura comes off it would be a classic. If Gonzalez was a few weights higher he would be much more exposed.
14 Jean Pascal
Last fight: Bernard Hopkins UD Loss
Next fight: 17/12/11 TBA
Jean Pascal is one of my favourite boxers in the world and I feel he is much more comfortable at light heavyweight than he was at super middleweight. It shows just how good he is that he was able to go to Froch’s backyard and brawl with the Cobra. Both showed incredible heart and good hands in of the best fights in 2008. He moved up to light heavyweight where he won the belt off Diaconu. He then beat the best the light heavyweight had to offer and a high ranked fighter in Chad Dawson. Pascal never receives credit he deserves for this and he battled Hopkins to a draw before losing his title to him in a rematch. No disgrace as Hopkins is still great. Pascal is also a rarity these days in that he is willing to take risks and fight anyone.
15 Yuriorkis Gamboa
Last fight: Jorge Solis TKO4
Next fight: 10/09/11 Daniel Ponce De Leon
The kid from Cuba is well and truly swimming in the shallower end of the pool. Some quality opposition would do this kid no harm. Solis, Salido, Mtawga are the most notable names, but I think with Gamboa’s potential he belongs at the top of the division. After his recent win over Solis, Solis described him as more powerful than Pacquiao. It is approaching the time for Gamboa to sink or swim.
16 Amir Khan
Last fight: Zab Judah KO5
Next fight: TBA
Amir Khan is a prime example of just how good Freddie Roach is. Watching pre-Roach and post-Roach is like a different fighter. Khan is establishing himself as one of the top fighters in the light-welterweight division. I was a critic of Khan however have really warmed to him with masterful performances. Malignaggi, Judah and Maidana both stick out in my mind. Khan will hopefully fight Bradley to completely unify the belts eventually.
17 Chris John
Last Fight: Daud Yordan UD
Next fight: TBA
Chris John has been un-noticed for years but he has been a top featherweight for years. His first big win came against Marquez in 2006. It was by no means terrible judging in Indonesia but he never got the recognition. A big reason for the lack of recognition was that the first time he ventured into America was 2009. He got a draw in the first fight against Juarez which he deserved to win and in the second fight dominated Juarez. He needs to keep in the mix fighting top Featherweights like Lopez and Gamboa instead of Saucedo and Yordan.
18 Carl Froch
Last fight: Glen Jonhson MD
Next fight: 29/10/11 Andre Ward
Carl Froch has gone the classic route through English, British and commonwealth titles. After being avoided by Dennis Inkin in 2008, he finally got his shot against Jean Pascal. He took it with a unanimous decision claiming the WBC title. He’d enter the super six and has reached the final with wins over Abraham, Dirrell and Glen Johnson. He is in the final and beating Ward would propel him up the list.
19 Toshiakia Nishioka
Last fight: Mauricio Javier Munoz KO9
Next fight:
Nishioka has slowly built himself a reputation as the best super bantamweight around. 6 successful defences of the WBC belt with wins over Jhonny Gonzalez and Rendall Munroe have shown how good Nishioka is. The logical next step for Nishioka would be unifying the belt before moving up to Featherweight and some websites have him scheduled as fighting Rafael Marquez.
20 Lucian Bute
Last fight: Jean Paul Mendy KO4
Next fight: Kelly Pavlik 05/11/11
Lucian Bute has been a touch unlucky. The super six left Bute without meaningless opponents. His best wins have come over Bika, Miranda and Andrade. The big fights are starting to arrive for Bute. Kelly Pavlik is next up who only has lost to Martinez and Hopkins, two fighters in the top ten. A win against Kelly could lead to the winner of the super six.
Boxers who have dropped out: Paul Williams, Juan Manuel Lopez, David Haye
Boxers who just missed out and should be here soon: Brandon Rios, Guilermo Rigondeaux, Saul Alvarez
