MATT YANOFSKY’S UPDATED BOXING POUND FOR POUND LIST
Posted on | May 7, 2007 | 1 Comment
Pound for Pound List {As Of 5/6/07}
By Matt Yanofsky
Floyd Mayweather {Welterweight}
Floyd Mayweather once again becomes the clear number one pound for pound fighter after defeating the legendary Oscar De La Hoya. All of the Mayweather critics must give him respect for not only taking the fight at too high of a weight, but also using Oscar’s gloves and winning in Vegas where he is a favorite. I was surprised to see it be a split decision as I felt Floyd clearly won the contest. I see no issue if Floyd does not ever fight again. However, a rematch would never be a problem especially if Golden Boy Promotions gives Floyd $15 million worth of reasons to think about it.
Manny Pacquiao {Junior Lightweight}
Although he got off to a slow start and needed 8 rounds to dispose the tall awkward and undefeated Jorge Solis, Pacman got the job done. He also had an excellent 2006 where he twice knocked out Erik Morales and battered former champion Oscar Larios. Pacquaio may have to move up to 135 lbs for his next fight due to his promoter Bob Arum’s long time feud with Golden Boy Promotions. Golden Boy is led by Oscar De La Hoya who promotes both Juan Manuel Marquez and Marco Antonio Barrera. Pacquaio was called out by new WBA/WBO Champion Juan Diaz and stylistically, that would make a terrific fight.
Winky Wright {Middleweight}
After a disputed draw with champion Jermain Taylor in June, Wright returned to dominate former champion Ike Quartey who moved up from junior middleweight. Wright will now be facing Bernard Hopkins at a catch weight of 170 on a pay per view in July that few fans will order. Here is a good question, why are they fighting at 170? There was a vacant IBF Belt at 168 and I can assure you that if they elected to move down 2 lbs that belt could have defiantly been at stake as both fighters were IBF ranked. It is too late now as Alejandro Berrio holds the belt and now there is absolutely no build up behind this already boring fight. However, the winner is looking at a potential match up with Joe Calzaghe.
Rafael Marquez {Super Bantamweight}
Marquez successfully moved up from Bantamweight to stop WBC and Ring Magazine Champion Israel Vazquez in a thriller. The power punching machine broke Vazquez’ nose and traded blows with him until Vazquez retired on his stool after the 7th round claiming he couldn’t breathe. Marquez showed the heart of a champion when he recovering from a third round knockdown to ultimately come back to stop the fight. Both fighters want a rematch and the fans would love it as well.
Juan Manuel Marquez {Junior Lightweight}
Jus like his brother Rafael, Juan Manuel successfully moved up in weight to win the WBC championship. Marquez out pointed the legendary Macro Antonio Barrera. Marquez will most definitely be on tap to avenge his 2004 draw in rematch with Manny Pacquaio. Ironically, one year ago Marquez was thought to as being in no mans land after taking $30,000 in losing to Chris John instead of a potential rematch with Pacquaio which at the time Marquez priced himself out of.
Jermain Taylor {Middleweight}
Taylor earned a decision victory over the tough and awkward volume punching machine Kassim Ouma who took Taylor’s best power shots while refusing to go down. Ouma, the former Junior Middleweight champion had some success toward the end of the fight against Taylor who has shown inability to fight while going backwards. Taylor will be fighting the feather fisted 2 division world champion Cory Spinks who will be moving up in weight May 19th on HBO. This will be the third straight Junior Middleweight {Ouma and Wright} that he is facing. If Taylor is successful, he will be facing either the winner of Pavlik vs Miranda or move up to 168 to face long time WBO king Joe Calzaghe.
7. Joe Calzaghe {Super Middleweight}
Calzaghe had a controversial stoppage win over Manfredo but regardless of the controversy, Calzaghe was dominating as expected and it would have not lasted much longer then it did. Joe had a tougher time than expected in his prior fight. Calzaghe recovered from the first cut of his career against Sakio Bika to earn a unanimous decision. Calzaghe is successful, he will have some options. Calzaghe should next fight Mikkel Kessler, Jermain Taylor, or move up to Light Heavyweight to face one of the champions. But unfortunately, it appears he will be facing the undeserving Denis Inkin. This is exactly what is wrong with boxing
8. Ricky Hatton {Junior Welterweight}
After a very close call against Luis Collazo at Welterweight, Hatton moved back down to Junior Welterweight to dominate IBF Champion Juan Urango. Hatton almost immediately vacated his belt by electing to face Jose Luis Castillo instead of mandatory challenger Lovemore N’dou who was handed the title when Hatton vacated it. Hatton vs Castillo will be taking place this June and should be an incredible fight.
9. Marco Antonio Barrera {Super Featherweight}
Barrera dropped a decision to the great Juan Manuel Marquez in a fight some saw as a robbery. I disagree that the fight was a robbery but I do belive Barrera is still a top 10 lb for lb fighter and can rebound as he has in the past from his prior losses. Also on the bright side, all 5 of Barrera’s losses have come to multiple division world champions in Junior Jones, Erik Morales, Manny Pacquiao, and Juan Manuel Marquez.
10. Ivan Calderon {Strawweight}
Calderon may perhaps be the best pure boxer in the world today. Unfortunately, to most boxing fans he is an unknown because he is fighting at the lowest weight class and receives little publicity. Calderon has been dominant for most of his career by using his ability to hit and not get hit. In his last fight, Calderon surprisingly struggled with Ronald Barrera needing a split decision victory after getting cut up for the first time in his career during a late rally by Barrera. Calderon, who has made 11 defenses of his WBO Strawweight title, is expected move up to 108 to face IBF Champion Ulises Solis in August. Hopefully we will see more of him on TV so he can get the respect he deserves.
Honorable Mention: Chris John, Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, Jose Luis Castillo, Joel Casamayor, Wladimir Klitchko, Shane Mosley, Juan Diaz, Mikkel Kessler, Jean Marc Mormeck, Miguel Cotto