MATT YANOFSKY’S BOXING POUND FOR POUND LIST

Pound for Pound List {As Of 3/9/07}

By: Matt Yanofsky

1. Manny Pacquaio {Junior Lightweight}Pacquaio has an excellent 2006 where he twice knocked out Erik Morales and battered former champion Oscar Larios. Pacquaio is now slated to face unknown and unheralded Jorge Solis on April fourteenth on a Pay Per View Card. Should Pacquiao be successful, I would hope he faces the Barerra vs Marquez winner.

2. Floyd Mayweather {Welterweight}After winning the entire second half of the Zab Judah fight and every round against Carlos Baldomir, Mayweather will now be facing the biggest test of career when he moves up to 154 to face Oscar De La Hoya. Unfortunately, if Floyd loses the fight and elects to retire, his legacy may forever be non-existent.

3. 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.

4. 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 seventh 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.

5. Juan Manuel Marquez {Junior Lightweight}Jus like his brother Rafael, Juan Manuel successfully moved up in weight to win the WBC championship. Marquez easily out pointed the legendary Macro Antonio Barrera. Marquez will most definitely be on tap to avenge his 2004 draw in rematch with Manny Pacquaio if he is successful against Jorge Solis April fourteenth.

6. 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 contender season 1 champion Sergio Mora in May or June on HBO. 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. 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.

8. Joe Calzaghe {Super Middleweight}Calzaghe had a tougher time than expected in his last fight. Calzaghe recovered from the first cut of his career against Sakio Bika to earn a unanimous decision. Calzaghe will be facing Peter Manfredo April seventh on HBO. If Calzaghe is successful, he will have some options. Calzaghe can face the winner of the Mikkel Kessler Librado Andrade fight, Face Jermain Taylor, or move up to Light Heavyweight to face one of the champions.

9. Joel Cassamayor {Lightweight}Casamayor picked up the WBC and Ring Magazine title in October by defeating Diego Corrales who missed weight by 4 lbs. Casamayor could have refused the fight like Corrales did when Jose Luis Castillo missed weight for their third fight but he elected to be a true fighter and take the contest. Casamayor has since been unjustly stripped of his title just for “talking” about fighting WBO champion Acelino Freitas. Casamayor will now be facing WBC “Interim” Champion David Diaz who is his mandatory so why not give Casamayor his belt back? Welcome to boxing folks.

   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 due to the fact he is fighting at the lowest weight class and receives very little publicity. Calderon has dominated every fight he has been in and has been refused unification by the other three champions at 105. Calderon may move up to 108 to face IBF Champion Ulises Solis. Hopefully we will see more of him on TV so he can get the respect he deserves.

   Honorable Mention: Jorge Arce, Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, Jose Luis Castillo, Marco Antonio Barrera, Wladimir Klitchko, Shane Mosley, Israel Vazquez, Mikkel Kessler, Jean Marc Mormeck, Miguel Cotto