WHO IS BOXING’S POUND FOR POUND CHAMPION?

Posted on | August 11, 2008 | 1 Comment

BOXING PRESS EXCLUSIVE

(BP)- Ever since the golden age of boxing, the sweet science’s top pugilistic practitioners have been crowned with a mythical title of Pound for Pound Champion. With the recent retirement of Floyd Mayweather, Jr., there is a vacancy at the top. Regardless of weight class; all things being equal, the superior to fighter to any other he might face is the P-4-P champion. Since a lot of subjective opinions are used to rate whom is best, Boxing Press has established a fair, objective, criteria to crown pound for pound champions.

Basic Prerequisites

First I pre-ranked 25 former or current champions: IBF Middleweight titlist Arthur Abraham, World WBO Junior Flyweight Champion Ivan Calderon, World WBO Super Middleweight, World Light Heavyweight Champion Joe Calzaghe, Undisputed WBA/IBF/WBO Lightweight Champion Nate Campbell, welterweights Miguel Cotto and Oscar de la Hoya, World Junior Welterweight Champion Ricky Hatton, heavyweight David Haye, light heavyweight Bernard Hopkins, World WBA Featherweight Champion Chris John, light heavyweight Roy Jones, Jr., Unified IBF/WBO Heavyweight titlist Wladimir Klitschko, WBA Welterweight titlist Antonio Margarito, lightweight Juan Manual Marquez, junior featherweight Rafael Marquez, Unified WBA/WBC Junior Bantamweight titlist Cristian Mijares, WBO Junior Bantamweight Fernando Montiel, welterweight Shane Mosley, WBC Lightweight titlist Manny Pacquiao, Unified World WBC/WBO Middleweight Champion Kelly Pavlik, WBC Heavyweight titlist Samuel Peter, super middleweight Jermain Taylor, World WBC Junior Featherweight Champion Israel Vazquez, WBO Welterweight titlist Paul Williams and middleweight Winky Wright complete the list.

Ratings Criteria

Next, I factored in eleven sets of categories to rate, rank, distinguish and differentiate between the fighters: fight records, won/loss percentages, divisions fought in, titles won, longest reign (including champions who moved up or down in weight, and kept winning and defending titles), number of title defenses, head to head match-ups if applicable: and their records versus other champions, undefeated fighters and championship fight results. This check-in-balance system establishes a safeguard mechanism whereby we award points and reward places on the list, rather than arbitrarily assigning points.

Objective Results vs. Subjective Rationale

My initial list was: Pacquiao, Calzaghe, Calderon, Pavlik, Hopkins, Vazquez, J. Marquez, Mijares, De La Hoya, Margarito, Cotto, Hatton, John, Wright, Mosley, Montiel, R. Marquez, W. Klitschko, Haye, Abraham, Jones, Guzman, Taylor, Campbell and Peter. Ironically, none of my fighters ranked held ‘order’, despite ranking them as objectively as possible. Without further adieu, here are the results of our unofficial tabulations.
Boxing Facts, Boxer Records and Bout Stats

POUND FOR POUND RANKINGS: FIGHTER RECORDS
1. Calzaghe (45-0-0); 2. John (41-0-1); 3. Pavlik (34-0-0); 4. Calderon (31-0-0); 5. Guzman (28-0-0); 6. Abraham (27-0-0); 7. Hatton (44-1-0); 8. Cotto (32-1-0); 9. Peter (30-1-0); 10. Haye (21-1-0); 11. Montiel (37-2-1); 12. Taylor (27-2-1); 13. W. Klitschko (51-3-0); 14. Pacquiao (47-3-2); 15. Mijares (35-3-2); 16. Jones (52-4-0); 17. Wright (51-4-1); 18. J. J. Marquez (48-4-1); 19. Vazquez (43-4-0); 20. Hopkins (48-5-1); 21. Mosley (44-5-0); 22. De La Hoya (39-5-0); 23t. Margarito (37-5-0), R. Marquez (37-5-0); and 25. Campbell (32-5-1). Notes: undefeated fighters are sorted by number of victories, regardless of draws; as are fighters with 1-5 losses. There is 1 tie. The strength of this rating component is reward for fighters who have not lost. However, fighters who lost controversial bouts (or fights early in their careers) are negatively impacted. Such is the case for Pacquiao, Mijares, Wright, DLH and Margarito.

POUND FOR POUND RANKINGS: WINNING PERCENTAGE
1. Calzaghe (1.000); 2. Pavlik (1.000); 3. Calderon (1.000); 4. Guzman (1.000); 5. Abraham (1.000); 6. John (.985); 7. Hatton (.978); 8. Cotto (.970); 9. Peter (.968); 10. Haye (.955); 11. Klitschko (.944); 12. Montiel (.937); 13. Jones (.929); 14. Pacquiao (.923); 15. Wright (.919); 16. Taylor (.916); 17. Vazquez (.915); 18. J. Marquez (.914); 19. Mijares (.899); 20. Mosley (.898); 21. Hopkins (.897); 22. De La Hoya (.886); 23t. Margarito (.881), R. Marquez (.881); and 25. Campbell (.854). Notes: John’s draw reduces his winning percentage. Several fighters should rank higher due to controversial losses. (Jones, Wright, Marquez, DLH, et al). There is 1 tie.

POUND FOR POUND RANKINGS: MULTI-DIVISION TITLES
1. De La Hoya (6); 2. Pacquiao (5); 3. Jones (4); 4t. Guzman, Mosley (3); 6t. Calderon, Calzaghe, Campbell, Cotto, Hatton, Hopkins, J. Marquez, R. Marquez, Montiel, Wright (2): and 16t. Abraham, Haye, John, W. Klitschko, Margarito, Mijares, Pavlik, Peter, Taylor, Vazquez (1). Notes: Pacquiao is given credit for his World Featherweight title victory over Barrera. J. Marquez and Taylor are scheduled to fight for second divisional titles. Haye and Pavlik may soon join them. There are 19 ties. Were it not for the fact that Pacquiao skipped two weights classes, he would have even more titles. Jones, Guzman, Mosley, and Hopkins likewise skipped one weight class. No other fighter in modern boxing history has come close to accomplishing what Oscar de la Hoya, Manny Pacquiao and Roy Jones, Jr. have done to cement their legacies.

POUND FOR POUND RANKINGS: MOST TITLES WON
1. Jones (13); 2. De La Hoya (10); 3. Hatton (9); 4t. Hopkins, Pacquiao (8); 6t. W. Klitschko, J. Marquez (7); 8t. Calzaghe, Guzman, Haye, R. Marquez, Mosley, Peter, Wright (6); 15t. Campbell, Cotto, Margarito, Taylor (5): and 19t. Mijares, Vazquez (4); 21t. Abraham, Calderon, Guzman, John, Montiel, Pavlik (3). Notes: major and minor sanctioning body titles are included. Guzman, Margarito, J. Marquez, and Taylor are scheduled to fight for another title. There are 17 ties. Roy Jones, Jr. is by far the most accomplished titleholder in modern boxing history. At one juncture, he held nine major and minor light heavyweight titles, successfully defending them for almost a decade.

POUND FOR POUND RANKINGS: RECORD IN TITLE FIGHTS
1. Hatton (31-1-0); 2. Hopkins (27-4-2-1); 3. Jones (26-4-0); 4. Calzaghe (25-0-0); 5. De La Hoya (25-5-0); 6. W. Klitschko (23-3-0); 7. Pacquiao (22-2-2); 8. John (18-0-1); 9. Cotto (18-1-0); 10. J. Marquez (18-3-1); 11. Calderon (16-0-0); 12. Wright (16-4-1); 13. Montiel (15-2-0); 14. Mosley (15-5-0); 15. Mijares (13-0-0); 16. Abraham (12-0-0); 17. R. Marquez (12-2-0); 18. Margarito (12-2-0-1); 19. Vazquez (11-3-0); 20. Guzman (10-0-0); 21. Peter (10-1-0); 22. Haye (8-1-0); 23. Taylor (8-1-1); 24. Pavlik (5-0-0): and 25. Campbell (3-3-0). Notes: major and minor sanctioning body title bouts are included. Rank order is determined by wins, losses and draws. There are no ties. This particular category really determines who the better fighter is, regardless of weight. The essence of a P-4-P champion is that he is better than everyone else he has, or could face.

POUND FOR POUND RANKINGS: LONGEST TITLE REIGN
1. Calzaghe (10.9); 2. Hopkins (10.3); 3. Jones (6.9); 4. De La Hoya (5.6); 5. Margarito (5.4); 6. Calderon (5.2); 7. John (4.10); 8. Pacquiao (4.6); 9. R. Marquez (4.1); 10. Cotto (3.10); 11. Hatton (3.8); 12. Wright (3.7); 13. Montiel (3.3); 14. J. Marquez (3.1); 15. Vazquez (3.0); 16. Guzman (3.0); 17. Abraham (2.8); 18. W. Klitschko (2.5); 19. Campbell (2.4); 20. Taylor (2.2); 21. Mosley (2.0); 22t. Mijares, Pavlik (1.10); 24. Peter (1.6): and 25. Haye (1.5). Notes: title reign periods require consecutive title defenses without a loss. Fighters who moved up in weight are given credit for ongoing bouts, if they kept winning and defending titles. Abraham, Calderon, Calzaghe, Hatton, W. Klitschko, Montiel and Pavlik’s reigns are ongoing. There is 1 tie. Our generation has now witnessed two of the best, greatest and longest title reigns in modern boxing history with Joe Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins, both making over 20 successful title defenses consecutively for over a decade without a loss!

POUND FOR POUND RANKINGS: COMBINED TITLE DEFENSES
1t.Hatton, Hopkins (25); 3. Calzaghe (22); 4. Jones (18); 5t. De La Hoya, Klitschko (17); 7. John, Pacquiao (16); 9. Cotto (15); 10. Calderon, J. Marquez (13); 12. Wright (12); 13. Mijares, Montiel, Mosley (11); 16. Abraham (10); 17. Guzman, Margarito, R. Marquez, Taylor (7); 21. Vazquez (6); 22. Haye, Peter (5); 24. Pavlik (3): and 25. Campbell (1). Notes: Credit is given for combined title defenses (both major and minor belts), not necessarily consecutive victories without loss of title. There are 10 ties. Hatton’s defenses were of his marginally recognized WBU junior welterweight title, and that his accomplishment pales in comparison to Hopkins, Calzaghe and Jones.

POUND FOR POUND RANKINGS: HEAD TO HEAD MATCHUP’S
1.Taylor (3-2-0); 2t. Hopkins, Vazquez, and Wright (2-1-0); 5. Mosley (2-3-0); 6t. Calzaghe, John, Jones, Margarito (1-0-0); 10. Pacquiao (1-0-1); 11. Cotto (1-1-0); 12. R. Marquez (1-2-0); 13t. Abraham, Calderon, Campbell, Guzman, Hatton, Haye, W. Klitschko, Mijares, Montiel, Pavlik (0-0-0); 23. Peter (0-1-0); 24. J. Marquez (0-2-1): and 25. De La Hoya (0-3-0). Notes: head to head bouts are between the 25 fighters listed. Calzaghe-Jones, Campbell-Guzman and Hopkins-Pavlik are set to fight later this year. Mijares-Montiel is TBA. DLH-Pacquiao is later this year. There are 14 ties. DLH has the misfortune of suffering two controversial losses, as did J. Marquez.
POUND FOR POUND RANKINGS: UNDEFEATED FIGHTERS BEATEN
1. Jones (8-1-0); 2. W. Klitschko (6-0-0); 3. Pacquiao (6-1-0); 4. De La Hoya (6-3-0); 5. Calzaghe, Cotto, R. Marquez, Vazquez (5-0-0); 9. Margarito (5-2-0); 10. Hopkins (5-4-0); 11. Guzman (4-0-0); 12. Mosley (4-3-0); 13. Montiel (3-0-0); 14. Campbell (3-1-0); 15. J. Marquez (3-3-0); 16t. Abraham, Haye, John and Pavlik (2-0-0); 20. Hatton (2-1-0); 21. Mijares, Peter (1-0-0); 23. Taylor (1-2-0); 24. Wright (1-2-1): and 25. Calderon (0-0-0). Notes: There are 7 ties. This particular category is very useful in determining quality wins, especially in the case of Jones, Pacquiao, DLH, and Hopkins who cemented their legacies with victories over other undefeated champions.

POUND FOR POUND RANKINGS: CHAMPIONSHIP FIGHT RECORD
1. De La Hoya (24-5-0); 2. Calzaghe (23-0-0); 3. Jones (23-4-0); 4. Hopkins (22-4-1-1); 5. Calderon (15-0-0); 6. Mosley (15-5-0); 7. Montiel (14-2-0); 8. Cotto (12-1-0); 9. W. Klitschko (12-2-0); 10. Wright (11-4-1); 11. Margarito (10-2-0-1); 12. John (9-0-1); 13. Pacquiao (9-1-2); 14. R. Marquez (9-2-0); 15t. Abraham, Mijares (8-0-0); 17. Vazquez (8-2-0); 18. J. Marquez (8-3-1); 19. Guzman (6-0-0); 20. Hatton (6-1-0); 21. Taylor (4-1-1); 22t. Haye, Pavlik and Peter (2-0-0): and 25. Campbell (1-1-0). Notes: Calzaghe-Jones, Campbell-Guzman, DLH-Pacquiao, and Hopkins-Pavlik meet in 2008. There are 3 ties. With the exception of an undefeated record, this is the most conclusive way to determine who the best fighters are. DLH, Calzaghe, Jones, Hopkins and Mosley have most assuredly established Hall of Fame careers.

POUND FOR POUND RANKINGS: OTHER CHAMPIONS DEFEATED
1.De La Hoya (20-5-0); 2. Jones (18-4-0); 3. Hopkins (13-4-0); 4. Cotto (11-1-0); 5. Calzaghe (10-0-0); 6. Pacquiao (10-2-2); 7. Mosley (9-5-0); 8. Calderon (8-0-0); 9. Wright (8-4-1); 10. Hatton (7-1-0); 11. Vazquez (7-2-0); 12t. W. Klitschko, R. Marquez, Montiel, Taylor (6-2-0); 16. J. Marquez (6-3-1); 17t. Guzman, Mijares (4-0-0); 19t. John, Pavlik (3-0-0); 21. Peter (3-1-0); 22. Margarito (3-2-0-1); 23. Haye (2-1-0); 24. Campbell (1-3-0): and 25. Abraham (0-0-0). Notes: Calzaghe-Jones, Campbell-Guzman, DLH-Pacquiao, Hopkins-Pavlik and Williams-Margarito are scheduled for later this year. There are 5 ties. Of all the categories, this is the penultimate measuring stick in determining who- regardless of weight class- is actually the most deserving fighter of Boxing’s Pound for Pound Championship.

Final Analysis
One can reasonably argue whether Calzaghe (#1) or Pacquiao (#4) is P-4-P champion. Jones (#2) is nowhere near the top. Hopkins is a stretch (#3). DLH (#5) and Klitschko (#9) are way too high. R. Marquez (#15) might be better than J. Marquez (#16), but he shouldn’t be ahead of Vazquez (#17). Margarito (#18), Pavlik (#19) and Mijares (#21) are too low. Cotto (#6), Hatton (#7) and Calderon (#8) should be in reverse order. John (#10), Wright (#11), Mosley (#12), Montiel (#13), Guzman (#14), Taylor (#22), Haye (#23), Peter (#24) and Campbell (#25) appear spot-on. In the end, this experiment may not have proven that objective stats- rather than subjective opinions- is the best way to rank P-4-P champions, but all I need to know is the P-4-P Champ is the guy willing and able to beat all others! And that’s a title no boxer can ever lose except in the ring.

Footnotes on Other Champions Defeated and Head to Head Match-ups
DLH beat Dorsey, Bredahl, Paez, Molina, Ruelas, Hernandez, Lejia, Chavez (twice), Gonzalez, Whitaker, Camacho, Quartey, Gatti, Castillejo, Vargas, Campas, Sturm, Mayorga and Forbes; he lost to Trinidad (a disputed decision), Mosley (twice, once in a controversial bout), Hopkins and Mayweather, Jr. (a split decision). Jones, Jr. beat Vaca, Castro, Hopkins, Malinga, Toney, Pazienza. McCallum, Griffin, Hill, Del Valle, Grant, R. Johnson, Hall, Gonzalez, Woods, Ruiz, Tarver and Trinidad; he lost to Griffin (a bogus disqualification); Tarver (twice): and G. Johnson. Hopkins beat Aquino, Jackson, Johnson, Brown, Allen (twice; one bout was a no contest), Holmes, Trinidad, Daniels, Joppy, De La Hoya, Tarver, and Wright; he lost to Jones, Taylor (twice): and Calzaghe.

Cotto beat Bazan, Maussa, N’Dou, Bailey, Corley, Torres, Malignaggi, Quintana, Judah and Mosley; he lost to Margarito. Calzaghe beat Eubank, Reid, Woodhall, Veit (twice), Brewer, Mitchell, Lacy, Kessler and Hopkins. Pacquiao beat Sasakul, Ledwaba, Julio, Barrera (twice), Morales (twice), Larios, Marquez and Diaz; he lost to Singsurat, Morales; and drew with Sanchez and Marquez. Mosley beat Holiday, Molina, Lejia, De La Hoya (twice, one bout controversial due to his steroids use and suspect scoring), Marquez, Vargas (twice) and Collazo; he lost to Forrest (twice), Wright (twice) and Cotto. Calderon beat Marquez, Sanchez, Cardenas, Leyva, Reyes, Bustos, Cazares and Dieppa. Wright beat McKart (thrice), Mullings, Mosley (twice), Trinidad and Quartey; he lost to Vazquez, Simon, Vargas and Hopkins; and drew with Taylor.

Hatton beat Pendleton, Phillips, Tszyu, Maussa, Collazo, Urango and Castillo; he lost to Mayweather, Jr. Vazquez beat Larios (twice), Julio, Hernandez, Gonzalez and Marquez (twice); he lost to Larios and Marquez. Klitschko beat Byrd (twice), Mercer, Brewster, Peter and Ibragimov; he lost to Brewster and Sanders. R. Marquez beat Johnson (twice), Austin, Pastrana (twice), and Vazquez (against whom he lost twice). Montiel beat Cordoba, Alcazar, Leon, Hernandez, Gonzalez and Castillo; he lost to Carbajal and Johnson. Taylor beat Marquez, Joppy, Hopkins (twice), and Spinks; he lost to Pavlik (twice): and drew with Wright. J. Marquez beat Sanchez, Kotey, Peden, Medina, Gainer, and Barrera; he lost to Norwood, John and Pacquiao (against whom he also drew).

Guzman beat Sanchez, Jauregi, Barrios and Soto. Mijares beat Kawashima (twice), Arce and Munoz. John beat Vorapin, Gainer and J. Marquez. Pavlik beat McKart and Taylor (twice). Peter beat Toney (twice) and Maskaev; he lost to W. Klitschko. Margarito beat Cintron (twice) and Cotto; he lost to Santos and Williams. Haye beat Thompson, Mormeck and Maccarinelli. Campbell beat Diaz; and lost to Casamayor and Peden (twice). Abraham has yet to face a former and/or current champion.

Note of Disclaimer: this written material may be disseminated, published, syndicated or otherwise reproduced, without prior expressed, written consent, provided that its source, intellectual property and exclusive authorship are attributed to Boxing Press Editor in Chief Greg Goodrich. Copy righted. 1999-2008. All rights reserved. Records have been verified by due diligence searches via microfiche newspapers; information gathered from the public domain: and data obtained from boxrec.com. If any statistic is inaccurate; a name is missing: or also record incomplete, please contact the author so that a correction and/or retraction can be made. Posted August 9, 2008.

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