MATT YANOFSKY’S UPDATED P4P LIST
Posted on | September 10, 2007 | 1 Comment
Pound for Pound List {As Of 9/9/07}
By Matt Yanofsky
Floyd Mayweather {Welterweight}
Floyd Mayweather’s 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 De La Hoya is a favorite. I was surprised to see it be a split decision as I felt Floyd clearly won the contest. De La Hoya has stated their will be no rematch. To no surprise, Floyd has come out of retirement and will be fighting Ricky Hatton on December 8th. The fight will be for Mayweather’s WBC and Ring Magazine Welterweight Championship.
2. 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 is now scheduled for an October 6th rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera that will be featured on pay per view. This is good news as promotional differences were settled between Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions. If Pacquaio is victorious as expected, this can lead to another rematch with a Golden Boy fighter, Juan Manuel Marquez.
3. Bernard Hopkins {Light Heavyweight}
After retaining his Light Heavyweight World Title by defeating Winky Wright in a 12 round snooze fest, Hopkins showed that he is still an elite boxer even if he is not the same fighter he was a few years prior. Hopkins said he wants to fight Joe Calzaghe in Yankee Stadium. Hopkins will have to wait until after Calzaghe fights Mikkel Kessler in November. If Calzaghe is not victorious, Hopkins will most likely attempt to face Kessler.
4. Ricky Hatton {Junior Welterweight}
Hatton retained his Junior Welterweight World Title when he surprisingly dominated legendary warrior Jose Luis Castillo en route to a 4th round KO. Hatton floored Castillo for the first time in his career with a picture perfect body shot ala Roy Jones/Virgil Hill. Hatton now has a December 8th mega fight where he will be again moving up to 147 to face Welterweight World Champion Floyd Mayweather.
5. 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. Ironically, one year ago Marquez was thought to as being in no mans land after taking $30,000 in losing to Chris John Marquez was scheduled to face Rocky Juarez September 15th on a nice Golden Boy pay per view card but that was cancelled when Marquez was injured.
6. Joe Calzaghe {Super Middleweight}
Calzaghe had a controversial stoppage win over Peter Manfredo on April 7th. Regardless of the controversy, Calzaghe was dominating as expected and it would have not lasted much longer then it did. Calzaghe is scheduled to fight undefeated WBA/WBC Champion Mikkel Kessler on November 3rd in which may be the biggest fight in Super Middleweight History.
7. Jermain Taylor {Middleweight}
Taylor earned an extremely lackluster and what some felt controversial decision over sprinter/Junior Middleweight Cory Spinks. This was the third straight Junior Middleweight titlist {Kassim Ouma and Winky Wright} that he had faced. Taylor is now set to challenge undefeated #1 Middleweight contender Kelly “The Ghost” Pavlik September 29th on HBO. Taylor has announced this will be his last fight at 160 lbs. If Taylor wins, he is also a candidate to face the winner of Joe Calzaghe vs Mikkel Kessler. If Pavlik wins, Taylor has a rematch clause but the fight must take place above 160 lbs.
8. Winky Wright {Middleweight}
Wright fell just short against legend Bernard Hopkins for the Light Heavyweight world title. I scored the fight a draw {as did Harold Lederman of HBO} but the three judges came up with the ludicrous scores of 116-112 and 117-111 twice for Hopkins. Wright said he will move back down to 160 but he may be out of luck as Middleweight stars Edison Miranda, Jermain Taylor, and Kelly Pavlik will all be at 168 in the near future. If Winky is not willing to move up to 168 or attempt to make 154 where he was at his best, Wright may be with out a fight!
9. Israel Vazquez {Super Bantamweight}
After being stopped by Rafael Marquez in their first fight, Vazquez returned with a vengeance. Vazquez dropped Marquez in the 6th round and stopped him shortly after in the second straight fight of the year candidate between the two. Vazquez, who regained the WBC and Ring Magazine Championship showed the warrior he is and shocked the fans in a fight many predicted him to lose. A third fight is tentatively scheduled for February, 2008
10. Ivan Calderon {Junior Flyweight}
Call him Ivan the Great! Calderon moved up from Strawweight and dethroned the WBO/Ring Magazine Junior Flyweight Champion Hugo Cazares giving him his first defeat since 1999. Calderon, who came off the canvas in the 8th round, was awarded the contest by split decision but clearly won by out boxing the much bigger and stronger Cazares. Calderon now hopes for a unification bout {something he was frequently refused at Strawweight} or a fight with former champion/amateur rival Brian Viloria.
Honorable Mention: Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Rafael Marquez, Chris John, Marco Antonio Barrera, Joel Casamayor, Wladimir Klitchko, Juan Diaz, Mikkel Kessler, Jean Marc Mormeck,