MATT YANOFSKY’S UPDATED P4P LIST
Posted on | November 11, 2007 | No Comments
Pound for Pound List {As Of 11/11/07}
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 in May. 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. 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}
Pacquaio easily defeated an old and faded Marco Antonio Barrera after his unimpressive 8th round knockout of Jorge Solis. Pacquaio initially announced he would be staying at 130 lbs and that lead to a hopeful rematch with Juan Manuel Marquez which many fans are dying to see. Pacquiao now is talking about fighting WBC Lightweight paper champion David Diaz If Pacquaio some how doesn’t fight Diaz or Marquez next; expect him to face knockout artist Edwin Valero or the winner of Joan Guzman and Humberto Soto.
3. Joe Calzaghe {Super Middleweight}
Calzaghe defined his legacy with his impressive unanimous decision victory over WBA/WBC Super Middleweight Champion Mikkel Kessler. In reality, Calzaghe, who is the WBA/WBC/WBO and Ring Magazine champion, owns all of the Super Middleweight belts since he did vacate the IBF belt which is now held by Lucian Bute. Kessler said he would like a rematch but Calzaghe clearly won and I don’t think a rematch will happen or at least not right away. Calzaghe and Bernard Hopkins would like to fight each other but the venue of the fight may cause an issue. If that fight can not be worked out, expect Calzaghe to move up in weight to face IBF Light Heavyweight Champion Clinton Woods or possibly face IBF Super Middleweight Champion Lucian Bute {The Same IBF Belt He Vacated}, but that is most likely a long shot to happen.
4. 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 fighter even if he has slowed down a bit. Hopkins said he wants to fight Joe Calzaghe in Yankee Stadium. Calzaghe called out Hopkins as well following his victory over Mikkel Kessler. An issue however may be the venue due to the fact that the fight would make most financial sense in the UK but most experts think Hopkins won’t travel outside of the USA and this may prevent the fight from happening due to Calzaghe’s large financial demands to fight outside of Europe.
5. 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 against Welterweight World Champion Floyd Mayweather.
6. Juan Manuel Marquez {Junior Lightweight}
Marquez scored an easy but bloody decision over contender Rocky Juarez, who suffered a bad cut from a clash of heads in the first round. Hopefully Marquez will get a rematch with Manny Pacquaio because I belive Marquez has the style and smarts to defeat him.
7. Kelly Pavlik {Middleweight}
Kelly Pavlik proved to the boxing world that he is a true warrior and a star that is here to stay following his dramatic 7th round knockout over World Middleweight Champion Jermain Taylor. Pavlik came off the canvas to stop the previously undefeated Taylor in the best middleweight fight in recent memory. A rematch is scheduled for February 16th on Pay Per View at a catch weight of 166 lbs.
8. Miguel Cotto {Welterweight}
Cotto showed his versatility in defeating future hall of famer Shane Mosley. Cotto used a powerful jab along with his signature body punching to earn a close but deserved victory. If Cotto does not face the winner of Mayweather Vs Hatton {Since Oscar De La Hoya said he couldn’t face Cotto because his wife is Puerto Rican}, Many boxing fans will be extremely upset.
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 March, 2008.
10.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. With Kelly Pavlik and Jermain Taylor set for a rematch, Winky will probably have to wait for something to develop or take a tune up with nothing significant scheduled for the time being.
Honorable Mention: Rafael Marquez, Chris John, Jermain Taylor, Cory Spinks, Wladimir Klitchko, Juan Diaz, Mikkel Kessler, David Haye, Ivan Calderon, Christian Mijares