By Cliff Rold
Roman Gonzalez versus Sergey Kovalev…who wouldn’t want to see that?
Well, actually, pretty much everyone. Gonzalez and Kovalev are two of the sports most exciting bad asses. At 112 and 175 lbs., respectively, they won’t be fighting.
It’s fun to imagine what would happen if they were the same size. A lot of air and ink is spent hypothesizing on it all the time. Jim Lampley has a pound-for-pound list. ESPN, Ring, TBRB, this site, and Cousin It all have theirs too.
It’s fun to play what if.
Once a year, it’s fun to play what is.
Repeating what was said last year about this time:
While their volume and politics often water down the merit of winning a ‘world title,’ championships are still at the core of achievement in boxing. The sport doesn’t take place in a pound-for-pound fantasyland. It takes place in weight classes, one fight at a time, with two primary goals:
Goal One: Make as much cash as possible (let’s not kid ourselves).
Goal Two: Become a Champion.
With so many belts, not every man who wins one really earns the label of champion. Those who do, those who win and then defend their titles against real contenders and successfully exit the ring with their crown still in place, merit the utmost respect. It’s not easy to win a title. Those who challenge themselves find them even harder to keep.
This is their list.
It’s not pound-for-pound…it’s Champ for Champ for the year of 2014.
10) Gennady Golovkin – WBA/IBO Middleweight
9) Akira Yaegashi – Lineal/TBRB/Ring/WBC Flyweight (Since Defeated by Roman Gonzalez)
8) Adonis Stevenson – Lineal/TBRB/Ring/WBC Light Heavyweight
7) Marco Huck – WBO Cruiserweight
6) Takashi Uchiyama – WBA Super Featherweight
5) Andre Ward – Lineal/TBRB/Ring/WBA Super Middleweight (Inactive since November 2013)
4) Guillermo Rigondeaux – Lineal/TBRB/Ring/WBA Jr. Featherweight
3) Floyd Mayweather – Lineal/Ring/WBC/WBA Welterweight; Lineal/TBRB/Ring/WBC/WBA Jr. Middleweight
2) Danny Garcia – Lineal/TBRB/Ring/WBC/WBA Jr. Welterweight
1) Wladimir Klitschko – Lineal/TBRB/Ring/IBF/IBO/WBO/WBA World Heavyweight
Readers will notice a lot of changes since last year. Yaegashi lost twice in the ring in 2014. Garcia, Stevenson, and Ward simply lost ground. Ward hasn’t fought in well over a year, the opposite of what anyone would want in a champion.
Ward is out.
Garcia defended once while Stevenson defended twice, neither against contenders anyone was dying to see. Garcia arguably deserved to lose to hard luck challenger Mauricio Herrera. Adonis Stevenson signed with Al Haymon and worked his way out of fights with Sergey Kovalev, Bernard Hopkins, and Jean Pascal.
Both slip off the list as does Japan’s Uchiyama. Out of the ring for all but one day in 2014, Uchiyama successfully defended his crown. Challenger Israel Perez left something to be desired.
Who did make the cut as the sport’s best examples of championship fiber?
10) Guillermo Rigondeaux (15-0, 10 KO) – Lineal World Jr. Featherweight – 3 Defenses
The Cult of Rigo won’t like this bit of slippage but the facts overwhelm. While he defended his title twice by knockout, Rigondeaux didn’t face a serious top contender in either of his starts this year. Why does he remain over a Stevenson who did defeat legitimate top ten contender Andrzej Fonfara? The reason is because it’s not entirely Rigondeaux’s fault he was stuck whacking out Sod Kokietgym and Hisashi Amagassa. He’s the best 122 lb. fighter in the world and no one else in his division is looking to take that spot from him. Rigondeaux may not be thrilling to watch all the time, but boxing is still a sport. On a sporting level, fighters like Carl Frampton, Scott Quigg, and Leo Santa Cruz should be embarrassed in 2015 if they aren’t trying to be more than second best. Amagassa, who dropped Rigondeaux twice before defeat, reminded all that the Cuban maestro isn’t Superman. Getting the entire top of the division to hide from him since a win over Nonito Donaire speaks to his superiority as a champion.
9) Marco Huck (38-2-1, 26 KO) – WBO Cruiserweight – 13 Defenses
Huck tied Johnny Nelson for the most defenses in division history in 2014. He could have done more. Like Nelson, he has yet to pursue unification. Of his two defenses on the year, only one stood out. In 2012, former titlist Firat Arslan took Huck to the brink. He got the rematch he deserved this year and Huck made things right, stopping Arslan in six. Arslan proved the merit of the win when he lost a split decision to titlist Yoan Pablo Hernandez later in the year. Only 30, Huck proved against Alexander Povetkin in 2012 that he could hang at Heavyweight. In the year ahead, let’s hope he moves up or finally moves to clean up his division once and for all.
8) Naoya Inoue (8-0, 7 KO) – WBO Super Flyweight – 0 Defenses
Inoue, the 2014 BoxingScene Fighter of the Year, won titles at 108 and 115 lbs. in 2014, with a defense of the former in between. The defense came against a so-so opponent. The rest of the year is everything anyone could ask of a champion. Adrian Hernandez had a case as the top titlist at Jr. Flyweight. Narvaez was the consensus choice for top dog two classes higher. Inoue went through both with ease. He hasn’t put together a single reign of note yet, the only drawback here. If this is the sort of audacity that will be Inoue’s norm, and that remains to be seen, his championship esteem will only rise.
7) Sergey Kovalev (26-0-1, 23 KO) – WBO Light Heavyweight (4 Defenses); WBA/IBF Light Heavyweight – 0 Defenses
Kovalev defended his WBO belt three times, the last of them a dominating defense and unification win over living legend Bernard Hopkins. There is talking about it and then there is being about it. In 2014, Hopkins and Kovalev both attempted the latter. To the victor go the spoils. Kovalev immediately signed to defend next against former champion Jean Pascal on Pascal’s Canadian turf. That’s how a champion behaves. Kovalev may not hold history’s crown, but he is the people’s champion for the moment. Had his first two defenses of the year come against stiffer tests, he’d be even higher.
6) Gennady Golovkin (31-0, 28 KO) – WBA/IBO Middleweight – 12 Defenses
One of the big knocks on Golovkin has been the quality of his foes. It’s still an issue. He made moves this year to answer that, accepting a challenge from former unified titlist Daniel Geale. Geale had never been stopped. He joined everyone Golovkin has faced since the summer of 2008 in failing to last the route. A total of three 2014 knockout defenses will be followed with a fight against top ten contender Martin Murray to start 2015. What else can he do at 160 lbs. but keep knocking over the men who are considered top ten. Lineal champion Miguel Cotto is seen as no threat to Golovkin. It’s likely as competitive as Sonny Liston-Floyd Patterson. If Cotto can get past whomever he defends against first in 2015, he should fight Golovkin anyways. That’s what a champion is supposed to do.
5) Donnie Nietes (34-1-4, 20 KO) – WBO Light Flyweight – 5 Defenses
Largely unknown outside hardcore circles and his native Philippines, Nietes picked up two knockout defenses this year. The first was commendable. In 2013, former 105 lb. titlist Moises Fuentes battled Nietes to an exciting draw. Nietes put him on the floor three times to stop him in round nine of the sequel, earning Ring Magazine honors for the win. Nietes is flirting with a rise to Flyweight or a possible 2015 defense against former unified 105 lb. titlist Francisco Rodriguez Jr. Both options are worth following. The Fuentes win is worth honoring for this two-division beltholder now 10-0-1 in title fights.
4) Floyd Mayweather (47-0, 26 KO) – Lineal World Welterweight – 4 Defenses; Lineal World Jr. Middleweight – 1 Defense
Mayweather’s Jr. Middleweight reign is not why he’s here. The lone defense of the historical crown he captured with a win over Saul Alvarez in 2013 came in what was also a Welterweight title fight. Mayweather remains for his Welterweight activity. He defended against twice against a Marcos Maidana who was coming off a folk-hero like win over Adrien Broner. Maidana gave Mayweather hell the first time, with some scoring the fight even or for the challenger. Given the air of dispute, Mayweather did what a champion should in such circumstance and rewarded Maidana with a rematch. He won the return going away, successfully defending both his crowns. Why isn’t Mayweather higher? Manny Pacquiao. A champion finds a way to fight the challenger everyone wants to see most. Maidana times two is no substitute.
3) Terrence Crawford (25-0, 17 KO) – Lineal Lightweight Champion – 0 Defenses
No American fighter had a better 2014 in the ring than Crawford. From emerging contender to WBO titlist to World Champion by year’s end, Crawford ignited a dry Lightweight field. On the road, he started the year with a dominant decision over longtime beltholder Ricky Burns. In his first defense, he won a scorching chess match with Yuriorkis Gamboa, stopping the talented and undefeated Cuban for the first time. He finished the year facing the next best available contender in Ray Beltran, winning a lopsided decision and recognition from TBRB and Ring Magazine as the true 135 lb. king. Three top ten Lightweight foes, three impressive wins. Expect him to campaign at 140 lbs. and higher from here.
2) Amnat Ruenroeng (14-0, 5 KO) – IBF Flyweight Champion – 2 Defenses
Roman Gonzalez’s win over Akira Yaegashi gave him history’s crown. Juan Francisco Estrada’s win over Giovani Segura was impressive domination. Neither title holder had a better overall 2014 in one of boxing’s best current classes. A former Olympian, more people should have seen this cagey Thai coming. Few did. Ruenroeng won a vacant title against solid veteran Rocky Fuentes to start his 2014 campaign. What followed is why he’s here. Ruenroeng went on the road to Japan, defending against undefeated two-division titlist Kazuto Ioka. He outclassed him for a split decision that should have been wide across the board. In his next defense, he came off the floor against talented former Olympian McWilliams Arroyo to win a decision down the stretch. He’s not always pretty to watch, but he’s got guts. He’s already signed to go to China to defend against Zou Shiming, a former amateur rival. While Gonzalez and Estrada talk about needing more money for a highly desirable showdown, he’s on to the next high risk scenario at 112 lbs.
1) Wladimir Klitschko (63-3, 53 KO) – Lineal World Heavyweight – 10 Defenses
His first defense of the year was nothing special. Challenger Alex Leapai was one of the least impressive title challengers since Marvis Frazier attempted to take history’s crown from Larry Holmes in the 1980s. Then came arguably Klitschko’s finest performance to date. Matched with leading contender Kubrat Pulev, Klitschko shook off a brief case of the wobbles early to drop Pulev repeatedly before a highlight reel left hook ended matters in the fifth. The IBF titlist at Heavyweight since 2006 (with now 17 defenses of that strap), no one has reigned over his division longer. No one is doing it better. Outside of his brother, for obvious reasons, there has been no deserving Heavyweight who couldn’t get a shot at Wlad. What more can one ask for then for a fighter to take on the best in their division, beat them, and ask ‘who’s next?’ In 2013, his fight with Alexander Povetkin left much to be desired. The Pulev fight wiped that memory away and replaced it with the thrill of destruction. Klitschko has always fulfilled the obligations of a Heavyweight Champion. In the Pulev fight, he looked the part of the baddest man on the planet. For the sixth year in a row, the literal best fighter in the world stands apart from the crowd as its greatest example of a champion.
Also considered for this list: Shinsuke Yamanaka, Nicholas Walters, Hekkie Budler
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com
