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I only do an official list once a year but with all the ish recently, a little check in on where the P4P list for 2007 is could be fun. BTW, I believe, truly, that P4P should be examined yearly, not weekly, because one performance never gives a clear enough picture; thus most of this is from the official 2006 list. Oh, and while 'accomplishment' counts for a lot, P4P is still about who are the ten best fighters in the world sans weight classes and these are it. So:
#1 Manny Pacquiao (43-3-2, 34 KO’S)
Career Titles: Lineal World flyweight (112 lbs.) and featherweight (126 lbs.) titles; additional alphabet title (IBF) at 122 lbs.
Last Five Opponents: Erik Morales (thrice), Oscar Larios, Hector Velasquez, Fahsan 3-K Battery, Juan Manuel Marquez.
Next Opponent: Jorge Solis
My Take: Almost everyone’s ”Fighter of the Year” in 2006 should also be everyone’s number one Pound for Pound. Manny Pacquiao at 19 became the World flyweight champion with a 1998 KO of Chatchai Sasakul. Following the loss of that title he moved up ten pounds to upset Lehlo Ledwaba in 2001 and announce his arrival to the world outside Asia.
Since 2003, he has knocked out future Hall-of Famers Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales while also dropping a narrow decision to Morales and sending Marquez and Larios to the deck a total of five times. No one in the last three years has faced better foes and his one loss since 1998 came to Morales for Gods sake. Oh, and did I mention that when he KO’d Barrera, he became the only fighter in history to win the fly and feather crowns (both by KO) and that the last guy to come close was Fighting Harada some thirty years ago? My dream match for Pacquiao would be a shot at World lightweight champ Joel Casamayor. If Pacquiao isn’t too sidetracked by promotional issues, a Marquez rematch is the second biggest money fight of 2007. In other words, Pacman is in position to be at the top of the heap again twelve months from now.
#2 Floyd Mayweather (37-0, 24 KO’S)
Career Titles: World jr. lightweight, lightweight, welterweight; alphabet belt at 140 lbs.
Last Five Opponents: Carlos Baldomir, Zab Judah, Sharmba Mitchell, Arturo Gatti, Demarcus Corley.
Next Opponent: Oscar De La Hoya.
My Take: Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez II is only the second biggest fight because the biggest of the entire decade is on tap for Cinco De Mayo ’07. Mayweather has been in many respects the latest example of the ESPN/MTV phenomenon. Here’s the template made famous by Roy Jones: Get some impressive wins early in your career, secure giant HBO contract, start putting together highlight reel wins against the second tier for bragging rights to impress the style over substance Sports Center crowd and let your worshippers state that ‘no one else can beat him anyways’ when your opposition is questioned. It appears Floyd has made a move back towards substance.
After three years feasting on fighters below his league, Floyd has become the only man in history to add the World welterweight title to his resume after capturing the legitimate World junior lightweight title. His win over Baldomir is sealing that feat was boring and brilliant at the same time and now he faces the best fighter he has ever shared a ring with. Oscar may not be ‘prime’ but he’s still a few yards better than Mayweather’s two best foes (Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo). Win or lose, I’d love to see him face long-time divisional number one contender Antonio Margarito if he stays at welterweight.
#3 Mikkel Kessler (39-0, 29 KO’s)
Career titles: Two alphabet belts at 168.
Last Five Opponents: Librado Andrade, Markus Beyer, Eric Lucas, Anthony Mundine, Manny Siaca.
Next Opponent: ?
My Take: I'm sure some are aghast. I don't care. Kessler is younger than almost anyone else on this list and youth matters. Older fighters usually lose to younger ones all things being equal and that hasn't changed today; contract structure and network safety nets just keep old guys around longer fighting each other and milking their stars. No other fighter has so thoroughly cleaned out the top of a division the way Kessler has in his last five and he's kicking down Joe Calzaghe's door. It's an abomination if Kessler-Calzaghe does not happen. Kessler has good speed, chin and pop but more important the best left stick in the game.
#4 Winky Wright (51-3-1, 25 KO’S)
Career titles: World junior middleweight (154 lbs.)
Last Five Opponents: Ike Quartey, Jermain Taylor, Sam Soliman, Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley (twice).
Next Opponent: Bernard Hopkins
My Take: Unlike most, I like Winky’s style and won’t punish him for the losses he’s had. Only one was definitive (a five knockdown debacle a decade ago against Julio Cesar Vasquez) and the other two, Fernando Vargas and Harry Simon were narrow. Oh, and Vargas and Simon were also top of the stack guys. I had him barely losing to Taylor in his bid to become the first man to win the lineal world title at 154 and middleweight (160) since "Sugar Ray" Leonard and his win over a game Ike Quartey isn’t getting the credit it deserves. I love the Hopkins fight and think they will entertain.
#5 Bernard Hopkins (47-4-1, 32 KO’S)
Career Titles: World middleweight; Ring Magazine light heavyweight (175 lbs.)
Last Five Opponents: Antonio Tarver, Jermain Taylor (twice), Howard Eastman, Oscar De La Hoya, Robert Allen.
Next Opponent: Winky Wright
My Take: Some retirement. I didn’t have Bernard losing either Taylor bout (win in the first, draw in the second on my cards), and while the ‘title’ he won from Tarver was NOT the lineal World light heavyweight title, Tarver was the consensus best at 175. That win came on the heels of 20 IBF middleweight title defenses over eleven years. Taylor is probably the only guy to win more than two rounds over Hopkins in that time span. A win over Winky would make it hard to argue that his wins resume does not equal Roy Jones.
#6 Juan Manuel Marquez (47-3-1, 35 KO’s)
Career titles: alphabet belts at 126 and 130.
Last Five Opponents: Marco Antonio Barrera, Jimrex Jaca, Terdsak Jaendang, Chris John, Victor Polo.
Next Opponent: ?
My Take: The last five are a mixed bag but here's what matters: I had him up a point at the end of the Pac fight; up four in the loss to John and finally against Barrera he got the win that he has always needed. The downside? He's not what he was three years ago much less ten. He's having his moment but also aging and losing speed with every fight. JMM can cash out in his next few. He's earned it.
#7 Rafael Marquez (37-3, 33 KO’S)
Career Titles: World 122 lb. champ; alphabet title at 118.
Last Five Opponents: Israel Vasquez, Silence Mabuza, Ricardo Vargas, Mauricio Pastrana, Heriberto Ruiz.
Next Opponent: ?
My Take: Probably a better bet for the Hall of Fame than his big brother based on wins over Vasquez, Tim Austin and Mark Johnson, he's still not quite a better fighter. Rafael has two great challenges in front of him (Vasquez II and Celestino Caballero) and could rise another four pounds to right the family wronged against John. It'll have to be quick though. 30 year olds don't dominate long at 122 lbs. and like big brother the window to cash out is narrow as a marked drop in speed is already setting in.
#8 Jermain Taylor (25-0-1, 17 KO’S)
Career Titles: World middleweight.
Last Five Opponents: Kasim Ouma, Winky Wright, Bernard Hopkins, Daniel Edouard, William Joppy.
Next Opponent: Cory Spinks
My Take: Taylor won almost every round versus Ouma but looked sloppy, perhaps amped by a hometown crowd. Regardless of the way his three fights with Wright and Hopkins were scored, Taylor showed he belonged and four of his last five were against champions or former titlists. Let’s hope he stays awhile at middleweight; he currently reigns over the most talented crop in the division in over a decade. A fight with Cory Spinks passes time but hear this...if he doesn't fight the winner of Kelly Pavlik-Edison Miranda after that, he should be held accountable and off TV.
#9 Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (63-2, 31 KOs) Career Titles: World flyweight. Last Five Opponents: Monelisi Myekeni, Everado Morales, Daigo Nakahiro, Gilberto Keb Bass, Isidro Balabat.
Next Opponent: Possibly Koki Kameda
My Take: His recent competition is sorely lacking but his career opposition never gets the credit it deserves. Names like Trash Nakanuma, Daisuke Naito, Hidenoubu Honda and Malcom Tunacao may not mean much on this side of the Atlantic, but all are solid professionals. He also defeated a then undefeated Hussein Hussein. Wonjongkam holds the record for most title defenses and fastest title fight knockout ever at 112 lbs. but is long overdue to face a top five challenger. Roberto Vasquez, Omar Narvaez and Vic Darchinyan are all fighters who deserve a shot at the champ and would make for great fights. There is some light: a rumored bout with Japanese mega star Koki Kameda could invigorate the whole division.
#10 Joe Calzaghe (42-0, 31 KO’S)
Career Titles: World super middleweight.
Last Five Opponents: Sakio Bika, Jeff Lacy, Evans Ashira, Mario Veit, Kabary Salem.
Next Opponent: Peter Manfredo.
My Take: 19 defenses of the WBO belt would mean little without the devastating whooping he laid on Lacy last March. By all rights, Calzaghe has the talent to be much higher on these lists. His combination of speed, chin and endurance is rare but so rarely tested in his career. Regardless, Calzaghe stamped himself as THE man at 168 lbs. this year and is calling out American fighters louder than ever. He faces one of the better known this April in “Contender” runner-up Manfredo. If Calzaghe brings his A-game, it should be a romp. A win over number one contender Mikkel Kessler means everything to Joe's legacy and would stamp him the best ever at the class. Not taking the fight only reinforces the negatives held against Joe for years.
#1 Manny Pacquiao (43-3-2, 34 KO’S)
Career Titles: Lineal World flyweight (112 lbs.) and featherweight (126 lbs.) titles; additional alphabet title (IBF) at 122 lbs.
Last Five Opponents: Erik Morales (thrice), Oscar Larios, Hector Velasquez, Fahsan 3-K Battery, Juan Manuel Marquez.
Next Opponent: Jorge Solis
My Take: Almost everyone’s ”Fighter of the Year” in 2006 should also be everyone’s number one Pound for Pound. Manny Pacquiao at 19 became the World flyweight champion with a 1998 KO of Chatchai Sasakul. Following the loss of that title he moved up ten pounds to upset Lehlo Ledwaba in 2001 and announce his arrival to the world outside Asia.
Since 2003, he has knocked out future Hall-of Famers Marco Antonio Barrera and Erik Morales while also dropping a narrow decision to Morales and sending Marquez and Larios to the deck a total of five times. No one in the last three years has faced better foes and his one loss since 1998 came to Morales for Gods sake. Oh, and did I mention that when he KO’d Barrera, he became the only fighter in history to win the fly and feather crowns (both by KO) and that the last guy to come close was Fighting Harada some thirty years ago? My dream match for Pacquiao would be a shot at World lightweight champ Joel Casamayor. If Pacquiao isn’t too sidetracked by promotional issues, a Marquez rematch is the second biggest money fight of 2007. In other words, Pacman is in position to be at the top of the heap again twelve months from now.
#2 Floyd Mayweather (37-0, 24 KO’S)
Career Titles: World jr. lightweight, lightweight, welterweight; alphabet belt at 140 lbs.
Last Five Opponents: Carlos Baldomir, Zab Judah, Sharmba Mitchell, Arturo Gatti, Demarcus Corley.
Next Opponent: Oscar De La Hoya.
My Take: Manny Pacquiao-Juan Manuel Marquez II is only the second biggest fight because the biggest of the entire decade is on tap for Cinco De Mayo ’07. Mayweather has been in many respects the latest example of the ESPN/MTV phenomenon. Here’s the template made famous by Roy Jones: Get some impressive wins early in your career, secure giant HBO contract, start putting together highlight reel wins against the second tier for bragging rights to impress the style over substance Sports Center crowd and let your worshippers state that ‘no one else can beat him anyways’ when your opposition is questioned. It appears Floyd has made a move back towards substance.
After three years feasting on fighters below his league, Floyd has become the only man in history to add the World welterweight title to his resume after capturing the legitimate World junior lightweight title. His win over Baldomir is sealing that feat was boring and brilliant at the same time and now he faces the best fighter he has ever shared a ring with. Oscar may not be ‘prime’ but he’s still a few yards better than Mayweather’s two best foes (Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo). Win or lose, I’d love to see him face long-time divisional number one contender Antonio Margarito if he stays at welterweight.
#3 Mikkel Kessler (39-0, 29 KO’s)
Career titles: Two alphabet belts at 168.
Last Five Opponents: Librado Andrade, Markus Beyer, Eric Lucas, Anthony Mundine, Manny Siaca.
Next Opponent: ?
My Take: I'm sure some are aghast. I don't care. Kessler is younger than almost anyone else on this list and youth matters. Older fighters usually lose to younger ones all things being equal and that hasn't changed today; contract structure and network safety nets just keep old guys around longer fighting each other and milking their stars. No other fighter has so thoroughly cleaned out the top of a division the way Kessler has in his last five and he's kicking down Joe Calzaghe's door. It's an abomination if Kessler-Calzaghe does not happen. Kessler has good speed, chin and pop but more important the best left stick in the game.
#4 Winky Wright (51-3-1, 25 KO’S)
Career titles: World junior middleweight (154 lbs.)
Last Five Opponents: Ike Quartey, Jermain Taylor, Sam Soliman, Felix Trinidad, Shane Mosley (twice).
Next Opponent: Bernard Hopkins
My Take: Unlike most, I like Winky’s style and won’t punish him for the losses he’s had. Only one was definitive (a five knockdown debacle a decade ago against Julio Cesar Vasquez) and the other two, Fernando Vargas and Harry Simon were narrow. Oh, and Vargas and Simon were also top of the stack guys. I had him barely losing to Taylor in his bid to become the first man to win the lineal world title at 154 and middleweight (160) since "Sugar Ray" Leonard and his win over a game Ike Quartey isn’t getting the credit it deserves. I love the Hopkins fight and think they will entertain.
#5 Bernard Hopkins (47-4-1, 32 KO’S)
Career Titles: World middleweight; Ring Magazine light heavyweight (175 lbs.)
Last Five Opponents: Antonio Tarver, Jermain Taylor (twice), Howard Eastman, Oscar De La Hoya, Robert Allen.
Next Opponent: Winky Wright
My Take: Some retirement. I didn’t have Bernard losing either Taylor bout (win in the first, draw in the second on my cards), and while the ‘title’ he won from Tarver was NOT the lineal World light heavyweight title, Tarver was the consensus best at 175. That win came on the heels of 20 IBF middleweight title defenses over eleven years. Taylor is probably the only guy to win more than two rounds over Hopkins in that time span. A win over Winky would make it hard to argue that his wins resume does not equal Roy Jones.
#6 Juan Manuel Marquez (47-3-1, 35 KO’s)
Career titles: alphabet belts at 126 and 130.
Last Five Opponents: Marco Antonio Barrera, Jimrex Jaca, Terdsak Jaendang, Chris John, Victor Polo.
Next Opponent: ?
My Take: The last five are a mixed bag but here's what matters: I had him up a point at the end of the Pac fight; up four in the loss to John and finally against Barrera he got the win that he has always needed. The downside? He's not what he was three years ago much less ten. He's having his moment but also aging and losing speed with every fight. JMM can cash out in his next few. He's earned it.
#7 Rafael Marquez (37-3, 33 KO’S)
Career Titles: World 122 lb. champ; alphabet title at 118.
Last Five Opponents: Israel Vasquez, Silence Mabuza, Ricardo Vargas, Mauricio Pastrana, Heriberto Ruiz.
Next Opponent: ?
My Take: Probably a better bet for the Hall of Fame than his big brother based on wins over Vasquez, Tim Austin and Mark Johnson, he's still not quite a better fighter. Rafael has two great challenges in front of him (Vasquez II and Celestino Caballero) and could rise another four pounds to right the family wronged against John. It'll have to be quick though. 30 year olds don't dominate long at 122 lbs. and like big brother the window to cash out is narrow as a marked drop in speed is already setting in.
#8 Jermain Taylor (25-0-1, 17 KO’S)
Career Titles: World middleweight.
Last Five Opponents: Kasim Ouma, Winky Wright, Bernard Hopkins, Daniel Edouard, William Joppy.
Next Opponent: Cory Spinks
My Take: Taylor won almost every round versus Ouma but looked sloppy, perhaps amped by a hometown crowd. Regardless of the way his three fights with Wright and Hopkins were scored, Taylor showed he belonged and four of his last five were against champions or former titlists. Let’s hope he stays awhile at middleweight; he currently reigns over the most talented crop in the division in over a decade. A fight with Cory Spinks passes time but hear this...if he doesn't fight the winner of Kelly Pavlik-Edison Miranda after that, he should be held accountable and off TV.
#9 Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (63-2, 31 KOs) Career Titles: World flyweight. Last Five Opponents: Monelisi Myekeni, Everado Morales, Daigo Nakahiro, Gilberto Keb Bass, Isidro Balabat.
Next Opponent: Possibly Koki Kameda
My Take: His recent competition is sorely lacking but his career opposition never gets the credit it deserves. Names like Trash Nakanuma, Daisuke Naito, Hidenoubu Honda and Malcom Tunacao may not mean much on this side of the Atlantic, but all are solid professionals. He also defeated a then undefeated Hussein Hussein. Wonjongkam holds the record for most title defenses and fastest title fight knockout ever at 112 lbs. but is long overdue to face a top five challenger. Roberto Vasquez, Omar Narvaez and Vic Darchinyan are all fighters who deserve a shot at the champ and would make for great fights. There is some light: a rumored bout with Japanese mega star Koki Kameda could invigorate the whole division.
#10 Joe Calzaghe (42-0, 31 KO’S)
Career Titles: World super middleweight.
Last Five Opponents: Sakio Bika, Jeff Lacy, Evans Ashira, Mario Veit, Kabary Salem.
Next Opponent: Peter Manfredo.
My Take: 19 defenses of the WBO belt would mean little without the devastating whooping he laid on Lacy last March. By all rights, Calzaghe has the talent to be much higher on these lists. His combination of speed, chin and endurance is rare but so rarely tested in his career. Regardless, Calzaghe stamped himself as THE man at 168 lbs. this year and is calling out American fighters louder than ever. He faces one of the better known this April in “Contender” runner-up Manfredo. If Calzaghe brings his A-game, it should be a romp. A win over number one contender Mikkel Kessler means everything to Joe's legacy and would stamp him the best ever at the class. Not taking the fight only reinforces the negatives held against Joe for years.
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