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2009 Gets a Sugar Shock: BoxingScene Pound for Pound Top Ten
By Cliff Rold
Turn back the clock? Nonsense.
What Shane Mosley did, at age 37, was much more than that. He ripped the clock off the wall and stomped on it in much the same fashion he took to curb stomping Antonio Margarito over nine rounds on January 24th. It was a revelatory performance that allows for reevaluation of his entire career and it certainly causes a new look at the state of the game’s best fighters. How new a look?
Let’s consult the Boxing Scene Pound for Pound ratings.
1) Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KO’S)
Age: 30
Current Titles: Alphabelt at Lightweight/135 lbs.
Career Titles: Lineal World Flyweight/112 lb. champion (1998-99); World Featherweight/126 lb. champion (2003-2005); World Jr. Lightweight/130 lb. champion (2008); additional alphabelts at 112, 122, &130 lbs.
Last Five Opponents: Oscar De La Hoya, David Diaz, Juan Manuel Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrera, Jorge Solis
Next Opponent: May 2, 2009 vs. World Junior Welterweight Champion Ricky Hatton (45-1, 32 KO)
The Take: Even granting that a large part of Pacquiao’s incredibly dominant win over De La Hoya was based on Oscar being past his best, it was still remarkable by way of style. It was mastery of a legendary type and Pacquiao is indeed a living legend at this point. His evolution from a one handed power puncher early in his career to the complete machine he’s become is a credit to Freddie Roach and a story certain to be long for Boxing lore. Not bad for a once-late replacement opponent for Lehlo Ledwaba. Think of some of the most notable former Flyweight champions…of Wilde, Canto, LaBarba, Harada…none can say they ever rode the scale to the World Featherweight title (Harada came close), the World Jr. Lightweight title (LaBarba came close), and then steamrolled a former Welterweight king (none tried). The top three men in these contemporary ratings all represent greatness, historical greatness, of some special kinds. None have done more than this man across so wide a chasm. When the old-timers say it’s not like it used to be, just smile. In some cases, it might be better. Even if the now logical Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather bout never occurs, a Pacquiao win over World Jr. Welterweight champion Ricky Hatton in 2009 would make him the first to lay real claim as a four-division lineal World Champion in history and put to rest any questions of just who has been the fighter of this decade.
2) Joe Calzaghe (46-0, 32 KO)
Age: 36
Current Title: Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight/175 lb. titlist
Career Titles: World Super Middlweight/168 lb. Champion (2006-Present); Alphabelt titles at 168 lbs. since 1997
Last Five Opponents: Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins, Mikkel Kessler, Peter Manfredo, Sakio Bika
Next Opponent: TBA
The Take: The win over Roy Jones in November was predictable but as icing on a career cake, it wasn’t all bad. There will forever be speculation about whether a younger Calzaghe would have defeated younger versions of Jones or Hopkins, but there need be no speculation about Calzaghe’s greatness. If he has fought his last bout, and it says here he probably has not, he leaves with nothing to prove. A record tying run at Super Middleweight culminated with dominance over two undefeated tigers and Hopkins win over Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik in October casts new light on how impressive Calzaghe truly was in defeating the old master earlier this year. As long as there is a Super Middleweight division, Calzaghe will be the standard all others are measured by. That is all-time greatness in our time. Should he continue, one would hope he’d set his sights on one last undefeated young tiger: Light Heavyweight Chad Dawson. It would be a hell of a fight.
3) Bernard Hopkins (49-5-1, 32 KO)
Age: 43 Years Young
Current Title: None
Career Titles: Ring Light Heavyweight titlist (2006-2008); World Middleweight/160 lb. Champion (2001-2005); Alphabelt titles at 160 lbs. from 1995-2005
Last Five Opponents: Kelly Pavlik, Joe Calzaghe, Winky Wright, Antonio Tarver, Jermain Taylor (twice)
Next Opponent: TBA
The Take: There were some dull performances from Hopkins in recent years, performances that made him look like his age was catching up to him as defense came too often before offense. The win over Pavlik was the opposite, Hopkins best performance since the Trinidad fight and, all things considered, perhaps even better than that gem. Given the proof that Hopkins is still capable of fighting at the level he showed against Pavlik, then there is no way he can rest anywhere else amongst the world’s best fighters than just below Pacquiao and the man who competitively defeated him in April, Calzaghe. Everyone else moves down one spot. Consider this as well in appreciating Hopkins: all of his last four foes were near universally rated in the top ten’s that populate Boxing going into their bouts with Hopkins. The losses to Taylor were both highly controversial and the wins over Tarver and Wright were not close. Furthermore, they can’t be viewed as performances from an ‘old’ fighter anymore…at least not in the normal context of ‘old.’ The win over Pavlik, particularly the sheer dominance of it, casts Hopkins recent run in a whole new light and provides compelling evidence that, at 43, he’s still an active all-time great rather a historical one and he gets full credit for the distinction.
4) Juan Manuel Marquez (49-4-1, 36 KO)
Age: 35
Current Title: World Lightweight Champion (2008-Present)
Career Titles: Alphabet titles at 126, 130 lbs.
Last Five Opponents: Joel Casamayor, Manny Pacquiao, Rocky Juarez, Marco Antonio Barrera, Jimrex Jaca
Next Opponent: February 28, 2009 vs. Juan Diaz (34-1, 17 KO)
The Take: Is it possible the Casamayor win could get a little overrated? Casamayor entered the ring aged 37 years after all and should have lost his title almost one year ago against Jose Armando Santa Cruz. That said, Casamayor looked good in March, stopping Michael Katsidis, and looked even better against the better Marquez. Marquez, no spring chicken himself, won anyways in a balanced battle of body and mind, becoming the first man to stop Casamayor after bigger, presumably harder hitting men like Jose Luis Castillo, Acelino Freitas, and the late Diego Corrales could not. Marquez, in his first fight at Lightweight and only his fifth above Featherweight since moving up permanently in 2007, dismantled Casamayor with precision punching and guts. Those were big left hands cutting into him all night, from a bigger man, and Marquez would not relent. It’s impressive when one remembers he weighed only 124 ½ for Jimrex Jaca less than two years ago. In victory, he picks up his first lineal World title after just missing out on the distinction at 126 and 130 lbs., cursed on both occasions by the excellent Pacquiao. A third fight with Manny would be next in a world of best-cases but Marquez lives in a world where his promoter and a promotional stable mate, Ricky Hatton, have gotten and now are more likely to get the opportunity he desires. In the meantime, he looks forward to a showdown with young former titlist Juan Diaz and questions of when he might consider settling the issue of Lightweight supremacy with multi-belted titlist Nate Campbell.
5) Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KO)
Age: 37
Current Title: Alphabelt at Welterweight/147 lbs.
Career Titles: World Welterweight (2000-02); World Junior Middleweight (2003-04); Additional Alphabelt at Lightweight
Last Five Opponents: Antonio Margarito, Ricardo Mayorga, Miguel Cotto, Luis Collazo, Fernando Vargas (twice)
Next Opponent: TBA
The Take: Mosley can’t quite claim to be the undisputed king of the class following his humbling of Antonio Margarito, but there can be no doubt he reigns now as “The Man” again almost seven years after losing the spot to Vernon Forrest. Sure, he lost narrowly to Miguel Cotto in 2007 but there were arguments for both men. Mosley never even let Margarito make a case. Like another great Sugar at the same calendar age, Ray Robinson, Mosley showed the ability to handle a younger pressure fighter and summon youth from an aging body for victory. Margarito may not have been Carmen Basilio, but he had never been made to look the way Mosley left him. Add to that a powerful run of recent competition and Mosley assumes Margarito’s spot in these ratings and improves it by one. Previous #5 Vasquez drops partly because no one is sure when he’ll be fighting again as he nears one year out of the ring. Boxing now stares at what could be a dream four-way scenario if Floyd Mayweather chooses to return. Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton are busy this spring; Mosley has an open dance card. Mosley-Mayweather has been must-see for over a decade. Amazingly, Mosley has shown the world it still is.
By Cliff Rold
Turn back the clock? Nonsense.
What Shane Mosley did, at age 37, was much more than that. He ripped the clock off the wall and stomped on it in much the same fashion he took to curb stomping Antonio Margarito over nine rounds on January 24th. It was a revelatory performance that allows for reevaluation of his entire career and it certainly causes a new look at the state of the game’s best fighters. How new a look?
Let’s consult the Boxing Scene Pound for Pound ratings.
1) Manny Pacquiao (48-3-2, 36 KO’S)
Age: 30
Current Titles: Alphabelt at Lightweight/135 lbs.
Career Titles: Lineal World Flyweight/112 lb. champion (1998-99); World Featherweight/126 lb. champion (2003-2005); World Jr. Lightweight/130 lb. champion (2008); additional alphabelts at 112, 122, &130 lbs.
Last Five Opponents: Oscar De La Hoya, David Diaz, Juan Manuel Marquez, Marco Antonio Barrera, Jorge Solis
Next Opponent: May 2, 2009 vs. World Junior Welterweight Champion Ricky Hatton (45-1, 32 KO)
The Take: Even granting that a large part of Pacquiao’s incredibly dominant win over De La Hoya was based on Oscar being past his best, it was still remarkable by way of style. It was mastery of a legendary type and Pacquiao is indeed a living legend at this point. His evolution from a one handed power puncher early in his career to the complete machine he’s become is a credit to Freddie Roach and a story certain to be long for Boxing lore. Not bad for a once-late replacement opponent for Lehlo Ledwaba. Think of some of the most notable former Flyweight champions…of Wilde, Canto, LaBarba, Harada…none can say they ever rode the scale to the World Featherweight title (Harada came close), the World Jr. Lightweight title (LaBarba came close), and then steamrolled a former Welterweight king (none tried). The top three men in these contemporary ratings all represent greatness, historical greatness, of some special kinds. None have done more than this man across so wide a chasm. When the old-timers say it’s not like it used to be, just smile. In some cases, it might be better. Even if the now logical Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather bout never occurs, a Pacquiao win over World Jr. Welterweight champion Ricky Hatton in 2009 would make him the first to lay real claim as a four-division lineal World Champion in history and put to rest any questions of just who has been the fighter of this decade.
2) Joe Calzaghe (46-0, 32 KO)
Age: 36
Current Title: Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight/175 lb. titlist
Career Titles: World Super Middlweight/168 lb. Champion (2006-Present); Alphabelt titles at 168 lbs. since 1997
Last Five Opponents: Roy Jones, Bernard Hopkins, Mikkel Kessler, Peter Manfredo, Sakio Bika
Next Opponent: TBA
The Take: The win over Roy Jones in November was predictable but as icing on a career cake, it wasn’t all bad. There will forever be speculation about whether a younger Calzaghe would have defeated younger versions of Jones or Hopkins, but there need be no speculation about Calzaghe’s greatness. If he has fought his last bout, and it says here he probably has not, he leaves with nothing to prove. A record tying run at Super Middleweight culminated with dominance over two undefeated tigers and Hopkins win over Middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik in October casts new light on how impressive Calzaghe truly was in defeating the old master earlier this year. As long as there is a Super Middleweight division, Calzaghe will be the standard all others are measured by. That is all-time greatness in our time. Should he continue, one would hope he’d set his sights on one last undefeated young tiger: Light Heavyweight Chad Dawson. It would be a hell of a fight.
3) Bernard Hopkins (49-5-1, 32 KO)
Age: 43 Years Young
Current Title: None
Career Titles: Ring Light Heavyweight titlist (2006-2008); World Middleweight/160 lb. Champion (2001-2005); Alphabelt titles at 160 lbs. from 1995-2005
Last Five Opponents: Kelly Pavlik, Joe Calzaghe, Winky Wright, Antonio Tarver, Jermain Taylor (twice)
Next Opponent: TBA
The Take: There were some dull performances from Hopkins in recent years, performances that made him look like his age was catching up to him as defense came too often before offense. The win over Pavlik was the opposite, Hopkins best performance since the Trinidad fight and, all things considered, perhaps even better than that gem. Given the proof that Hopkins is still capable of fighting at the level he showed against Pavlik, then there is no way he can rest anywhere else amongst the world’s best fighters than just below Pacquiao and the man who competitively defeated him in April, Calzaghe. Everyone else moves down one spot. Consider this as well in appreciating Hopkins: all of his last four foes were near universally rated in the top ten’s that populate Boxing going into their bouts with Hopkins. The losses to Taylor were both highly controversial and the wins over Tarver and Wright were not close. Furthermore, they can’t be viewed as performances from an ‘old’ fighter anymore…at least not in the normal context of ‘old.’ The win over Pavlik, particularly the sheer dominance of it, casts Hopkins recent run in a whole new light and provides compelling evidence that, at 43, he’s still an active all-time great rather a historical one and he gets full credit for the distinction.
4) Juan Manuel Marquez (49-4-1, 36 KO)
Age: 35
Current Title: World Lightweight Champion (2008-Present)
Career Titles: Alphabet titles at 126, 130 lbs.
Last Five Opponents: Joel Casamayor, Manny Pacquiao, Rocky Juarez, Marco Antonio Barrera, Jimrex Jaca
Next Opponent: February 28, 2009 vs. Juan Diaz (34-1, 17 KO)
The Take: Is it possible the Casamayor win could get a little overrated? Casamayor entered the ring aged 37 years after all and should have lost his title almost one year ago against Jose Armando Santa Cruz. That said, Casamayor looked good in March, stopping Michael Katsidis, and looked even better against the better Marquez. Marquez, no spring chicken himself, won anyways in a balanced battle of body and mind, becoming the first man to stop Casamayor after bigger, presumably harder hitting men like Jose Luis Castillo, Acelino Freitas, and the late Diego Corrales could not. Marquez, in his first fight at Lightweight and only his fifth above Featherweight since moving up permanently in 2007, dismantled Casamayor with precision punching and guts. Those were big left hands cutting into him all night, from a bigger man, and Marquez would not relent. It’s impressive when one remembers he weighed only 124 ½ for Jimrex Jaca less than two years ago. In victory, he picks up his first lineal World title after just missing out on the distinction at 126 and 130 lbs., cursed on both occasions by the excellent Pacquiao. A third fight with Manny would be next in a world of best-cases but Marquez lives in a world where his promoter and a promotional stable mate, Ricky Hatton, have gotten and now are more likely to get the opportunity he desires. In the meantime, he looks forward to a showdown with young former titlist Juan Diaz and questions of when he might consider settling the issue of Lightweight supremacy with multi-belted titlist Nate Campbell.
5) Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KO)
Age: 37
Current Title: Alphabelt at Welterweight/147 lbs.
Career Titles: World Welterweight (2000-02); World Junior Middleweight (2003-04); Additional Alphabelt at Lightweight
Last Five Opponents: Antonio Margarito, Ricardo Mayorga, Miguel Cotto, Luis Collazo, Fernando Vargas (twice)
Next Opponent: TBA
The Take: Mosley can’t quite claim to be the undisputed king of the class following his humbling of Antonio Margarito, but there can be no doubt he reigns now as “The Man” again almost seven years after losing the spot to Vernon Forrest. Sure, he lost narrowly to Miguel Cotto in 2007 but there were arguments for both men. Mosley never even let Margarito make a case. Like another great Sugar at the same calendar age, Ray Robinson, Mosley showed the ability to handle a younger pressure fighter and summon youth from an aging body for victory. Margarito may not have been Carmen Basilio, but he had never been made to look the way Mosley left him. Add to that a powerful run of recent competition and Mosley assumes Margarito’s spot in these ratings and improves it by one. Previous #5 Vasquez drops partly because no one is sure when he’ll be fighting again as he nears one year out of the ring. Boxing now stares at what could be a dream four-way scenario if Floyd Mayweather chooses to return. Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton are busy this spring; Mosley has an open dance card. Mosley-Mayweather has been must-see for over a decade. Amazingly, Mosley has shown the world it still is.
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