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Well recently, instead of a championship being stripped because of the best available fight taking place, we actually got a TRUE world champion crowned. Wladimir Klitschko. Which gave me some interest in rating ALL the current WORLD champions. Currently, there are 6 and the list is a pretty impressive, though short, list.
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION:
Name: Wladimir Klitschko
Record: 53-3-0 (47 KOs), 0 Title Defences
Country: Ukraine
Best Wins: Sam Peter W10, Ruslan Chagaev TKO10
Worst Loss: Corrie Sanders TKO by 2
Next Opponent: Likely, Alexander Povetkin
Overall: If Ruslan Chagaev's WBA title would have been on the line, Wladimir would have collected the IBO, IBF WBO and the WBA title, along with the TRUE title, The Ring Championship. Still, he has many detracters. For a virtually unified champion, he gets an aweful lot of flack. Mainly, his haters would say, for his style of fight. Some call it boring, others call it effective. Nonetheless, it's hard to argue with success. Especially, when you're success means you've had 8 stoppages out of your last ten fights and you have a KO percentage of just under 84%. Like it or not, he's the man to beat at Heavyweight. I, personally, see nothing wrong with it at all. Hits and doesn't get hit. His main problem being his chin, that sounds like a good plan to me.
CHAMPION RATING: 7.5/10.
WORLD CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPION:
Name: Tomasz Adamek
Record: 37-1-0 (25 KOs), 1 Title Defence
Country: Poland
Best Win: Steve Cunningham, SD12
Worst Loss: Chad Dawson, UD thru 12
Next Opponent: Bobby Gunn
Overall: For those of you who find Wladimir Klitschko a little too safe, you might find salvation in a fighter like Adamek. He's not afraid to war, and to top it off, he's not a bad technical boxer. If you overlook the fact that he sometimes OVERLOOKS defence, you got a pretty solid fighter on your hands. After winning the title in a championship match with Steven Cunningham in a fight of the year candidate, the sky seems to be the limit for this hard-punching slugger. There's possible fights with Chad Dawson, Bernard Hopkins and potentially a move up to the SLIGHLY more interesting Heavyweight division. Well, more exciting then it was a few months back. But, for right now, he seems content to dominate the 200 pound ranks.
CHAMPION RATING: 8/10.
WORLD MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION:
Name: Kelly Pavlik
Record: 35-1-0 (31 KOs), 2 Title Defences
Country: United States
Best Win: Jermaine Taylor, TKO7
Worst Loss: Bernard Hopkins, UD thru 12
Next Opponent: Possibly, Sergio Mora
Overall: Since he's held the title for a couple of years now and fought 4 times since winning it, you'd hope the guy might have more title defences. Nonetheless, you can't fault him for going up to the weight Taylor's people chose in the rematch, or chasing the big name in Bernard Hopkins. However, the fights gave him two TOTALLY different outcomes. A unanimus decision going for him with Taylor, and against him with The Executioner. And though that sole loss was a big and slightly embarressing one, he's still a young enough guy to get his career to a very high level. With that being said, he wasn't able to stop Taylor when he moved up and he could have been stopped against Hopkins. And while he outgrows 160 pounds, the only fight worth much to the fans is agaisnt another growing champion, Arthur Abraham. Tough to say how he'll do at 168, we'll have to see.
CHAMPION RATING: 7/10
WORLD JUNIOR-WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION:
Name: Manny Pacquiao
Record: 49-3-0 (37 KOs), 0 Title Defences
Country: The Philippines
Best Wins: Juan Manuel Marquez SD12, Ricky Hatton KO2
Worst Loss: Erik Morales UD thru 12
Next Opponent: Probably, Miguel Cotto
Overall: Some might question why I picked THAT loss as the worst, considering the more embarressing losses he's endured earlier in his career. The reason, to me, is simple. No one cared about those losses when he starting becoming someone. That loss slowly stunted his mainstream success. However, the subsequent defeats of Morales quickly erased that and he's gone on a 10 fight win streak, with only three of those fights being decided by judges. Not to mention that among the people in that streak are Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, Oscar De La Hoya, Erik Morales twice, and Ricky Hatton. He's yet to defend the title, and he wont be doing so in his next fight if he faces the 147 pound Miguel Cotto. Still, one gets the impression that he could have success at 140 if he so chose.
CHAMPION RATING: 7/20
WORLD LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION:
Name: Juan Manuel Marquez
Record: 50-4-0 (37 KOs), 1 Title Defence
Country: Mexico
Best Wins: Juan Diaz TKO9, Joel Casamayor TKO11
Worst Loss: Freddie Norwood, UD thru 12
Next Opponent: Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Overall: When you look at the resume I've put together, you notice some interesting things. Firstly, it's that his best wins have been his last two fights. One could make the face for the Barrera fight, bu that wasn't as decisive as the aforementioned pair I picked. He's closing in on 36 years of age, and he's putting in highlight reel TKO performances, back to back. The other thing of note, is that his worst loss is in a fight that doesn't matter much anymore. However, it's part of the reason he HAS to fight this good now. If he'd of won that fight, things might have gone a lot easier for him. Instead, he had to go through some real tough times. Nonetheless, he's persisted, and compiled quite the career. In his last 15 fights, he's gone 12-2-1, and both losses COULD be argued, as well as the draw. Not to mention that the loss was to the pound for pound king, as he remains the onyl man to really give him consistent trouble, sitting at number two on the mythical list.
CHAMPION RATING: 7.5-8/10
WORLD JUNIOR FLYWEIGHT CHAMPION:
Name: Ival Calderon
Record: 32-0-0 (6 KOs), 4 Title Defences
Country: Puerto Rico
Best Wins: Nelson Dieppa UD12, Hgo Cazares SD12
Worst Loss: N/A
Next Opponent: Rumored, Brian Viloria
Overall: He's the only champion on the list with VIRTUALLY an unblemished record. He's never been stopped or beaten, but that might have a lot do with his safety-first approach, much like his lack of stoppages does. Nonetheless, the name of the game is boxing, not knock outs. With that being said, he's also the champion with the most defences on this list and is the longest reigning champion on this list. Quite the accomplishments on paper, however you must realize this is the 108 division, not the Welterweight division. 108 isn't as stacked as 147 and that can contribute to a champions ability to reign supreme. Especially one as gifted as Ivan Calderon. He doesn't need extra help. With that being said, you must give him credit for chasing people willing to fight him, up to 108, with the word being that he's willing to test 112 for the right fight/figures. In my opinion, easily the best CHAMPION on this list from accomplishments alone.
CHAMPION RATING: 8.5-9/10
For the record, the rating area isn't about the person as a fighter, but about how they've been as a champion. Hence the reason someone like Manny Pacquiao is rated a 6.5-7 out of 10. He's made no defences, hasn't made plans to do so and his reign is relatively new.
Hope you enjoyed.
Vote. Discuss.
NOTE: With the poll, when I say championship merit, I mean what they've done at that weight as the champion. Not who you like most. I mentioned things they did before the weight class they're champion in, in some cases. That's merely to point out how they got to where they are now.
WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPION:
Name: Wladimir Klitschko
Record: 53-3-0 (47 KOs), 0 Title Defences
Country: Ukraine
Best Wins: Sam Peter W10, Ruslan Chagaev TKO10
Worst Loss: Corrie Sanders TKO by 2
Next Opponent: Likely, Alexander Povetkin
Overall: If Ruslan Chagaev's WBA title would have been on the line, Wladimir would have collected the IBO, IBF WBO and the WBA title, along with the TRUE title, The Ring Championship. Still, he has many detracters. For a virtually unified champion, he gets an aweful lot of flack. Mainly, his haters would say, for his style of fight. Some call it boring, others call it effective. Nonetheless, it's hard to argue with success. Especially, when you're success means you've had 8 stoppages out of your last ten fights and you have a KO percentage of just under 84%. Like it or not, he's the man to beat at Heavyweight. I, personally, see nothing wrong with it at all. Hits and doesn't get hit. His main problem being his chin, that sounds like a good plan to me.
CHAMPION RATING: 7.5/10.
WORLD CRUISERWEIGHT CHAMPION:
Name: Tomasz Adamek
Record: 37-1-0 (25 KOs), 1 Title Defence
Country: Poland
Best Win: Steve Cunningham, SD12
Worst Loss: Chad Dawson, UD thru 12
Next Opponent: Bobby Gunn
Overall: For those of you who find Wladimir Klitschko a little too safe, you might find salvation in a fighter like Adamek. He's not afraid to war, and to top it off, he's not a bad technical boxer. If you overlook the fact that he sometimes OVERLOOKS defence, you got a pretty solid fighter on your hands. After winning the title in a championship match with Steven Cunningham in a fight of the year candidate, the sky seems to be the limit for this hard-punching slugger. There's possible fights with Chad Dawson, Bernard Hopkins and potentially a move up to the SLIGHLY more interesting Heavyweight division. Well, more exciting then it was a few months back. But, for right now, he seems content to dominate the 200 pound ranks.
CHAMPION RATING: 8/10.
WORLD MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPION:
Name: Kelly Pavlik
Record: 35-1-0 (31 KOs), 2 Title Defences
Country: United States
Best Win: Jermaine Taylor, TKO7
Worst Loss: Bernard Hopkins, UD thru 12
Next Opponent: Possibly, Sergio Mora
Overall: Since he's held the title for a couple of years now and fought 4 times since winning it, you'd hope the guy might have more title defences. Nonetheless, you can't fault him for going up to the weight Taylor's people chose in the rematch, or chasing the big name in Bernard Hopkins. However, the fights gave him two TOTALLY different outcomes. A unanimus decision going for him with Taylor, and against him with The Executioner. And though that sole loss was a big and slightly embarressing one, he's still a young enough guy to get his career to a very high level. With that being said, he wasn't able to stop Taylor when he moved up and he could have been stopped against Hopkins. And while he outgrows 160 pounds, the only fight worth much to the fans is agaisnt another growing champion, Arthur Abraham. Tough to say how he'll do at 168, we'll have to see.
CHAMPION RATING: 7/10
WORLD JUNIOR-WELTERWEIGHT CHAMPION:
Name: Manny Pacquiao
Record: 49-3-0 (37 KOs), 0 Title Defences
Country: The Philippines
Best Wins: Juan Manuel Marquez SD12, Ricky Hatton KO2
Worst Loss: Erik Morales UD thru 12
Next Opponent: Probably, Miguel Cotto
Overall: Some might question why I picked THAT loss as the worst, considering the more embarressing losses he's endured earlier in his career. The reason, to me, is simple. No one cared about those losses when he starting becoming someone. That loss slowly stunted his mainstream success. However, the subsequent defeats of Morales quickly erased that and he's gone on a 10 fight win streak, with only three of those fights being decided by judges. Not to mention that among the people in that streak are Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez, Oscar De La Hoya, Erik Morales twice, and Ricky Hatton. He's yet to defend the title, and he wont be doing so in his next fight if he faces the 147 pound Miguel Cotto. Still, one gets the impression that he could have success at 140 if he so chose.
CHAMPION RATING: 7/20
WORLD LIGHTWEIGHT CHAMPION:
Name: Juan Manuel Marquez
Record: 50-4-0 (37 KOs), 1 Title Defence
Country: Mexico
Best Wins: Juan Diaz TKO9, Joel Casamayor TKO11
Worst Loss: Freddie Norwood, UD thru 12
Next Opponent: Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Overall: When you look at the resume I've put together, you notice some interesting things. Firstly, it's that his best wins have been his last two fights. One could make the face for the Barrera fight, bu that wasn't as decisive as the aforementioned pair I picked. He's closing in on 36 years of age, and he's putting in highlight reel TKO performances, back to back. The other thing of note, is that his worst loss is in a fight that doesn't matter much anymore. However, it's part of the reason he HAS to fight this good now. If he'd of won that fight, things might have gone a lot easier for him. Instead, he had to go through some real tough times. Nonetheless, he's persisted, and compiled quite the career. In his last 15 fights, he's gone 12-2-1, and both losses COULD be argued, as well as the draw. Not to mention that the loss was to the pound for pound king, as he remains the onyl man to really give him consistent trouble, sitting at number two on the mythical list.
CHAMPION RATING: 7.5-8/10
WORLD JUNIOR FLYWEIGHT CHAMPION:
Name: Ival Calderon
Record: 32-0-0 (6 KOs), 4 Title Defences
Country: Puerto Rico
Best Wins: Nelson Dieppa UD12, Hgo Cazares SD12
Worst Loss: N/A
Next Opponent: Rumored, Brian Viloria
Overall: He's the only champion on the list with VIRTUALLY an unblemished record. He's never been stopped or beaten, but that might have a lot do with his safety-first approach, much like his lack of stoppages does. Nonetheless, the name of the game is boxing, not knock outs. With that being said, he's also the champion with the most defences on this list and is the longest reigning champion on this list. Quite the accomplishments on paper, however you must realize this is the 108 division, not the Welterweight division. 108 isn't as stacked as 147 and that can contribute to a champions ability to reign supreme. Especially one as gifted as Ivan Calderon. He doesn't need extra help. With that being said, you must give him credit for chasing people willing to fight him, up to 108, with the word being that he's willing to test 112 for the right fight/figures. In my opinion, easily the best CHAMPION on this list from accomplishments alone.
CHAMPION RATING: 8.5-9/10
For the record, the rating area isn't about the person as a fighter, but about how they've been as a champion. Hence the reason someone like Manny Pacquiao is rated a 6.5-7 out of 10. He's made no defences, hasn't made plans to do so and his reign is relatively new.
Hope you enjoyed.
Vote. Discuss.
NOTE: With the poll, when I say championship merit, I mean what they've done at that weight as the champion. Not who you like most. I mentioned things they did before the weight class they're champion in, in some cases. That's merely to point out how they got to where they are now.
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