Williams is ranked a Top 5 P4Pounder on many lists.

[Pretty Boy Greg]

He beat the **** out of the WW division? LOL.....WHEN??? I mustve missed that.

Martinez is a better fighter.

margacheato, mitchell, quitana, matthyse.... then everyone else ducked him so he had to vacate his damn belt because no one would fight him......

i must of missed the fight where martinez beat him.... i'll admit that the fight was damn near a draw and you could make a case for both fighters, but pwill was more active and landed more shots....plain and simple... judges count punches

[Blue Heffner]

We should all accept P Will being a top 5 p4p fighter and people will continue to steer away from fighting him.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

The irony of these two lines.

Not really. I saw him getting outboxed in the majority of the rounds, maybe you saw something different. You're entitled to your opinion on that.

Who was the favourite is about facts and Winky was not favoured to beat Williams....thats a fact.

[BattlingNelson]

Even if it was just inside, it's in the top 20 which refutes your point. And you're off - Margarito was at worst, a fringe pound for pounder.

And yes, Winky Wright was in the top 20 as well. Actually, he was the favorite for that bout.

I lol at you having an inactive fighter like Winky ranked while you won't even rank Mayweather. I hope you feel better in the morning.


Saying "perhaps top 20" was giving him the benefit of the doubt.

The p4p rankings from boxingscene after Williams beat Margarito is below. unfortunately there's no rankings before their fight.

6) Rafael Marquez (37-4, 33 KO)

Age: 32

Current Title: World Jr. Featherweight (2007)

Career Titles: Alphabet title at 118 lbs.

Last Five Opponents: Israel Vasquez, Silence Mabuza, Ricardo Vargas, Mauricio Pastrana, Heriberto Ruiz

Next Opponent: TBA

My Take: Currently serving as the ying to Vasquez’s yang, Mexico’s Marquez has gone from being the ‘other’ Marquez brother to putting together a career that almost dwarfs older brother Juan Manuel’s. He ended the prime of arguably the greatest American flyweight ever in Mark Johnson; virtually ended the career of the best American bantamweight since Jeff Chandler in Tim Austin; and faced a steady stream of good to better opposition on the way to the growing legend of ‘Vasquez v. Marquez.’ The only down side to Marquez is his age, which isn’t getting any younger. In other words, enjoy him while he lasts. Some might rate him lower due to his last bout being a loss; I reward him for giving the world that fight.

7) Bernard Hopkins

Age: Old

Current Title: Ring Magazine Light Heavyweight/175 lb. titlist (2006-Present)

Career Titles: World Middleweight (2001-2005)

Last Five Opponents: Winky Wright, Antonio Tarver, Jermain Taylor, Howard Eastman, Oscar De la Hoya

Next Opponent: TBA

My Take: Given that I don’t think the 42-year old Philadelphia legend lost either fight to Taylor (I scored the first for Hopkins and the second a draw), it’s unfathomable to have Hopkins this low. So why do I? Two reasons. The first is that his fight with Wright left both with the appearance of shadows of former heights. In other words, they looked old. A sharp first six rounds gave way to a decrepit last six and I don’t think a clash of styles explains it better than a clash with the calendar. The second reason is inactivity, or least the likelihood of it. Hopkins doesn’t seem to have any intention of fighting more than once a year and when he does fight he’ll likely go to the highest bid which means more fights against older foes. The chance of seeing him face the winner of Chad Dawson-Adrian Diaconu in 2008 is almost nill; if he’s going to claim to be the king at 175, that is the first fight that should concern him. Of course, if he faces the winner of Calzaghe-Kessler instead and wins, and I don’t think he beats either right now, then I will accept any barbs for foolishness that readers care to provide. Until then, I can’t rate too highly what looks like a part-time professional.

8) Juan Manuel Marquez (47-3-1, 35 KO)

Age: 34

Current Title: alphabet title at 130 lbs.

Career Titles: alphabet titles at 126 lbs.

Last Five Opponents: Marco Antonio Barrera, Jimrex Jaca, Terdsak Jandaeng, Chris John, Victor Polo

Next Opponent: November 3rd vs. Rocky Juarez (27-3, 19 KO)

My Take: While his win over Barrera in March was a heck of a fight, like Hopkins-Wright it also exposed the combatants as clearly a step away from their best days. While enjoying the bout, I couldn’t help but think it looked like a slow-motion version of what it would have been five or six years earlier. Marquez remains one of the game’s great craftsmen, but that craft is impeded daily by the slowing of his reflexes and his place here is more a matter of not having lost (in reality if not officially as he did against John) in years. Marquez didn’t take a rematch with Pacquiao after their scintillating draw in 2004 and it is probably too late now to make anything of the opportunity if it comes.

9) Mikkel Kessler (39-0, 29 KO)

Age: 28

Current Title: alphabet titles at 168 lbs.

Last Five Opponents: Librado Andrade, Markus Beyer, Eric Lucas, Anthony Mundine, Manny Siaca

Next Opponent: November 3rd vs. Calzaghe

My Take: Kessler has gone on a run through the underrated super middleweight division as good as any run in the sport. He doesn’t just win fights; he wins almost every round in his fights. At 28, he’s in his prime and may have the best jab in the sport to compliment some of the most fluid combination punching one could ask to see. Largely unheralded in the U.S. until unifying his WBA belt to Beyer’s WBC strap in October of 2006, Kessler has been a hot commodity in hardcore circles since knocking off former alphabelt holder Dingaan Thobela in 2002. A win over Calzaghe puts Kessler in the crossfire of undefeated contenders Lucien Bute (20-0, 16 KO) and Dennis Inkin (31-0, 24 KO) as well as the winner of the World Middleweight title title fight on September 29th between champion Jermain Taylor (27-0-1, 17 KO) and contender Kelly Pavlik (31-0, 28 KO). Let’s just hope that if he beats Joe, he doesn’t waste time against a Roy Jones.

10) Miguel Cotto (30-0, 25 KO)

Age: 26

Current Title: alphabet title at welterweight

Career Titles: additional alphabet title at 140 lbs.

Last Five Opponents: Zab Judah, Oktay Urkal, Carlos Quintana, Paulie Malignaggi, Gianluca Branca

Next Opponent: November 10 vs. Shane Mosley (44-4, 37 KO)

My Take: Cotto’s quality as a fighter is a debate in progress. He has faced a steady flow of solid professionals while also giving off the slight air of being protected. His fight with Mosley is the most anticipated U.S. fight of the fall and will surely settle the debate for many. The separation between he and Kessler right now is the level of difficulty each seems to face against their best foes; Kessler makes tough fights easy while Cotto makes fights that look easy (Urkal, Ricardo Torres) hard even while soundly passing the tough tests. That doesn’t bode well for a Mosley who will be 36 on fight night. I lean towards both Kessler and Cotto to pass their biggest tests this fall, youth over brand names if you will, and expect both to be near the head of this pound-for-pound hyperbole and hypothesizing next year.

Five More Who Could Easily Be Here: Winky Wright, Ricky Hatton, Jermain Taylor, Takefumi Sakata, Joel Casamayor

Five More Who Should Be Here Shortly: Jorge Linares, Cristian Mijares, Juan Diaz, Paul Williams, Chad Dawson

[Pretty Boy Greg]

Mate I dont need to make up stories about being in Vegas to know that an old ass Winky Wright who was on the shelve for 2 years was NOT favoured to beat Paul Williams.

Stop trying so hard and just admit you done ****ed up....lol

williams was a heavy favorite.... google it

[Dirk Diggler UK]

margacheato, mitchell, quitana, matthyse.... then everyone else ducked him so he had to vacate his damn belt because no one would fight him......

The cream of the WW division, ladies and gents.

i must of missed the fight where martinez beat him....

Think you can catch it on HBO.com. Excellent display from Martinez

[IMDAZED]

I lol at you having an inactive fighter like Winky ranked while you won't even rank Mayweather. I hope you feel better in the morning.


Saying "perhaps top 20" was giving him the benefit of the doubt.

The p4p rankings from boxingscene after Williams beat Margarito is below. unfortunately there's no rankings before their fight.

Where did I say I personally ranked him?

Furthermore, this top 20 stuff is nonsense. Using your logic, Juan Manuel Marquez doesn't deserve a spot in the top five pound for pound. Never did - unless you want to argue his edging an ancient Barrera.

[Dirk Diggler UK]

williams was a heavy favorite.... google it

I know he was lol

[IMDAZED]

Not really. I saw him getting outboxed in the majority of the rounds, maybe you saw something different. You're entitled to your opinion on that.

Who was the favourite is about facts and Winky was not favoured to beat Williams....thats a fact.

No, Dirk. You're wrong.

**edit**

Why do I bother? Do you have endowment issues or something?

[El Castigador]

The cream of the WW division, ladies and gents.



Think you can catch it on HBO.com. Excellent display from Martinez

Excellt boxing display??/ Williams hit him whenever he felt like it and made Martinez fight Pauls fight. Which is why Sergio said he took rounds off because he couldnt keep up with Pauls pace.

What WW's would you rather him had fought?