A Community Consensus - The Top 5

[Robbie Barrett]

Ward, Gonzalez, Kovalev, Pacquiao, Crawford

[Robbie Barrett]

I can't believe people are overlooking Pacquiao, sure he's old but still one of the best in the sport. Proven by his wins over Bradley and Vargas last year.

[Rip Chudd]

Not in any order but Loma, Crawford, Ward, Kov, Chocolatito

[daggum]

no one has broner in the top 5? we have reached a consensus...the community is racist

[Rock&Roll]

First of, it is impossible to reach a definitive consensus on the P4P top 5 fighters of the world. However, the goal of this thread is to reach a consensus regarding who the top 5 fighters are and not in what order they're in. To make things easier, we go by official results here, meaning that yes, Ward defeated Kovalev in this thread, no matter if you like it or not. For example...

Ward, Crawford, Lomachenko, Gonzalez, Golovkin.

People may ask why I included Golovkin, as his resume is horrible, but we can't ignore his dominance at middleweight. If he defeats Jacobs, it's simply a fact that he belongs among the top 5.

So, can we all agree on those 5 being in the top 5, or do you have certain disagreements? I could imagine that some would include Canelo, but it's better for the sport if we all just forget about that fat weight-draining ginger.

I agree with all the points you make. If only politics wasn't getting in the way of crawford/pac fight as an argument can be made for pac to be in there.
And yes, Rigo is knocking on the door but no one will fight him.

Keep up the good, objective opinions.

[Canelo and GGG]

Whats your criteria ?

We cantt not mention Pacman ,he beat 2 top 10 WWs last year ,(nobody did same thing? if so ,remind me) his most proven active fighter) Ward/Kovalev,Frampton,Canelo,Gonzales are most proven after Pacman\

[boliodogs]

PFP is strictly personal opinion and nothing more. Those 5 boxers you list are just your opinion of the top 5. Nothing more and nothing less. Watch the fight game and they will explain correctly that pound for pound isn't resume at all. Resume is resume.PFP is NOT resume. Resume is what the fighter has already done starting from the day he turned pro. PFP is how good you THINK a boxer is for his weight class right now, today. What his potential is and how hard he is to beat in his weight class. Regardless of his resume no boxer is considered any harder to beat in his weight class than GGG is. He is always a huge betting favorite even when he fights a guy as good as Jacobs is.Ward isn't going above Kovalev on my pound for list when I had Kovalev a close but clear winner by 3 points. It's my scorecard and my list. You can put Ward and Kovalev wherever you want on your own top 5 PFP. list.

[Dodger07]

ward, chocolatito, kovalev, crawford, lomachenko

[Mike_R]

Chocalatito, Lomachenko, Rigondeaux, Spence, Crawford

I don't know about what order tbh.. but I think right now those are mine.

Lomachenko is probably my most suspect pick, just due to his resume. I am extremely confident he's going to dominant for at least a few years though. Him against Rigo or Mikey Garcia is the dream right now.

I'd put Golovkin in there if he beats Jacobs and we get the Canelo fight this year (and he wins). I just can't right now partly because I've feel frustrated with his matchmaking. I am definitely pumped for him and Jacobs though.

Mikey Garcia goes right in there if he just looks like himself for a couple fights this year. Not sure who falls out though.

Looking forward to 2017 being a great boxing year.

[Dr Rumack]

I get that Rigo is inactive so if you looked at is a divisional ranking there's an argument for dropping him down the table. But if you're purely looking for the top 5 fighters around today then you can't overlook him. He is out of this world.

Golovkin as top 5 is the one I have the most trouble with. He passes the eye test for sure. He's avoided and he dominates his opponents to the point where isolated success is seen as a win for the guys he beats.

But how tested he is compared to the other elite guys is the question. Maybe he's a victim of being in a division where there were a lot of lesser known European guys. Murray/Macklin vs Sergio, Quillin vs Lee etc show that the gap between the other guys is nowhere near as large as the gap between him and them.

He gets unfair hate because he has obviously been avoided on a scale approaching the freezing out of Rigo. But when you are looking for proof of who's the best then the 'why' doesn't matter that much.

If he convincingly beats Jacobs then I don't think he can still be denied elite status. Without any weight bullying he will have effectively subdued an entire division and that's a rare accomplishment.