Boxing’s 10 Best Pound For Pound

Pacman, Pretty Boy and Sugar Shane top the list this month.

Asylum Sports Network’s ranking of the ten best boxers in the world, pound for pound.

1 Manny Pacquiao
50-3-2 (38 KOs)
Welterweight/Junior Welterweight
Our Take: Demolition of Cotto only solidifies his spot at the apex. What Pacquiao is doing right now is re-writing boxing history. A long-awaited fight with Mayweather would settle the pound-for-pound debate, shed definitive light on who the best fighter of the 2000s was and, most importanty, a win would assure Manny a spot among the best pugilists, ever.

2 Floyd Mayweather
40-0 (25 KOs)
Welterweight
Our Take: While “Money” is likely the most talented fighter on the planet, he has fallen behind Pacquiao in the accomplishment department. A bout with The Pacman seems almost immanent which will garner Floyd the world-wide attention and truckloads of money that he so vocally craves – and aptly deserves – at this point of his celebrated career.

3 Shane Mosely
46-5 (39 KOs)
Welterweight
Our Take: A very dangerous defense against undefeated prospect Andre Berto will enhance or expose a 38 year-old Mosley. If the Sugar Shane who shellacked Antonio Margarito shows, Mosley becomes the frontrunner for the winner of Pacquiao-Mayweather. If the Shane who struggled through most of his fight against a shot Ricardo Mayorga appears on January 30th, the end is near for his stellar stay among the elite.

4 Juan Manuel Marquez
50-5-1 (37 KOs)
Junior Welterweight/Lightweight
Our Take: His lopsided drubbing by Mayweather aside, Marquez is still an exciting, serviceable champion so long as he retreats to 140 pounds or below. Rumors of a Ricky Hatton bout have circulated which would, at worst, provide the legendary Mexican with a handsome paycheck. Talk of a third bout with Pacquiao in Cowboys Stadium further indicates his exciting style is still marketable – even if such a scenario seems unlikely to materialize at the moment.

5 Bernard Hopkins
49-5-1 (32 KOs)
Light Heavyweight
Our Take: While many believe this wily 42 year-old veteran should face Chad Dawson, The Executioner has opted instead for a tune-up bout with Enrique Ornelas before engaging in a pointless, yet profitable rematch with Roy Jones. Considering the level of opposition Hopkins has faced over the last decade and his stubborn disposition to remain amongst the most difficult to beat fighters on the planet, a Dawson bout in late-2010 isn’t entirely out of the question for this first ballot Hall-of-Famer.

6 Chad Dawson
29-0 (17 KOs)
Light Heavyweight
Our Take: Sublimely skilled and boasting names like Antonio Tarver, Glen Johnson and Tomasz Adamek on his recent list of victims, Dawson represents the rising tide of a new guard in the sport. Dawson’s only foreseeable problem is he has yet to have a career-defining win, and with Hopkins’ schedule booked until summer and most of the best 168-pounders facing each other for the next year, bouts against undefeated contenders Tavoris Cloud and Zsolt Erdei seem like the only viable options to maintain his upward momentum.

7 Paul Williams
37-1 (27 KOs)
Middleweight/Junior Middleweight
Our Take: Talk about more hard luck. Middleweight Champion Kelly Pavlik is deemed too unhealthy to face Williams this fall, but will be back in the ring with a lesser opponent in early December. Luckily this cancellation has created a compelling and deserved matchup between Williams and Argentine, Sergio Martinez. Not only is it great to see two highly avoided fighters square off against one another, each fighter’s style will surely prove difficult for his opponent. This all equals an interesting scrap with the winner landing squarely atop the 154-pound heap.

8 Ivan Calderon
33-0-1 (6 KOs)
Junior Flyweight
Our Take: Steady if unspectacular. The best pure boxer in the sport this side of Floyd Mayweather, yet his lack of a big punch and diminutive 108-pound carriage garner him as much press as Jeff Gillooly these days. Even more frustrating are his two most recent efforts against Rodel Mayol, both ending in technical decisions after Calderon suffered cuts from accidental head clashes in both contests. Calderon’s days at the top are numbered, so quality wins over the best little guys available become even more urgent for the supremely skilled, but forgotten champion.

9 Nonito Donaire
22-1 (14 KOs)
Junior Bantamweight
Our Take: It is yet to be seen if Donaire’s dominance at 112 will follow him to 115 pounds, but a spot on a February card at the Las Vegas Hilton featuring Bantamweights Fernando Montiel, Gerry Penalosa and Eric Morel should shed greater light on his adjustment to this weight and provide a hint as to who his next significant opponent might be.

10 Miguel Cotto
34-2 (27 KOs)
Welterweight
Our Take: Cotto’s ranking among the sport’s elite is difficult to gauge. Sound beatings at the hands of top-flight fighters Pacquiao and Margarito do little to diminish his standing, but considering the difficulty he had with the typically troublesome Joshua Clottey and his blow-out of English cream puff Michael Jennings, his qualifying for this list seems a bit dubious. Still, Cotto has fought well in his last four fights and is undoubtedly still one of the best in a very deep Welterweight division. His next bout should give sound indication as to whether or not Cotto is damaged goods, but given his resilient style and attitude in the past it is unreasonable to rank many higher than him at this point.

Fighters on the Cusp:
Rafael Marquez (Featherweight), Israel Vasquez (Featherweight), Celestino Caballero (Junior Featherweight), Arthur Abraham (Super Middleweight), Chris John (Featherweight), Mikkel Kessler (Super Middleweight).

Posted by chaz