Our world has been shaken. This is a good thing; we don't need a flat world. Turmoil is stimulating. Forgive me if I nonetheless attempt to restore order.
There is a welcome lull to all the recent action, giving us time to catch our collective breath. The only "major" fight this past weekend matched two Armenian-born middleweights in Berlin. It is the calm preceding the fantastic finish to the 2007 schedule. It's already been a shocking year. Since the last time I compiled my very own personal pound-for-pound list, back in late March, for some Web site I have long forgotten, many of my hardy perennials have been uprooted.
This is testimony not only to my lack of expertise, but to the depth of the talent pool. Take away the heavyweights, please, and we might be in a moderate golden age — if not 24 karat, at least 14 or 15.
Winky Wright is beaten. OK, but it took a Bernard Hopkins to do it and so what if B-Hop is 42? Rafael Marquez goes down, but instead of crying over spilled Mexicans, lets celebrate the Mexican who stands tall, Israel Vazquez. Jorge Arce gets soundly outboxed, but it was a revelatory performance by Cristian Mijares.
This is what happens when good fighters face good fighters. Somebody, usually, has to lose. And as the year comes to a roaring coda, with such matches as Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Ricky Hatton, Jermain Taylor-Kelly Pavlik, Sugar Shane Mosley-Miguel Cotto, Joe Calzaghe-Mikkel Kessler, Joan Guzman-Humberto Soto and yes, even the heavyweights are well represented by Oleg Maskaev-Samuel Peter, the game is in a delightful flux.
Attempting to overcome my short-term memory loss, I shall endeavor to put it in perspective. The best way, I believe, is to show just how many good fighters are in practice at the moment and I shall attempt that by the overrated game of rating them. Pound for pound, remember, was created for Sugar Ray Robinson. There was no No. 2 when he was the king. Maybe it should be that way now, but too many out there are not willing to attend the coronation of Prince Floyd.
1. Floyd Mayweather
Of course young Mayweather gets the call. It's pound-for-pound, not thrill-for-penny, otherwise Manny Pacquiao's well-deserved fan base would complain bout being held to No. 2. I'm not ready to coronate Mayweather, as Don King did the other day, as the best since Muhammad Ali — a ludicrous estimation, considering King once promoted Roberto Duran, Julio Cesar Chavez and a pretty fine country heavyweight named Larry Holmes, and that's not taking into account Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, Pernell Whitaker, et al. Pretty Boy is picking and choosing his victims very carefully. He comes out of "retirement" to face Ricky Hatton, a smallish, hittable battler, because of "insults" made by the English brawler.
When a bigger man, Antonio Margarito, made similar insults, Mayweather turned the other cheek. If he really wants recognition as an all-time great, he must face the Mosley-Cotto winner, maybe Paul Williams. Beating the aged and slow Oscar De La Hoya does not impress me. Hatton may be a step down from that. It's as if he chooses to walk a tight rope six inches above a kiddie pool instead of soaring above the Grand Canyon as his wondrous talents should insist.
2. Manny Pacquiao
Pacquiao's got a date for a rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera and he'd better not take it too lightly just because he annihilated him the first time. By returning to the Philippines to train, in front of adoring fans, he indicates a certain lack of seriousness. Barrera may be long in the tooth, but great fighters sometimes have one big effort left in the tank and he's motivated.
3. Juan Manuel Marquez
This is the rematch Pacquiao needs to win if he wants to have any claim to No. 1. Marquez scrambled this list by handily defeating Barrera this year and next faces the tough Rocky Juarez, a hell of a tuneup for what we hope will be the early 2008 rematch with Pacquiao. Finally, the smooth Mexican boxer is among the elite of the elite. I thought Pacquiao, who knocked him down three times in the first round, deserved the decision, but their draw was a satisfying result. As Leon Spinks would say, "A draw — nobody wins, nobody loses and everybody gets to fight another day."
4. Joe Calzaghe
This is where the list becomes fuzzy, where if you juggle the following order, you will receive no complaints (you will also receive no compliments. In fact, you will receive nothing. I do not discuss my ratings; your ratings do not interest me any more than do, say, Dandy Dan Rafael's, and he invented boxing). Calzaghe has been hiding behind Jeff Lacy's apron string. Since exposing the American youngster, the left-handed Welshman has done little but beat outclassed journeymen. However, in November, he gets another chance to assert his great talent when he faces another unbeaten super middleweight, Mikkel Kessler. It is a fight fan's fight.
5. Bernard Hopkins
Elevating Calzaghe keeps me from going hog-wild over Hopkins, who after all, lost two decisions (OK, I thought he lost the first by a point, won the second by the same margin, or vice versa, who can remember such mundane details?) to Jermain Taylor. But his domination of Antonio Tarver last year and of Winky Wright this summer in his new light heavyweight body by Mackie Shilstone have convinced me that the old master is still one of the greatest forces in the game. But at 42, he's slowed to one fight a year.
6. Winky Wright
Carlos Arias, after watching Hopkins defeat the Florida master, wondered if Wright was still worthy of the Hall of Fame. Never mind that Jose Sulaiman is in there, Wright is a first-time ballot shoo-in, or should be. So he lost to someone bigger and stronger. After eight rounds, it was even. Don't give me his 1-1-1 recent record. That was no draw with Jermain Taylor. He's getting up there in age, but the slippage isn't really showing. He'll be fine at 160.
7. Jermain Taylor
Yes, he's got two "victories" over No. 5 and a draw with No. 6, but he hasn't done much for me lately with his two victories over Kassim Ouma and Cory Spinks. Maybe Emanuel Steward isn't a perfect fit. He's going to say goodbye to the 160-pound division with a showdown against the powerful Kelly Pavlik. Maybe there is a future in the 168-pound division against the Calzaghe-Kessler victor.
There is a welcome lull to all the recent action, giving us time to catch our collective breath. The only "major" fight this past weekend matched two Armenian-born middleweights in Berlin. It is the calm preceding the fantastic finish to the 2007 schedule. It's already been a shocking year. Since the last time I compiled my very own personal pound-for-pound list, back in late March, for some Web site I have long forgotten, many of my hardy perennials have been uprooted.
This is testimony not only to my lack of expertise, but to the depth of the talent pool. Take away the heavyweights, please, and we might be in a moderate golden age — if not 24 karat, at least 14 or 15.
Winky Wright is beaten. OK, but it took a Bernard Hopkins to do it and so what if B-Hop is 42? Rafael Marquez goes down, but instead of crying over spilled Mexicans, lets celebrate the Mexican who stands tall, Israel Vazquez. Jorge Arce gets soundly outboxed, but it was a revelatory performance by Cristian Mijares.
This is what happens when good fighters face good fighters. Somebody, usually, has to lose. And as the year comes to a roaring coda, with such matches as Floyd Mayweather Jr.-Ricky Hatton, Jermain Taylor-Kelly Pavlik, Sugar Shane Mosley-Miguel Cotto, Joe Calzaghe-Mikkel Kessler, Joan Guzman-Humberto Soto and yes, even the heavyweights are well represented by Oleg Maskaev-Samuel Peter, the game is in a delightful flux.
Attempting to overcome my short-term memory loss, I shall endeavor to put it in perspective. The best way, I believe, is to show just how many good fighters are in practice at the moment and I shall attempt that by the overrated game of rating them. Pound for pound, remember, was created for Sugar Ray Robinson. There was no No. 2 when he was the king. Maybe it should be that way now, but too many out there are not willing to attend the coronation of Prince Floyd.
1. Floyd Mayweather
Of course young Mayweather gets the call. It's pound-for-pound, not thrill-for-penny, otherwise Manny Pacquiao's well-deserved fan base would complain bout being held to No. 2. I'm not ready to coronate Mayweather, as Don King did the other day, as the best since Muhammad Ali — a ludicrous estimation, considering King once promoted Roberto Duran, Julio Cesar Chavez and a pretty fine country heavyweight named Larry Holmes, and that's not taking into account Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvelous Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns, Pernell Whitaker, et al. Pretty Boy is picking and choosing his victims very carefully. He comes out of "retirement" to face Ricky Hatton, a smallish, hittable battler, because of "insults" made by the English brawler.
When a bigger man, Antonio Margarito, made similar insults, Mayweather turned the other cheek. If he really wants recognition as an all-time great, he must face the Mosley-Cotto winner, maybe Paul Williams. Beating the aged and slow Oscar De La Hoya does not impress me. Hatton may be a step down from that. It's as if he chooses to walk a tight rope six inches above a kiddie pool instead of soaring above the Grand Canyon as his wondrous talents should insist.
2. Manny Pacquiao
Pacquiao's got a date for a rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera and he'd better not take it too lightly just because he annihilated him the first time. By returning to the Philippines to train, in front of adoring fans, he indicates a certain lack of seriousness. Barrera may be long in the tooth, but great fighters sometimes have one big effort left in the tank and he's motivated.
3. Juan Manuel Marquez
This is the rematch Pacquiao needs to win if he wants to have any claim to No. 1. Marquez scrambled this list by handily defeating Barrera this year and next faces the tough Rocky Juarez, a hell of a tuneup for what we hope will be the early 2008 rematch with Pacquiao. Finally, the smooth Mexican boxer is among the elite of the elite. I thought Pacquiao, who knocked him down three times in the first round, deserved the decision, but their draw was a satisfying result. As Leon Spinks would say, "A draw — nobody wins, nobody loses and everybody gets to fight another day."
4. Joe Calzaghe
This is where the list becomes fuzzy, where if you juggle the following order, you will receive no complaints (you will also receive no compliments. In fact, you will receive nothing. I do not discuss my ratings; your ratings do not interest me any more than do, say, Dandy Dan Rafael's, and he invented boxing). Calzaghe has been hiding behind Jeff Lacy's apron string. Since exposing the American youngster, the left-handed Welshman has done little but beat outclassed journeymen. However, in November, he gets another chance to assert his great talent when he faces another unbeaten super middleweight, Mikkel Kessler. It is a fight fan's fight.
5. Bernard Hopkins
Elevating Calzaghe keeps me from going hog-wild over Hopkins, who after all, lost two decisions (OK, I thought he lost the first by a point, won the second by the same margin, or vice versa, who can remember such mundane details?) to Jermain Taylor. But his domination of Antonio Tarver last year and of Winky Wright this summer in his new light heavyweight body by Mackie Shilstone have convinced me that the old master is still one of the greatest forces in the game. But at 42, he's slowed to one fight a year.
6. Winky Wright
Carlos Arias, after watching Hopkins defeat the Florida master, wondered if Wright was still worthy of the Hall of Fame. Never mind that Jose Sulaiman is in there, Wright is a first-time ballot shoo-in, or should be. So he lost to someone bigger and stronger. After eight rounds, it was even. Don't give me his 1-1-1 recent record. That was no draw with Jermain Taylor. He's getting up there in age, but the slippage isn't really showing. He'll be fine at 160.
7. Jermain Taylor
Yes, he's got two "victories" over No. 5 and a draw with No. 6, but he hasn't done much for me lately with his two victories over Kassim Ouma and Cory Spinks. Maybe Emanuel Steward isn't a perfect fit. He's going to say goodbye to the 160-pound division with a showdown against the powerful Kelly Pavlik. Maybe there is a future in the 168-pound division against the Calzaghe-Kessler victor.
