Credit: Esther Lin / Showtime
Credit: Esther Lin / Showtime
In boxing, a fighter needs to compile a thick resume to be considered the best. Becoming a pound-for-pound entrant is an accomplishment-based endeavor. Fair enough. Sometimes, there can be fighters who may in fact be the best, but just haven’t created the necessary body of work yet. Surely, you have seen fighters who were incredible for a short window of time. No one will ever rank them among the best historically, even if there were a few times where they were the best you may have ever saw.
The pound-for-pound list is really a list of the most-esteemed fighters, not necessarily the best. Naturally, the fighters who are the best happen to usually be the one who have the most big wins. But it stands to reason that some fighters might be as good if not better, despite not being as abundantly credentialed. Here are some fighters who may be the best and just need a chance to prove it by putting the right wins together.
Mikey Garcia: While he has bested Salido and Juanma, he has yet to break through with that one great fight against another star. That’s the only thing keeping Garcia, 32-0 (27 KOs) off the PFP lists at this point. From a naked eye point-of-view, the kid looks to be sensational. He is a precise and heady master of range, with an uncanny ability to stay cool during hot exchanges. He has a lot on the ball and appears to be getting better. It’s like the whole Garcia family’s lifetime obsession with boxing crescendoed with Mikey–a prodigy on the verge of a huge breakthrough.
Lucas Matthysse: Really, Matthysse is the only guy blowing out top fighters in his division in exciting fashion. After narrow and disputed decision losses to Zab Judah and Devon Alexander, Matthysse decided to not leave it in the hands of judges and is showing a lot of gusto in going for the kill in recent performances. In one-sided wipeouts over Humberto Soto and Lamont Peterson, Matthysse has established himself as perhaps boxing’s most dangerous fighter. Look at it this way, is there a guy from 140-154 who Floyd Mayweather is less likely to fight than Matthysse?
Abner Mares: The most-accomplished fighter on this list, Mares has already cracked some PFP top ten lists. With wins over Yonnhy Perez, Vic Darchinyan, Joseph Agbeko (twice), Anselmo Moreno, and Ponce De Leon, Mares is well-tested and primed to at least try for a breakthrough win. As WBC 126-pound champion, he is now in position for some big bouts, particularly what looks like a natural fight with fellow Southern California standout–Mikey Garcia. Mares does everything really well without doing any one thing great. Fighters like that are always a little better than they look. Combine it with smarts and an unyielding fighting spirit and you have a total fighting package.
Guillermo Rigondeaux: We knew the guy had to be good to win two gold medals and earn a title after merely a small handful of bouts. But his transcendent performance versus Donaire really took it to another level. Rigondeaux took a darkhorse choice for the PFP number-one spot in Nonito Donaire and made him look like a limited contender. He took Donaire’s Ginsu and made him into a butter knife. One can only imagine what he’s going to do to the other top 122-pounders after such a dominant performance over the top dog. Can anyone say with any authority that Rigondeaux isn’t the best in the sport?
Peter Quillin: A bit of a stab in the dark here, but there’s something about Quillin that makes him more than just a strong and aggressive fighter. There is a mental toughness that seems to be there in spades. Quillin is one of the sport’s more insistent fighters. Sure, there is a rawness and lack of complexity that you don’t normally associate from top fighters. but by the time it’s all said and done, who’s to say Quillin won’t will himself to the top slot at 160? Something about him just tells me he’s better than he looks. I think his strength, determination, steadfastness, and mean streak will overcome some deficits he has in the defensive and finesse areas. Let’s assume Martinez is out of the mix in 18 months. How does Quillin-Golovkin sound for late-2014?
Sergey Kovalev: Might be jumping the gun with Kovalev, 30, but so far, it’s hard to not like what you see. He appears to have it all–power, speed, smarts, and the innate ability to fight. The man has another gear and when his punches connect, opponents are becoming completely unraveled. His best opponent, Gabriel Capmillo was probably a tick past his best, but to see a guy who had recently been competitive with the best at the weight get decimated by Kovalev was impressive. The Russian might get a shot at Hopkins, which is a huge jump in class. It’s just that Kovalev’s talent jumps off the screen when watching him and you don’t have to be Ray Arcel to forecast that the future of 175 might be in his hands.
