-5 Fighters With Pound for Pound Credentials I’d Rather Watch, Since Manny Pacquiao & Floyd Mayweather Refuse to Get it On-
Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. What more needs to be said? The fact that our generation’s best both fight at around the same weight, yet refuse to get it on is disgraceful. Us fight fans don’t have it easy. Boxing has been hidden away on late night bills or PPV screens. With less media coverage the sport is certainly in decline compared to years gone by. Pacquiao and Mayweather can’t change this but they can help.
A big time prizefight between the pair would catapult boxing back into the spotlight the world over. They do fight good opponents with good pedigrees yet all are hand-picked and beatable. Enough is enough. Instead of waxing poetic about how amazing this fight would be, what it would mean to boxing and why it hasn’t happened I am going to take a look at five other fighters I believe worthy of pound for pound status.
Miguel Cotto:
After his crushing defeat at the hands of Manny Pacquiao in November we all thought Cotto was done. However you don’t beat dangerous opponents such as Shane Mosley, Zab Judah and Joshua Clottey unless you have real steel. A change of trainer, a change of weight and a boost of confidence by way of the Antonio Margarito hand wrap scandal saw Cotto return to beat undefeated WBA light-middleweight champ Yuri Foreman.
Should Cotto defeat Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in December other possible targets include: Andre Berto; Alfredo Angulo; Sergio Martinez and yes, a potential rematch with Margarito himself, pending his performance against Pacquiao. The brave Cotto has also made no secret of wanting a re-match with Pacquiao. Armed with a new mindset and fighting style, this time it could potentially be a closer contest. One thing you have to admire about Cotto is his willingness to fight the best.
Nonito Donaire:
Ever since witnessing the ‘Filipino Flash’s’ 2007 destruction of undefeated Vic Darchinyan, I have been a huge fan. Since then Donaire has dominated the flyweight division collecting and defending both IBF and IBO world titles. Never one to back down, Donaire was, by all accounts, eager to face the destructive Darchinyan in a re-match, but the Armenian refused. Stepping up to super-flyweight, Donaire now has another superstar in his sights in the shape of Mexican WBC and WBO champion Fernando Montiel.
Ivan Calderon:
Making his debut in 2001, within two years the lightening quick Calderon was WBO minimumweight champion, a title he remarkably defended eleven times. In his first fight at light-flyweight he took the WBO crown and has successfully defended it seven times. Despite his small frame the courageous Calderon uses rapid combinations and is forever on his toes making it difficult for opponents to track him down.
Yet after going up in weight he has shown his true repertoire, being able to hold on and defend when needed, as well as improving the angles in which he throws those combinations. His recent tendency to cut is, however, a problem. Still Calderon impresses me with his choice of opponents and is now preparing for a unification bout against talented Mexican Giovanni Segura on the 28th of this month.
Celestino Caballero:
Coming from Panama and fighting forever in the shadow of the legendary Roberto Duran has been too much expectation for many a Panamanian pugilist. Yet Caballero seems to thrive off the pressure. Despite having two losses to his name, he is undefeated since 2004, a span covering his last 15 fights. After those two defeats many thought Caballero the underdog as he prepared to face unbeaten Daniel Ponce de Leon in an IBF super-bantamweight eliminator. Caballero produced a stunning display to win via unanimous decision and took great plaudits from the boxing world.
Since then he has dominated the super-bantamweights and gained fame with impressive victories over the much-fancied Somsak Sitchatchawal and Steve Molitar in their home towns. Not one to sit back, Caballero has gone up to featherweight and is attempting to entice the winner of either Yourikis Gamboa vs. Orlando Salido, or Juan Manuel Lopez vs. Rafael Marquez, into a mouthwatering prizefight at featherweight.
Andre Ward:
Olympic gold in Athens aside, I must confess to not knowing a great deal about Ward. That is, at least, until the Super Six tournament came along. A resounding victory over the extremely tough and durable Mikkel Kessler was impressive, as was the 26 year-old’s mature handling of Allan Green. What pleased me most was Ward’s eagerness to enter the Super Six to begin with. The temptation for a young, slick fighter with a fantastic amateur pedigree, to avoid the likes of Kessler, Arthur Abraham and Carl Froch must have been massive.
Yet full praise must go to Ward and his team. It’s refreshing to see a boxer who believes in himself so much he is happy and willing to take risks. Should Ward, who has already booked his place in the semi-finals, win the Super Six, further bouts against super-middleweights Lucian Bute and Librado Andrade could catapult the young Californian native into superstardom.
All of this is unfortunately academic. While it is obvious that there is a wealth of talent out there, the best two boxers in the world are Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. Until they face each other the sport won’t be complete, and for this alone, fans of the sweet science should think twice about the level of esteem we hold these two men in.
