Check out the top 20 pound for pound boxing list from November 24, 2013. We had just seen Manny Pacquiao come back to action with a win against Brandon Rios, and Timothy Bradley defeat Juan Manuel Marquez, amongst other fights.
Fighter | Record | Change |
| 1. Floyd Mayweather | 45 (26) – 0 | – |
| Money Mayweather just keeps on rolling. He dominated Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in the biggest event of the year, staking his claim not only as the top pound for pound fighter in the world, but the top active guy in multiple weight classes. His ring IQ, his innate sense of timing and distance, and his all-around boxing skill and acumen have truly made him nonpareil in the sport. The question is, who’s next, and who has a chance to even make things interesting? | ||
| 2. Andre Ward | 27 (14) – 0 | – |
| Mikkel Kessler. Arthur Abraham. Carl Froch. Not bad for a largely unproven fighter at the start of the Super Six Tournament. Then came the complete domination of Chad Dawson. Ward has been on an absolute tear, and hasn’t even seemed particularly tested or bothered against any of those guys. The injuries have been an unfortunate momentum breaker for the S.O.G., but finally got back into action with his route of Edwin Rodriguez. | ||
| 3. Guillermo Rigondeaux | 12 (8) – 0 | +1 |
| Rigondeaux finally lured Nonito Donaire into the ring, mostly getting his opportunity due to the fact that Donaire’s team wasn’t going to put together a fight against Abner Mares. The Jackal took full advantage of his shot, and even if you thought he would win, you probably didn’t expect him to be so dominant, completely dictating the fight against Donaire and showing a clear superiority in terms of pure boxing skill and ability. One of the best amateur fighters in history has had perhaps the best first 12 pro fights of any fighter to ever lace them up. | ||
| 4. Roman Gonzalez | 35 (29) – 0 | +5 |
| Gonzalez has built up quite the undefeated stretch thus far in his career. He’s the former WBA strawweight champ and the current WBA 108 lbs titleholder, with five title defenses since he won the belt in 2011. El Chocolatito is now lining himself up for a shot at a title in a 3rd division, joining the crowded, action-packed scene at Flyweight. Doesn’t hurt that he beat the guy who ousted Brian Viloria at that weight, either. | ||
| 5. Sergio Martinez | 51 (28) – 2 – 2 | – |
| Is age catching up to Maravilla? He has survived his last two encounters against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr and Martin Murray, but he’s been sent to the deck on each ocassion, and he’s come out of both battles with injuries that relegate him to the sidelines. Will his body get back to 100% again, or has the best of Martinez already come and gone? Remains the middleweight kingpin, and his body of work over the past 3-4 years has been stellar, but questions loom about his future in the sport. | ||
| 6. Juan Manuel Marquez | 55 (40) – 7 – 1 | -3 |
| After three disappointments, Marquez finally broke through against Manny Pacquiao, and in spectacular, unforgettable fashion. It was the one-punch knockout heard round the world, and it altered the landscape at the top of our pound for pound list and the entire sport. Lost a tough match against Timothy Bradley, and he disputes that loss. But he’s in a place where he can call the shots right now, and look to Bradley again, Pacquiao for the fifth time, or elsewhere. | ||
| 7. Manny Pacquiao | 55 (38) – 5 – 2 | +5 |
| Pacquiao looked impressive against Brandon Rios in his first fight back after suffering that devastating loss to Juan Manuel Marquez. Against Rios, he displayed the speed, footwork and offensive versatility that are his trademarks. He was expected to look good against Rios, of course, so it will be much more interesting to gauge how he will perform against another top fighter, whether it’s Marquez, Bradley again, or even, dare we say it, Floyd Mayweather. | ||
| 8. Danny Garcia | 27 (16) – 0 | -1 |
| I never put any stock into his wins over Erik Morales. But the knockout of Amir Khan was sensational, and he got past a stern test from Zab Judah. Then when everyone wanted to count him out, even as an undefeated champion, he stood his ground against Lucas Matthysse and picked up a hard-fought win. That victory may just vault him into position to face Floyd Mayweather, next, and it certainly bolsters his credentials as one of the best pound for pound fighters in the game right now. | ||
| 9. Timothy Bradley | 31 (12) – 0 | +8 |
| Wait, so Bradley has victories over Manny Pacquiao and Juan Manuel Marquez, and he’s ranked beneath both in the pound for pound list? Well, yes. The Marquez win gets him back into the top 10 after he had nearly fallen out of the list entirely. But the win over Pacquiao was of course nothing but a gift decision. Since Marquez recently kayoed Pacquiao, Bradley gets left to the bottom of the trifecta from a pound for pound perspective, even if he’s at the top of the three in the welterweight division. Difficult to sort out the mess between those guys. | ||
| 10. Wladimir Klitschko | 61 (51) – 3 | -4 |
| If you’ve followed the pound for pound rankings on this website, then you have surely noticed Klitschko jumping up and down from update to update. That’s because from fight to fight my opinion changes on how dominant he is, and whether he does enough with his size and talent. Case in point, he dominated Alexander Povetkin, but never applied himself in the way he could have, or should have, in what was an ugly, hard to watch match. Still, 61 career victories, and 19 straight wins over the past nine years, including 15 title defenses. Staggering. | ||
| 11. Carl Froch | 32 (23) – 2 | -3 |
| Jean Pascal, Jermain Taylor, Andre Dirrell, Mikkel Kessler (twice), Arthur Abraham, Glen Johnson, Andre Ward, Lucian Bute, George Groves. An 8-2 record against that level of opposition over the past three years, plus a win over Yusaf Mack. Even though he got dominated by Ward, that’s still an incredibly daunting and impressive run. Most impressive of all was the resounding KO win over the previously undefeated Bute. He was losing against Groves though, and the referee bailed him out with a quick stoppage. He may have been able to seal the deal on his own, but we won’t know for sure. Hopefully they rematch next. | ||
| 12 Bernard Hopkins | 54 (32) – 6 – 2 | +2 |
| Tell me you weren’t really surprised that Hopkins outclassed, and out-foxed Tavoris Cloud? Defeating Karo Murat wouldn’t mean much on its own until you factor in that Hopkins is damn near 50 years old and is getting it done. He’s still clearly one of the best fighters on the planet. With the right matchmaking, he can continue this run for quite some time. Would love to see him battle it out against the likes of Sergey Kovalev or Adonis Stevenson. | ||
| 13. Mikey Garcia | 33 (28) – 0 | +3 |
| Mikey Garcia’s debut into the pound for pound rankings was long awaited. The competition he faced was just so miserable for so long. But he really shined with his dominant win over Orlando Salido, scoring three knockdowns along the way. Followed that up by taking out Juan Manuel Lopez, and displaying the huge gap in technical skill between those guys which we have all known for quite some time. The offensive arsenal is just so smooth and refined, and the kid is still just 25. Moved up to Super Featherweight and easily picked up a second title against Roman Martinez. | ||
| 14. Gennady Golovkin | 28 (25) – 0 | +1 |
| GGG made his debut on our pound for pound list as he has continued to tear a hole through the middleweight division. Matthew Macklin was supposed to be his toughest fight to date, but Golovkin made it look like easy work, absolutely smashing him en route to an early stoppage win. Curtis Stevens came, and went, next, as was expected. One of the most exciting and captivating fighters to watch right now. | ||
| 15. Abner Mares | 26 (14) – 1 – 1 | -5 |
| Abner Mares has gone through one of the toughest stretches of opponents in the sport. Yonnhy Perez, Vic Darchinyan and Joseph Agbeko, twice, then Anselmo Moreno, a fight many expected him to lose, another move up in weight, and a TKO title-winning victory over Daniel Ponce de Leon. Jhonny Gonzalez wasn’t an easy opponent either, and he proved that by knocking out the undefeated Mares in Round 1. A 1st round knockout loss though is not as bad in many ways as a thorough beat down or one-sided defeat over 12 rounds, and Mares seem intent on facing Gonzalez immediately in a rematch. | ||
| 16. Nonito Donaire | 31 (20) – 2 | -5 |
| Tough loss for Donaire, who had so much momentum heading into that fight. Was he simply overlooking Rigondeaux, and enjoying his star status a bit too much? Was it really the shoulder injury? Or did he just lose to the better guy? Moved up to Featherweight but didn’t look particularly impressive against Vic Darchinyan, despite the fact that he rallied to score the stoppage win. Is the fire and passion gone? What’s next for the Filipino Flash? | ||
| 17. Adrien Broner | 27 (22) – 0 | -4 |
| After the utter domination of the respected Antonio DeMarco, it was clear to even the biggest of detractors that The Problem’s talent is off the charts. The questions for him will be how he’ll respond to adversity in the ring, what kind of chin he has, and what happens when he faces guys who can match his size and his speed. Jumping up two divisions to take on Paulie Malignaggi wasn’t exactly Shane Mosley jumping from 135 to 147 to fight Oscar De La Hoya, and you would have liked to see a more dominant showing if he is as good as everyone would like us to believe. Marcos Maidana is next. | ||
| 18. Shinsuke Yamanaka | 20 (15) – 0 – 2 | +2 |
| Shinsuke Yamanaka has flown under the radar for American fight fans. When Vic Darchinyan traveled to Tokyo in 2012 to fight him, it was presumed by many to be a quick stopover for the Raging Bull on the way to bigger things. But Yamanaka didn’t see it that way, handing him a defeat, and adding to a growing resume which includes wins over Malcolm Tunacao, Tomas Rojas, Christian Esquivel and most recently, Alberto Guevara. | ||
| 19. Adonis Stevenson | 22 (19) – 1 | Debut |
| Adonis Stevenson is one of the most explosive punchers, and athletes, in the game. The Round 1 KO win over Chad Dawson certainly showed that loud and clear. Followed that up with a dominating win over Tavoris Cloud. Faces Tony Bellew, and then we hopefully see him in there against his fellow new pound for pound entrant, Krusher Kovalev. | ||
| 20. Sergey Kovalev | 22 (20) – 0 – 1 | Debut |
| Krusher has quickly risen from out of nowhere to become one of the must-watch fighters in the game. Made short work out of the likes of Gabriel Campillo and Nathan Cleverly. Now, seems to be on a collision course with Superman Stevenson. If they each win their next fights, it should be Stevenson-Kovalev in 2014, in a fight in which either man, or both, could really become a breakout star. | ||
The next 25+ on the Bubble (in alphabetical order)
Devon Alexander, Canelo Alvarez, Lucian Bute, Chad Dawson, Juan Francisco Estrada, Yuriorkis Gamboa, Jhonny Gonzalez, Robert Guerrero, Yoan Pablo Hernandez, Marco Huck, Chris John, Mikkel Kessler, Amir Khan, Vitali Klitschko, Koki Kameda, Marcos Maidana, Lucas Matthysse, Anselmo Moreno, Jean Pascal, Lamont Peterson, Orlando Salido, Leo Santa Cruz, Giovani Segura, Austin Trout, Brian Viloria
