On the ProBoxing-Fans.com Pound for Pound list, we include the “honorable mentions” of #21 to #45 in no particular order. This is a group of old and established names that have slipped from the pinnacle of the sport, and rising prospects who might just make it to the top, offering a comprehensive picture on the best of the best in boxing today.
For example, with the most recent update to the top 20 pound for pound list, our esteemed editor Jake Emen raised Adonis Stevenson from the #21 to #45 category and up to #19. At the same time he hiked Sergey Kovalev up to #20, and Kovalev wasn’t even in the honorable mentions – and thus somewhere below #45 by implication! – showing the fluidity of the sport, and how a few big wins quickly piled up in succession can change your standing immensely.
Taking a look at the current P4P hopefuls, I see a handful that have a real chance of moving up, and in several cases, back into, the pound for pound list.
1. Canelo Alvarez: Only slightly behind Stevenson is Alvarez. Losing to Floyd Mayweather certainly doesn’t diminish anyone’s standing in modern boxing. A win over Miguel Cotto should be enough to get him in.
2. Juan Francisco Estrada: Wins over Brian Viloria and undefeated Milan Melindo have this flyweight champion on the top of his division. If he stays there, it’s only a matter of time before he enters the P4P rankings.
3. Roberto Guerrero: Like Alvarez, the only loss Guerrero has suffered lately was to the Pretty Boy, and since when has that been a deficit? Instead, what is holding him back is his lack of a good track record at his current weight class. The only big mark in the win column there is Andre Berto, so he needs a couple more, but he has the stuff to go out and get those wins.
4. Koki Kameda: The WBA bantamweight champ hasn’t lost a fight since before starting his title reign three years ago, and even then it was a close MD at flyweight to the near legendary Thai boxer Pongsaklek Wonjongkam. Kameda was ranked at #19 for most of this year on the P4P list, and was displaced by the rising Stevenson and Kovalev. If he keeps up his winning ways, a re-entry into the rankings isn’t hard to imagine.
5. Marco Huck: Huck’s only loss in recent memory was a somewhat controversial one at the hands of then-heavyweight titlist Alexander Povetkin, so things look good for the entrenched cruiserweight champ. He could conceivably get into the Top 20 on the basis of his sheer consistency, but a win over another cruiser champ in a unification fight would help things greatly.
