{"id":2083,"date":"2010-04-14T00:02:09","date_gmt":"2010-04-14T04:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ringsidereport.com\/?p=2083"},"modified":"2026-04-21T13:58:26","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T18:58:26","slug":"examining-the-pound-for-pound-manny-pacquiao-floyd-mayweather-jr-or-other","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=2083","title":{"rendered":"Examining the Pound for Pound: Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather JR or Other?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1545664804358300\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block; text-align: center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1545664804358300\" data-ad-slot=\"8616314829\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ringsidereport.com\/?p=2083\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-594\" style=\"margin-left: 10px; margin-right: 10px;\" title=\"MannyPacquiaoHeader2\" src=\"http:\/\/www.ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/01\/MannyPacquiaoHeader2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"232\" height=\"169\" \/><\/a>By Daniel \u201cTex\u201d Cohen<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We, as people, require categories to live our lives.\u00a0 Americans tend to divide into Democrats and Republicans.\u00a0 The weather outside may range through a theoretically infinite number of degrees, but we still generalize with the terms \u201chot\u201d and \u201ccold.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So too does this happen in Boxing.\u00a0 Obviously, the Pound for Pound concept has a tremendous amount of flaws.\u00a0 Yet we still cling to the concept with the clinginess of a college girlfriend.\u00a0<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>For all of our belief that we can pinpoint truth in a list or a diagram, our lists and categories often fail.\u00a0 If models and lists were perfect, the banking collapse would have been foreseeable.\u00a0 Sometimes, intuition and guts are the key to pinpointing who should belong at the top of the food chain and why.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>This is not to say that the Pound for Pound List is utterly subjective, as a few of my colleagues have claimed.\u00a0 Rather, Pound for Pound lists are supposed to capture the ten best fighters in the world based on specific criteria.\u00a0 Those criteria can change, but they have to be based on whatever is BEST.\u00a0 Pound for Pound lists are NOT about stylistic preferences.\u00a0 Preference is for the car you drive, the city you live in, and the career you choose.\u00a0 Being the \u201cbest\u201d is not a preference.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>To that end, I have a very, VERY hard time seeing how ANYONE can discount Manny Pacquiao as the Pound for Pound Champion of the world.\u00a0 Emotions often run high when it comes to sports (especially Boxing), but Manny\u2019s resume is the real deal, a long list of hurt game beatings against an awfully tough motley crew of fisticuff artists.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>That said, I understand that I\u2019m not immune to emotions, either.\u00a0 I can lose my cool, blow my top, or get down on anyone just like everyone else in the world.\u00a0 And if that\u2019s the case, there is a possibility that I am (GASP!) wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Rather than peg a Pound for Pound winner on a weekly basis, it might make more sense for us to understand the Pound for Pound mindset.\u00a0 To start that little investigation, I draw your attention to the unofficially dominant Pound for Pound list at the legendary Ring Magazine:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Manny Pacquiao<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>2.Floyd Mayweather, JR<\/p>\n<p>3.Shane Mosley<\/p>\n<p>4.Juan Manuel Marquez<\/p>\n<p>5.Nonito Donaire<\/p>\n<p>6.Bernard Hopkins<\/p>\n<p>7.Miguel Cotto<\/p>\n<p>8.Chad Dawson<\/p>\n<p>9.Paul Williams<\/p>\n<p>10.Celestino Caballero<\/p>\n<p>My initial reaction to the Ring list is that it seems to take a comprehensive approach to the rankings.\u00a0 While the list is mostly grizzled veterans who have earned their dues in the fight game, there are a few exceptions overall.\u00a0 The list also excludes anyone who weighs less than a lightweight.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The major criticism to be made of the Ring List (aside from the absence of little men) is that it inflates Nonito Donaire.\u00a0 I happen to like Donaire, but a top five Pound for Pound slot is a hard case to make.\u00a0 If Floyd Mayweather, JR., were designing the list, we all know he would want Donaire off the chart because of his solitary loss.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In fact, Mayweather\u2019s list might look something like this:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1.Floyd Mayweather, JR<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>2.Ivan Calderon<\/p>\n<p>3.Timothy Bradley<\/p>\n<p>4.Chad Dawson<\/p>\n<p>5.Andre Berto<\/p>\n<p>6.Devon Alexander<\/p>\n<p>7.Andre Ward<\/p>\n<p>8.Carl Froch<\/p>\n<p>9.Yuri Foreman<\/p>\n<p>10.Vanes Martirosyan<\/p>\n<p>Ok, I exaggerated a bit there.\u00a0 However, that joke of a list tells you several important pieces of information.\u00a0 First of all, the top of the list has some pretty good fighters that might b getting served a raw deal.\u00a0 Second, an undefeated record only goes so far when the victories have come against weak opposition.\u00a0 Those ten fighters might be the ten best undefeated boxers in the whole world, but the makeup of the chart is rather unorthodox.\u00a0 Most of those fighters box, but they don\u2019t box the same.\u00a0 We have a few jabbers, a few defensive specialists, a volume puncher or two, and a couple of all \u2013around finishers.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The problem with focusing on defeat counts can run intellectually deep.\u00a0 Anyone who knows anything about Boxing realizes that level of opposition is as important or more important than record in determining greatness and status.\u00a0 Boxing is a sport of moments.\u00a0 A black swan greatly affects the dynamic of a body of work.\u00a0 Undefeated club fighters are usually destroyed when they finally fight someone worthy of recognition.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If we were making P4P List based on level of opposition, we might get something like this:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1.Manny Pacquiao<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>2.Miguel Cotto<\/p>\n<p>3.Kelly Pavlik<\/p>\n<p>4.Timothy Bradley<\/p>\n<p>5.Paul Williams<\/p>\n<p>6.Vic Darchinyan<\/p>\n<p>7.Juan Manuel Marquez<\/p>\n<p>8.Shane Mosley<\/p>\n<p>9.Antonio Margarito<\/p>\n<p>10.Joshua Clottey<\/p>\n<p>I don\u2019t like that list at first look.\u00a0 I think those are tremendous fighters and are all certainly top 25-50 in the world today, but there are some very important names left off the list and some fighters that appear to have gotten far too much credit.\u00a0 As much as I like Kelly Pavlik, he\u2019s not higher than Shane Mosley.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Then again, shouldn\u2019t a guy get credit for going through packs like this at high speeds?\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Mosley hasn\u2019t fought in thirteen months.\u00a0 We haven\u2019t seen Mayweather since September.\u00a0 To give you an idea of how significant that is, Ali Funeka has had three fights since the beginning of last year, while Mayweather and Mosley have had one apiece.\u00a0 Vitali Klitschko has gotten in three bouts.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Here\u2019s a list for those that prefer consistent, significant victories over legitimate opposition:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1. Juan Manuel Lopez<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>2.Andre Ward<\/p>\n<p>3.Tomasz Adamek<\/p>\n<p>4.Robert Guerrero<\/p>\n<p>5.Wladimir Klitschko<\/p>\n<p>6.Vitali Klitschko<\/p>\n<p>7.Jean Pascal<\/p>\n<p>8.Yuriorkas Gamboa<\/p>\n<p>9.Vanes Martirosyan<\/p>\n<p>10.Kermit Cintron<\/p>\n<p>Some of those guys don\u2019t even belong on the list.\u00a0 Most of the elite fighters in the world take two very important fights in a given year, not three or four.\u00a0 In spite of that, you can still see some top notch fighters heading up the list.\u00a0 We can also see what separates \u201cgood\u201d from \u201cgreat.\u201d\u00a0 Also, we are beginning to see a picture of fringe P4P contenders and why they achieve such a status.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>What is not surprising is that these lists tend to focus on balance fight plans rather than power-heavy ones.\u00a0 There are barely any brutes on any of the lists.\u00a0 You might find that strange if you think knockouts are the name of the game, but they\u2019re not.\u00a0 Overall dominance is the important view of Pound for Pounders.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>If mathematical power (knockouts) were the main consideration for a P4P List, here\u2019s what we would get:<\/p>\n<p><strong>1.Vitali Klitschko<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>2.Wladimir Klitschko<\/p>\n<p>3.David Haye<\/p>\n<p>4.Edwin Valero<\/p>\n<p>5.Shane Mosley<\/p>\n<p>6.Marcos Maidana<\/p>\n<p>7.Yuriorkas Gamboa<\/p>\n<p>8.Israel Vazquez<\/p>\n<p>9.Arthur Abraham<\/p>\n<p>10.Antonio Margarito<\/p>\n<p>Some, of course have suspicions about where Antonio Margarito get his power, but that\u2019s a story for a different article.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Pepe Serna 360 Conversation: Texas, Acting, Scarface, Miami Vice, Trump, Humanity, ICE &amp; 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