{"id":4657,"date":"2010-09-15T16:17:29","date_gmt":"2010-09-15T20:17:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=4657"},"modified":"2010-09-15T16:19:20","modified_gmt":"2010-09-15T20:19:20","slug":"manny-pacquiao-the-ten-most-exciting-fighters-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=4657","title":{"rendered":"Manny Pacquiao & the Ten Most Exciting Fighters Today"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>By Mike \u201cRubber Warrior\u201d Plunkett<\/strong><\/p>\n

For me the word excitement is open to interpretation relative to the sport of boxing. It can mean the match-up of two marquee names or possibly a unification bout between respected world champions, but those factors do not necessarily guarantee an exciting fight. It could also mean watching an extraordinary talent ply his trade but as we have so often seen that can equate to round after boring round of domination and a match devoid of surprises. Generally speaking excitement equates to action, ebb and flow, a surprise or two all intermixed with a sense of danger. Typically you need to have at least one willing party in order to produce excitement, a fighter willing to stick it out there in order to make it happen; a warrior willing to press the outcome.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve compiled a list of the ten most exciting fighters in boxing today. Forget pound-per-pound, this is a list of warriors and gunslingers that specialize in pushing it to the brink, producing drama and excitement.<\/p>\n

Miguel Cotto
\n35-2, 28 KO\u2019s
\nWBA light middleweight champion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Make no bones about it \u201cJunito\u201d is a special fighter. He\u2019s taken on all comers and although along the way he\u2019s taken a few licks his spirit, fighting resolve and talent has seen him win major world titles at super lightweight, welterweight and most recently at light middleweight, a division where he is outsized by the majority of fighters occupying the top twenty rankings. As evidenced by his brutal defeats at the hands of Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito, Cotto fights until the very end. Expect no less from him on this last leg of a fine career as he looks to defend his newly acquired title while waiting for one last mega fight to close out the show.<\/p>\n

Sugar Shane Mosley
\n46-6, 39KO\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yeah, I know Mosley was summarily routed by Floyd Mayweather JR in his last bout but the outcome of that showing is beside the point. It was the bout he gave us the year before which underlines just who Mosley is at his very best; a gifted fighter with a seek and destroy mentality of a warrior. I credit the former three-division champ for taking on the much larger Antonio Margarito at a point when many other fighters found excuses to avoid him. He\u2019s made a career of taking on the best willing opposition and although some of the style match-ups didn\u2019t necessarily suit him he still accepted the challenge and pressed the issue. That\u2019s a warrior.<\/p>\n

Victor Ortiz
\n27-2-1, 21 KO\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cVicious\u201d Victor is good enough and destructive enough to level 90% of the foes he faces and just defensively flawed enough so that he gets hit. It\u2019s the work he tries to do each time out that makes him exciting. Admittedly he is a work in progress and I suspect that soon enough we\u2019ll get a true sense of where he is going in the sport, but for now he is mandatory viewing.<\/p>\n

Yuriorkis Gamboa
\n18-0, 15 KO\u2019s
\nWBA World featherweight champion<\/strong><\/p>\n

The former Olympic gold medalist from Cuba, now living in Florida, sometimes reminds me of a young Mike Tyson. He comes out of the corner at the first bell angling to deliver destruction and his whirlwind follow-up is a thing of beauty. He\u2019s hit the deck a few times in the past but given what he was trying to do when he found himself there I\u2019m given to accept his defensive shortcomings and enjoy his game for what it is. His latest victory was in a unification bout with former IBF featherweight titlist Orlando Salido. The direction \u201cEl Ciclon de Guantanamo\u201d is heading to a big money super fight with undefeated WBO kingpin Juan Manuel Lopez or back to the drawing board.<\/p>\n

Juan Manuel Lopez
\n29-0, 26 KO\u2019s
\nWBO featherweight champion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Like the previous name on this list \u201cJuanma\u201d is an undefeated power puncher who has over time cultivated a reputation as a seek and destroy aggressor bent on stopping foes as if he were double-parked. The difference here is that Lopez has recently tempered his game with a good dose of patience, the result undoubtedly having its roots in last year\u2019s near disaster against the sturdy Rogers Mtagwa, a journeyman that all but stopped Lopez in the closing moments of a match that was not expected to go the distance. Expect the Puerto Rican southpaw to be both patient and reckless if a unification super fight with Yuriorkis Gamboa is ever made.<\/p>\n

Alfred Angulo
\n19-1, 16 KO\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n

Angulo reminds me of a pit bull terrier. He tears into foes the moment he gets close enough to land a glove. He has the temperament of a pit bull and his punches zero in for the finish with an unexpected precision. His recent blowout of former WBA World light middleweight champion Joachim Alcine and before that his execution of the undefeated Harry Joe Yorgey were impressive demonstrations of his willingness to engage and destroy anything in front of him.
\n
\nKelly Pavlik
\n36-2, 32 KO\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n

His recent loss of the WBC\/WBO middleweight titles illustrated why so many fans are given to liking and believing in \u201cThe Ghost\u201d. He\u2019s cut from the cloth of give and take, rarely takes a backward step and mostly wears the rigors of battle on his face, a sure sign that he\u2019s stepped into the line of fire. We\u2019ve seen Pavlik get up off of the canvas to secure victory and bleed from the heart in defeat. His career may or may not have peaked and presently he would seem to be in a sort of nowhere man\u2019s land with little opportunity at 160 and precarious waters above at super middleweight. A scheduled November comeback bout will tell us much about what lies ahead. Either way expect to see him take his share of lumps as he blazes away with both guns.<\/p>\n

Sergio Gabriel Martinez
\n45-2-2, 24 KO\u2019s
\nWBC\/WBO middleweight champion<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cMaravilla\u201d recently became the man to beat at 160lbs by outfighting the bigger and more powerful Kelly Pavlik for the middleweight championship. Of particular note was his ability to adjust his game, but for the most part it was Martinez wiliness to advance and press the betting favorite to the very edge which tipped matters in his favor. And it\u2019s not like any of this was a surprise. Last December Martinez shocked the world by climbing off the deck to floor the reputed \u201cmost avoided man in boxing\u201d, coming within a whisker of handing Paul \u201cThe Punisher\u201d Williams his second defeat. In it \u201cMaravilla\u201d repeatedly gave as well as he got, angling the larger favorite with cute, well-timed rushes and demonstrating grit rare these days. Hopefully we\u2019ll see him in a rematch with Williams but if we don\u2019t, you can be sure that Martinez will be taking his all against some other unsuspecting middleweight, much to our delight.<\/p>\n

Paul Williams
\n39-1, 27 KO\u2019s<\/strong><\/p>\n

The so-called \u201cmost avoided man in boxing\u201d has had a couple of close shaves as of late. You could easily make the case that he lost last December\u2019s bout with Sergio Martinez or that at worst the bout should have been ruled a draw. And he looked less than spectacular getting a ridiculous split four-round decision verdict last spring after struggling with underdog Kermit Cintron before a freak incident precipitated the latter being launched through the ropes and onto the ringside press section. That incident should have been ruled a no contest, but much has been invested in \u201cThe Punisher\u201d and for better or for worse he was given the verdict much to the chagrin of balanced and unbiased viewers. The truth of the matter is that \u201cThe Punisher\u201d cannot resist a good dust-up, and thanks his warrior\u2019s spirit, sturdy chin and excellent work rate this makes him irresistible to hardcore fans that thirst for excitement. The \u201cmost avoided man in boxing\u201d no longer really applies to Williams and it\u2019s a misnomer. He doesn\u2019t shut-out his foes in clinical fashion. He puts himself into the line of fire like the gunslinger bent on victory at all costs. A mindset like that invariably breeds drama \u2013 and excitement.<\/p>\n

Manny Pacquiao
\n51-3-2, 38 KO\u2019s<\/strong><\/div>\n
WBO welterweight champion<\/strong><\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n

The reigning pound for pound king of boxing just happens to be one of its most exciting fighters. Having lost only once over the past decade, he\u2019s turned back the favored Oscar De La Hoya, obliterated Ricky Hatton, beaten-up the vastly talented Miguel Cotto and forced the formidable Joshua Clottey to turtle when it counted most. That\u2019s some body of work, and it doesn\u2019t take into account his numerous high-end victories before 2008, or his multi-division championships. His next scheduled bout with be with Antonio Margarito later this fall. Expect Pacquiao to attack the larger Mexican with abandon, and possibly a few tense moments before the mushroom cloud.<\/p>\n

\n

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By Mike \u201cRubber Warrior\u201d Plunkett For me the word excitement is open to interpretation relative to the sport of boxing. It can mean the match-up of two marquee names or possibly a unification bout between respected world champions, but those factors do not necessarily guarantee an exciting fight. It could also mean watching an extraordinary […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[105,477,557,647],"class_list":["post-4657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-boxing-news","tag-boxing","tag-manny-pacquiao","tag-paul-williams","tag-sergio-martinez"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4657"}],"version-history":[{"count":-3,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4657\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}