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| Thursday, May 15 Updated: May 16, 5:38 PM ET Kellerman: Inside the pound for pound list By Max Kellerman Special to ESPN.com |
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Warning from Max: The following is the driest possible analysis of the position of the top 10 fighters pound for pound in the world. It is intended only for hard-core boxing fans. The author is not responsible for unintended effects caused by misuse of this column by casual boxing fans looking for an entertaining read... Every now and again I like to revisit my pound for pound rankings. Listing the best fighters in the world (in order no less!) is generally difficult. I cannot remember a time however, when a pound for pound list was quite this hard to put together. Shane Mosley beat Oscar De La Hoya head to head. But since his loss to Mosley, Oscar has beaten Javier Castillejo and Fernando Vargas and in the process became the legitimate junior middleweight champion of the world. Meanwhile, since his win over De La Hoya, Mosley was beaten twice by Vernon Forrest, who was upset himself against Ricardo Mayorga. Mayorga now has knockout wins against Forrest and Andrew Lewis, and has not lost in five years, but until the upset over Forrest, never made anyone imagine they were watching a great fighter. So where to rate these guys? Even if the welterweight-junior middleweight mess is sorted out, there still remains the question of how to compare the 147-154 pound bunch to fighters like Floyd Mayweather Jr., Lennox Lewis and Kostya Tszyu. Mayweather is undefeated against very good opposition, but has not yet dominated even one 135 pounder. Kostya has only lost once in his career, and has beaten the best at junior welter, but has never moved up to challenge himself against bigger guys in the welterweight division, and has looked vulnerable against the likes of Sharmba Mitchell and Jesse James Leija. Lewis has proven himself the best biggest man in the business over the last decade, but has been knocked out by solid-but-unspectacular contenders Oliver McCall and more recently Hassim Rahman. Ranking fighters pound for pound is very different from ranking them within their own weight divisions. For the sake of fairness, a fighter's ranking within their own division should be based exclusively on their accomplishments. Their position in the ratings ostensibly determines the likelihood they get a chance to fight for the title. A fighter's pound for pound ranking need not be based on that fighter's accomplishments to the same degree as their ranking within their division. Pound for pound rankings are not about fairness and title shots. They are about how good we think a fighter is - how they fare in their weight division, compared to how well other top fighters fare in theirs. In my own pound for pound rankings I give additional credit to fighters who have success when they move up above their "natural" weight class, which I define as the division in which they are at the height of their physical powers.
Without further adieu:
I will explain the last four in conjunction with one another. When De La Hoya's record is carefully considered, the only true loss he suffered in recent years was to a prime Shane Mosley in a competitive fight. The fight was contested on an extremely high level and mostly as a result of beating Oscar, Shane was considered by many the best pound for pound fighter in the world. Since the Mosley fight, Oscar dominated Castillejo, who was a top five junior middle, and knocked out Vargas, who was a top three junior middle. De La Hoya is no longer competing in the division in which he was at the height of his physical powers (I would argue he was at his physical best 140-147), and yet he is the top guy there. Shane Mosley has beaten no one of real consequence since his win over Oscar. He has however, lost twice to Forrest, the only top fighter he has faced. Thus, even though Mosley won their fight, I can no longer rank him ahead of De La Hoya pound for pound. Similarly, I cannot rate Forrest ahead of Mosley, as after his back-to-back wins over Shane, Vernon was knocked out by Ricardo Mayorga. Try to follow this convoluted logic: Shane lasted the distance in two fights against Forrest, and Forrest was knocked out against Mayorga. Based on their records, Forrest was generally considered a better fighter when he fought Mosley than Mayorga was considered when he fought Forrest. Therefore, I come to the conclusion (somehow) that Mosley's losses to Forrest were not as bad as Forrest's loss to Mayorga because it is preferable to lose on points to Forrest than to be knocked out by Mayorga. I do not have Mayorga in my top 10 at all and that may be a mistake. Mayorga's track record up until the Forrest fight however, is suspect enough to want to see him in another fight against a top fighter - even if that fighter is Forrest in a rematch - before moving Mayorga into the top 10. Mayorga knocked out Vernon with one punch, and while that should certainly not count against him, Mayorga should show that he is more than a one hit wonder. So Mosley and Forrest cling to the last two spots in the top 10 in spite of major setbacks in recent fights. But between Oscar at No. 6 and Mosley at No. 9, I have Kostya at seven and Lewis at eight. Many feel that I have Tszyu ranked too low. Kostya Tszyu has proven himself the best 140 pounder over the last half decade by beating one top junior welter after another. Kostya may be a great fighter, but his struggles at times against solid-but-unspectacular contenders, and the fact that these struggles have taken place in the one-and-only division in which he has ever competed, hurts him in a comparison with other pound for pound entrants. De La Hoya has also struggled at times, but against better opposition than Kostya has fought. Mayweather has recently looked less than spectacular, but at 130 he was more dominant than Kostya has been at 140, and Mayweather should not be penalized for moving up in weight class - and only then slipping to a level similar to Kostya's at junior welter. Barrera and Morales have had each other to demonstrate their worth in a way that Kostya has not yet had the opportunity. Lennox Lewis' knockout losses to McCall and Rahman certainly hurt his pound for pound ranking. But should two losses - bad though they may be - eliminate Lewis from top 10 consideration? Lennox reminds me of a heavyweight Thomas Hearns in the sense that his size, hand speed and power make him a threat to beat anyone who ever lived, while his chin makes him vulnerable against anyone who can punch. But the most dominant heavyweight of his generation has beaten and dominated more top 10 guys than most of the fighters on this list, and has not lost as recently as have the two fighters he is ahead of - Mosley and Forrest. Max Kellerman is a studio analyst for ESPN2's Friday Night Fights and the host of the show Around The Horn.
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