The People's Champs! (Divisional and P4P)

Who is the real champ in each division? Since boxing is inherently motivated by nationalism and racism, I've broken down my picks in those categories to make it easier for everybody to play the race card! Disregarding lineage for the most part (except as a fallback for divisions I don't care about), here are my picks:

105: Hekkie Budler (S. Africa)
-Don't even care.

108: Donnie Nietes (Philippines)
-Don't even care.

112: Chocolatito (Nicaragua)
-This guy is p4p, exciting, and tearing through weight classes without slowing down.

115: Omar Narvaez (Argentina)
-Don't even care

118: Shinsuke Yamanaka (Japan)
-Don't even care

122: Rigondeaux (Cuba)
-God among men, all y'all bow! If you like Mayweather and aren't excited about the potential matchups in Rigo's future then YDKSAB. Go do something bad to yourself and donate your organs to people who don't suck. Frampton, Quigg, Santa Cruz, Mares, Gonzalez, Gradovich, Walters, and Lomachenko...who would you favor to beat Rigo? Trick question, they'd all fall before the might of the great Cuban and if you don't recognize that then YDKSAB.

126: Vasyl Lomachenko (Ukraine)
-All roads lead to Walters knocking out the winner of Mares/Gonzalez II only to be dominated by the oddly impressive footwork of Lomachenko. Lomachenko is awesome, and his name is fun to say.

130: Takashi Uchiyama (Japan)
-Don't even care.

135: Mikey Garcia (USA)
-"But he hasn't ever fought at the weight," you say. "But he doesn't fight at all," you say. Well YDKSAB, I say, because Mikey Garcia is a p4p talent and will tear through the lightweight division just like Terence Crawford did.

140: Terence Crawford (USA)
-See above. Danny Garcia is leaving and that's a good thing for him, because Crawford is a p4p talent and will dominate the light welterweight division until he gets tired of beating everybody up and turns his conquering gaze toward the welterweights.

147: No champ til Floyd fights Manny
-Man, f*ck these guys. Both of them are doing smoke and mirrors tricks with their matchmaking, they're clearly the top 2 talents in the division, and they've been finding excuses not to make a fortune fighting each other for over 5 years. I hope they knock each other out simultaneously with an accidental headbutt in round 3, the fight ends in a no-contest, neither of them gets paid, and both of them pop positive for PEDs.

154: Floyd Mayweather the Second (USA)
-Mayeather is a decent boxer and has beaten the man who sort of beat the man who would dominate Mayweather but nobody wants to see Lara fight because it's never enjoyable. Especially against Mayweather, because he's not enjoyable either. Standing by for a champ who fights to win instead of to not lose.

160: Gennady G. Golovkin (Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan)
-People's champ GGG is a p4p talent and a destroyer who would annihilate Lee, Taylor, and especially Cotto for being arrogant enough to sneak in and take out the old injured alpha boxer of the division without asking GGG's permission first.

168: Froch (UK)
-"But what about Andre Ward," you say. What about him? This is a list for BOXERS, i.e. 'people who box.' Ward doesn't do that. He's a legal specialist or something last I checked. Froch is the cash cow of the division and has beaten all comers except Ward, who we've established isn't even a boxer so who cares.

175: Sergey Kovalev (Russia)
-He hits really hard, he outboxed Hopkins, and he has the lineal champ afraid to go to sleep because Kovalev might be under his bed. He is the people's champ by default.

200: No champ til Huck fights Hernandez
-It's so hard to care about this division...

200+: Dr. Wladimir Klitschko (Ukraine)
-He is a gentleman and a scholar and in between impregnating actresses, playing chess, and helping his brother save the world from Vladimir Putin, he finds the time to utterly dominate and/or knock out anyone who wants to see what it feels like to be steelhammered by the baddest man on the planet.

NATIONALITY
1 South Africa
1 Philippines
1 Nicaragua
1 Argentina
1 UK
1 Russia
1 Kazakhstan
1 Cuba
2 Ukraine
2 Japan
3 USA
RACE
6 White (Wlad/Loma/GGG/Kovalev/Froch/Budler)
3 Black (Rigo/Crawford/Floyd)
3 Mestizo or Amerindian (Chocolatito/Garcia/Narvaez)
3 Asian (Yamanaka/Nietes/Uchiyama)

RING Comparisons
NATIONALITY
1 Ukraine
1 Canada
1 Nicaragua
1 Philippines
1 Puerto Rico
2 Cuba
4 USA
RACE
1 White
1 Asian
4 Black
5 Mestizo or Amerindian

Pound-For-Pound List:

1. Rigondeaux
-Can you honestly see anybody beating him?

2. Pacquiao
-Floyd openly acting afraid of him for years kind of puts him ahead by default even though he got knocked out by a counterpuncher who had 40+ rounds to land one shot.

3. Mayweather
-You can't be the #1 p4p by openly cherrypicking soft opposition because your health comes first. It's a totally legitimate route to take, but it isn't p4p #1 material. Argue if you wish, but heart and fighting mentality are big parts of what makes one boxer better than another. TBH TBE shouldn't be on this list, but a lot of people like him so hey.

4. Chocolatito
-Dominated 3 weight classes. Undefeated. Knocks people out. Fights the best.

5. Klitschko
-Look at that record, and look at the way he's utterly destroyed every challenger. The guy barely ever loses a round.

6. Kovalev
-This guy is utterly dominant and destructive. Beating Hopkins was impressive, but beating Hopkins by OUTBOXING HIM is even more impressive, especially for a guy known for his power. Having Stevenson running scared helps his case a lot.

7. Crawford
-Sure I'm basing this off 3 wins over not-quite-top-flight opponents, but his style is awesome, he's totally dominant, and I don't see him slowing down any time soon.

8. Mikey Garcia
-Similar to Crawford, I'm basing this off looking spectacular against a few solid opponents.

9. Golovkin
-See Crawford and Garcia. Add in the fact that nobody will risk fighting this guy unless they have nothing to lose (i.e. no title or name status).

10. Froch
-Honestly with that chin, heart, power, engine, and knack for figuring people out...I think Froch could beat a lot of fighters in a p4p sense. Think of Froch as 6'7, 250lb....I'd pick him to stop Klitschko. He could make a good fight with Kovalev or Golovkin as it stands...Shrink him down to the size of anyone else on this list and I think he'd be in with a solid chance. He can be outboxed but not outfought.

Commonly-Mentioned Fighters Who Didn't Make The List:

Ward
-On talent alone he should be p4p #2 behind Rigondeaux. Comes to fight and still manages to be totally dominant and take no damage regardless of who he's fighting and whether he breaks his hand. That's a p4p fighter. Unfortunately he left boxing to pursue a legal career. All the best to him.

Marquez
-You don't punch your ticket to p4p status by figuring out Pacquiao over the course of over 40+ rounds. The guy has one single accomplishment since lightweight and immediately decided to rest on his laurels after being given 4 chances by Pacquiao. That is a b*tch move, he's almost definitely on steroids, and he drinks his own urine which is weird so no p4p for this guy.

Alvarez
-Gets better every time out, but barely beating Trout and Lara and looking totally lost with Mayweather is the look of a developing talent, not a p4p star. Let the kid develop.

Bradley
-I love watching him fight, but he does some seriously dumb stuff in the ring and has a way of barely winning even when he's clearly the better fighter. Let's put it this way: When is the last time Bradley stopped someone with punches? OK, then when was the last time he clearly outclassed someone? Answer to both: Casamayor, 2011. You have to go back a ways to find anything before that. Bradley has never knocked out or outclassed a top opponent, aside from Peterson who was not a top guy at the time (and who was right there with him the whole fight).

 

Explained in the massive original post:

 

If Chuck Giampa gets paid for his opinions it's because he puts whoever is popular into his top 10, not because anybody in the world thinks his opinions are remotely legitimate

PEOPLE'S champs...totally open to public opinion, no expertise required :good

 

I can't be bothered with following midget fights, man. I rely on guys like you to post up the good ones so I can catch up later. :yep

 

I said "Fights the best." Seen his fights with Yaegashi, Fuentes, Estrada, and Takayama (the others since Estrada I've either skimmed over or just watched the KO rounds). Seen Estrada against Viloria and Segura. Seen every Segura fight since Calderon I. Seen Viloria against Marquez. Etc. I don't know, but I don't think any of those guys are currently consensus #1 in any division, so no need to mention them on the list.

It's hard to tell who's elite in those divisions because there's always the sense that anyone can beat anyone. Everybody has losses on their records...they fight frequently...they rarely duck each other...That's UFC stuff, not boxing. It's confusing and draining for me to follow that kind of stuff so I just re-watch the fights that I'm told are good and significant. And I have a really hard time distinguishing between Asian names. And I have a puncher's bias in case it isn't obvious.

What I know about Gonzalez is he's been lineal in each division so far. How he did it at 105 idr/idc, because I have no idea who anyone he fought down there is except Takayama. At 108 the Estrada fight meant a lot. And at 112 the Yaegashi fight was big time.

It's not hard to place him on a list because he's 1. lineal in 3 classes, 2. undefeated, and 3. exciting. Basically I didn't take a serious interest in him until he beat Estrada, who I think is pretty awesome. Before that he was on the radar as a knockout puncher who was fighting a bunch of guys I never heard of.