Examples of the #1 & #2 P4P fighters squaring off?

Ok mate. I'll check it out and report back. How far back should I go? Beginning of year? mid-87?

ps. It's a similar scenario with Mayweather. He doesn't belong in the pound-for-pound rankings due to inactivity/retirement but if he comes back there's a legitimate argument for a fight with Pacquiao to be between #1 and #2 (as suggested by Rumsfeld in the opening post).

 

Yeah, if you can that would be great. Yeah, go back mid-'87 just after Hagler-Leonard I guess. :good

 

Here you go mate...

When KO began its ranking Spinks was generally around the #7 mark, he beat Larry Holmes then became #4 pound-for-pound.

Here are the rankings for the Period ending March 87. Top 5.

1. Hagler
2. Tyson
3. Spinks
4. Hearns
5. Nelson

Holy is at 10, Chavez not in top 12 as yet.


A month later Leonard beats Hagler, he goes to #1, Hagler to 4. No's: 2 and 3 stay the same.

KO decided to take Leonard at his word on 'retirement' in the June 87 rankings. Tyson becomes #1 for the first time, Spinks moves to #2. This is a year before their meeting. Their positions would remain the same until the fight.

 

Interesting. Cheers :good

I'm surprised Spinks was there. Where were McCallum and Honeyghan in 1987 ?

 

Lower top 10- hanging around between 8-12.

 

well i think if marquez and pac get it on again that would be 1

 

Yes, 93, but Toney was at the peak of his powers and split them.

Leonard was fighter of the year in the KO poll and Hagler did split Tommy and Ray in 81.

Debatable, the pound for pound term was certainly not used to hype the fight, as it was rarely used in the context of then modern fighters until Tyson's reign in the late 80s.

I think many would of had Foreman by default of being undefeated Heavyweight Champion of the World in the top two, if they were asked to do a list at the time; and with hindsight Duran splits them as well.

pps. It is good to know I can get something right; thank you.

 

From 1991 to 1992, just about every single James Toney fight was disputed: Sosa, McCallum, Johnson, Tiberi. He had a run in 1993 where he beat a faded Iran Barkley and and a few other nondescript fighters.

Pretty hard to believe that would have made him split Whitaker and Chavez when they were going about their business from 1991-1993 hardly losing rounds, let alone fights.

According to which publication was Toney splitting them?

 

Toney was on fire in early 93, he dominated a Barkley on one last hurrah and then SKY went though the hassle of showing the Thornton fight live because Toney was up there as seemingly the only logical contender to Whitaker (and to hype the upcoming Lewis/Morrison fight... just no one told Bentt!).

Whitaker went into the Chavez fight behind JC Superstar and Toney, came out on top and put Chavez down to #3.

Toney got more out of the McCallum fights than Whitaker did fighting McGirt, as both fighters had problems with their veteran opponents, but McCallum was considered a little bit better than Buddy.

 

Sky showing the Thornton fight is irrelevant as irrelevant gets. Toney did beat down a faded Barkley extremely nicely, but like I said, he was coming off the back of close after close decision. It's hardly enough to catapult him above Whitaker who was not losing rounds in fights.

Oh really? According to whom? McCallum hadn't seen the light of a p4p list since his loss to Kalambay in 1988. Buddy McGirt had been top 5-10 since since dethroning Simon Brown in 1991. Whitaker's first win over McGirt was definitely more highly regarded than Toney's 'victories' over McCallum. I speak of course of the Draw and MD over McCallum.

 

Ali-Frazier I, Ali-Foreman, Marciano-Charles, Spinks-Braxton, Zarate-Gomez, Arguello-Pryor. Are all bout when the combatants are at thier peaks. I'm not sure if they were # 1 & 2. But, both were in top form.

 

True. But only in KO. The fight was regarded as between #1 and #2. They were ranked accordingly in The Ring and Boxing Illustrated. So Whitaker-Chavez is a correct answer for this thread.

Oh dear. Yes, of course. This was after the Leonard-Hearns fight. The 81 awards are given out for performances in that year (i figured eveyone grasped this but obviously I was wrong).

KO had its rankings from around early 1985, so it wasn't just a 'Tyson thing' (I've told you this before but as usual you won't listen). The term pound-for-pound wasn't used, but they were ranked #1 and #2 with many (which is what this thread is about).

This isn't about hindsight.

 

He did in KO for a brief time. I think it was due to activity (it can't have been anything else, really). But Ring and BI outweigh this, individually and collectively.

 

Toney was definetely ranked #2 p4p by Ring magazine in 94 leading into his fight with Jones Jnr.That's probably due to Chavez's loss and controversial win over Frankie Randall and not Toney's (more difficult than they should have been) wins over Tim Littles and Charles Williams.

Actually considering how patchy James's form had been leading into his match with Jones it's surprising that he was ranked so high p4p I reckon,even though he was technically undefeated.

 

Yeah, true. But we're talking 93. Chavez-Whitaker was between #1 and #2 in almost everyone's eyes.