My main problem is concerning McGovern and Dixon, both of whom were actually Bantamweights (where I rate them both very highly) in an era where the Featherweight limit was established at 118 pounds. For that reason I think I'll exclude them from this list whenever I decide to post mine. Both would be among the top 5 Bantams, though.
****! Can you please let me know what previous limits where for divisions, as I may save myself looking an utter fool when H2H/hypothetical matchups arise:good:good
An intersting point from these lists, is how higher regarded Arguello is than Marcel. I become more convinced by the year that Marcel might be the most underrated feather of all-time.
Never really thought about that...I was going to put Dixon in my bantam list anyway but I still considered them feathers for the most part. Though it must be noted it appears quite a few of Dixon's title fights and significant wins were over the modern bantam limit. A lot of the fights (according to boxrec and the archived articles I can find) for his title seemed to be billed at 122-124 lbs. What do we do there I guess? Rank him at superbantam? Makes it tricky I never really thought about it but I didnt really think about my list that much anyway. I knew most would have the usual suspects covered so I thought I might chuck in a couple of dark horses to see if they got some points in the end.
I personally dont have Arguello over him...I thought Alexis, purely on his featherweight resume, just fell short of a top 10 shout. Robbed against Shibata and the more I look into Gomez the more weight I put into those wins and the more I feel the need to see them. I guess they are pretty close but the fact Ernesto holds the win over him should be the clincher.
1.) Willie Pep 2.) Salvador Sanchez 3.) Sandy Saddler 4.) Henry Armstrong 5.) Vicente Saldivar 6.) Eusebio Pedroza 7.) Azumah Nelson 8.) Ernesto Marcel 9.) Alexis Arguello 10.) Terry McGovern
I might do the same. Either that or a list of the best from the modern era. The Featherweights are too damn difficult to rate on an era by era basis.
I'll go ahead and give my list of the best Featherweights of the modern era. I know, it's a cop-out, but I'll never be even remotely happy with a comprehensive list if I tried to do one. Here I'm taking into account fighters that were more or less natural at the weight rather than those who competed exclusively at the weight. 1. Henry Armstrong 2. Willie Pep 3. Sandy Saddler 4. Alexis Arguello 5. Vicente Saldivar 6. Manny Pacquiao 7. Salvador Sanchez 8. Ernesto Marcel 9. Azumah Nelson 10. Eusebio Pedroza I know, it's a **** list with no credibility, but I had to put something out there.
if your not happy with my list rumsfeld delete it i am not that great on the early feathers so cant really rate them and i just became a grandfather for the first time at 41 so am a little up in the air 1.w.pepp 2.h.armstrong 3.s.saddler 4.savador sanchez 5.a.arguello 6.v.salvidor 7.a.nelson 8.e.pedroza 9.e.marcel 10.b.battalino
1.Salvador Sanchez 2.Henry Armstrong 3.Sandy Sadler 4.Willie Pep 5.Alexis Arguello 6.Manny Pacquiao 7.Azumah Nelson 8.Eusebio Pedroza 9.Marco A Barrera 10.Erik Morales Almost put Attel and Fenech there
1. Danny "Little Red" Lopez 2. Eusebio Pedroza 3. Sandy Saddler 4. Barry McGuigan 5. Tury "The Fury" Pineda 6. Young Roberto Duran 7. Wilfredo Gomez 8. Marcos Villisana 9. John Ruiz at age 11 10. Art Hafey:viking
1. Sandy Saddler 2. Sal Sanchez 3. azumah nelson 4. willie pep 5. danny lopez. 6. Vincente Saldivar 7. eusabio pedroza 8. jeff fennech 9. tom johnson 10. battling battalino