On the same note, he's in a poor division and if he were adjusted to LHW even, Glen Johnson would paste him. If Glen Johnson were naturally 210 pounds, adjusted to HW, he'd paste Wlad all the same. The division is poorly skilled.
Where do you rate a prime 118 R. Marquez, though? That may not be a fair comparison to make. Also, all the guys you mention, other than Hopkins due to his age, are ahead of Mijares at this point on my list. I'm also with Amsterdam in saying that Marquez is fairly big even at 122, but I think Vazquez is pretty large for that weight, as well.
He wouldn't lose to Penalosa, don't be ridiculous, goddamn. Penalosa and Mijares have a common opponent, Tomas Rojas, Penalosa struggled and Mijares dominated him. Penalosa has never faced a boxer as talented as Mijares, Gonzalez is clearly not, even though he was outboxing Israel handily, which goes back to the original posters valid views on the matter. Vasquez and Marquez get overrated for the exciting wars, Marquez being much more effective at 118 and Vasquez having a bad style for him. Overall, Marquez is the better fighter and took less a beating in all 3 fights even though he lost the final 2, his chin being weaker than Israel's was the biggest factor. I think Mijares has a very good chance against a prime Rafa, who's an ATG at 118, make no mistake.
rating big heavyweights in p4p lists is tricky because the weight class has no limit. Wlad often has a 20-30lb weight advantage on his opponents in the ring. In other divisions there are weight differences because of rehydration but they are not as significant. I ranked Wlad in the top10 because he is dominant in his division but i am not too convinced. I still think Vitali was a better heavyweight then than Wlad is today.
I wish I'd seen more of Calderon to accurately rate him. I don't have enough to fit him in my top 10. My list is similar to Pharoah's with some differences here and there of course: Mine's based off recent records (last 5 fights usually), overall skill and ability 1-FMJ 2-Calzaghe 3-Pac 4-JMM 5-Cotto 6-Izzy Vasquez 7- Mijares 8- Wlad 9- Pavlik 10- Mosley
Izzy abd Rafa deserves their hype, just look at their resumes. I agree it maybe unfair pitting up Mijares with a 118 atg but still, I doubt the fight would even be competitive. About Penalosa common opponent with Mijares. On the same token, Donaire KO'd Maldonado where Mijares got a draw. Although I havent seen the fight so let me know if that was a robbery. IMO Penalosa has the skills, speed to take on Mijares + superior power.
I haven't seen the Maldo fight, but I strongly doubt it was a fair decision judging by the way Mijares is not even given clear rounds by bull**** judges. SD's lately have been absurd, but do have the judges even scoring it for Mijares, one of the judges in the Navarro bout had it 115-113 Mijares, if he so saw fit to score 1 more round for Navarro, it'd have been a draw just like against Maldonado, so take that into consideration. Also take into consideration that Maldo was a lot better in 2006, he really has been less since Darchy beat him down.
what do you mean his division is not that strong?!:huh 115 division is one of the most deepest divisions in boxing with loads of talent. Mijares, montiel, munoz, castillo, darchinyan, arce, vasquez, navarro, banal, martinez, kirilov, plus you got donaire coming up
Yes, like I said solid. Solid is the word. Those guys are B+ at best with the exception of Mijares himself who is more like an A- and Donaire who is borderline A-. I mean SFW-LW has Guzman, Campbell, JMM, Pac all of whom are A- to A+ fighters. WW has Floyd, Cotto, Shane all of whom are A to A+. LHW has Calzaghe, Hopkins & Dawson. Sure Mijares could clean out 140lb but thats only one division. I think Donaire would be his defining fight.
My list at the moment: PBF Pac Joe C Cotto J M Marquez Vasquez Pavlik Mijares Rafa Marquez Calderon If Mijares beats the man in my avatar he can leap two, maybe three places; similar jump if he defeats Donaire in good fashion.
Rafa came up in weight to beat a 122 great in Vasquez and the last fight could have gone either way. For that he should be above Pavlik ad Mijares. His overall resume is also more impressive than Mijares...I dont get where this ranking mijares above Rafael is coming from. Calderon doesnt belong in the top 10.
losing your last two fights, never mind how close they are, has to be brought into the equation. Don't get me wrong; I'm a huge Marquez fan, and had him winning the third fight with Vas, but the fact is that he didn't and therefore he has to drop a little. If I done the list on the premise of who I thought won particular fights, then brother Juan Manuel would be above Pac. I like to tow the official line.