So apparently for Ring Magazine, resume and actual battle proven skills against top opposition counts for **** all if a fighter wants to get in the P4P list nowadays, (most important list for a fighter business wise). Talent, potential and skills (even if they're untested) are the most important assets So perhaps a new P4P list should be made, with only talented guys with impressive skills on it, even if their resumes are still poor, shitty or plain nonexistant I'll start with mine, I tried to balance out the perceived talent of each fighter with whatever resume they could have at this point 1. Floyd Mayweather. No explanation needed 2. Andre Ward. Stylistic chameleon, SMW kingpin. 3. Yuriorkis Gamboa - a punching machine, beat Salido and some very decent fighters. 4. Guillermo Rigondeaux - master counterpuncher, God of the amateurs. His resume as a pro is atrocious but he has two shiny gold olympic medals and his skills are a beauty to behold, whenever he's not getting knocked down by jabs 5. Adrien Broner - Very promising fighter, Mayweather wannabe trying to find his own style and personality. Beat the great Antonio DeMarco. According to Ring Magazine this is the spot where he belongs and who am I to question the experts. 6. Nonito Donaire - lethal combination of speed, power and timing. #1 SBW, has dominated top fighters through 4 divisions. He should be ranked higher imo but RING magazine says he is below Broner, so that's why he's here 7. Gennady Golovkin - The most feared man at MW, he hasn't faced a top MW yet, but the way he destroys eurobums is amazing. He punches like a HW and could easily spark HWs according to rumours 8. Saul ¨Canelo¨ Alvarez - undefeated champion with the best resume of any active 22yo. Hasn't faced a top fighter of his own weight class yet, but his power and offensive arsenal are remarkable. One the best combination punchers in the game 9. Gary Rusell Jr - speed demon, fastest hands since Macho Camacho. Needs to fight a live body yet. 10. Vasyl Lomachenko - Olympic star. Hasn't debuted in the pros yet but according to boxing fans he's like the new, improved version of prime Roy Jones so might as well place him on the list already
I will say that anyone that rates Gamboa that high after what he just looked like you need a mental examination. Layoff or no Layoff. Mayweather went longer and against tougher comp with marquez and made it look elementary. Gamboa fought someone who outside of the fighters immediate family had no clue who he was. Top 5 p4p in order 1.Floyd Mayweather (he aint no Jr either) 2.Sergio Martinez/Andre Ward (Ricardo Alvarez/Andre Bishop) 3.Gennadiy Golovkin 4.Adrien Broner 5.Nonito Donaire
So does Rigondeaux and Gamboa (well, not really hidden) Chin is not a criteria to get in the P4P list, it's mainly skills man, SKEEELZZ
1. James Toney 2. Wladimir Klitschko 3. Vitali Klitschko 4. David Haye 5. Kubrat Pulev 6. David Price 7. Denis Boytsov 8. Floyd Mayweather 9. Andre Ward 10. Alfredo Angulo
Skill-wise Juan Manuel Marquez has to rate in the top ten, even if his physical gifts are waning and were never historically elite when he was in his prime. The counterpunching reflexes and reaction times, combination punching (including off of the counter), angle mastery, complete offensive repertoire...he's a wonderful talent and packs a damn good punch, too. I don't think Gamboa or Rigondeaux are anything special either. Gamboa's a speed-demon and decently powerful, but an absolute technical mess and horrible defensively when he's offensive. Both are closer to being in the Casamayor territory in terms of ability and effectiveness level in a historical sense than they are the true Cuban greats. Then again, that's not saying much in today's game. For my money, Donaire and Broner are better fighters than both. I think Roman Gonzalez is a great talent at 108 also. Very fundamentally sound/well-rounded and a concussive puncher.
Sergio, too. Great legs (not only in an aesthetic sense, no homo), super fast hands for a MW, good reaction times for the most part, and impressive power.
With all due respect to the OP, that was the first thing that crossed my mind as well. Although in total fairness, Gamboa hadn't fought in a long time, and had been working with Emanuel for about the last year or so, and I believe they were starting to become a good working pair. Having the long layoff, and having to watch his new trainer die had to have him a bit off that night. He went through numerous transitions during that 14 months off, meaning this was probably far more difficult than your typical 14 month period of inactivity. That said, the only two names that immediately jump to mind for me as being the elite among the best are Ward and Floyd, in that order. JMM has to be a strong case for 3 at this time.
1. Andre Ward 2. Mayweather 3. Marquez 4. Martinez 5. Donaire 6. Pacquiao 7. Mikey Garcia 8. Gamboa 9. Alvarez 10. Broner/Gamboa
