***Ring Magazine Pound For Pound Rankings***

1) Manny Pacquiao
2) Joe Calzaghe
3) Miquel Cotto
4) Israel Vasquez
5) Cristian Mijares
6) Wladimir Klitschko
7) Chris John
8) David Haye
9) Kelly Pavlik
10) Mikkel Kessler

 

Very different list to mine;

1] Manny Pac
2] Joe Calzaghe
3] Israel Vazquez
4] Miguel Cotto.
5] Juan Manuel Marquez
6] Kelly Pavlik
7] Rafael Marquez
8] Christian Mijares
9] Ricky Hatton
10] Ivan Calderon

I havent seen enough of Chris John so cant comment on his inclusion in yours.

For me though, Wlad is in a poor division and has three losses to average opposition so I cant have him in the top ten. Unfortunately for Wlad, there isnt really a way for him to get back into my top ten as any victories would only be against lesser opposition.

Haye I can see why he's in there and its arguable. I have Hatton above him given the longevity of being linear champ at LWW, I suppose there's an argument for him to be above Calderon.

Kessler - interesting. To be honest, I didnt think about him when doing my top ten. But given how highly rated Calzaghe is, he could have a claim to being top ten. For me though he just needs another win against a top rated fighter and he'll be up there (eg, Bute). But at the moment he falls short.

 

It's 4 years ago, that Wlad lost. I don't think it's fair to keep that as a negative continously. Pavlik is in a weak division as well, and has faced worse comp. Neither are that weak though. Plus he is very skilled.

Haye beat Jean-Marc Mormeck, and Enzo Maccirinelli, two fighters at the very top of the division, and he hasn't lost in 3½ years while beating pretty good fighters along the way in spectacular fashion. Furthermore he is 3 belt champion. Plus he is very skilled.

I was at a bit of a loss if I should put Kessler or Dawson in that spot. Maybe I am biased, but I think that Kessler has done more, even if he has lost 1 fight to the no. 2 fighter. But it was a toss up for me. In terms of skills I rate them on par as it is.

I just don't think that Hatton is very skilled anymore. Calderons resume is too weak for me. His skills are certainly there, though.

Marquez and Marquez has lost too many fights to be considered in the top 10 for me, but they are still very near due to skills.

 

I'm not holding Haye's loss against him at all, he was a very green fighter at the time. As I say, I see the argument and he could slide in ahead of Calderon for me, but its probably down to the fact that he still looks a little chinny that he just misses out. But I wont spend long arguing over Haye, I can accept that he is there or thereabouts.

Kessler ahead of Dawson for me is a no brainer. Dawson done well against Johnson but I didnt see anything which said to me P4P top 10.

Only reason I still mention Wlad's losses are that they were against average opposition. And its not as if he has improved ten fold since them (like the way Lewis did following McCall). Its difficult for Wlad to prove himself now given the poor division.

I take your point on Pavlik though, I mentioned earlier on in this thread that I'm struggling to place him within my top ten. I've settled on #6 and given him the benefit of the doubt.

J Marquez only lost a slim decision to Pacquiao. I'd be interested in how well he adapts to LW, but at the moment he's in a better position to Kessler having lost to P4P #1 but by a very slim margin.

Raf Marquez is similar, having only just lost out to Izzy. I see Raf dropping out my list soon though.

Hatton - maybe he's to me what Kessler is to you, so I may be biased. But I had him #6 pre-Mayweather. A loss to P4P #1 didnt affect his rankings and a win over Lazcano also didnt affect it. So other people's performances push him to #9 in my book.

 

thank you for taking the words out of my mouth........

 

How can anyone seriously have Pavlik above Cotto p4p. Cotto has achieved more, better resume and a better fighter.

 

Totally agree Paddy - my list wouldn't be all that different, though I haven't seen enough of Mijares to comment on him.

 

And I'm not a huge Cotto fan!!

I like both of them, but feel Cotto has achieved more than Pavlik up to press - and think this will continue.