State of the Game...2011 v 1986

Jnr Lightweight

1986

Champ: Wilfredo Gomez
1. Julio Cesar Chavez
2. Rocky Lockridge
3. Roger Mayweather
4. Alfredo Layne
5. Mario Martinez
6. Rafael Solis
7. Kenny Baysmore
8. Johnny de la Rosa
9. Francisco Cruz
10. Barry Michael

2011

Champ: Vacant
1. Mzonke Fana
2. Ricky Burns
3. Takashi Uchiyama
4. Roman Martinez
5. Juan Carlos Salgado
6. Jorge Solis
7. Jorge Linares
8. Takahiro Ao
9. Argenis Mendez
10. Jason Litzau

Edge: 1986. I don't think you could really make an argument for 2011.

 

Featherweight

1986

Champ: Barry McGuigan
1. Azumah Nelson
2. Eusebio Pedroza
3. Juan LaPorte
4. Marcos Villasana
5. Jackie Beard
6. Calvin Grove
7. Ki-yung Park
8. Bernard Taylor
9. Min-Keun Oh
10. Tyrone Jackson

2011

Champ: Vacant
1. Juan Manuel Lopez
2. Yuriorkis Gamboa
3. Chris John
4. Orlando Salido
5. Daniel Ponce De Leon
6. Cristobal Cruz
7. Elio Rojas
8. Bernabe Concepcion
9. Raphael Marquez
10. Hozumi Hasegawa

Edge: 1986, but 2011 has a couple of guys that could go on and do some big things.

 

Jnr Featherweights

1986

Champ: Vacant
1. Victor Callejas
2. Lupe Pintor
3. Juan Kid Meza
4. Loris Stecca
5. Jaime Garza
6. Julian Solis
7. Jorge Ramirez
8. James Pipps
9. Harold Petty
10. Oscar Muniz

2011

Champ: Vacant
1. Toshiaki Nishioka
2. Akifumi Shimoda
3. Ryol Li Lee
4. Poonsawat Kratingaenggym
5. Takalani Ndlovu
6. Guillermo Rigondeaux
7. Ricardo Cordoba
8. Steve Molitor
9. Jeffrey Mathebula
10. Wilfredo Vazquez Jr.

Edge: 2011. Very hard to separate. I think the depth 1-10 is with the current crop. There should be an official Ring Champion crowned in this division soon, with the top three ranked boxers all coming from Japan.

 

Bantamweight

Champion: Richard Sandoval
1. Jiro Wantanabe
2. Kaosai Galaxy
3. Miguel Lora
4. Greg Richardson
5. Gaby Canizales
6. Daniel Zaragoza
7. Freddie Jackson
8. Albert Davilla
9. Jeff Fenech
10. Edgar Monserrat

2011

Champion: Vacant
1. Nonito Donaire
2. Anselmo Moreno
3. Joseph Agbeko
4. Abner Mares
5. Fernando Montiel
6. Yonnhy Perez
7. Eric Morel
8. Vic Darchinyan
9. Koki Kameda
10. Malcolm Tunacao

Edge: Two fantastic divisions but the edge must go to 2011. You could make a fantastic case for 1986 and I wouldn't argue. Would love to see these two top tens face each other!

 

Flyweight

1986

Champion: Sot Chitalada
1. Jung-Koo Chang
2. Gabriel Bernal
3. Hilario Zapata
4. Myung Woo Yuh
5. Joey Olivo
6. sugar Baby Rojas
7. Dodie Penalosa
8. Jose DeJesus
9. Alonzo Gonzalez
10. Isirdo Perez

2011

Champion: Pongsaklek Wonjongkam
1. Daisuke Naito
2. Takefumi Sakata
3. Hernan Marquez
4. Luis Concepcion
5. Denkaosan Kaovichit
6. Moruti Mthalane
7. Julio Cesar Miranda
8. Rocky Fuentes
9. Milan Melindo
10. Edgar Sosa

Edge: Back then The Ring used to rank boxers from Strawweight etc in their Flyweight rankings. I would definitely lean to 1986 heavily, but it's not a fair ranking, so it goes down as N/A.

 

Final Tally in my opinion is:

1986: 5
2011: 6
Even or Not Applicable: 2