State of the P4P rankings

I was just reviewing the Ring Magazine P4P rankings and was a little surprised to see it.

1. Pac
2. PBF
3. Mosley
4. Hopkins
5. JMM
6. Nonito Donaire
7. Cotto
8. Chad Dawson
9. Paul Williams
10. Caballero

Mosley, other than his win over Margarito, hasn't been particularly impressive the past few years. Is his place deserved?

Hopkins looked terrible tonight. Is his place deserved?

Cotto and JMM both suffered losses of such magnitude that they looked well past their prime. Should they be on this list?

Overall, most people on this list have suffered either losses in their last fight, or struggled mightily to win. Is this a reflection of there being a bad list, or is the problem deeper and the list is accurate and the talent is bad in this era?

It seems to me a little of both. On one hand it looks like today's Ring P4P list is a reflection of historical greatness, almost as an honorary title rather than an accurate view into who the best fighters are in the world on a mythical "level" playing field. Would Mosley still be where he is on the list if we were hit with a memory ray and forgot everything about him prior to 2005? Would Hopkins? Would MAYWEATHER, for that matter?

On the other hand, I'm not sure how many worthy candidates would be there to replace the ones who don't belong. I think our overall international talent pool has shallowed out a bit.

I know there's a lot of debate about this, but I believe Heavyweights should be eligible for inclusion in P4P rankings and I think Wlad should be added to the list. Looking at current skillsets (that is, the fighter they ARE, not the fighter they were in their prime), why would Hopkins be deserving of #4 and Wlad not deserving of any ranking?

I also think both the winner and the runner up of the super six tournament deserve a place on the top 10, especially if the winner goes undefeated throughout the tournament.

I think, should Martinez win against Pavlik, that he should be there as well.

I think Bradley deserves a spot because I think he's P4P AT LEAST as good as Chad Dawson.

If Mosley loses to PBF, Martinez beats Pavlik, and Williams beats Cintron, I think the P4P rankings should look like this:

1. Pac
2. PBF
3. Winner of S6 tournament if he went undefeated in the tournament
4. Wlad Klit
5. Tim Bradley or Winner of S6 tournament if he lost earlier during the tournament
6. Chad Dawson
7. Paul Williams (assuming he beats Cintron)
8. Sergio Martinez
9. Donaire
10. Runner up of S6 tournament if he only lost once in the tournament, otherwise Lucian Bute

Because there's a very real possibility that Martinez will lose, if he does, I would swap him with the runner up in the S6. I don't usually penalize unsuccessful moves up in weight too heavily which is why it would only cost Martinez one place. I made an exception to the penalization rule for JMM because he didn't look great even before the PBF fight. Where he places really depends on how he looks at the right weight for him. If he looks spectacular against a top opponent at his best weight, then there's room on my list for him again.

What are your thoughts?

 

I give Mosley credit for Margarito and Collazo (even though he's a bit like Clottey in that he loses all of his big fights). But he lost to Cotto, didn't look great against Vargas the first time, looked pretty bad against Mayorga, and may very well lose to Mayweather. Not counting Mayweather, that doesn't strike me as a #3 P4P profile. If he loses to Mayweather, that will have put him at 1-2 in his last three and probably unworthy of being on the P4P top 10 anywhere.

Thinking about it, IMO the current P4P list should only consider the last two years of a boxer's career. If a fighter retires, or his productivity or opponent selection suddenly drops within the last two years, then the fighter should no longer be on the list. This keeps the list relevant and filled with prime, peak performing fighters.

So...who had the best past two years?

 

I spent a lot of time considering the case of JMM. I ultimately concluded that he was too high up on the list not because of Mayweather but because of the Diaz fight. He was in A LOT of trouble against a fighter who is just OK. I'm holding up his place until I see how he does once he's back in his weight class. Something tells me he won't be able to make lightweight, which would make him a jr. welter, which would be he's screwed. I don't think he can beat any of the top jr. welters. His camp flat out refused Khan. Just my gut on this.

 

Claudia Lynx. Anybody know who the chick is in Babality's av?