This content is protected By Tom Luffman-January 30, 2008 While boxing fans all over the globe bemoan the current state of multiple champions and articles calling for an elimination or consolidation of the sanctioning bodies continue to gain ground, most sources fail to mention the history of disputed champions. Unfortunately, boxing has a long list of men that were champions in name, while others were considered the best in the weight class. Hall of Famer Jack Jackson was considered by those not overtly racist the best heavyweight, but had to chase and doggedly stump for a championship fight before being given one when he was 30. In our current era every division has four major belts and some have four champions. While “Ring Magazine” has attempted to crown champions with their own criteria, it is far from perfect. A good example of their imperfection was their crowning of Vitali Klitschko as champion for beating Corrie Sanders, whom they somehow had ranked as number three at the time of their clash. Nobody else had Sanders that high. He was not considered a serious contender when he beat Wladimir Klitschko, yet with that one win he vaulted up to three. Sure it was impressive, but their ranking of Sanders at three was a knee-jerk-reaction. I said it at the time and I stand by it now. While I respect the magazine’s attempt at clarity, I’m going to throw my fedora into ring and present my list of number one fighters in each weight class from heavyweight down to super bantamweight. Heavyweight: Wladimir “Dr. Steelhammer” Klitschko For a long time I was down on Klitschko the younger. His losses just seemed more dramatic than any of his wins. The image of seeing Corrie Sanders blast him out in two rounds is very difficult to erase. Sanders came in as a huge underdog and he didn’t just land a lucky punch, he thoroughly dominated the match. It’s hard to believe the “Steelhammer” was able to pick himself up and right the ship after that loss. The embarrassing loss to Lamon Brewster for the WBO Heavyweight Title was bad, but Klitschko was actually winning that match and just seemed to run out of gas. Since then he is 7-0, 4 KO's, and has wins over legit contenders Samuel Peter and Calvin Brock, won the IBF belt from Chris Byrd and avenged his loss to Brewster. No other heavyweight has as good of a current resume. Cruiserweight: David Haye Haye has just crashed the party becoming my number one by beating Jean-Marc Mormeck in November to become the WBA and WBC Champion. He’ll be fighting WBO Champion Enzo Maccarinelli on March 8th. A win will seal his reputation at cruiserweight and will probably be his last fight in the division, as afterward he’ll go up to heavyweight. Light Heavyweight: Bernard Hopkins This is one of those situations where the best guy in the weight class is not a champion. In his last two fights Hopkins has beaten Antonio Tarver and Winky Wright during his short stay at light heavyweight. Before his match with Hopkins, Tarver had beaten both Roy Jones, JR., and Glencoffe Johnson and was considered the champion. How in the world Hopkins doesn’t have a light heavyweight strap around his waist is beyond me, but it also underscores the shameless nature of the sanctioning bodies’ flimsy rules for stripping a boxer of his title. Super Middleweight: Joe Calzaghe One of the easiest picks on the list. Calzaghe is head and shoulders above everyone at 168 pounds. He looks set to move up a weight class to challenge Bernard Hopkins in April and his absence will cause a void that could be filled by Jermain Taylor, Lucian Bute or Edison Miranda. Middleweight: Kelly Pavlik He is the king now; having dispatched Jermain Taylor, but his reign will be shorter than most believe. He is an all action fighter, but he gets his by too many punches to last at the top of the heap for very long. Enjoy the ride. Light Middleweight and Welterweight: Floyd Mayweather He is ranked at the top spot of both the 154 and 147 pound weight classes because he’s the best at both and could easily fight in either division in his next match. Last May he fought at 154 and beat Oscar De La Hoya. In December he dismantled Ricky Hatton at 147. He’s considered by most to be the best pound-for-pound boxer on the Earth. The only other man with any claim to that throne whatsoever is Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather is the whole package in the ring. While his corner’s claim that he is as good as Sugar Ray Robinson is way over-the-top and flatly wrong, Mayweather is the best pound for pound boxer I have seen since Roy Jones, JR., was in his prime. Light Welterweight: Ricky Hatton Hatton should stay at 140. He’s twice gone up 7 pounds and both times his performances have come up short. While he did beat Luis Collazo in his first welterweight foray, he looked terrible and most of you probably watched his gutty losing effort against Floyd Mayweather. Lightweight: Juan Diaz Anyone who can beat Jose Miguel Cotto, Acelino Freitas and Julio Diaz in an 18-month span is someone to be reckoned with. Diaz lacks only the WBC strap to have the complete compliment of four major belts. Super Featherweight: Manny Pacquiao In the last two years Pacman has come on strong. During that stretch he’s beaten Erik Morales twice, Marco Antonio Barrera, Jorge Solis and Oscar Larios. That is three former champions, two of which will be hall of fame members and one undefeated contender. Now Pacquiao will take on Juan Manuel Marquez. In their last meeting he knocked Marquez down three times in the opening round and could manage only a draw as he was ********* over the remaining eleven rounds. Can he redeem himself? Featherweight: Chris John Though John was the champion coming into his match with Juan Manuel Marquez; many did not give him a chance to win. He won, remaining undefeated and has beaten back three more challengers since. Now he needs to step up and face Jorge Linares, Robert Guerrero or Steven Luevano. Super Bantamweight: Israel Vazquez He gets this slot for beating Rafael Marquez in their second match, after dropping the first. Those two could fight 100 times and I wouldn’t be surprised if when the series was over they were even at 50 apiece. On March 1st, Marquez gets a shot to regain the top spot when he takes on Vazquez in their rubber match.
The light heavyweight scene seems kind of messy right now, but we should get a clear picture on whos number one by the end of this year.
laughable that kessler isn't even mentioned in the supermiddleweight list. otherwise it's okay i guess.
...indeed. They could have just said "Kessler will fill the void and no one else" and we all would have been happier.
