The Boxing Earthquake That Could Devastate All Pound for Pound Lists

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By Daniel “Tex” Cohen-September 13, 2007

The Pound for Pound Lists of most boxing experts includes Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather near the top. Most of their lists have Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton, Israel Vazquez, Bernard Hopkins, Winky Wright and Joe Calzaghe. Some of them include Jermain Taylor, Mikkel Kessler, Rafael Marquez, Chris John, Joel Casamayor, Ivan Calderon and Shane Mosley.

These rankings have actually been seen less and less lately from the side of the journalist for two reasons. First, the last year or so have been a time period when everyone and his momma wants to release a Top Ten List and then argue through the nitty gritty of every single point relating to the best fighters in the world. The plot has run dry, as has the patience of fans.

Secondly, the coming fight season may give the list a major shakeup in a matter of only a few months. Only three of the fighters mentioned thus far do not have another fight scheduled in 2007.

On September 29th, Jermain Taylor is facing his biggest test in Kelly Pavlik. Pavlik recently annihilated knockout artist Edison Miranda in a seven round shootout. Pavlik is one of the largest middleweights in the world and throws hard, straight punches to all sections of the body and head. This bodes especially bad for Taylor, who keep his left hand low and doesn’t move his head. Should Pavlik win that fight, a very real possibility, Taylor will probably be removed from the Top Ten. Early Vegas style odds sites have handicapped this fight as a pick ‘em.

October 6th features Manny Pacquiao against Marco Antonio Barrera in a rematch of their 2003 bout. In the first fight, referee Laurence Cole stopped the fight when trainer Rudy Perez stepped onto the ring apron toward the end of the eleventh round. Pacquiao had been dominated the match and was ahead twice by seven points and once by eight points when the fight was stopped. There is little to gain for Pacquiao in winning this fight. He has already beaten Barrera once before and is now in the prime of his career while Barrera is on his way out the door. Pacquiao will likely be giving him his goodbye with a one sided fight. This rematch should have been seen years ago.

November 3rd, Ring Magazine Super Middleweight Champion Joe Calzaghe takes on fellow undefeated Mikkel Kessler in an ultimate Super Middleweight showdown. Calzaghe will be making his 21st title defense, a distinction that would move him past Bernard Hopkins and within four of the record holding Joe Louis on the list of the longest title defenses. Kessler is by far Calzaghe’s most difficult challenge to date. He must approach with guile and box smart in order to successfully fend off a rushing Kessler. Kessler is fast and tough enough to close the gap against Calzaghe’s punches. If Calzaghe maintains his fundamentals, he is hard to hit and can land above average power shots. It will be interesting to see if he gets cutesy about it and drops his hands to taunt. Kessler might make him pay. Even so, Calzaghe is the favorite with Kessler as the most alive underdog of the fight season.

The following weekend on November 10th, Shane Mosley and Miguel Cotto battle in a fight for the ages. This fight is the most likely to become a classic bout in boxing history. The prestige and respect brought into the ring that night will leave one elevated, catapulted to the heights of the pugilist list in both current time and in the context of history. A clear loser will have lost an incredible amount of ground. A hard fought brawl will yield one of the most incredible matches in the sport, a rare beacon of business accomplishment in the ring today. Mosley is the older fighter, but his hand speed and experience is unmatched by few. Cotto is a younger fighter who likes to come forward. The possibilities for this fight are endless because it is a battle between two ultimate talents.

Whether Cotto lands shots to the body early or not is a factor. Whether or not he can hit Mosley at all is an even bigger factor. Cotto has been bloodied and cut in both his fight with Zab Judah and his fight with DeMarcus Corley. Mosley rarely shows facial tissue damage. This is one to catch live come hell, high water or a pain in the ass cable company.

On December 8th is the biggest money fight of the year, with Ring Magazine Champion Floyd Mayweather, JR., taking on Light Welterweight Champion Ricky Hatton. Hatton is taking this opportunity to both become a millionaire and prove that he is a real fighter. Critics claim his record is inflated. Some say that his best victories over Kostya Tszyu and Jose Luis Castillo came in the twilight of both men’s careers.

By taking on the best, he hopes to prove that he is the best. His best shot in this fight is to maul Mayweather and hit him in the body. The problem for him is that he has a tall order to do that against Mayweather. When Hatton comes forward, Mayweather will move laterally. If he gets close enough to touch him, Mayweather will go into the crab position. His hands are faster than Hatton’s head. Furthermore, Hatton has been hurt to the body in a major way before. Both Juan Urango and Luis Collazo hit him noticeably hard and got a reaction out of “The Hitman” in their fights. Mayweather is a great body puncher and may be the best all around puncher in the game given his combination of hand speed and power. Hopefully, the fight is not a repeat of Mayweather’s match against Arturo Gatti.

This list does not even take into consideration the fact the lightweight title will be almost undisputed by the end of the year, with Juan Diaz and Julio Diaz fighting in October. It also does not take into the account of the possibility that Edwin Valero could eventually get cleared to fight in the US or that the heavyweight division is on its way to some major fights. On the fights listed alone, there is a significant opportunity for everyone’s Pound for Pound List to go nearly upside down. Mosley can supplant himself in Cotto’s position. Calzaghe can vault up to the ranks that were once locked in by Hopkins and Wright, or Kessler can push his way onto the list while dropping Calzaghe from the top. Pavlik can take over for Jermain Taylor and Ricky Hatton could very well become the recognized Pound for Pound Champion.

For all of those locked into a deep statistical analysis of the next P4P List, It might be best to save it for at least a month. That way the public can at least reevaluate after a few of the pertinent upcoming fights. At this point, a list is just speculation over who will win over the next five months. If you want to write a list, make it a list of predictions for the upcoming fights.