I'm looking at guys like Vic Darchyanian who's on the list and he's terrible. We got Israel Vasquez who's as tough as they come, but he's hasn't fought in a year and who knows what he's got left? Calzaghe is gone, reagardless of what we think of him, and even the great legendary Bernard Hopkins in ranked very high and he probably has 1 fight left if at all and he's 10000 years old (BHOP is my man though). Guys like Kessler haven't fought in a year and he still warrants status by some. I've heard Cellebraro and Adamek in discussions and gets me thinking:think While obviously we're very stacked with Pac, Marquez, Mayweather (inactive), and others, RIGHT NOW, do we have truly have 10 true fighters who fit the P4P criteria with their abilities and reusmes. Even guys who we know are going to be great like Juan Ma and Gamboa really shouldn't get merit YET, but are getting pushed. Who are our best fighters right now Discuss.
Maybe Kessler. Although he hasn't fought for a while, there is no reason his skills migth have degraded significantly. The guy is a complete fighter with no apparent weakness, he is the only man to win multiple rounds of an on song Joe Calzaghe (using boxing skills to actually win round, not spoiling to make rounds closer). This alone is enough to warrant consideration for Kessler being the P4P number one. Joan Guzman is another who would be a shoe-in if he managed to make weight for a big fights. Juan Manuel Lopez is practically there already. Not the fastested, but skilled and accurate and a physical beast.
I think Vic bottled it. I've seen Agbeko fight before and it was a winnable fight but that "I'm gonna knock everyone out" mentality is not always good. When I heard that he came was at 127lbs last night to Agbeko's 121 I started second guessing my pick. Vic should have kept his weight low and gone for speed and he could have beaten the rather crude Agbeko.
as for p4p fighters I think Pac, JMM, Mosley, Cotto, Floyd, Vitali, Donaire, JuanMa, Williams, Hopkins not necessarily in that order.
Fighters like Margarito, Darc and some other really very never p4p material. I always thought it was a disgrace to the noble art to place fighters with such limited skill on a p4p list. These are boxers I think will be on the list in a year or at least who have the skill level necessary. Other things have to come together as well for them to actually merit being there: Direll (very clever and high potential boxer) Dawson ( a lot of natural talent) Abraham (actually a technically proficient fighter although his chosen style confuses some people to think he is limited) Kessler (technically the most perfect fighter out there, but not as much natural ability as Taylor, Direll or dawson). Pac (again not as crude as some make him out to be. Not technically perfect, but with some strong strenghts such as mentality, speed and stamina) Marquez (not technically perfect, but better than Pac. But not as determined nor fast and relentless as Pac) Ward (the sky is the limit for Ward. Possibly the best american prospect of the decade - Dawson and Direll may dispute this) Gamboa (looks great so far. Cubans often have trouble when the going gets tough, but so far he looks like a million) thiis just a quick snapshot of some of the really talented fighters ouut there... There are another 3-4 fighters I could have mentioned.
Darchinyan had a horrible strategy last night. It was being just bad. He'll never make the Top 10 pound for pounders if he can't use ring smarts.
Great thread this one , you are 100% correct , you look down the list in the divisions and you have got to ask yourself are we blessed with 10 ELITE FIGHTERS !!!!!!!! , answer is most definatly NO !!!!!! Pacquiao Mayweather JM Marquez Mosley Cotto The above in my mind would be ranked as elite fighters followed by the top tier , which you could have an argument for giving 20 guys a mention in the top tier , Hopkins has an argument for being an elite ranked fighter but in my mind doesnt make the list (im ready for the **** storm) , however the future looks bright the following fighters may just prove to be future P4P ranked fighters : Valero Gamboa Juan Manuel Lopez Amir Khan Timothy Bradley Berto Chad Dawson So who knows maybe its not all bad !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Thanks and GREAT post yourself... I wasn't saying it like a bad thing, it just seem like with the exception of the 140-147 area, alot of fighters are unproven at the ELITE level.. Let me say, I LOVE what they're doing at 168 and someone will emerge from that great competition and have a real claim to something.
p4p lists boil down to ranking the 10 best fighters in the sport, end of story. Alot of people somehow discredit it by making it seem that its something it isn't. Its really pretty simply though. You could compare it to someone in basketball making a list of the 10 best basketball players.
the 'true and proven' elite level right now belongs to pac, paul williams, jm marquez, floyd, cotto, israel vasquez (if he aint shot yet), mosley (if he still has enough) vlad klitschko, and the winner of the SMW tourney. we have to see up and coming guys like juanma, gamboa, and donaire more to see where they are heading.
