Top 10 Pound for Pound Boxing Fighters in the World
The term “best pound-for-pound” fighter gives people a way to compare fighters across different weight classes. Essentially, it means the best and most skilled fighter in the world - the person who has accomplished more in their past than anyone else. While there’s no official ranking of who the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world is, there’s currently little debate that it’s one of two fighters: Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. Both have cemented their reputations with big performances in big fights and still appear to be on an eventual collision course for a mega-fight to decide conclusively who the best fighter in the world is.
The Ring Magazine publishes monthly rankings of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world; while not official, they are generally regarded as the most accurate and trustworthy rankings of fighters in the industry. Here is a quick snapshot of the fighters who are currently in the magazine’s pound-for-pound Top 10:
1. Manny Pacquiao (51-3-2, 38 KOs): Pacquiao’s most recent fight did little to dissuade his supporters in their belief that their man is the most dominant fighter in the business. In March he easily dispatched of former world champion Joshua Clottey in a fight for Pacquiao’s WBO welterweight title. Clottey went into a defensive shell during the fight while Pacquiao continued to pound away.
2. Floyd Mayweather Jr. (41-0, 25 KOs): Pacquiao’s rival at the top of the pound-for-pound rankings survived an early scare last Saturday night to turn in a typically dominating performance against Shane Mosley. Despite getting hurt in the second round, Mayweather Jr. recovered and put on a technically-sound boxing clinic against Mosley.
3. Juan Manuel Marquez (50-5-1, 37 KOs): Despite losing his last fight - a unanimous decision loss to Mayweather when he stepped up to welterweight - Marquez is still considered to be the elite fighter in the lightweight division. His next fight is scheduled to be a rematch with Juan Diaz in July in Las Vegas.
4. Nonito Donaire (23-1, 15 KOs): Donaire has looked dominant since his shocking knockout win over Vic Darchinyan to claim the flyweight title in July 2007. He defended the title three times before moving up to win the WBA super flyweight title against Rafael Concepcion last August. A rematch with Darchinyan seems imminent.
5. Shane Mosley (46-6, 39 KOs): Is this the end of the line for Mosley? He looked frustrated and out of answers in the later rounds against Mosley. At 38, it’s hard to imagine many big fights left for “Sugar” Shane.
6. Chad Dawson (29-0, 17 KOs): Dawson is currently training for what promises to big the biggest fight of his career: a unification bout against fellow light heavyweight champion Jean Pascal in Pascal’s hometown of Montreal in August. Dawson is coming off of a pair of wins each against Glen Johnson and Antonio Tarver.
7. Paul Williams (38-1, 27 KOs): Looking to maintain his momentum after his bruising majority decision win over Sergio Martinez, Williams will be fighting former welterweight champion Kermit Cintron on Saturday night in the main event of an HBO card from the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.
8. Sergio Martinez (44-2-2, 24 KOs): Despite his close loss to Williams, Martinez is still considered to be one of the elite fighters in the world. He has been mentioned as a possible next opponent for Mayweather Jr. for the light middleweight title if a bout against Pacquiao doesn’t come together.
9. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (75-3-1, 39 KOs): The Thai southpaw is coming off of a successful defense of his WBC flyweight title, a unanimous decision victory over Koki Kameda on March 27 in Tokyo. Kameda’s father was suspended 90 days by the WBC for verbal abusing officials after the fight.
10. Celestino Caballero (34-2, 23 KOs): The Panamanian fighter had little trouble in his first appearance as a featherweight on April 10 in Florida, knocking down Daud Cino Yordan en route to an easy unanimous decision victory.
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