One of the easiest ways to get into a debate on boxing is to try and rank the sport’s top practitioners on a pound-for-pound basis. Everyone’s got an opinion and there’s no way to definitely determine who’s right and who’s wrong. Sure Wladimir Klitschko would defeat Floyd Mayweather if they fought each other – Klitschko outweighs Pretty Boy by 100 pounds! But if - and this is the big if – Klitschko and Mayweather were in the same weight class and were to match their skills against one another in the ring, which fighter would emerge victorious?
Every boxing enthusiast has seen pound-for-pound rankings in various magazines, on the Net and perhaps even on TV. Most of these lists include only ten fighters. Occasionally, you’ll see a pound-for-pound top twenty. So why stop at twenty? In order to provide even more fodder for conversation and debate, here is a pound-for-pound ranking of the top fifty fighters in the world today.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. (140)
Ronald “Winky” Wright (160)
Manny Pacquiao (130)
Marco Antonio Barrera (130)
Antonio Margarito (147)
Oscar De La Hoya (154)
Ricky Hatton (140)
Jermain Taylor (160)
Joe Calzaghe (168)
Bernard Hopkins (160)
Jose Luis Castillo (135)
Rafael Marquez (118)
Erik Morales (130)
Shane Mosley (147)
Miguel Cotto (140)
Chris John (126)
Diego Corrales (135)
Juan Manuel Marquez (126)
Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (112)
Antonio Tarver (175)
Kostya Tszyu (140) RETIRED???
Jesus Chavez (135)
Zab Judah (147)
Glen Johnson (175)
Roy Jones Jr. (175)
Arturo Gatti (140)
Jeff Lacy (168)
Rocky Juarez (130)
Israel Vazquez (122)
Acelino Freitas (135)
Cory Spinks (147)
Martin Castillo (115)
Ivan Calderon (105)
Fernando Vargas (154)
Oscar Larios (122)
Jorge Arce (112)
Zahir Raheem (135)
Joel Casamayor (135)
Fernando Montiel (115)
Roman Karmazin (154)
Brian Viloria (108)
Juan Diaz (135)
O’Neil Bell (200)
Scott Harrison (126)
Joan Guzman (126)
Carlos Baldomir (147)
Yukata Niida (105)
Kassim Ouma (154)
Mikkel Kessler (168)
Lorenzo Parra (112)
Closing in on Top Fifty: Vernon Forrest (154), Zsolt Erdei (175), Ike Quartey (154), Roberto Vazquez (108), Vic Darchinyan (112), Jose Navarro (115).
Dropping off the list in recent months: Ricardo Mayorga (154), Chris Byrd (heavy), James Toney (heavy), Jean Marc Mormeck (200), Will Grigsby (108), Felix Trinidad (160), Daniel Santos (154), Vivian Harris (140), Rosendo Alvarez (112).
No doubt your top fifty would look much different. Maybe entirely different! Share your thoughts on the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world today on the boxing bulletin board.
This list is such shat, there is really not enuff time to explain all that is wrong with it. Firstly Hopkins should be #1, not 10. And Ouma should definately be above Vargas at this point. I’d be interested to see the Ring P4P rankings. Hopkins ought to be #1 on that list IMO.
Mayorga has never been a good enuff boxer to make the P4P list. Except maybe after he KO’d Forrest, but he has never been P4P skilled. He has been a great warrior though with enormous heart and power. After that horrible loss to Oscar though, I don’t think he should be on the P4P list, even top 50.
#1!!! I mean like it or not…he has lost 2 of his last 3. The victory over Tarver was impressive…but it in no way warrants a spot at the top imo. Besides, he is retired. He shouldn’t be on any active rankings anymore. I would have trouble ranking him top 10.
What the fuck kind of list is this when Antonio Margarito is P4P Top 5. Get the fuck outta here with that shit. Who the fuck has he beat? So let me get this straight Tony P4P is better than
Oscar De La Hoya (154)
Ricky Hatton (140)
Jermain Taylor (160)
Joe Calzaghe (168)
Bernard Hopkins (160)
Jose Luis Castillo (135)
Rafael Marquez (118)
Erik Morales (130)
Shane Mosley (147)
Miguel Cotto (140)
Chris John (126)
Diego Corrales (135)
Juan Manuel Marquez (126)
Tony is a good boxer. But he ain’t even Top 25 P4P on my list.
wait wait wait…oscar hasn’t fought in a year…and lost to strum, got ko’ed by hop, beat up underschooled mayorga who also was coming off a long layoff and he’s number 6? What the hell is that about?
And Raheem kicks morrales’ ass and morrales is 13th and raheem is 37th? This guy is fucking idiot..or even Joe Calzaghe being lower than margarito and delahoya..this list sux
from 1 to 3 everyone has the same three fighters winky pac and floyd…from 4 on to a million its all a mess…nobody has it the same from then on…p4p list is never the same
Andrew Eisele is a long-time boxing enthusiast who has either watched or, whenever possible, attended nearly every big fight in the last 25+ years.
Experience:
Andrew, formerly the Sports Editor at About.com, has done freelance sportswriting for Time Inc. and The GIST, covered boxing for Regional News Network, hosted sports talk shows on WVOX-AM radio and Manhattan public access television, and maintains ACEonSports.com. Andrew is also the founder of Dial-A-Box, one of the internet’s largest independent sellers of professional moving boxes and packing supplies. Andrew is currently the Sr. Director of Business Development at Associated Content.
Education:
Andrew received a Bachelor of Science in Management from Binghamton University and a Master’s of Business Administration in Finance/International Business from New York University.
From Andrew Eisele:
“I want to share with you my passion for the sport of boxing. Sure the sport has its problems, but at its best there’s nothing else like it!”
