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The top Pound for Pound Boxers in the World

Every boxer strives to be included amongst the pound for pound best in the world. Today, there’s a clear number 1 and number 2 with Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather. After that, there are some big name fighters and holdovers from the last decade or two, as well as some younger fighters and others that may be less familiar to the mass American audience. After all of the big fights of the past few months, here’s the top 20 pound for pound boxers in the world ranking.

Top 20 Pound for Pound Boxers

Top 20 Pound for Pound Boxing Rankings Last Updated August 16, 2010

Fighter

Record

Ranking Change
1. Manny Pacquiao 51 (38) – 3 – 2 -
The string of dominant performances continues for Manny Pacquiao. From Oscar de La Hoya to Ricky Hatton, from Miguel Cotto to Joshua Clottey, Pacquiao continues to surge past whoever is lined up in front of him. However, the fight against Antonio Margarito isn’t exactly compelling theater. Has anybody heard anything about a potential Pacquiao vs. Mayweather bout? Anybody?
2. Floyd Mayweather 41 (25) – 0 -
It was tempting to place Mayweather back in the number 1 spot he held for so long after his dominant performance against Shane Mosley. While he was the favored fighter, few thought he would absolutely control the fight as he did. Still, Pacquiao is not far removed from his stirring string of knockout victories, and cannot be usurped on the strength of that one performance, although clearly Mayweather has raised the bar.
3. Paul Williams 39 (27) – 1 -
After a brutal and entertaining fight against Sergio Martinez, where Williams escaped with a Majority Decision, his fight with Kermit Cintron ended early. Williams is eternally biding his time to find top challengers ready to put their belts on the line to face him. A true throwback pound-for-pound guy, he still says he is willing to fight at anywhere between 147 and 168 lbs.
4. Juan Manuel Marquez 51 (37) – 5 – 1 +1
The loss against Mayweather does nothing to tarnish Marquez’s standing in the sport. He had to jump up two weight classes for the fight, and he never gave up despite being clearly outmatched. In the rematch against Juan Diaz, we just saw what we already knew, that Marquez is the superior fighter between the two. So what’s next for Dinamita, a move to 140 lbs against a young gun like Amir Khan, or some title defenses at lightweight?
5. Sergio Martinez 45 (24) – 2 – 2 +3
Martinez finally put on such a strong showing that the judges couldn’t take away his hard work. His win over Pavlik was emphatic, and it seems like he will be staying at middleweight for the time being. Many feel he beat Paul Williams as well, so his high ranking is certainly not arbitrary, and a rematch against Williams is one of the must make fights in boxing right now.
6. Ivan Calderon 34 (6) – 0 – 1 -
Chances are that you haven’t seen Ivan Calderon fight before, as he’s spent his career toiling away in weight classes that would make super models and jockeys alike jealous. Undefeated for his career and a champion for seven years running, Calderon is now 6-0-1 in title fights at junior flyweight, after sporting a 12-0 title fight record at the minimum weight class, 105 lbs. But after being tested a few times recently, how much is left?
7.Celestino Caballero 34 (23) – 2 +2
After reeling off 14 straight wins at super bantamweight and largely being unable to get any top fighter to face him, Caballero is finally moving up to featherweight. He dominated a respected, tricky fighter in Daud Yordan and now wants to get one of the big names in the division to face him.
8. Andre Ward 22 (13) – 0 +2
Andre Ward could hardly have done anything better in his breakout performance over Super Six favorite Mikkel Kessler. He’s now the favorite to win the tournament himself, and will get plenty more chances to prove himself over top competition over the next year or two. The domination over Allan Green was just further proof of his great boxing skill and ring generalship. Next up is a clash against good buddy Andre Dirrell.
9. Bernard Hopkins 51 (32) – 5 – 1 -2
The win over Roy Jones was far from spectacular, especially considering Roy was coming off a first round stoppage lost. The ageless one might be finally coming to the point of no return. He could make some exciting and intriguing bouts, but if he’s intent on fighting has-beens in unimpressive fashion and hardly getting into the ring, he’ll be continuing to lose ground on this list.
10. Chad Dawson 29 (17) – 1 -6
Bad Chad didn’t look Baaad against Jean Pascal, he just looked bad. Unwilling or unable to pull the trigger and catch up with the quick moving Pascal, Dawson lost his 0 and his claim to the division’s crown. Dawson already has stated he wants the rematch to take place, but will he be able to summon the A game this time out, and unleash the potential that had so many fans and spectators excited not too long ago?
11. Tomasz Adamek 41 (27) – 1 -
When Dawson beat Adamek, the boxing community knew he was a good fighter, but nobody could have predicted his domination of the cruiserweight division that has followed. A knockout win over O’Neil Bell, and a decision over Steve Cunningham, not to mention other impressive knockout wins along the way. Now he has a few wins under his belt at heavyweight, including most impressively a strong showing over big puncher Chris Arreola.
12. Shane Mosley 46 (39) – 6 -
Mosley’s showing over Margarito was extremely impressive, but the long layoff that followed one of the biggest fights of his career spelled disaster for him. Mosley was tired and out of sync against Mayweather despite hurting him early, and he won at best only two rounds in the contest.
13. Wladimir Klitschko 54 (48) – 3 -
Say what you will about Wlad, but it’s six years without a loss, 12 straight wins and a string of top challengers that continue to be unable to produce against the champion. He’s still a more complete, if less menacing, fighter than big brother and as long as he desires to stay champion nobody will be favored to take that right away from him. Next up is a rematch against Samuel Peter, after his bout with Alexander Povetkin fell apart.
14. Fernando Montiel 43 (33) – 2 – 2 +1
Montiel hushed the critics who said he would meet his match against Hozumi Hasegawa. All the guy does is continue to win convincingly, going 10-0-1 in his last 11 bouts, including wins over Hozumi, Luis Maldanado, Z Gorres and Martin Castillo.
15. Lucian Bute 26 (21) – 0 +2
Bute isn’t getting the notoriety of the guys in the Super Six, but he’s dominating the opposition that’s left available to him. His KO win over Librado Andrade was resounding, and the follow-up performance over Edison Miranda was impressive as well. The match against Jesse Brinkley isn’t exactly compelling theater, but who else is around for him to fight? Hopefully a Montreal mega fight will take place with Bute against Jean Pascal.
16. Chris John 43 (22) – 0 – 2 +2
The first fight against Rocky Juarez certainly should not have been a draw. Regardless, two fights against Juarez in a year is not enough to make a splash to an American audience that was waiting to see what all the hype was about for the man who took Marquez’s title. John needs to find a big name dancing opponent to once again prove his worth. Unfortunately, he’s had a near unending string of fight cancellations.
17. Jean Pascal 26 (16) – 1 Debut
People hold the loss against Carl Froch against him, but that was a very good fight, and it appears to have been at a weight class that he did not excel. Since moving up to light heavyweight, Pascal has bested Adrian Diaconu twice, and of course just took care of business against Chad Dawson. So why is Bad Chad still ahead of Pascal on the list? The resume still tilts in his favor, and I believe Dawson will have some more tricks in the rematch.
18. Timothy Bradley 25 (11) – 0 +1
Bradley continues to prove his doubters wrong by turning away challengers Kendall Holt, Nate Campbell and Lamont Peterson. A very intriguing bout against Marcos Maidana was scrapped, and instead Bradley moved up to welterweight temporarily to face Luis Carlos Abregu. With another lopsided win in his favor, hopefully Bradley and Devon Alexander get in on before too long.
19. Devon Alexander 21 (13) – 0 Debut
Alexander didn’t quite earn the nickname “The Great” in his close call against Andriy Kotelnik, but it’s another win in the books. His best performance, and it was Great, was his stoppage win over Juan Urango. He’s been calling out Timothy Bradley for the better part of a year, will boxing fans finally get to see the big showdown soon?
20. Miguel Cotto 35 (28) – 2 Debut
Cotto returns to the top 20 pound for pound following his outclassing of Yuri Foreman, winning a title in a third weight division in the process. Next up looks to be a dubious match against Top Rank alum Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. It will be interesting to see who Cotto and his team go for after that, with some names floating around junior middle like Alfredo Angulo and Kermit Cintron.

The next 20 on the Bubble (in alphabetical order)

Arthur Abraham, Andre Berto, Steve Cunningham, Vic Darchinyan, Andre Dirrell, Nonito Donaire, Carl Froch, Robert Guerrero, David Haye, Hozumi Hasegawa, Marco Huck, Mikkel Kessler, Amir Khan, Vitali Klitschko, Marcos Maidana, Juan Manuel Lopez, Abner Mares, Rafael Marquez, Kelly Pavlik, Yonnhy Perez, Pongsaklek Wonjongkam

That wraps up this edition of the boxing P4P list. There is a busy schedule of fights which could affect the pound for pound standings quite a bit. We get to see Pacquiao vs. Margarito, the continuation of the Super Six Tournament and more. As you can see, we have expanded our list from the top 10 pound for pound boxers to the top 20, with 20 more on the bubble listed as well. Stay tuned for more boxing p4p updates, brought to you by the pound for pound leader in boxing coverage, Pro Boxing Fans.

Written by: Jake Emen