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Yes, yes, it’s 1/14 now and no longer 12/13, but this pound-for-pound list of the best fighters in the world regardless of weight is as of 12/13, so THERE. Adrien Broner’s Snickers-level satisfying beatdown by Marcos Maidana made room for a new entry from Asia, and if you recognize Shinsuke Yamanaka above, you probably already guessed he was the pick.
There is not much movement here other than that, so it’s mainly an excuse to revisit what’s happening with the world’s finest. As usual, the predominant standard is “quality wins of recent vintage,” but secondary standards like “the eyeball test” and “career achievement” also figure into it. The last update is here.
1. Floyd Mayweather, junior middleweight
The undisputed p4p king has surely already made up his mind about fighting Amir Khan in May, but Showtime is floating the possibility of Marcos Maidana, the better of the two bouts. Mayweather also is fond of pretending that he wants to or ever wanted to fight Manny Pacquiao. It’s not particularly amusing to me.
2. Andre Ward, super middleweight
Since the last update, Ward dominated a solid 168-pound contender in Edwin Rodriguez. It was enough to remind us he’s clearly one of the two best in the sport, but wasn’t quite enough to get to the #1 spot. When we see him in the ring next is anyone’s guess; he’s talked about fighting George Groves, but he’s back in court again with his promoter.
3. Timothy Bradley, welterweight
Bradley is basking in the glow of “____ of the Years” left and right, for the obvious Fight of the Year and some Round of the Year and Fighter of the Year laurels. Maybe he’ll do a rematch with the man just below him next, or with Ruslan Provodnikov, or even Pacquiao.
4. Juan Manuel Marquez, welterweight
Marquez is doing the opposite of basking in a glow — he and his team are petulantly making demands for a Bradley rematch as they glower and pout and say Pacquiao doesn’t deserve one. JMM has always been a treat in the ring, but he’s a sore sumbitch outside it.
5. Manny Pacquiao, welterweight
On the strength of his November win over Brandon Rios, Pacquiao gets back into the top five to give the welterweight division four of the best in the sport, if you count Mayweather as a welter, as he often is. He might not be back to his peak, but he showed in dominating the never-dominated Rios that he’s still among the ultra-elite.
6. Carl Froch, super middleweight
And really, Froch helped Pacquiao’s case with his November showing against Groves. Froch might have lost a step, although Groves’ speed and youth certainly aided the appearance. That Froch won, however controversially, means he won’t be docked here, but he did give way to Pacquiao on the basis of the contrast between the two.
7. Sergio Martinez, middleweight
The middleweight champ is poised for a big money bout against Miguel Cotto but we won’t see him until the summer. It’s an ideal opportunity for the aging Martinez to take on an undersized opponent who promises a lucrative payday. But he’ll need to take on Gennady Golovkin next if he wins, or the public will revolt against him.
8. Wladimir Klitschko, heavyweight
With his brother having against stepped away from the ring, the heavyweight champion no longer has anyone who can come close to claiming to be as good as him in the division. A bout with Kubrat Pulev might be on deck, but not until March, so you’ll be disappointed if you were hoping to see another Alexander Povetkin foulfest soon.
9. Guillermo Rigondeaux, junior featherweight
Rigo jumps one spot over Danny Garcia owing to his thorough December victory over Joseph Agbeko, once a quality bantamweight and maybe still one. Rigo made him tentative and defanged him entirely. Whatever you think of Rigo’s boxing style, it’s harder to argue after that victory that he’s a “one win” fighter who made his name off Nonito Donaire.
10. Danny Garcia, junior welterweight
We might see Garcia in March or April, but “against whom” is a big question. It’s too bad he’s kind of fallen behind in the Mayweather sweepstakes, because he has a better competitive case than Khan’s — hell, Garcia knocked Khan out. He’s at least got an argument similar to Maidana’s.
11. Adonis Stevenson, light heavyweight
Stevenson dominated Tony Bellew in November and it was enough to move him up another spot. He would’ve been my pick for Fighter of the Year, but The Queensberry Rules staff out-voted me.
12. Nonito Donaire, featherweight
Donaire wanted to return in April or May (thanks to a broken orbital bone) against Nicholas Walters, but one of the sanctioning outfits ordered Walters to face Simpiwe Vetyeka instead. Oh well.
13. Bernard Hopkins, light heavyweight
All signs point to B-Hop facing off against Beibut Shumenov. Literally. B-Hop was holding up a Shumenov-branded towel during Shumenov’s ring return. Look for it in March or April.
14. Roman Gonzalez, flyweight
The flyweight move is official now, and Chocolatito is targeting Juan Carlos Reveco next. It’s a real fight, and you have to imagine Reveco can’t make more money fighting anyone else.
15. Mikey Garcia, junior lightweight
The impressive November win over Roman Martinez wasn’t quite enough to get Garcia past anyone above him not named Adrien Broner. It’ll be harder to keep him down if he beats Juan Carlos Burgos in January.
16. Juan Francisco Estrada, flyweight
After being off since July, Estrada might be heading toward a February rematch with Brian Viloria. It’s not the Estrada rematch anyone wants most — that would be with Gonzalez — but it’s a respectable fight.
17. Gennady Golovkin, middleweight
As part of Golovkin’s “stay busy whether it’s on HBO or not” plan, Golovkin is set to face Osumanu Adama in February. Adama hasn’t been stopped and that’s the main appeal of the bout, although he was at least arguably competitive with Daniel Geale.
18. Jhonny Gonzalez, featherweight
Unfortunately, perhaps the best fight on the early 2014 calendar — Gonzalez’s rematch with Abner Mares — won’t be happening in February as planned, thanks to a Mares injury. “Fluke KO or real supremacy?” will get answered later.
19. Abner Mares, featherweight
See just above.
20. Shinsuke Yamanaka, bantamweight
In November Yamanaka knocked out Alberto Guevara, who took the fearsome Leo Santa Cruz the distance. Yamanaka’s on quite a run, with wins over Vic Darchinyan, Malcolm Tunacao, Christian Esquivel and others since 2011.
