Donaire #5 Pound-for-pound, above #6 Broner, #7 Pacquiao

By Boxing News - 12/20/2012 - Comments

donaire4By Chris Williams: WBO super bantamweight champion Nonito Donaire (31-1, 20 KO’s) is now #5 in the Ring Magazine pound-for-pound ratings. What’s interesting about this is that Donaire is ranked above #6 Adrien Broner and #7 Manny Pacquiao. I don’t agree with that ranking at all. Pacquiao should still be ranked above Donaire despite getting knocked out by Marquez.

Here’s how I see the pound-for-pound top 10 shaking up:

#1 Floyd Mayweather Jr
#2 Juan Manuel Marquez
#3 Andre Ward
#4 Adrien Broner
#5 Sergio Martinez
#6 Manny Pacquiao
#7 Nonito Donaire
#8 Wladimir Klitschko
#9 Robert Guerrero
#10 Tim Bradley

Donaire hasn’t had to fight anyone like Marquez at super bantamweight or at any time in his career, so he’s gotten away kind of easy. If you put Donaire’s fights in perspective and compare them to the guys that Pacquiao has been facing there’s no comparison.

Donaire beat Jorge Arce, who shouldn’t be fighting at super bantamweight; Donaire beat Jeffrey Mathebula, Wilfredo Vazquez Jr, Omar Narvaez, Toshiaki Nishioka, Hernan Marquez, Wladimir Sidorenko, Fernando Montiel, Rafael Concepcion, Raul Martinez, Vic Darchinyan, and Luis Maldonado.

Those guys aren’t great fighters and I don’t think Donaire accomplished much in beating them. He’s much bigger than all of those guys, and that’s given Donaire a big advantage.

Adrien Broner obviously hasn’t faced the same kind of competition as Donaire has, but I still think he should be ranked above Donaire simply because of his arguably better talent. Broner can do a lot of things in the ring, and is a much more versatile fighter. Broner fights well on the inside as well outside, and he can knock out his opponents with a single shot.

The 23-year-old Broner is a lot younger than the 30-year-old Donaire, so I expect him to have fought much better opposition by the time he’s 30. He’s way ahead of Donaire in that respect, but he definitely trails him right now in terms of level of opposition. But I think Broner should be ranked above Donaire simply on the basis of his raw talent and his ability to impress boxing fans.



Comments are closed.