Who are the most technically gifted boxers in the sport?

By JerseyJoeWales - 07/14/2013 - Comments

ward3432First off, I am going to list down the achievements of each of these amazing boxers to help support my conclusion as to who deserves to be King starting with Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has defeated many of the recent greats of boxing including – Juan Manuel Marquez, Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, Ricky Hatton, Oscar De Le Hoya, and many other big names. It is because of this you have to give him a lot of credit. He has always possessed a unique defense, which I believe has permanently revolutionized the art of boxing. In addition to this, he has pinpoint accuracy and very intelligent ring-smarts.  I believe he could face basically any boxer of today and win unanimously. However, I do believe some of the above boxers I have mentioned could possibly come out on top.

Manny Pacquiao has defeated as many of the recent greats of boxing as Mayweather and some of them far more convincingly, he has defeated  Marquez, Hatton, Cotto, Antonio Margarito, De Le Hoya, Mosley, Timothy Bradley, (Yes, he did win that fight)  and also many other big names. His style in opposition to Mayweather’s is predominantly aggressive and he has basically taken peoples heads off in many fights. However, the last few years he has declined dramatically and although I once placed him above Mayweather, I do now believe Mayweather is now the better fighter, due to Manny’s age.

Sergio Martinez has been the dominating figure in the Middleweight division over the past few years. He has great victories over Julio Cesar Chavez Jr, Paul Williams, Kelly Pavlik, and Darren Barker. I believe this guy has more heart and determination then any of the mentioned boxers in this article, he also has amazing skills, ring-smarts and power. However, much like Pacquiao, I believe his day is done and he is now way past his prime years. It is because of this that I could not name him the King of the Ring.

Andre Ward is a truly gifted boxer who I believe could teach a thing or two to any boxer of today. He seems to win every fight through pure intelligence and skill and does not shy away from a fight with anyone. He now dominates the Super-Middleweight division and I believe he cannot be beaten by any of the fighters of this division. He has notable victories over Carl Froch, Mikkel Kessler, and Chad Dawson and I believe he will end his boxing days with a Hall of Famer worthy record. However, I do not think his star shines as bright as any of the previously reviewed boxers and therefore cannot name him King of the Ring either.

Juan Manuel Marquez is another truly gifted boxer who has shared the rings with both Pacquiao and Mayweather. He has actually defeated Pacquiao via knockout and he deserves much credit for this. However, I believe this was a past his prime Pacquiao and therefore think this nullifies the victory quite a bit. In addition to this he has few notable victories over Juan Diaz, Joel Casamayor and Marco Antonio Barrera. Therefore I do not place him as today’s King of the Ring.

Guillermo Rigondeaux has very recently been placed under the spotlight with his win over Nonito Donaire a few months ago. Now this has been his only notable victory as a professional boxer, but what a win it was! He obviously outclassed the baffled Donaire, to the point where he made him look like an amateur. Prior to this fight Donaire was the pound-for-pound No. 5 fighter in the world by the ring magazine, and by watching this fight I could see how obviously talented this fighter was. On top of this Rigondeaux has procured an amateur record of nearly 475 fights with twelve losses. I personally believe after watching this fight and his other professional fights that he should be placed in the top 2 technically gifted boxers of today and would go as far as to say he has deserved the joint 1st Crown as the most technically gifted boxer of today.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez has much like Mayweather an unblemished record of over 40 professional fight with no losses, he has a great KO percentage and shows clear skills as a future star in boxing. Regardless of this he has only really defeated 3 big names in boxing with Shane Mosley, Josesito Lopez and Austin Trout and Shane Mosley was way way past it. I do see talent in this boxer as he possesses what I believe is an awkward style, he has great speed and power, and looks reasonably hard to hit. However, when watching the Trout fight I could see he lacked stamina and experience wise i do not think he is ready for Mayweather in their upcoming fight. Saying this, I believe he has a punchers chance of beating Mayweather due to his weight advantage, speed and power. He is not today’s King of the Ring, but there is a possibility he will be tomorrows.

As my overall conclusion, I would place Mayweather as today’s King of the Ring. Not because I am a Mayweather fan, as I honestly much prefer Manny Pacquiao as a boxer and believe he is the greater man of the two, but because he is still fresh and winning. I would also place Rigondeaux as a joint first/second due to what I have seen of him so far, but believe it is too early on to place him above Mayweather.



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