By Gav Duthie: With Manny Pacquiao officially retired after outclassing the next best welterweight in the world it really did feel like the end of an era. With Floyd Mayweather hanging up his gloves 7 months previous, a complete new set of welterweight champions and emerging pound for pound greats it makes sense to define the era we have just witnessed and celebrate it.
Number 1 of 25 years (Courtesy of ESPN)
25. Terry Norris
24. Gennady Golovkin
23. Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright
22. Prince Naseem Hamed
21. Miguel Cotto
20. Roman Gonzalez
19. Wladimir Klitschko
18. Erik Morales
17. Andre Ward
16. James Toney
15. Shane Mosley
14. Joe Calzaghe
13. Marco Antonio Barrera
12. Lennox Lewis
11. Felix Trinidad
10. Ricardo Lopez
9. Juan Manuel Marquez
8. Pernell Whitaker
7. Evander Holyfield
6. Oscar De La Hoya
5. Julio Cesar Chavez
4. Roy Jones
3. Bernard Hopkins
2. Manny Pacquiao
1. Floyd Mayweather
Only 1 of the top 5 is still currently boxing, Roy Jones, with his events being more of a circus act these days. At the top one could maybe argue that Hopkins should be second considering he has boxed over the entire 25 years which included a huge middleweight reign. He defeated Felix ‘Tito’ Trinidad who made it to number 11 and Winky Wright as a light heavyweight well into his 40s.
Omissions
To be honest I think the list is pretty good. Perhaps the reader might have an opinion on fighters that didn’t make it. My possible nominees were Mike Tyson although he was beaten by two guys on the list, Lewis and Holyfield. Wladimir’s brother Vitaly Klitschko reigned supreme for quite some time and was never properly beaten with both losses attributed to injury when he was ahead on the scorecards. The late Vernon Forrest is a shout from his wins over Mosley but his dominance was too brief after he met Mayorga. Gerald McClellan was also awesome scoring wins over Mugabi and Julian Jackson x2 but he had to retire in 1995. The recently retired Sergio ‘Maravilla’ Martinez could have made it if only he had got going in his career a little earlier. The only current boxer I could see in there is Sergiy Kovalev and I would probably have him in over Golovkin simply due to his level of opposition.
Modern day boxers
There are only 7 modern day boxers who make the list but this is also due to the fact that some are still creating their legacies. Roy Jones, Shane Mosley and Juan Manuel Marquez are almost exhibitionists and Marquez hasn’t fought for two years. Cotto is also closer to the end of his career than the beginning so only 3 from the list have a big chance to move further up the table. These fighters are Andre Ward, Roman Gonzalez and Gennady Golovkin. Obviously if Ward can beat Kovalev later this year then he could get right up there. I think Gonzalez could be rated as the best small fighter ever, even above Ricardo Lopez but time will tell.
What do you think of the list and can any modern day boxers topple Floyd Mayweather?