By Adam Fillingham:
Chad Dawson
Chad is a GOOD fighter. Nothing more. But due to his unbeaten record he is ranked at no.1 in the rankings. Now Dawson has a great combination of speed, power and skill, but hasn’t been truly tested by a great fighter and still only just came threw against Glen Johnson. Does he deserve his place at number one. In my opinion no he doesn’t.
Bernard Hopkins
The legend is Bernard Hopkins. He defines the word legend. But so does Muhammad Ali but he isn’t in the top 20 of the heavyweight division today. He was used as a punching bag by the legendary Joe Calzaghe, so he had to resort to dirty tactics. Sound like a legend now?
Zsolt Erdei
The tough little Hungarian is unknown to most, even some of the most harcore boxing fans. After winning his WBO title in 2005 againsed Julio Cesar Gonzalez he has stayed undefeated and defended his title 11 times. He now needs to fight a credible name but with such a good record and little known name there is no big names likely to fight him. Remind you of Joe Calzaghe anyone?
Antonio Tarver
The star of Rocky six in my opinion should stick to acting, and he wasn’t even that good in that. He has now lost twice to the rising ‘star’ Chad Dawson. There is no way I think Tarver still deserves a place in the top five. He should be at the low end of the top 10 at the highest.
Jeff Lacy
Jeff Lacy has done nothing since losing to Joe Calzaghe in humiliating fashion. So how does this warrent a place at no.8 in the IBO rankings? Its crazy. He only just got by a not great Otis Griffin. He will face off againsed the past his best Roy Jones Jr on Saturday.
So here is my version of the top 10 Light Heavyweight rankings:
10. Adrian Diaconu
9. Tavoris Cloud
8. Antonio Tarver
7. Roy Jones Jr.
6. Jean Pascal
5. Glen Johnson
4. Zsolt Erdei
3. Chad Dawson
2. Bernard Hopkins
1. Clinton Woods
Yes, Clinton Woods. The Great British future legend easily defeated the great Elvir Muriqi in an IBF title eliminator and defended his IBF crown five times before loosing a close decision against Tarver. I mean he even put up quite a good fight against Roy Jones when Jones was at his peak. He has speed, power and size on his side with a granite chin and a great British lions heart.
So there it is. the light heavyweight division the way it should be and the way it should be looked at for years to come.
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