By Nick Hagan: The great sport of Boxing has enjoyed a fantastic renaissance during the last few years. This is partially due to the influx of new promoters; TV & Internet channel setup and investment of money from new players into the game. However, ultimately the renaissance has mainly happened due to the exciting talent that we have been blessed with, in each of the divisions.
Boxing is purely an entertaining sport. However fans either prefer ‘The Sweet Science’ or the ‘Pure Sweat and Guts’. I for one prefer the latter. Boxing for me is about watching two warriors who are happy to lay everything on the line and are not afraid to ‘hit and be hit’.
There is currently a huge range of boxers who fit the meaning of ‘Pure Sweat and Guts’, however in this article I’m going to concentrate on five boxers who I believe are at the absolute pinnacle of this category. To make this an easier task, I have decided to pick these boxers based on their current relevance, achievements and pure entertainment for the fans during the past three years. Please note I have decided to eliminate all boxers who have not yet won a recognized world title and have only fought B or C level opponents.
The below list is the exact order, of how I currently rate this style of Boxer:
1) Carl Froch – This for me was an easy pick for the top spot. Froch’s emphatic win against Groves last night, was his 12th World Title fight in a row. He has fought and beaten great champions, i.e. Glen Johnson, Mikkel Kessler, Jermaine Taylor, Lucian Bute and Arthur Abraham. Boxing fans around the world just love watching him fight, because every time Froch steps into the ring they are guaranteed he will put everything on the line and is not afraid to get involved in an old fashioned ‘tear up’. Froch has never ducked an opponent and happily got back into the ring with Kessler and Groves when there were doubts and blemishes on his record. For me he is pure entertainment and has worked incredibly hard, to get to the top of his division. He is surely one of only a very few active boxers today that could sell out an 80,000 stadium.
2) Adonis Stevenson – This is a boxer that has almost appeared from nowhere to win the WBC Light Heavyweight Title from Chad Dawson. Stevenson emphatically knocked out Dawson in the 1st round of their encounter last year and then later in the year put on a great boxing display in beating the much fancied Tarvois Cloud. Stevenson possessives great power and a high work rate. Like Froch he is incredibly exciting and has an unpredictable side, which fans love to watch. Again he is not afraid to get back into the ring with an opponent after a loss. He proved this in his avenge against Darnell Boone.
3) Lucas Matthysse – Pound for Pound this is a boxer that arguably possesses the most power out of all boxers in all divisions. I would describe Matthysse as a slugger with a great heart. Because of his style he is quite easy to hit, however he will always come back and hit his opponent twice as hard. The way he dismantled Lamont Peterson in their encounter last year, was incredibly impressive. He was unlucky against Danny Garcia. Without the eye injury I think he could have won their fight and against John Molina, what a great display of grit and determination, to come back for a win after being put down. Matthysse is always exciting and all fans love him for that. He is also one of the most feared boxers in all divisions.
4) Manny Pacquiao – What can I say about this great boxer. A couple of years ago he would without a shadow of doubt been the number one on this list. He has lost a little bit of his invincibility after his knockout loss to Marquez, however you have to respect what this man has brought to the world of Boxing. Out of all the boxers in this list he is undoubtedly the most gifted and most loved Boxer and even now if the Pacquiao – Mayweather fight ever happened, the promoters would not be able to find a stadium bigger enough for such an event.
5) Amir Khan – Love him or hate him, every true boxing fan wants to see this young fighter from the UK In action. He may have lost a few times, however he is always fully committed (maybe too much for his own good) and so exciting to watch. Let’s not forget his brilliant wins against Paulie Malignaggi, Zab Judah and Maidana. He possesses more speed than any other Boxer in the Welterweight divisions. I was really impressed with Khan In his last fight and feel that he will grow and under the guidance of Virgil Hunter and become a World Champion again real soon.
Honorable mentions go to Gennady Golovkin and Sergey Kovalev. It must be noted that even though both are World Champions, neither have yet beaten what can be regarded as an A rated opponent.
It would be interesting to see other fans top 5 list looks like.
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