Pound 4 Pound

What more can one say about Manny Pacquiao following his total destruction of Ricky Hatton? The way in which his speed, power and the perfect execution of his game plan against Hatton confirms ‘Pacman’ is unrivalled in the No.1. It looks like he could face the winner of Juan Manuel Marquez vs Floyd Mayweather Jnr and on current form he’d be heavily tipped to beat either.

It was a shame that things fell apart for Juan Manuel Marquez following his stirring draw with Manny Pacquiao a few years back, but his win over Barrera got him a spot back on the list of boxing’s best. Marquez proved he is still one of the sport’s trickiest fighters when he dropped a controversial 12 round points decision to Pacquiao in a memorable rematch. Yet again, though, Marquez bounced back when he became the first man to stop Cuban legend Joel Casamayor with an impressive 11th round stop

Many boxing experts voiced their opinions about Bernard Hopkins occupying a pound4pound top 10 place but his Oct 18 domination of Kelly Pavlik proved justification. Ok, he is not as exciting as a Manny Pacquiao or Juan Manuel Marquez but he is a master craftsman in terms of defence, ring general ship-and the ability to control the pace of a fight. The win over Pavlik proved beyond doubt that this incredible 43 year-old is indeed a very special fighter.

Israel Vazquez finally proved he deserved to be ranked above Rafael Marquez in the p4p list when he scored a split decision win in their rubber match. And they both belong in the top despite what some may think. The third fight on March 1 was close enough to argue a win for either man what was not in question was even as early as March their third battle was a serious contender for Fight of the Year. Wouldn’t it be nice to see a fourth encounter between these two fine Mexican fighters?

While so many of the pound-for-pound mainstays have fallen off the list by virtue of losses (Jermain Taylor) or inactivity (Winky Wright), there’s no reason why the younger Marquez brother can’t replace them. His wins against Silence Mabuza were nice, but it was his destruction of the accomplished Israel Vazquez that really put Rafael Marquez on the map. What made the win even more impressive was the fact that Marquez was the smaller man, going up the Super Bantamweight level to take Vazque

Under normal circumstances a boxer would be rated in one division and one division only but Paul Williams is no normal fighter in terms of his natural weight because he has proved he can be a world class fight anywhere from 147lbs to 160lbs. He proved as much in beating Ronald ‘Winky’ Wright back in April.

Losing to Antonio Margarito via 11th round tko on July 26 does not make Miguel Cotto a bad fighter over night. Prior to the Margarito loss the Puerto Rican hero was unbeaten in 31 starts and held wins over Shane Mosley, Zab Judah and Paulie Malignaggi to name but a few. Granted, he faded against Mosley late on and maybe gets hit more than is ideal for a top 10 fighter but ironically enough he boxed as well as ever against Margarito until he succumbed to the relentless pressure. Cotto bobbed

Who would have thought that at the age of 37 and after dropping a career defining 12 round points decision to Miguel Cotto in 2007 that Shane Mosley would once again command a pound for pound top 10 rating?

Armenian born Vic Darcinyan moves into the pound for pound top 10 by virtue of his impressive dismantling of Cristian Mijares on November 1.

WBO light flyweight champion Ivan Calderon may not be a massive puncher but his boxing skills are as impressive as any boxer in the sport today. Unfortunately the 34 year-old southpaw has been a little inactive lately due to a severe cut on the forehead, caused by an accidental clash of heads against Hugo Cazares in August 2008.