Dafs' Pound-4-Pound Update (Part 1)

The Ring have told us "to expect major shake-ups" in their pound-4-pound ratings in the coming months, so I thought I'd weigh-in with my personal mythical rankings. I'll rank twenty-five of the world's best fighters for you to agree, or most probably disagree and wave your fists at the computer screen in anger. Three of the best is the fighter's three best victories or draws from 2007 onwards and last ranking is self-explanatory. Without further ado, here's 25-11.

#25 Devon Alexander (USA) (20-0, 13 KO) [Junior Welterweight]

Three of the best: Jesus Rodriguez KO-9; Junior Witter RTD-8; Juan Urango TKO-8;
Last Ranking: Not Rated

Two impressive wins over former titlists have shot Alexander up to the top 25 and I expect Alexander's rise to continue if he keeps winning against high level opposition.

#24 Juan Manuel Lopez (PUR) (28-0, 25 KO) [Featherweight]

Three of the best: Daniel Ponce de Leon TKO-1; Rogers Mtagwa UD-12; Steven Luevano TKO-7;
Last Ranking: Not Rated

Lopez enters after a solid performance against Steven Luevano. His next fight is against Bernabe Concepcion on July 10 in Juanma's first defense of his WBO title.

#23 Chris John (IND) (43-0-2, 20 KO) [Featherweight]

Three of the best: Roinet Caballero RTD-7; Hiryoki Enoki UD-12; Rocky Juarez UD-12;
Last Ranking: #22

John keeps dropping down the rankings and it's his longevity that keeps him in my top 25. He needs to face a top 10 contender to solidify his position, and his next opponent Fernando David Saucedo doesn't qualify as a legit opponent.

#22 Celestino Caballero (PAN) (33-2, 23 KO) [Featherweight]

Three of the best: Lorenzo Parra TKO-12; Steve Molitor TKO-4; Jeffrey Mathebula SD-12;
Last Ranking: #21

The third featherweight in a row, Caballero drops but is still hunting down the big guns in search of a healthy payday. He faces Daud Yordan this coming Saturday in a tough fight for the Panamanian.

#21 David Haye (GBR) (24-1, 22 KO) [Heavyweight]

Three of the best: Jean Marc-Mormeck TKO-7; Nikolay Valuev MD-12; John Ruiz TKO-9;
Last Ranking: #23

Two-weight world champion Haye moves up two places following his impressive stoppage victory over John Ruiz. Hopefully, we can see Haye match-up with a Klitschko before the end of 2010.

#20 Vitali Klitschko (UKR) (38-2, 36 KO) [Heavyweight]

Three of the best: Sam Peter RTD-8; Juan Carlos Gomez TKO-9; Chris Arreola RTD-10;
Last Ranking: #20

Big bro' keeps his position and his next defense is against Albert Sosnowski, which is a fight that can only damage his ranking.

#19 Miguel Cotto (PUR) (34-2, 27 KO) [Junior Middleweight]

Three of the best: Zab Judah TKO-11; Shane Mosley UD-12; Joshua Clottey SD-12;
Last Ranking: #18

Miguel Cotto drops one place because of a new entry, and his scheduled fight against Yuri Foreman will guarantee movement for the two-weight world champion.

#18 Sergio Martinez (ARG) (44-2-2, 24 KO) [Middleweight]

Three of the best: Saul Roman KO-4; Alex Bunema RTD-8; Kermit Cintron D-12;
Last Ranking: #17

Martinez could possibly enter the top 10 with a win against Kelly Pavlik in a fortnight at Atlantic City. His performance against Paul Williams is the reason he's ranked at #18.

#17 Andre Ward (USA) (21-0, 13 KO) [Super Middleweight]

Three of the best: Henry Buchanan UD-12; Edison Miranda UD-12; Mikkel Kessler TD-11;
Last Ranking: #16

Andre Ward is now the favourite to win the Super 6 Boxing Classic 168-pound tournament after he annihilated Mikkel Kessler to win his first world title. Allan Green is his next opponent.

#16 Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (THI) (75-3-1, 39 KO) [Flyweight]

Three of the best: Daisuke Naito D-12; Julio Cesar Miranda UD-12; Koki Kameda MD-12;
Last Ranking: Not Rated

Wonjongkam regained his WBC title with a victory over Koki Kameda where he also won The Ring Championship belt in the process. Plenty of big money fights on the table for Wongjongkam, and maybe he can rise further up the pound-4-pound stakes if he keeps defeating his rivals.

#15 Nonito Donaire (PHI) (23-1, 15 KO) [Junior Bantamweight]

Three of the best: Vic Darchinyan TKO-5; Raul Martinez TKO-4; Rafael Concepcion UD-12;
Last Ranking: #15

Donaire hasn't capitalised on his spectacular kayo victory over Vic Darchinyan, but an interesting rematch maybe on the cards. Can three pounds make a difference?

#14 Kelly Pavlik (USA) (36-1, 32 KO) [Middleweight]

Three of the best: Edison Miranda TKO-7; Jermain Taylor TKO-7; Marco Antonio Rubio RTD-9;
Last Ranking: #14

Pavlik would be edging near the top 5 had he not been humiliated by Bernard Hopkins, but now finds himself re-building a damaged reputation with Martinez next up.

#13 Carl Froch (GBR) (26-0, 20 KO) [Super Middleweight]

Three of the best: Jean Pascal UD-12; Jermain Taylor TKO-12; Andre Dirrell SD-12;
Last Ranking: #13

The highest rank Brit is at #13 and his impressive resume of opponents could feature Mikkel Kessler on April 17.

#12 Ivan Calderon (PUR) (33-0-1, 6 KO) [Junior Flyweight]

Three of the best: Nelson Dieppa UD-12; Hugo Cazares TD-7; Rodel Mayol TD-7;
Last Ranking: #12

Calderon was slated to face Brian Viloria before the 'Hawaiian Punch' lost to Carlos Tamara, and now the undefeated Calderon faces mandatory challenger Johnriel Casimero who's an up and coming dangerous Filipino.

#11 Lucian Bute (ROM) (25-0, 20 KO) [Super Middleweight]

Three of the best: Sakio Bika UD-12; Alejandro Berrio TKO-11; Librado Andrade KO-4;
Last Ranking: #11

The best super middleweight outside of Showtime's tournament will face Edison Miranda this month with one eye on the outcome of Pavlik-Martinez who fight in the co-feature on HBO.

UP - Devon Alexander NR to #25; Juan Manuel Lopez NR to #24; David Haye #23 to #21; Pongsaklek Wonjongkam NR to #16

DOWN - Fernando Montiel #25 to NR; Tomasz Adamek #24 to NR; Chris John #22 to #23; Celestino Caballero #21 to #22; Arthur Abraham #19 to NR; Miguel Cotto #18 to #19; Sergio Martinez #17 to #18; Andre Ward #16 to #17;

The rankings will continue tomorrow with part 2, ranging from 10-1.

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The Decline of Ivan Calderon

by Dafs117

Over two years ago, when it came to junior flyweight icon Ivan Calderon’s fights, the details were not a necessity. The 5 foot southpaw jabbed, moved, boxed, barely got hit and won decisions. Often, those decisions were of the near shutout variety and against respected ex-titlists such as Nelson Dieppa and Alex Sanchez, there was nothing ‘near’ about it.

As the “Iron Boy” gained popularity and pound-4-pound recognition, TV networks kept rejecting him. In their opinion his manner of his victories was not in their interest.

In August 2008, the much owed rematch between the Puerto Rican and Hugo Cazares took place in front of his home crowd. With the pressure of a big performance needed and a TV contract possibly on the line, Calderon carelessly tried to put on a show, humiliating Cazares on some occasions with his slippery defence quickly turned into offence. Cazares as the bigger guy, walked through Calderon’s punches and in the 7th round of their WBO light flyweight title fight, an accidental head-butt severely lacerated Calderon’s forehead forcing the ringside doctor to immediately stop the fight. Calderon won the decision, but the severity of the cut forced him out of action for 10 months.

His comeback fight was against Phillipino Rodel Mayol, on the undercard of Cotto-Clottey. The undercard was unaired and Calderon missed out once again on a chance to earn a bigger payday. On the night however, he was frustrated by the reach advantage of Mayol and he was cut again by another accidental head-butt. Calderon’s spotless record had a minor tweak, as the fight was awarded a technical draw.

In their rematch the unthinkable happened, another cut caused by an accidental head-butt. Calderon did win a split technical decision in the 7th round but his performance wasn’t of the usual ease and grace that we were used to see from the ‘Iron Boy.’

Is it his style that causes the frequent clash of heads? It must have something to do with it. Three technical decisions in a row don’t happen often. What’s caused the recent dip in his high standards? Could it be a lack of confidence after being slashed across his forehead? He’s getting older and his reflexes have been slowing down recently. Will Calderon ever get a chance to show his flair on HBO? Probably not. But the Puerto Rican star has added a much needed kick up the backside to Strawweight and the Junior Flyweight divisions. Not since the departure of Ricardo Lopez have we ever taken an interest in these quiet divisions, but with names like Calderon, Roman Gonzalez and Brian Viloria attempting to take the mini guys to the mainstream, we could be taking even more of an interest than the Lopez days.

Discuss this topic on our brand new board!

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Puerto Rico vs. Philippines: Three Months, Three Title Fights- Round 2

by OneKrazyRican

Last Friday, September 4th, Philippine’s Marvin “Marvelous” Sonsona not only became one of the youngest Filipino world titlists in history, he became the first Filipino fighter to beat a Puerto Rican champion. After compiling a 6-0-2 (5kos) record in world title fight against the Philippines, Puerto Rico loses the first of this unofficial 3 fight series and gets to meet the latest pinoy boxing sensation in the explosive punching Sonsona.

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Ivan Calderon is Ready to Defend on Cotto-Clottey Undercard

Miguel Cotto won't be the only Puerto Rican superstar fighting at Madison Square Garden on June 13th.

WBO and Ring Magazine Jr. Flyweight champ, Ivan Calderon, will be defending his title against Filipino challenger, Rodel Mayol on the Cotto-Clottey undercard.

This will be Calderon's first fight since August of last year when he suffered a deep cut in his forehead in a rematch against Mexico's Hugo Cazares.

Don't expect much from Mayol, though...Despite being the WBO's #1 contender, he's only 3-3 in his last 6.

But he does own something called The Philippines Games & Amusement Board Light Flyweight Title!

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