By Jake Chaney,
The purpose of this article is to examine female boxing's 4 leading P4P stars, judging each on these two main factors:
- Recent opposition – highlighting wins over quality contenders and against the P4P elite.
- Style in which victory was achieved.
For a more detailed analysis of what "pound for pound" actually means, click here.
The criteria above, like many aspects of P4P lists, is subjective. However, to keep the assessment as consistent and as objective as possible, "recent opposition" will be deemed as any fight that occurred in the last 5 years, and "style in which victory was achieved," will predominantly be gauged by the result of official score cards, and whether victory was via KO.
The “quality” of an opponent is difficult to judge, but the standard of each individual fighter’s resume will be taken into consideration, and where possible, LBC's ratings will be referred to.
#4 Cecilia Braekhus
Record over last 5 years:
11-0 (2 KOs).
Number of these opponents still in the divisional top 5 rankings:
3. Kali Reis, Erica Farias, Chris Namus.
Other notable opponents:
3. Mikaela Lauren. Klara Svensson. Inna Sagaydakovskaya.
P4P opponents:
0. Braekhus could fight the highly regarded American, Layla McCarter (P4P #6), at 147lbs. Shields (P4P #1) is fighting at 154lbs this year and has also shown interest in a clash with Braekhus.
Style of victories:
Braekhus widely outscored Namus and Farias over 10 rounds. Dropped by Reis in round 7 of their 2018 fight, Cecilia lost another two rounds on two of the official cards, but ultimately won a unanimous 10 round decision. Klara Svensson, Mikaela Lauren and Inna Sagaydakovskaya
were highly regarded Junior Middleweights entering their bouts with Braekhus. Cecilia stopped Lauren in the 6th and widely outpointed Sagaydakovskaya and Svensson.
Lineal Titles:
0. Aside from Braekhus, arguably the two leading Welterweights of the past 5 years were/are Tori Nelson and Layla McCarter. Between 2010-2015 Nelson went unbeaten in 17 fights, including wins over Reis, Lopes, Mia St John and Cisneros at 147lbs making her a significant rival to Braekhus in 2014/15. Nelson now competes at Middleweight so a fight with Braekhus seems unlikely. McCarter has been fighting consistently at 140-147lbs since mid-2016, and is currently ranked at #2 at 147lbs - a Braekhus/McCarter bout would be for the vacant Lineal Title if it could be negotiated.
#3 Katie Taylor
Record over last 5 years (turned pro in 2016):
14-0 (6 KOs).
Number of these opponents still in the divisional top 5 rankings:
7. Nina Meinke, Esther Sanchez, Jessica McCaskill, Victoria Bustos, Eva Wahlstrom, Rose Volante, Delfine Persoon.
Other notable opponents:
1. Cindy Serrano.
P4P opponents:
1. Persoon. Currently rated at #6 P4P by Lineal Boxing Champion (LBC). Prior to the Taylor/Persoon bout Delfine was just outside of the LBC P4P top 10, but was at #6 in the Boxing Writers Association of America P4P 10.
Style of victories:
Controversial 10 round decision over Persoon – one card had it even at 95/95, the other two had it 96/94. Aside from this, Taylor has been mightily impressive, stopping Volante and Meinke, and winning shut out decisions against Cindy Serrano, Wahlstrom, and Sanchez. On two of the official cards, Katie lost a round against Bustos, and two rounds against McCaskill.
Lineal Titles:
1.Won a 10 round majority decision over #2 rated Lightweight Delfine Persoon for the vacant Lineal Championship.
#2 Amanda Serrano
Record over last 5 years:
16-0 (12 KOs)
Number of these opponents still in the divisional top 5 rankings:
4. Futuma Zarika x2, Yazmin Rivas, Eva Voraberger.
Other notable opponents:
1. Maria Maderna.
P4P opponents:
0. Potential P4P opponents Serrano could fight: Mariana Juarez, Daniella Bermudez, Delfine Persoon, Katie Taylor.
Style of victories:
Voraberger and Maderna were KO'd. Zurika x2 and Rivas were widely outpointed. 10 of Serrano's 11 other opponents were stopped, with the remaining one being decisively outpointed. Generally all very one sided, dominating victories.
Lineal Titles:
0. During the last 5 years Serrano has fought in multiple weight classes, the primary ones being from Junior Featherweight to Lightweight. The best fighters in this weight range during this timeframe have generally been: Delfine Persoon and Katie Taylor (Lightweight), Hyun Choi (Lightweight), Heather Hardy and Jelena Mrdjenovich (Featherweight), and Marcela Acuna (Jr Featherweight).
#1 Claressa Shields
Record over the last 5 years (turned pro in 2016):
9-0 (2 KOs).
Number of these opponents still in the divisional top 5 rankings:
6. Franchon Dezurn, Tori Nelson, Hanna Gabriels, Hannah Rankin, Femke Hermans and Christina Hammer.
P4P opponents:
1. The stand out opponent for Shields was Christina Hammer who was LBC's #10 ranked P4P fighter at the time of their fight. Although Shields was seen as the favourite, most pundits predicted a close fight, and a Hammer victory wouldn't have been a huge shock. Hammer's wide decision over Tori Nelson in 2018 showed she was in good form entering the showdown with Shields.
Style of victories:
Against Dezurn, Hermans, Nelson and Rankin, Shields won every single round on all 12 score cards. Claressa had to climb off the canvas in the first round against Gabriels but then swept all 9 of the remaining rounds on one card, 8 of the remaining 9 rounds on the other two cards. The Hammer unanimous decision was more one sided than had been anticipated. All three judges gave Shields 8 of the 10 rounds, with two of the judges scoring round eight 10/8 to Claressa in reflection of her total dominance in that round, even without a knockdown.
Lineal Titles:
1. Defeated #2 rated Middleweight Hammer (24-0) at 160lbs for the vacant Lineal Championship.
P4P #1
In their short professional careers the number of quality opponents that Taylor and Shields have each faced is similar to the number Braekhus has fought in 5 years. Serrano has generally fought a slightly lower calibre fighters than Cecilia in recent years, although has won all her fights emphatically, often by KO, and has also tested her skill across multiple weight divisions, proving she can still win when at a physical disadvantage against naturally bigger foes.
An important question when deciding who deserves the P4P No.1 position is, how did she perform when facing the best? Many good fighters may appear sensational when dispatching of mediocre opposition, but when the bar is raised, they struggle – some fail, spectacularly.
Amanda, who has frequently fought between 115-140lbs, has not yet fought the best these divisions have to offer - fighters such as Persoon, Taylor, Mrdjenovich, Hardy, Acuna, Juarez and Bermudez.
Braekhus too, while facing arguably a higher calibre of opposition than Serrano, and winning a string of ABC titles, did not fight her major rivals, Holly Holm and Tori Nelson, and has so far, not negotiated a fight with P4P Welterweight ace, Layla McCarter.
Katie Taylor relatively comfortably won her first 13 fights before then seeking out a clash with this era's long reigning Lightweight No.1, Delfine Persoon. Against an opponent who was considered P4P top 10 worthy by some, Taylor passed the test. Just. The decision was razor thin, controversial in the eyes of many observers, but Katie got the victory.
Franchon Dezrurn is the top rated Super Middleweight right now, a woman who Claressa Shields beat when both made their debuts in 2016. The likelihood is that if Claressa Shields had wanted, she could have stayed at 168lbs and probably dominated there for years. Instead Shields headed to Middleweight and targeted the undefeated Christina Hammer, who had been the division’s best fighter of the decade. Although Shields was viewed by many as the favourite, a competitive fight was predicted. Surprisingly, against the taller, longer armed, more experienced professional fighter who was rated at #10 P4P, Claressa didn't scrape to victory. She outclassed the German, leaving no doubt as to who the superior fighter is.
Shields is the only female fighter in recent years who has outclassed a P4P top 10 rated fighter, and admirably, she wasn't pushed into making this fight; she actively sought Hammer out. This undeniable skill and desire to take on all-comers, is what makes her the Pound-for-Pound Queen in women's boxing today.
@LinealBoxChamp