By Adam McMeeking.
Over the last century the way in which the term “pound-for-pound” (P4P) has been discussed in boxing circles has changed.
In boxing, “pound-for-Pound” has been used for over a century, one such early example being when the Evening Star newspaper, in 1906, described Battling Nelson as “the fighter of the century at his weight,” and stated “that he would never back water or split hairs when required to meet any boxer on a pound for pound basis.” (as per Luke Williams’ “A short history of P4P” - Boxing Monthly, 2016). If the weight was equal, Battling Nelson would fight anyone.
By the middle of the 20th century the term “pound-for-pound best” became heavily linked with Sugar Ray Robinson, in recognition of his outstanding talent, despite being too small to compete in the more lucrative and popular, Heavyweight division. Muhammad Ali summarised how many viewed Robinson:
“Pound-for-pound. When they say Sugar Ray Robinson was the greatest fighter pound-for-pound, meaning that if I imagine he was a Heavyweight fighting with the same style, he would be the greatest. I would have to admit, I would have to say yes.
“I have his fight films, and that man was beautiful. Timing, speed, reflexes, rhythm, his body, everything was beautiful.”
2019’s P4P #1, Vasyl Lomachenko, and arguably the best fighter, P4P, of all-time, Sugar Ray Robinson
Traditionally, this was how the term was generally applied. Visualise two fighters being the same weight, and based on talent and skill which boxer would be victorious?
In 1989 The Ring Magazine began producing a monthly pound-for-pound top 10, adding more depth and organisation to the topic.
Ring Magazine editor, Tom Gray, gave his summary of the varied criteria that can be used in compiling a P4P list in his introduction to “The Ring Pound For Pound History: From Iron Mike To Chocolatito”:
“One fan might appreciate the technical side of the sport, whereas another might marvel at the brutality of a clean knockout. One member of the media might appreciate a long reigning champion, whereas another might solely focus on the opposition beaten. No pound for pound list is synonymous with truth; not Ring Magazine’s, not yours and not mine.”
During Sky’s “Pound-for-pound” program in 1996, the late veteran boxing expert, Reginald Gutteridge gave his opinion on what was needed to be a P4P top fighter:
“It’s who they fought, that’s who I consider as the best fighter. Has he handled the best fighters of his time, not ducked and dived his way through?” The manner of victory over the best possible opposition - not perfect records and quantity - was more important in Gutteridge’s estimation.
ESPN boxing analyst and former P4P No,1, Andre Ward (FightHype.com February, 2018), held a similar viewpoint:
“It doesn’t mean you have to have all wins, but there has to be a consistent track record, where I’ve got more big wins against big name fighters, and in 50/50 match-ups, if you will, than I do losses.”
In 2019, the question,“imagine they were the same weight and fought - who would win?” seems obsolete, when the leading boxing websites update their P4P lists.
Currently, most boxing sites (Ring, TBRB, Boxing News, ESPN), list Vasyl Lomachenko as their P4P No.1 fighter. Examining the Ukrainian’s career helps identify the qualities that modern boxing analysts look for when picking their No.1 among active fighters.
1. Recent performances. Vasyl has only had 14 professional fights in less than six years as a professional, losing one of them. Since his loss in March 2014, he's on a five year 12 fight unbeaten run. No other P4P top 10 fighter has so few fights on their resume, yet Vasyl is No.1. Manny Pacquiao has had 70 fights, and in 2009 had sensational KO victories over Hatton and Cotto, arguably a superior couple of wins than any other active fighter has - but these were a decade ago. How far back should be counted? That's debatable, but it's evident, recent bouts are what demonstrate a fighter's current performance level, and therefore warrant the most attention on P4P lists.
2. Victories over high quality opposition. In a run of just 5 fights, Lomachenko defeated the undefeated former No.1 Featherweight in the world, Nicholas Walters, solid contenders Jason Sosa and Miguel Marriaga, the undefeated No.1 Junior Featherweight in the world, Guillermo Rigondeaux, and the No.1 Lightweight in the world, Jorge Linares. The Rigondeaux victory elevated Lomachenko to the top of many pound-for-pound lists, and the Linares win left very few disagreeing. A fighter with a long unbeaten streak will often get noticed, but usually, it is the win over a top rated rival that catapults him into a P4P list - Ricky Hatton, 38-0, beating Kostya Tszyu, and Joe Calzaghe, 40-0, drubbing Jeff Lacy, relatively late in their careers, are good examples of this.
3. The style in which the victories were achieved. While recent victories over quality opposition (the two points above), are the key criteria when assessing the pound-for-pound leading boxers, the manner of the wins can be a deciding factor. Of the five opponents named above, Lomachenko stopped all of them (three of them, Walters, Marriaga and Rigondeaux, had never been stopped before). Aside from the Linares fight, Vasyl made the other victories appear easy.
Eye-catching, flamboyant skills are often associated with a P4P top dog (a 90’s Roy Jones Junior throwing a knockout punch from behind his back springs to mind) but they aren’t essential. If a fighter has convincingly ticked the criteria above, then they are supremely skilled – whether they blow the opposition away in 1 round like Mike Tyson, or win a pair of 12 round unanimous decisions like Roman Gonzalez. Bernard Hopkins may not have a highlight reel that matches Manny Pacquiao’s, but nevertheless, he deserved his P4P No.1 position in 2004.
Andre Ward: “It shouldn’t be about popularity. It shouldn’t even be about skill, because guys get it in different kind of ways. Some guys don’t have flashy skills, but anybody that’s considered on the (P4P) list - they still got skills.”
Historically, when considering the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, analysts often attempted to visualise fighter A being the same weight as fighter B, and gauge who would win in a one-on-one situation. The emphasis these days is generally based on a more structured breakdown of relatively recent opposition that the boxer in question has faced. Having said this, if a pound-for-pound No.1 has impressively thrashed a string of top-notch foes (like Ukrainian, Lomachenko has), most would still fancy him to beat any fighter in the world, if viewed in that traditional, “imagine they were the same weight,” manner.