SPORTS SHORTS 158: ERROL SPENCE, THE RING #6, BWAA #4, TBRB #5, ESPN #4, BOXREC #4 VS. MANNY PACQUIAO, BOXREC #10 POUND-FOR-POUND
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 29 Jun 2021
Pound for pound is a ranking used in boxing, to determine who the better fighters are in relation to their weight, which are adjusted to compensate for weight class. Since these fighters do not compete directly, judging the best fighter pound for pound is instinctive, and the rankings differ per ratings body.
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The pound-for-pound rankings may be based on a range of criteria including "quality of opposition", factors such as the excitement of the fighter when he battles atop the ring or how famous the boxer is, or it could be an attempt to determine who would win if all those ranked were the same weight size.
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“Pound-for-pound rankings is by opinions only,” says trainer Johnathon Banks in complex.com who has worked with future Hall of Famer Gennadiy Golovkin. “You don’t get [a] championship with opinions. What are the criteria? That is a question that’s never really been answered.”
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“It’s good for the media, social media, it keeps people talking. That’s why I like it,” says Banks. “Anything that gets people talking about the sport is good for the sport.”
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The Ring magazine first listed the top-10 pound-for-pound world rankings. Then the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA),
Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB), ESPN and BoxRec came up their own pound-for-pound list.
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The BWAA’s pound-for-pound polls are selected by BWAA members from their respected news outlets and is decided based on a descending points system. A first-place vote receives 10 points, a second-place vote receives nine points and so on. Ties will be broken in favor of the fighter with the most votes.
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Canelo Alvarez added another world title by defeating Billy Joe Saunders on May 8 in Arlington, Texas. After a long time at No. 2, the win enabled him to land at the top spot in ESPN's pound-for-pound rankings. Terence Crawford, the former ESPN No. 1, did not fight in 2021 and currently doesn't have a scheduled fight.
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ESPN is an American multinational basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company and Hearst Communications. The company was founded in 1979 by Bill Rasmussen along with his son Scott Rasmussen and Ed Egan.
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The Transnational Boxing Rankings Board (TBRB) is formed in October 2012 with the intention of providing professional boxing with authoritative top-ten rankings. Board members are independent professional journalists, boxing historians and record keepers from around the world.
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BoxRec or boxrec.com is a website specialized to updating records of professional and amateur boxers. BoxRec publishes ratings for all active boxers and all time ratings.
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The longest reigning No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter by The Ring is Roy Jones Jr. of the United States who reigned in both the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions from April 12, 1997 to May 15, 2004 good for 2,590 days.
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Here are the pound-for-pound rankings for the legitimate sports media outlet who listed boxers across all weight divisions in The Ring, BWAA, TBRB, ESPN, and BoxRec.
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Canelo Álvarez (Mexico) 56–1–2 (38 KOs), WBA (Super), WBC, WBO and The Ring super middleweight champion
The Ring #1
BWAA #1
TBRB #1
ESPN #1
BoxRec #1
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Naoya Inoue(Japan) 20–0 (17 KOs), IBF, WBA (Super), and The Ring bantamweight champion
The Ring #2
BWAA #3
TBRB #2
ESPN #3
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Terence Crawford (United States) 37–0 (28 KOs), WBO welterweight champion
The Ring #3
BWAA #2
TBRB #3
ESPN #2
BoxRec #2
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Oleksandr Usyk (Ukraine) 18–0 (13 KOs), heavyweight
The Ring #4
BWAA #7
TBRB #4
ESPN #8
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Josh Taylor (United Kingdom) 18–0 (13 KO), IBF, WBA (Super), WBC, WBO and The Ring light welterweight champion
The Ring #5
TBRB #6
ESPN #7
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Errol Spence Jr. (United States) 27–0 (21 KOs), IBF and WB welterweight champion
The Ring #6
BWAA #4
TBRB #5
ESPN #4
BoxRec #4
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Teófimo López (United States) 16–0 (12 KOs) IBF, WBA (Super), WBO, and The Ring lightweight champion
The Ring #7
BWAA #5
TBRB #10
ESPN #5
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Juan Francisco Estrada (Mexico) 42–3 (28 KOs), WBA (Super) and The Ring super flyweight champion
The Ring #8
BWAA #9
TBRB #8
ESPN #10
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Vasyl Lomachenko(Ukraine) 14–2 (10 KO), lightweight
The Ring #9
BWAA #8
ESPN #9
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Kazuto Ioka (Japan) 26–2 (15 KOs), WBO super flyweight champion
The Ring #10
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Tyson Fury (United Kingdom) 30–0–1 (21 KOs), WBC and The Ring heavyweight champion
BWAA #6
TBRB #7
ESPN #6
BoxRec #3
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Gennady Golovkin (Kazakhstan) 41–1–1 (36 KOs), IBF and IBO middleweight champion
BWAA #10
TBRB #9
BoxRec #5
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Anthony Joshua (United Kingdom) 24–1 (22 KOs), IBF, WBA (Super), WBO, and IBO heavyweight champion
BoxRec #7
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Deontay Wilder (United States) 42–1–1 (41 KOs), heavyweight
BoxRec #9
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Jermall Charlo (United States) 31–0 (22 KOs), WBC middleweight champion
BoxRec #6
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Óscar Valdez (Mexico) 29–0 (23 KOs), WBC super featherweight champion
BoxRec #8
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Manny Pacquiao (Philippines) 62–7–2 (39 KOs), welterweight
BoxRec #10
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The Milwaukee Bucks starring Khris Middleton rallied in the dying minutes to seal a 113-102 Game 3 win over the Atlanta Hawks. The Bucks took a 2-1 series lead in the Eastern Conference finals.
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Atlanta star guard Trae Young sprained his right ankle in the third quarter. He joined in the fourth, but was highly ineffective as the Bucks rallied for victory. He will be scheduled for an MRI on Monday, and whether he is available for Game 4 is in question.
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The Serbian national basketball team will face Gilas Pilipinas first in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT). It will probably be the toughest opponent the young members of the Philippine squad has faced in their career.
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Serbia is ranked fifth in the world, but missed an outright Olympic slot after failing to enter the semifinals of the 2019 FIBA World Cup, where champion Spain and third-placer France grabbed the two slots reserved for Europe.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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