Boxing Herald Rankings

Editor's Note: Rankings are compiled on an even basis of figher ability and accomplishment.

Boxing Herald Champion:

With Floyd Mayweather Jr. retired, Calzaghe takes over the reigns as the sport’s premier pugilist. It’s hard to argue against Manny Pacquiao for this spot, but Calzaghe’s long, undefeated reign is an accomplishment unmatched in my eyes; perfection pays off when it comes to pound for pound rankings.

Any pundit who favors a fighter’s quality of wins over quantity of wins puts Pacquiao number one on this list – I’m just not one of those writers.

Pacquiao has made a career out of blitzing the best boxers of his generation. His most recent performance, a ninth round TKO against lightweight champ David Diaz, was one of his most impressive.

A six time champion in five weight classes, it’s hard to find fault with Pacquaio’s resume. The only blemish of note on his record is a close decision loss to legend Erik Morales in 2005. Unfortunately, all it takes is a minor blemish to keep a fighter off of the pound for pound throne.

"The Ghost" is as scary as his moniker indicates – he haunts opponents with a viscous right hand that can knock a fighter out cold. Pavlik, who made quick work of contender Gary Lockett in June, is scheduled to meet former middleweight champion Bernard Hopkins at a catch weight of 170 pound this October.

The Mexican technician, who holds a win over Marco Antonio Barrera and a draw with Pacquiao, is coming off a split decision rematch loss to the tenacious Filipino. But Marquez, who many thought won the second fight with Pacquiao, showed great skill and heart in defeat. He's currently set to clash with lightweight Joel Casamayor in September.

A champion at 122 and 130 pounds, Guzman is perhaps the most underrated fighter in boxing today. His dominant wins over Jorge Rodrigo Barrios and Agapito Sanchez are impressive, but what sets Guzman apart from other champions is his masterpiece UD win over rugged Mexican Humberto Soto. Many experts, including ESPN.com's Dan Rafael, thought Soto was the stacked 130 pound division's dark horse; Guzman out-pointed Soto in dynamic fashion.

In September, Guzman will make the jump to 135 pounds to fight champion Nate Campbell. That fight should be a classic.

Vazquez always fights the best pugs in his division, and in the majority of his big fights, he wins in dramatic fashion. He took two out of three fights against both Oscar Larios and Rafael Marquez, and he holds a knockout victory over the talented Johnny Gonzalez. He may be the loaded 122 pound division's most talented fighter.

Though a largely unknown entity in the boxing world, Mijares is one of the fight game's most talented pugs. His super-slick style is so unorthodox that fans enjoy watching him fight even though they rarely see him score knockouts. Mijares' dominant wins over Jorge Arce and Jose Navarro evince his high status in the boxing world. And his most recent victory -- a split decision nod over the talented Alexander Munoz – confirms this high spot.

Up next for Mijares is an August fight with veteran Chatchai Sasakul, who is best known for losing to Pacquiao in 1998.

Don't let Hatton's one-sided welterweight loss to Floyd Mayweather Jr. in September fool you -- the Brit can still fight. At 140 pounds, Hatton is a near unstoppable force who steamrolls opponents with a diverse, two-fisted attack. Hatton struggled in his most recent bout against Juan Lazcano, but we can excuse "The Hitman" for the poor performance. He did, in fact, fight only five months after losing to Mayweather.

Hatton will likely fight Brooklyn bad boy Paulie Malignaggi in November. A win against Malignaggi will set Hatton up for potential fights against Pacquiao and lightweight Juan Diaz in the future.

8. Paul Williams:

Williams is a freak. Standing at 6’1 and fighting at 147 pounds, "The Punisher" is tough for any fighter to handle simply because of his body structure. But physique isn’t the only tool Williams uses to punish opponents. The South Carolina native throws upwards of 100 punches every round and his chin is hard as rock.

Williams’ most recent outing was a first round trouncing of Carlos Quintana, who had handed Williams his first career defeat. The sweet revenge helps Williams earn this spot.

9. Antonio Margarito:

After 15 years of chasing down boxing’s biggest names, Margarito finally made his dreams come true with a knockout of Miguel Cotto on July 26. The Mexican warrior wore Cotto down over the course of 11 rounds before forcing the Puerto Rican’s corner to throw in the towel.

Margarito, whose blemishes include a defeat at the hands of Williams and junior middleweight champion Daniel Santos, will look to exact revenge on Williams in the future. He could also give Cotto a rematch.

An eight year unbeaten streak came to an end on July 26 when Cotto was TKO’d by Margarito in 11 rounds. But it’s not fair to keep Cotto off of this list because of one loss, especially considering his prominent list of previous victims.

1. Wladimir Klitschko

2. Ruslan Chagaev

3. Sam Peter

4. Nikolay Valuev

5. Alexander Povetkin

6. John Ruiz

7. Sultan Ibragimov

8. David Haye

9. Jason Estrada

10. Chris Arreola

1. Steve Cunningham

2. Jonathan Banks

3. Firat Arslan

4. Rudolf Kraj

5. Jean Marc Mormeck

6. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk

7. Tomasz Adamek

8. Marco Huck

9. B.J. Flores

10. Matt Godfrey

1. Chad Dawson

2. Glen Johnson

3. Antonio Tarver

4. Roy Jones Jr.

5. Zsolt Erdei

6. Adrian Diaconu

7. Elvir Muriqi

8. Clinton Woods

9. Shaun George

10. Reggie Johnson

1. Mikkel Kessler

2. Lucian Bute

3. Anthony Mundine

4. Librado Andrade

5. Carl Froch

6. Denis Inkin

7. Fulgencio Zuniga

8. Jermain Taylor

9. Jeff Lacy

10. Sakio Bika

1. Arthur Abraham

2. Ronald "Winky" Wright

3. Felix Sturm

4. Randy Griffin

5. Raul Marquez

6. Sebastian Sylvester

7. John Duddy

8. Joe Greene

9. Marco Antonio Rubio

10. Giovanni Lorenzo

1. Sergio Mora

2. Verno Phillups

3. Sergiy Dzinziruk

4. Daniel Santos

5. Joachim Alcine

6. Travis Simms

7. Alex Bunema

8. James Kirkland

9. Yuri Foreman

10. Cory Spinks

1. Paul Williams

2. Antonio Margarito

3. Miguel Cotto

4. Shane Mosley

5. Andre Berto

6. Kermit Cintron

7. Zab Judah

8. Joshua Clottey

9. Jesus Soto Karass

10. Carlos Quintana

1. Timothy Bradley

2. Kendall Holt

3. Junior Witter

4. Demetrius Hopkins

5. Andreas Kotelnik

6. Francisco Figueroa

7. Lamont Peterson

8. Herman Ngoudjo

9. Randall Bailey

10. Ricardo Torres

1. Manny Pacquiao

2. Joel Casamayor

3. Amir Khan

4. Juan Diaz

5. Michael Katsidis

6. Jorge Armando Santa Cruz

7. Prawet Singwancha

8. Julio Diaz

9. Anthony Peterson

10. Ali Funeka

1. Juan Manuel Marquez

2. Joan Guzman

3. Edwin Valero

4. Marco Antonio Barrera

5. Humberto Soto

6. Cassius Baloyi

7. Alex Arthur

8. Kevin Mitchell

9. Rocky Juarez

10. Mzonke Fana

1. Jorge Linares

2. Robert Guerrero

3. Steve Luevano

4. Orlando Salido

5. Hector Velazquez

6. Choi Tseveenpurev

7. Mario Santiago

8. Jorge Solis

9. Nicky Cook

10. Hiroyuki Enoki

1. Celestino Caballero

2. Rafeal Marquez

3. Juan Manuel Lopez

4. Steve Molitor

5. Johnny Gonzalez

6. Poonsawat Kratingdaenggym

7. Daniel Ponce De Leon

8. Rey Bautista

9. Ricardo Cordoba

10. Akifumi Shimoda

1. Gerry Penalosa

2. Hozumi Hasegawa

3. Abner Mares

4. Vusi Malinga

5. Wladimir Sidorenko

6. Joseph Agbeko

7. Luis Perez

8. Anselmo Moreno

9. Simone Maludrotto.

10. Jorge Arce

1. Christian Mijares

2. Fernando Montiel

3. Vic Darchinyan

4. Z Gorres

5. Dimitri Kirilov

6. Alexander Munoz

7. Jose Navarro

8. Nobuo Nashiro

9. Luis Maldonado

10. Jose Lopez

1. Daisuke Naito

2. Koki Komeda

3. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam

4. Roberto Vasquez

5. Takefumi Sakata

6. Omar Navarez

7. Brian Viloria

8. Bernard Inom

9. Denkaosan Kaowichit

10. Andrea Sarritzu

1. Ulises Solis

2. Edgar Sosa

3. Hugo Cazares

4. Cesar Canchilla

5. Juanito Rubillar

6. Julio Cesar Miranda

7. Muvhuso Nedzanani

8. Nelson Dieppa

9. Daniel Reyes

10. Giovanni Segura

1. Yutaka Niida

2. Raul Garcia

3. Donnie Nietes

4. Muhammad Rachman

5. Oleydong Sithsamerchai

6. Florante Condes

7. Nkosinathi Joyi

8. Eagle Kyowa

9. Pornsawan Kratingdaenggym

10. Denver Cuello