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(Updated Jan., 2016)


By William Trillo & Raymundo Dioses
Photos: Bret Newton, Marlene Marquez, German Villasenor & Ray Bailey

Due to circumstances beyond out of our control (well maybe it’s our fault) our P4P Top 10 list has not been updated in quite some time. But fear not, one of our newest contributors, Raymundo Dioses, has stepped up to take on the daunting challenge. With this new P4P list we are hopeful Raymundo will chime in a couple more times this year as fighters raise and/or drop in the rankings.

Speaking of dropping, we are also bringing back our P4P Bottom 5 by none other than William Trillo. As usual there may be some fighters who make it to both lists as you will soon find out here. Without further adieu……
 
1. Roman Gonzalez (46-0, 38 KO's)
Despite facing solid opposition against Carlos Cuadras this past September 2016 at The Forum, ‘Chocolatito’ successfully stepped up in weight to challenge WBC titlist Cuadras and still showed the skills and poise that has most pundits ranking him No. 1 or No. 2 fighter in the world, alongside Gennady Golovkin, for the past year.
With the Cuadras decision win, Gonzalez, a Nicaragua native, once again became a champion in another weight class and is in talks to fight again in the early months of 2017. Regardless of when he fights, rest assured you are watching today’s current No. 1 fighter.
 

2. Gennady Golovkin (36-0, 33 KO's)
Golovkin, AKA ‘GGG’, has steadily become one of the most exciting fighters as well as the most avoid during his rise in the middleweight division which has included unifying 160 pound titles while riding an incredible knockout streak (23) alongside middleweight title defenses (16) that may see him eclipse Bernard Hopkins defense record (20). The combination of Golovkin’s power in both hands alongside an exciting, crowd please style have had Golovkin trading No. 1 and No. 2 spots with Gonzalez.

Look for Golovkin to go for knockout number 17 and middleweight title defense number 17 in March against Daniel Jacobs in New York.
 

3. Vasyl Lomachenko (7-1, 5 KO's)
The two-time Olympic Gold medalist burst into the professional ranks in 2013 and in only his third fight, the Ukraine featherweight earned the vacant WBO title in dominating fashion over Gary Russell, Jr. in 2014. What has followed since are knockout and stoppage wins over Roman Martinez and Nicholas Walters.
Although the fist-thrower has only registered eight bouts as a professional, Lomachenko has already shown that he is all around one of the most fluid boxers in the game, who may soon outgrow or cleanout the featherweight class and jump to the lightweight level for better opposition.
 

4. Andre Ward (31-0, 15 KO's)
Like Lomachenko, Ward also is an Olympic Gold medalist, and since his professional debut in 2004 all Ward has done is win. The Oakland native was a longtime super middleweight champion, later a unified super middleweight champion, and with his most recent win over Sergey Kovalev, Ward finds himself a unified light heavyweight titlist with the IBF, WBA and WBO straps in his possession.

Ward, who at one point during his 12 year career found himself atop many pound for pound lists several years back, does not have the most crowd pleasing style, yet has always found a way to win. The Kovalev win was controversial due to the scorecards and it remains to be seen if a rematch with Kovalev will take place, yet whenever Ward is in a fight, he comes in with the professionalism that earns him pound for pound status.
 

5. Sergey Kovalev (30-1, 15 KO's)
Prior to the Ward bout, Kovalev gained a solid reputation as a heavy hitter in the light heavyweight division. Kovalev gained champion status in 2013 and went on to unify three light heavy titles while becoming one of the most feared boxers in the game.

Due to the controversial outcome in the Ward fight, in which Kovalev sent Ward to the canvas for the first time in his career, it is natural for both fighters to both be ranked in the top ten, as well as in close proximity to each other. A rematch would settle matters and lift the winner to an even higher position.
 

6. Terence Crawford (30-1, 15 KO's)
Crawford is an Ohio native who has unified lightweight titles alongside becoming one of the more gifted fighters in the sport. Alongside a two-fisted, southpaw switch stance, Crawford shows a great all-around effort in the ring. A move to junior-welterweight would produce some interesting matchups for Crawford as well as a higher spot in the pound for pound list.
 

7. Guillermo Rigondeaux (17-0, 11 KO's)
The WBA bantamweight titlist, Rigondeaux is exceptional in every category a fighter can be graded by. Rigondeaux became a major titlist in only his ninth bout for the WBA’s bantamweight title in 2012, in the next year besting Nonito Donaire for an upset win, and has since remained undefeated in that division.

Rigondeaux’s only flaws come via ring inactivity due to promotional issues and a lack of quality opponents since the Donaire fight. Rigondeaux is set to defend his title against unknown Moises Flores in February 2017.
 

8. Canelo Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KO's)
Mexico’s Alvarez has steadily become both one of the most exciting fighters in the sport as well as its most popular and gifted fist throwers of the last several years. The welterweight was undefeated in 42 fights while becoming a 147 pound champion before stepping up to face Floyd Mayweather in September 2013.
Alvarez lost to Mayweather via decision, yet has since gone 7-0. Since 2015, Canelo has faced criticism for not facing Golovkin at middleweight, even dropping the WBC title he won by defeating Miguel Cotto in November of that year. Canelo had a productive 2016, scoring a highlight KO over Amir Khan in May 2016, his only defense of the WBC title before dropping the belt. In September 2016, Canelo won the WBO super welterweight belt with a stoppage over relative unknown Liam Smith.
Canelo is expected to fight twice this year, in May 2017, possibly against Mexico rival Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., and with a verbally agreed to match in September 2017. Expect Canelo to rocket up the pound for pound list with a win over Golovkin.
 

9. Keith Thurman (27-0, 22 KO's)
Thurman is a hard hitting welterweight titlist who burst onto the scene in 2007. The Clearwater, Florida native has steadily beaten quality opposition over the course of his career and as the WBA’s champion for the past several years has shown himself to be a quality fighter.

Thurman is coming off a unanimous decision win over Shawn Porter in June of 2016 and will be fighting Danny Garcia in March 2017.
 

10. Danny Garcia (33-0, 19 KO's)
Puerto Rico’s Garcia is a solid fighter who has been successful in the lightweight, super lightweight and welterweight division since turning professional in 2007. Garcia bested Erik Morales in 2012 for the WBC super lightweight title and unified the division four months later in an upset win over Amir Khan.

Garcia has since defeated Morales again, Zab Judah and Lucas Matthysse. Garcia had debated wins over Mauricio Herrera and Lamont Peterson in previous years, yet finds himself the WBC champion after a decision win over Robert Guerrero in January 2016. A showdown against Thurman will unify the WBC and WBA titles.
 

P4P Bottom 5:


1. Alexander Povetkin (31-1, 23 KO's)
Without question Povetkin has aligned himself with some of the worst drug cheats in boxing and with his second offense for testing positive for banned substances, (yes, that’s plural), Povetkin stands alone as one of the biggest losers in boxing. In the same calendar year this guy had two shots at becoming the heavyweight champ of the world only to piss them away, (take tem literally) after failed drug tests. As of yet there have been no rumors that Donald Trump hacked the internet in order rig the testing and keep the belt safely here in America.
 

2. Deontay Wilder (37-0, 36 KO's)
In his last two fights Wilder defeated a broken down Chris Arreola and before that he defeated an guy who made his way into boxing because he was a pretty tough soccer hooligan, that being Artur Szpilka. No one is buying into this act and quite frankly as Larry Merchant stated, no one knows who Deontay is. Seriously, if you have to pay some schlub to follow you around and shout “Bomb Squad” every 30 seconds just to create a buzz around you, then go ahead and assume the impact you have made in boxing is negligible at best.
 

3. Andre Ward (31-0, 15 KO's)
In a recent article the fighter who arrogantly call himself the “Son Of God” said, “I Don't Have To Fight Anymore, I Accomplished Everything.” So if Ward means squandering his Super Six victory, slapping Showtime in the face by jumping ship and running back to HBO after that gimme concocted prize, staying idle for near two years while he refused to honor a contract he signed, dancing on his promoters grave days after he died to get out of said contract, feigning injury to avoid big fights, asking for tune-up fight after tune-up fight against washed up bums and demanding top money for them and lastly lying about the shock on his face when he was wrongly awarded the victory over Sergey Kovalev…then yeah….Ward has accomplished everything. Now do us all a favor and leave.
 

4. Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. (50-2-1, 32 KO's)
Junior exemplifies everything that it wrong with boxing and the promoters who feed him with a silver spoon in order to line their pockets with the almighty dollar. Fighting only once at the tail end of 2016 Chavez Jr. finally makes weight and defeated a handpicked scrub. Big deal! Somehow doing what is expected of him after years of screwing up has put him in line for a Mega Fight in 2017? Give me a break! In 2015 Chavez Jr. got his ass handed to him by Andrez Fonfara and then tried to save face by fighting a few months later in a catch weight fight at 170 pounds that he still couldn’t make. This spoiled brat does not deserve to be fighting on the coveted Cinco De Mayo weekend and anyone involved with putting him in a fight like this should be ashamed of themselves.
 

5. Danny Garcia (33-0, 19 KO's)
Here is a guy who makes a career out of fighting either has been fighters or smaller guys who have no chance of defeating him. Beating The Ghost and Sammy Vargas in 2016 is nothing to hang your hat on. Yet, with his cheerleader father in his corner Garcia somehow managed to stay afloat. If he somehow can beat Keith Thurman and the victory isn’t controversial, (normally the case in Garcia fights), then and only then will he be removed from this list.
 

Honorable Mention:


Canelo Alvarez (48-1-1, 34 KO's)
You can’t take on GGG at 160 pounds but somehow can challenge Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. at 165 pounds? Enough said!
 

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