This is one of those pound-for-pound lists where who's missing ? and who replaced the people who used to be there ? is actually more noteworthy than any substantial movement that anyone made for himself.
So let?s start by talking about who isn?t on it since last time, and why. (Because it matters!)
I previously had light heavyweight Chad Dawson at #4. It was a ?soft? four, though. It wasn?t a real entrenched four, the way Shane Mosley had earlier been a ?hard? three and didn?t drop much when he lost in May to #2 Floyd Mayweather, because Dawson hasn?t been a top pound-for-pound guy for very long. Dawson?s gone now because, while he lost to the clear #1 man in his division, that man ? Jean Pascal ? had no pound-for-pound credentials of his own. This was a real upset, even if some people wisely anticipated it. And Dawson, in the loss, simply didn?t look very good. Even diehard Pascal fans have to admit that, as well as Pascal fought, a Dawson who fights up to his potential probably beats him, but he increasingly appears to have a mental block about being aggressive. Dawson's now just on the outside of my top 20, like the rest of these guys.
I previously had junior flyweight Ivan Calderon at #13, but he'd been falling and his loss to Giovanni Segura pushed him out entirely.
I previously had featherweight Chris John at #14. He?s gone now, too. As of just a few weeks from now ? not even to the halfway point of the next update -- John won?t have fought in a year, and he doesn?t have anything scheduled. That?s pretty much an automatic removal. If he comes back with any quality wins whatsoever, he?s back on the list ? but with Fernando Saucedo his anticipated next opponent, I wouldn?t expect anything like that soon.
I previously had bantamweight Nonito Donaire at #15. He?s gone, and I?m sure there will be some shrieking about this one. Donaire has all the talent in the world, and I like him very much. But I place an emphasis on quality wins, especially recent ones, and Donaire has a grand total of one marquee opponent on his resume and hasn?t done anything all that impressive in three years since scoring it, with the anniversary of that big win coming since the last update of this list. In July of 2007, Donaire fought Vic Darchinyan and destroyed him, which put him on the map. From July of 2007 to July of 2008, he had one win over a borderline top-10 flyweight whom Darchinyan had knocked out the year before. From July of 2008 to July of 2009, he had a win over a borderline top-10 flyweight and a flyweight prospect. From July of 2009 to July of 2010, he had a win over an unranked, over the weight limit 115-pounder, a blown up strawweight and a blown up flyweight. Some of those wins were good wins, and, paired with the Darchinyan win, were enough to push him up high on some people?s lists. But it?s been, literally, three years.
That said, if Donaire ever fights Fernando Montiel and wins, I think he goes right into the top 10, because that would be a recent win that, when paired with talent and previous resume, would be impressive.
Now, on to who?s on the list, which includes some new additions. As usual, the emphasis is on quality wins, with an emphasis on recent activity.
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