BoxRec

These should bring a smile to the face of any true fans of the sport. Personally I believe these to be more accurate than Ring mag's ratings. Tarver is ranked right where he should be.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/boxing ... id=2696161


(EDIT--As to Hopkins, Rafael removed him last June when Bernard announced his retirement, and even though Nard is officially back and at the top, Rafael might not re-enter him until he fights or is scheduled to fight, so that's not an issue.)

I like Dan Raphael.

Alright, he might look like a fat beardy weirdy but he knows his stuff and unlike many American reporters, he doesnt think the boxing world ends once you reach the edge of America. I value his opinion and often take his word on fighters I have not seen - he seems balanced and doesnt grind axes or court favour, so far as I can see anyway..

Clinton Woods is lucky if he gets into a top 5... anyone who has him #1 has clearly never seen him fight.

Dan is clearly an anglophile. I notice he has Witter as the best light welterweight in the world as well. Can't say I agree with either ranking. Good writer though.

I think we can add Witter to the list of fighters Dan has never seen in the ring...

Taki... wrote:Clinton Woods is lucky if he gets into a top 5... anyone who has him #1 has clearly never seen him fight.

I disagree - he stopped Hoye, outboxed Gonzalez and edged Johnson, which gave him a case.

states wrote:Dan is clearly an anglophile. I notice he has Witter as the best light welterweight in the world as well. Can't say I agree with either ranking. Good writer though.

I think you really have to have Hatton as the number one, because he beat the lineal champ/beyond doubt #1, and moved back down (that said, he never stepped into light welter in all of 06, which is an issue)

Taki, you have to admit it's far more refreshing than the usual copy/pasted

Hopkins
Tarver
Johnson
Jones

crap we are used to reading.

viciousmaussa wrote:

states wrote:Dan is clearly an anglophile. I notice he has Witter as the best light welterweight in the world as well. Can't say I agree with either ranking. Good writer though.

I think you really have to have Hatton as the number one, because he beat the lineal champ/beyond doubt #1, and moved back down (that said, he never stepped into light welter in all of 06, which is an issue)

He has Hatton at 4 a Welterweight at the moment, no doubt he'll move into first place at 140 if he beats Urango.

viciousmaussa wrote:

Taki... wrote:Clinton Woods is lucky if he gets into a top 5... anyone who has him #1 has clearly never seen him fight.

I disagree - he stopped Hoye, outboxed Gonzalez and edged Johnson, which gave him a case.

Hoye was horrendously overrated (especially his ranking), Gonzalez had already been beaten (just as well, if not better) by Erdei, and I thought Johnson beat Woods 3 times (clearly in the third fight).
And do those 3 wins really deserve to garner Woods a ranking above Adamek (who has beaten Briggs twice and KO'd Thomas Ulrich)?
No case for Woods being ranked #1, not on talent and not on opposition, imo.

Clearly, in the third fight?!?!?!?!

No way did Johnson win that third fight not even close, what exactly were you watching??

Hopkins, Tarver, Adamek, Briggs have to be 1-4. Wheres Garay though - robbed twice against Erdei and otherwise undefeated.

nickd wrote:No way did Johnson win that third fight not even close, what exactly were you watching??

I watched Johnson outwork, outpunch and outbox Woods for the first 8 rounds. I might ask what the fornicate you were watching?

Taki... wrote:

nickd wrote:No way did Johnson win that third fight not even close, what exactly were you watching??

I watched Johnson outwork, outpunch and outbox Woods for the first 8 rounds. I might ask what the eff you were watching?

No way, Woods clearly won the third fight. You're the only person I've seen say Johnson won that fight.

nickd wrote:

Taki... wrote:

nickd wrote:No way did Johnson win that third fight not even close, what exactly were you watching??

I watched Johnson outwork, outpunch and outbox Woods for the first 8 rounds. I might ask what the eff you were watching?

No way, Woods clearly won the third fight. You're the only person I've seen say Johnson won that fight.

Johnson won the 3rd fight, and I'm sure if you ask JCS83MD, he'll tell you the same thing. Woods had a strong last 4, far stronger than anyone of Johnson's won rounds, but I had it 7-1 after 8 for the Gentleman.

nickd wrote:

Taki... wrote:

nickd wrote:No way did Johnson win that third fight not even close, what exactly were you watching??

I watched Johnson outwork, outpunch and outbox Woods for the first 8 rounds. I might ask what the eff you were watching?

No way, Woods clearly won the third fight. You're the only person I've seen say Johnson won that fight.

Johnson won. I can see how people might have scored it for Woods (crowd reaction and biased commentary), but Johnson did the better, cleaner and more effective work throughout the first 8 rounds.

I thought the Johnson-Woods fight couldve went either way, and Clinton deserves credit for his performance. So does Johnson, but his whining thereafter kind of turned me off to his cause (saying he wanted Clinton DQed for what his cornerman did, etc).

Heavyweight good, light-heavyweight poor, super-middleweight good, middleweight desastrous.

I thought the concensous opinion was Woods had won. Anyway, no way is Woods #1 at 175. 4 or 5 I would say.

Ranking him at No 1 isnt out of the question - I too thought it was wrong, but when you look and analyse who else is in the top ten, he has a good shout of being at the top spot.

Who else could you put above him?

Hopkins is retired

Tarver lost his last fight, so there is now way he should be in the top spot

Johnson lost to Woods last time out.

Adamek is missing a big name/fight - I would say he is the one closest to Woods - His fight with Dawson is a good match up.

Erdei is simialr to Adamek, he's nearly there, but needs a big fight.

Jones Jr is 1-3 in his last 4 fights and he needs a bigger name that Prince Badi on his comeback trail to be considered a threat to the No 1 spot.

I think the writer is pretty accurate with those LH rankings.

Adamek should be above Woods. If the rumours about Hopkins' return at 175 are true he is surely number 1.

I remember seeing Dan Raphael at the Hopkins-De La Hoya weigh in, he is one of the fattest people i have laid eyes on.

Anyway what's his Middleweight rankings all about...Miranda above Abraham?! Based on what. Plus this little line

Miranda the uncrowned titlist -- by virtue of the robbery he experienced against Arthur Abraham in Germany in September --

Robbery? Okay so bumbling ref Randy Neumann was inept and his performance stunk but Abraham OUTBOXED Miranda anyway regardless of the point deductions and for the most part with a broken jaw! I didn't see any robbery other than the dire officiating of the consistently poor Neumann. Did Raphael even watch the fight? Seems he just heard Germany and controversy in the same sentence and cried foul.

For his Abraham section he adds:

He (Abraham) also ought to watch a tape of the fight and see how Miranda beat the heck out of him and how clueless referee Randy Neumann saved him.

Regardless of the Hopkins fight, Tarver beat Johnson far more comfortably than Woods did. So not sure what Johnson ever did (after the rematch with Tarver) to warrant the #1 Light Heavyweight which Fight Academy were labelling him prior to the Woods match.

Hopkins would have done that number to anyone in the devision. It wasn't a surprise to me at all.

Adameck and Dawson LOOK to probably be #1 and #2 in devision based on talent etc - but neither have done enough to dislodge the old guard (i.e. Tarver, Hopkins etc).

Dan Raphael's piece on Soulemeyne M'Baye is a bit ominous, Sports Network are looking at matching up there fighters with rejects from the Contender series. Flip me i don't want to see that crap.