Response to my fellow boxing aficionado, Trent, on his top 10 dangerous fighters article. I am in no way discrediting him, rather contrasting his argument from a different angle. I will break down some of his picks and compare and contrast with my point of view, while adding some of my own fighters to his list.
1. Humberto Soto- His win against Ricardo Juarez was one of the top 5 upsets of 2005, but to put him as one of the most dangerous fighters category seems a lil premature. The old adage that styles make fights was never more true than here, Soto is a slick boxer; Juarez has devastating one punch power. I watched this fight and all I kept wondering is why is Rocky only looking for that one punch? His game plan was for a dramatic KO, that didn’t happen, and the rather green Juarez suffered his first loss. Put me on record as saying Juarez will be on top in 2 years, and Soto will be a boxing footnote.
2. Jorge Barrios- A real good fighter, a must watch every time he is televised. My gripe with Barrios is that his biggest win was against a fighter that came to the ring overweight and unfocused. Anchondo was a very bright prospect before the Barrios fight, but there is no reason to come to such a high profile bout overweight and not focused. Contrasting Barrios’ last loss came at the hand of Acelino “Popo” Freitas by late KO. Only twice in boxing history have we witnessed a mega fight end with the words “NO MAS”. Roberto Duran and Freitas. Diego “Chico” Corrales proved that Freitas was a flash in the pan, now not many people are taking Popo seriously. If Barrios got KOed by Chico this may be another story. Without a doubt Barrios is a good fighter, but dangerous compared to the boxers in his division…..nope.
3. Zahir Raheem- Ahhhh, here we are at my favorite division…Lightweight. Raheem is an incredible fighter, he is slick and makes you pay when you miss. If you want KOs, this is not the fighter the watch, if you want to know why boxing is named the sweet science, two words King Raheem. I applaud Mr. Pusey for including Raheem on this list, because even after his win over Morales still has a hard time getting credit for his style.
4. Miguel Cotto- As Trent points out, Cotto is extremely Gatti-esque, but his last fight against Torres a relative unknown, that his shaky chin is going to be a problem. Cotto reminds me of fellow Puerto Rican, Kermit Cintron, who had a better KO ratio than Cotto with 22 KOs out of 24 wins. Cintron’s step up in class proved fatal to his career, Cotto in my opinion is one of the most crowd pleasing fighters today but once he steps up he will be knocked out, and that’s the end of him.
5. Antonio Margarito- I could not agree more, I would put Tony at the top of my list of most dangerous and ducked fighters in the world today. Not just his size, but the amount of punches he throws and that he throws from all angles. Margarito is a baaaaad man.
As for 6-9, I could not agree more, but #10!!!!
10. Samuel Peter- The Nigerian Nightmare, uhhhh or the talent less wild swinger that belongs in a tough man competition. Sam Peter has incredible power yes….his KOs are impressive yes…but his loss to Wlad Klitschko proves he is nothing. Now Wlad was thought to be the next huge Heavyweight star in the division, but after his 3rd KO loss was compared to “Glass Joe” of NES Punch-Out fame. If the dangerous hard hitting Peter couldn’t KO Wlad…where does he stand?
I will replace #10 with this
10. James Toney- Mr. “Lights Out” a blown up Middleweight, he started his career at 160 lbs. can shake up the Heavyweight division. In March he will face Hasim Rahman for the WBC Title and he will win. There is no one in this division that can match Toney’s skills, he may be the most skilled current fighter. If any of the top ten Heavy’s can unify the titles James is your man.
