February offered boxing fans a lot of great fights and a lot of great performances. Juan Manuel Marquez, Kelly Pavlik, Vic Darchinyan, and Miguel Cotto all looked good but did all of them crack our top 10?
Inside Fights Pound-for-Pound Rankings
1. Manny Pacquiao
Last Month: 1
“As Marquez continues to achieve, so, too does the man who arguably beat him twice, boxing’s pound for pound king.” – Corey Willinger
2. Juan Manuel Marquez
Last Month: 3
“Juan Manuel Marquez continued to look sharp in his awesome victory over Juan Diaz last month. He wants Pacquiao but isn’t likely to get him for quite some time, if at all.” – Trent Pusey
3. Bernard Hopkins
Last Month: 4
“At 43, he’s still one of the most skilled fighters on the planet. With Calzaghe gone, however, his options may have run out unless he fancies a move up in weight. We’d like to see him try cruiserweight if nothing else surfaces.” – CW
4. Israel Vazquez
Last Month: 5
“Still on his sabbatical after the Marquez trilogy but needs to get back into the ring soon in order to maintain his position on this list.” – TP
5. Paul Williams
Last Month: 6
“We’re going to find out just how good Paul Williams is when he steps in the ring with cagey veteran Winky Wright; that, or we’ll see how much Winky has lost in the 21 months he’ll have been out of the ring by the time they fight.” – CW
6. Shane Mosley
Last Month: 8
“Not sure how he jumped Dawson this month, perhaps the luster of the Margarito win hasn’t worn off yet. Mosley wants to keep the big fights coming so expect something big from him this summer.” – TP
7. Chad Dawson
Last Month: 7
“He missed out on the fight he really wanted with Calzaghe, but, if he takes care of Tarver as most expect, then maybe he can earn himself a megafight with Hopkins.” – CW
8. Arthur Abraham
Last Month: 9
“Defends his middleweight title this month against a guy not named Kelly Pavlik. Wake me when they sign Pavlik-Abraham.” – TP
9. Jermain Taylor
Last Month: 8
“Taylor heard the voice of his critics and went for the fight with undefeated WBC Super Middleweight Champion Carl Froch, which is a great start for making noise at 168 pounds.” – CW
10. Miguel Cotto
Last Month: NR
“Got right back into the mix with his thrashing of Michael Jennings last month. Big fight possibilities loom for him this summer as well.” – TP
Others Receiving Votes: Rafael Marquez, Kelly Pavlik
Dropped Out: Joe Calzaghe
March Fights To Watch
Corey’s Pick: Joel Julio vs. James Kirkland
March 7th on HBO
“The fight I’m most looking forward to this month was an easy choice, and it’s happening this weekend: Joel Julio vs. James Kirkland. These two guys are hungry young fighters who always look for the knockout. Kirkland is undefeated and has KO’d 21 of 24 while Julio has run into two bumps in the road on the way to KO’ing 31 of 34. Somebody is getting knocked out in this fight, and it will be a barnburner while it lasts.” – CW
Trent’s Pick: Amir Khan vs. Marco Antonio Barrera
March 14th on Pay-per-view
“I’m looking forward to Julio/Kirkland as well but this is an intriguing fight to me as well. Barrera may not have it any longer but the only fighters he’s lost to in the last 5 years currently occupy the #1 and #2 spots on our pound-for-pound list. Khan was supposed to be destined for greatness until he was knocked out in the first round by Breidis Prescott last year. That being said, I doubt Khan’s team would put him in the ring with Barrera if they weren’t convinced he would win. Barrera has a warrior’s spirit and I can’t wait to see if he can stall the sands of the hour glass as so many boxers are doing today.” – TP
