Category Archives: Rankings

The Best of 2013 in Boxing

David Martinez, Rankings, Recap

By David Martinez / Boxing Historian / dmboxing.com

I have assembled my personal choices in boxing for the past last year 2013 in the five major categories. Picks are solely my opinion, as I respect and welcome opinions of others.

Mayweather 168x300 The Best of 2013 in Boxing

 

FIGHTER OF THE YEAR: Floyd Mayweather Jr.

WBA welterweight champion and WBC junior middleweight champion

Showing no signs of aging in the ring, Floyd won both of his bouts in 2013 in dominating fashion over two highly touted opponents Robert Guerrero and Canelo Alvarez.

He remains the best “pound for pound” in the sport and I for see that not to change anytime in the near future.

Runner Up:  Timothy Bradley

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FROM THE DESK OF: David Martinez

California Boxing Hall of Fame, David Martinez, DMBoxing News, Eddie Futch, Rankings

Untitled 1dmboxing1 edited 300x300 FROM THE DESK OF: David Martinez(Fall 2013 Edition)

On a quarterly basis I always want to take the time to say thank you to a group of people that help make this website the success that it has become since I brought it to you in July 2007.

These people are: John Boitnott (Web Master), Bob Quackenbush (Proof Reader & Photo Editing), Rusty Rubin (In Rusty’s Corner), Dave Wilcox (Glove2Glove), Jim Amato (Senior Boxing Writer), Tom Donelson (Member Boxing Writers Association), Kathy Kraft (Proof Reader), Phyllis Vincent (Proof Reader) and the many others who have contributed input with their article features and comments to this site. Johnny Ortiz and Steve Corbo are personal friends who offer their views and I respect both as they are pure boxing experts to the highest degree.

Eddie Futch 95x300 FROM THE DESK OF: David MartinezA thank you is also in order to John Palminteri (KEYT Newschannel 3 ABC-TV) for his outstanding photos and coverage on the recent Henry Calles professional fight at the Chumash Casino, Santa Ynez, California on August 16, 2013.

With the recent passing of Ken Norton, I want to acknowledge that he was trained by the legendary Eddie Futch, who also trained 21 other world champions. Eddie trained four of the five boxers that beat the great Muhammad Ali; they were Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Larry Holmes and Trevor Berbick. The anniversary of Eddie’s death is next week on October 10th; we lost Eddie in 2001. I would like to offer a prayer for a man that I consider the best trainer in boxing in my lifetime, Eddie Futch.

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FROM THE DESK OF: David Martinez

David Martinez, Rankings

Untitled 1dmboxing1 edited 300x300 FROM THE DESK OF: David Martinez(Spring 2013 Edition)

I would like to start by saying thank you for making this website one of your choices in boxing. It is my pleasure to share my passion for a sport I have been attached to since 1961. This website was started in 2007, and has received many more views than any of my expectations  – thank you!

The people that contribute are: John Boitnott (Web Master), Bob Quackenbush (Proof Reader / Photo Editing), Rusty Rubin (In Rusty’s Corner), Dave and Deborah Wilcox (Glove 2 Glove), Jim Amato (Senior Boxing Writer), Tom Donelson (Member Boxing Writers Association), Steve Corbo (Boxing Expert / Writer), Kathy Kraft (Proof Reader), Phyllis Vincent (Proof Reader). A captain is only as good as his crew and these people allow me to steer this ship with honor and expertise.  The girls who pose with my products are all friends and are not professional models.  They offer their time, and lend their beauty, to help in a kind way.

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Bob Foster and the light heavyweight division

David Martinez, Rankings

Bob Foster0003 crop Bob Foster and the light heavyweight division

                                By David Martinez  /  Boxing Historian

I consider myself truly blessed to have seen over the past fifty years all the boxing greats. I have written various articles ranking different boxers in their primes, but I feel compelled to write now about a division in boxing that hardly anyone ever talks about – light heavyweight.

This weight class of 175 pounds was formed in 1903 and its inaugural champion was Jack Root. Before the cruiserweight division was formed in 1979, which was originally 190 pounds but has since been changed to 200 pounds, light heavyweight was the one just below the heavyweight division.

I started to watch boxing in 1961 and prior to then, the ten (not in order) greatest light heavyweights, in my opinion,  were:  Bob Fitzsimmons, Sam Langford, Harry Greb, Gene Tunney, Tommy Loughran, Maxie Rosenbloom, Billy Conn, Jimmy Bivins, Ezzard Charles and Archie Moore.

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The Best of the Year 2012

David Martinez, Rankings, Recap

By David Martinez / Boxing Historian / dmboxing.com

 

FIGHTER OF THE YEAR: Juan Manuel Marquez

Marquez0001 crop2 300x298 The Best of the Year 2012

The Mexican warrior wins mega fight IV vs. Manny Pacquiao in December by a spectacular knockout. The result gives Marquez his first definitive victory in his epic four-fight series against arguably one of the best in boxing today.  Marquez also recorded a one-sided win over Sergey Fedchenko in April to win the vacant interim junior welterweight title.

Runner Ups (in order): Nonito Donaire; Danny Garcia.

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“World Colored Heavyweight Championship”

David Martinez, Heavyweights, History, Rankings

thCA27MP152 World Colored Heavyweight ChampionshipBy David Martinez / Boxing Historian

 

Let me bring you a feature story that you will probably not read any where regarding, all together, the five best black heavyweights at the turn of the 20th century.

I got the idea when I over heard some mutual friends talking about the best black baseball players that never got the chance to play in the major leagues, and had to settle playing against each other in the old negro league.

I have rated many boxers in many categories throughout my over 50 years of boxing … on this website alone you will find that I have rated the best heavyweights, the best lightweights, the best Mexicans fighters, and now I will personally rate the best black heavyweights in a time period that but only one of them, Jack Johnson, had the opportunity to fight for the heavyweight championship.

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The Greatest Mexican-Born Boxers “pound for pound” of all time

David Martinez, Rankings

Chavez0007 crop The Greatest Mexican Born Boxers pound for pound of all time

          By David Martinez / Boxing Historian

 

Picking the five best Mexican boxers was really an easy task because the five I have personally chosen are so close in greatness at the peak of their careers, that I could virtually switch the order around in any way and that would satisfy any boxing fan.

My order is simply based on what I have seen, my research, interviews with the people that have lived in their eras, and my expertise on how they would of done against each other had they fought at the peak of their careers.

The level of their competition also plays a huge factor, but not necessarily their ring record, and I can say that I have been so blessed to have had the opportunity in my lifetime see all of these great champions in their respective careers.

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Why Mike Tyson is NOT in My Top Ten!

Ali, David Martinez, Eddie Futch, Ernie Terrell, Hall Of Fame, Heavyweights, Jim Amato, News, Rankings, Rusty Rubin

Why Mike Tyson is NOT in My Top Ten!
By David Martinez / Boxing Historian

I have rated many fighters in many different divisions, eras, and ethnic groups. One of my first ranking features that I posted on this Web site (see Archives / August 2007 or Rankings on menu to view) was my view of the top ten heavyweights of all time (i.e.) “Rating the Heavies”, in which I have gotten some criticism for not including Mike Tyson in my elite group.

First let me say that it is always a pleasure to write what I have seen in my 48 years of following boxing as a sport I deeply love. I have seen every heavyweight champion fight, either by living during his era, by film or by speaking with individuals who actually saw these champions fight, even at the turn of the 20th century. I respect everyone’s opinions and, of course, have mine to tell after having studied this very subject, giving a great degree of research on my part.

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The Greatest Mexican-Born Boxers “Pound For Pound ” of All Time

Rankings

By David Martinez / Boxing Historian

Picking the five best Mexican boxers was really an easy task because the five I have personally chosen are so close in greatness at the peak of their careers, that I could virtually switch the order around in any way and that would satisfy any boxing fan.

My order is simply based on what I have seen, my research, interviews with the people that have lived in their eras, and my expertise on how they would of done against each other had they fought at the peak of their careers.

The level of their competition also plays a huge factor, but not necessarily their ring record, and I can say that I have been so blessed to have had the opportunity in my lifetime see all five of these great champions in their respective careers.

#1) RUBEN OLIVARES, Total Bouts: 104 (88-13-3 / 78 by KO)
The Greatest Mexican Born Boxers “Pound For Pound ” of All Time

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Rating The Heavies

Ali, Heavyweights, Rankings

By David Martinez, Boxing Historian

Selecting the best heavyweight champions of all time is a task I have been asked to do many times in my many years as a boxing historian. There seems to be no set formula for rating them, but I have researched this topic from top to bottom and have come up with my own top 10 list of the best heavyweight champions “pound for pound” going back as far as February 8, 1882, when John L. Sullivan knocked out Irish Paddy Ryan in nine rounds in Mississippi, and forward to our current array of WBA, WBC, WBO, IBF champions.

In rating the best heavyweights, I took a lot of things into consideration. Comparing them from their different eras has to be the most difficult evaluation. Figuring how the fighters of the past would do today is the logical basis to compare these champions, but I’m putting that same question in reverse. How would the champions of the present have done in a past era, let’s say back to the turn of the century, with all training factors and tangibles equal?

Here is my rating of the greatest “pound for pound” heavyweight champions of all time, if they were all in the peak of their careers, all at the same time (years held heavyweight title in parentheses):

#1 JACK JOHNSON
(1908-1915) Nickname: The Galveston Giant
Master defensive fighter and well ahead of his time. Because Johnson was the “first” black champion, it was unfortunate that he did not fight everyone in his prime. Won the title when he was 32 years old; Ali was 22 and Louis was 23.

He was the central figure in the most dramatic event in boxing history; his 1910 bout with Jim Jeffries caused more national repercussions than any other in the history of the sport. Because of his problems with the law, he had to fight out of the country often. Lost his championship to Jess Willard on a controversial knockout. According to the late Nat Fleischer, Ring Magazine founder and foremost boxing historian ever, simply the best heavyweight he had ever seen.

jackjohnson Rating The Heavies

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