RINGSIDE
cover story. I’ve got Manny Pacquiao at No. 1, Bernard Hopkins a lot higher, and Gennadiy Golovkin made my top 10. But the order doesn’t really matter. The fact is there are several great fighters who shined during the past generation, too many to limit to a top 10. The fighters who didn’t make the cut are bona fide legends: Roy Jones Jr., Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Winky Wright, Joe Calzaghe, Wladimir Klitschko, Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, Nonito Donaire, Sergio Martinez. The criteria for pound-for-pound rankings varies. Natural talent, skill set, technique and dominance often factor in, but I focused entirely on accomplishments and quality of opposition with extra credit given to those who reached No. 1 in The Ring’s pound-for-pound rankings and those who earned Ring and Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) awards, such as Fighter of the Year. Keep in mind I only took into account accomplishments from 2000 on. What they did in the 1990s, if they were active that decade, doesn’t count. Check out my top 10 list of the best boxers since 2000: 1. Manny Pacquiao – From 2001-2010, the PacMan won world titles in an unprecedented seven divisions – junior featherweight to junior middleweight. He earned Ring championships at featherweight, junior lightweight and junior welterweight by defeating fellow future Hall of Famers Marco Antonio Barrera, Juan Manuel Marquez and Ricky Hatton. Other Hall of Famers that Pacquiao defeated include Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto (for his first title at welterweight), Erik Morales (twice) and Tim Bradley (twice). Other notable victories include Keith Thurman (setting the record for oldest welterweight titleholder in 2019), Adrien Broner,
with HBO. Krikorian, who is 82, is a former sportswriter for the Los Angeles Herald Examiner and Long Beach Press-Telegram. The Southern California icon covered Larry Holmes’ championship reign and every bout between The Four Kings. Schwartz, a nonagenarian like Merchant, isn’t media. He’s the founder of Rent-A-Wreck car rental company and a good friend. His father took him to his first boxing card in 1946 and he’s been a hardcore fan ever since. Schwartz has seen Robinson, Carlos Ortiz, Jose Napoles, Muhammad Ali, Joe Frazier and prime Mike Tyson from the arena seats. I see Schwartz at least once a week, usually at the Santa Monica College track where we talk about boxing’s current events before Dave quizzes me with historical trivia. (Feel free to join us via my Instagram on most Sundays.) Longtime friend and colleague Steve Kim coordinates monthly get-togethers with Merchant and Krikorian. It’s lunch with Larry at the Water Grill in Santa Monica and dinner with Doug at Phil Trani’s steakhouse in Long Beach. Veteran manager Gary Gittelsohn, noted author and commentator Mark Kriegel and film producer Alan Swyer often join us with Merchant. Respected trainer Rudy Hernandez, retired publicist John Beyrooty, former NBA player Mychal Thompson and a motley crew of boxing lifers and degenerates often congregate with us at Phil Trani’s. Trust me, each gathering would make for a fun and educational podcast, especially the recollections of the “great old days” from the three elder statesmen. However, this issue’s cover story on the pound-for-pound best of the past 25 years is a reminder that I’ve witnessed my fair share of greatness. I covered every fighter who made the cover story’s top 10, as well as most of the KO artists and fights of the 21st century listed in the sidebars. My top 10 is slightly different from the consensus ranking presented in the
Antonio Margarito, Joshua Clottey, Jessie Vargas, Lucas Matthysse and Oscar Larios. Amazingly, Pacquiao reentered The Ring’s welterweight rankings following his draw with Mario Barrios in 2025 at age 46. He was the first Filipino boxer to reach No. 1 in The Ring’s pound-for-pound rankings, The Ring’s 2006, 2008 and 2009 Fighter of the Year, and was selected as the Fighter of the Decade (2000s) by the BWAA. 2. Floyd Mayweather Jr. – From 2002-2012, Mayweather won world titles in four divisions, including The Ring lightweight championship (by narrowly defeating Jose Luis Castillo). He added Ring welterweight and junior middleweight championships in 2013 by outpointing Robert Guerrero and Canelo Alvarez. Mayweather defeated fellow Hall of Famers Pacquiao, Shane
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