Pound-For-Pound Rankings

As of Tuesday, April 8, 2014:

• #1 - Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
• #2 - Bernard Hopkins 
• #3 - Wladimir Klitschko
• #4 - Andre Ward
• #5 - Sergio Martinez
• #6 - Manny Pacquiao
• #7 - Carl Froch
• #8 - Juan Manuel Marquez
• #9 - Guillermo Rigondeaux
• #10 - Saul Alvarez

Pound-For-Pound rankings were established to determine if a fighter, who is paramount in his weight class, is also superior when compared to other fighters atop their own respective weight divisions. How did I formulate these current rankings? It is comprised of careful observation, analysis and evaluation through the years on four specific criteria:

1) Quality of Opposition - What level of competition has each fighter faced?

2) Performance Level - How did the fighter fare against the various styles he encountered?

3) Age - Did the fighter defeat his opponents while they were in the prime of their careers?

4) Significance of a Loss - If a fighter lost, how did he lose? Was it via decision or knockout? Did he sustain a loss at the hands of high-quality competition? Was he at the peak of his career when he suffered a defeat?