Boxing fascinated me for so many years. I am watching fights every Sunday afternoon starting when I am like six years old. There is one thing that I am keen on following about the sweet science, aside from watching every fight–‘the undefeated boxers’.
I continuously awe when undefeated boxers got the first loss of their career. It is as if I love them losing that “O” in their records.
The drama and the words that will come out from their mouth during post-fight interviews were intense, wild, humiliating and sometimes nasty.
Recently, we saw how Victor Ortiz, Amir Khan and Juan Manuel Lopez react to their first defeat. Lopez spit nasty words towards the referee that banned him from fighting for at least a year. All of them have different reaction from each other.
The one that I personally like-most because it is so funny was Zab Judah. Who will forget his reaction when he got his first loss from Kostya Tszyu? If you are unable to watch, you miss one of the funny scenes in boxing.
Is it not funny? Although there are boxers that react like this, we cannot blame them; it is hard to accept defeat if they had accumulated more than 20 winning streak early in their career. I salute Judah for asking apology for such a violent reaction though.
However, what matters’ most is how these fighters’ get back to the sport. I am glad for those who accept defeat positively even if they reacted violently that fateful night and move on as a more refine fighter come next fight.
After a long introduction, here are my top Ten Undefeated fighters that I look upon very closely how they will manage their first defeat and how they will move on as a prizefighter. I am sure, without looking directly at the bottom, you already know who topped my list.
10. Milan Melindo, 28-0 (KO 11) – Flyweight – ‘El Metodico’ has a solid amateur boxing background. He estimates to have fought in as many as 500 amateur fights. He is scheduled to fight against Tommy Seran on Apr. 6 in China.
9. Abner Mares, 25-0-1 (KO 13) – Super bantamweight – he held titles in this division and pursuing a fight against Nonito Donaire. After failed negotiation he moved up to featherweight division to face Daniel Ponce De Leon on May 4.
8. Chris John, 48-0-2 (KO 22) – Featherweight – is a veteran fighter who had Juan Manuel Marquez’s number. He is a very good tactician inside the ring. He is scheduled to face Satoshi Hosono on Apr. 14 in Indonesia.
7. Alexander Povetkin, 25-0 (KO 17) – Heavyweight – defeated Hasim Rahman for a world title in Sep. 2012. He is interested in fighting the Klitschko brothers’ who held different title belt version in the heavyweight division.
6. Yuriorkis Gamboa, 22-0 (KO 16) – Super featherweight – is a highly talented fighter in the featherweight division. He won against Michael Farenas, after 15 months of inactivity. His career went into a limbo after his ‘no show’ at a press conference for his supposed showdown with Brandon Rios.
5. Brandon Rios, 31-0-1 (KO 23) – Light welterweight – a powerful brawler who knows only how to come forward. A very entertaining fighter who wanted to hit even if he gets hit. He is scheduled for a rematch against Mike Alvarado on Mar. 30.
4. Saul Alvarez, 41-0-1 (KO 30) – Jr. Middleweight – a young champion who already accumulated 41 wins in his resume. He is a very strong fighter who knocked out 71% of his opponents. He is scheduled to fight on Apr. 20 against fellow undefeated Austin Trout.
3. Andre Ward, 26-0 (KO 14) – Super Middleweight – holder of two major title and defeated light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson. He was scheduled to face Kelly Pavlik on Jan. 26 but was cancelled because of his right shoulder injury and subsequent surgery.
2. Timothy Bradley, 30-0 (KO 12) – Jr. Welterweight – defeated the former pound-for-pound kingpin, Manny Pacquaio in a very controversial decision in June 2012. He is fresh from another win and continues to be undefeated against a tough Russian challenger Ruslan Provodnikov on Mar. 16.
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr., 43-0 (KO 26) – Welterweight – is without a doubt the best and the most talented fighter in boxing today. He is a defensive wizard that his 43 opponents failed to penetrate. He is scheduled to fight on May 4 against Robert Guerrero.
Source: Boxrec.com
