By Michael Woods and NYF Advisory Board
Picking your perceived pound for pound best, it’s pure speculation, wholly unscientific but provocative and enjoyable an exercise.
NYFIGHTS is pleased and proud to offer the first NYC and region Pound For Pound Top Ten, as chosen by a most sage group of experts kind enough to furnish their picks. The NYF P4P advisory board is the following: Sirius media personality AK, fighter Shawn Cameron, matchmaker/promoter Felipe Gomez, fighter Frank Galarza, fighter Heather Hardy, ex fighter-trainer-media personality Eric Kelly, Seanie Monaghan, fighter Tommy Rainone and trainer/administrator Pat Russo.
Here goes, the best of the best in the capital of the world, in the opinion of our experts.
Thanks to Marilyn Paulino for the ace pic.
10) Lennox Allen–The 20-0-1 168er is the fighting pride of Guyana. Watch him work on Feb. 17.
9) Jarrell Miller/Heather Hardy (tied)-Kid can crack and talk fun trash. He is being skillfully brought along by Dmitriy Salita and Greg Cohen, craves KOs and impressed on the 1-22 ShoBox. Judge Hardy, the fighting pride of Gerritsen Beach, only started boxing a few years ago; her rise is an amazing testament to her athleticism and grit.
8) Sean Monaghan–A blue collar brawler seeking his pot o gold title shot at 175. The fighting pride of Long Beach, Long Island boasts a 26-0 mark.
7) Curtis Stevens–The 27-5 middleweight can crack and talk smack. When his hands are busy, he’s threatening.
6) Gabriel Bracero–Damn right a thunderstruck KO1 win will bump you up the P4P ladder of love. The Brooklyn born boxer trained by the esteemed Tommy Gallagher showed he can crack too when he turned lights out on Danny O’Connor.
5) Peter Quillin: He got caught by some Danny Jacobs thunder but we don’t write off the 32-1-1 middleweight.
4) Chris Algieri–The Long Islander eats clean and is fueled by fierce ambition. Now 21-2 and looking for a title crack at 147.
3) Marcus Browne–The Staten Island 175er is a humble hitter who keeps improving and is no rush to overstep his bounds, because he knows he can keep building on his skill and knowledge base. This 17-0 lefty could be No. 1 on this list in a year.
2) Sadam Ali: Another humble hitter. He’s 22-0 and gets a world title opp March 5, at 147.
1) Danny Jacobs–Winning is not everything; the WAY you win impacts public perception. A thunderous KO1 win over Peter Quillin dropped Kid Chocolate and elevated the Brownsville native to the top slot.
Others in the mix include: Sergey Derevyenchenko; Yuri Foreman; Eddie Gomez; Bakhtiyar Eyubov; Ivgen Khytrov; Paul Malignaggi; Cletus Seldin; Joe Smith; Keith Tapia.
