Safe Side Of The Ropes

By: Andrew Harrison

Feb 05 2010

Category: chris arreola, david haye, edwin valero, juan manuel lopez, juanma lopez, kelly pavlik, marcos maidana, roman gonzalez, tavoris cloud, vitali klitschko, yuriorkis gamboa

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As Venezuelan wild man Edwin Valero, boxing’s current “Kid Dynamite”, prepares to deliver more fireworks this weekend I thought I’d throw some light onto the men who give punters that extra little bit of bang for their buck. Punchers have forever been celebrated throughout boxing’s long and storied history; they are men who can excite and delight in equal measure, crumpling opponents and ending fights with a single swing of their deadly mitts.

Rather than rounding up the usual suspects and taking a subjective stab at their merits, I aimed instead for a more statistical base to my picks. I surveyed the current world class scene and measured the finest knockout to fight ratios currently being sported (there are tons of prospects with 100% ratios but until they prove it up in class, they don’t figure). This differs from the more recognised knockout to win ratio, with the reasoning being that a prospect can knock out 10 tomato cans before losing his next 20 fights and still boast a 100% knockout to win percentage, which just wouldn’t fly.

So with a spreadsheet at the ready (hey I’m a numbers man after all) I got down to business, pouring over the records of noted wrecking machines up and down the 17 different weight divisions. David Tua, Alexander Munoz, Kermit Cintron, Edison Miranda, Vic Darchinyan, Breidis Prescott, Manny Pacquiao and Edison Miranda-none of them made the cut.

Here below though are the ten fighters who did, hitters who stretch their opposition more often than anyone else:

1. Edwin Valero, 26-0 (26)

Valero is the very definition of the term “cult hero”. The South American hatchet man has a hole in the back of his skull thanks to a motorcycle crash in 2001 which subsequently left him unable to fight in the US (he was later cleared to fight in Texas in 2008). This violent and tempestuous slugger (who fights at present without a recognised trainer) brawls at times like a free swinging kid in the schoolyard. Despite this however, he blows his opponents clean away.

Consider this: Valero rubbed out his first 18 opponents IN THE VERY FIRST ROUND!! The man’s power is atomic and if he can continue his amazing run, the legend which surrounds him can only grow.

2. Marcos Maidana, 26-1 (25)

There’s a reason Freddie Roach doesn’t fancy his young charge Amir Khan messing with Maidana right now; the guy has bricks for fists. Only two men have escaped the Argentinean light welterweight’s power, Andreas Kotelnik and Daniel Benito Carriqueo, with 22 of his 26 victims not having made it out of round three.

With possible fights against either Khan or Timothy Bradley in the works, we shall soon see if Maidana can continue putting his foes away as he moves in levels.

3. Vitali Klitschko, 39-2 (37)

Most experts, including the aforementioned Roach will tell you that Wladimir is the big hitter in the Klitschko family, yet it’s older brother Vitali who gets rid of the higher proportion of opponents each time he scales those ring steps.

Succumbing to injury against Lennox Lewis and Chris Byrd in his two defeats to date, big Vit has beaten every other man he has faced with only Timo Hoffman and Kevin Johnson having escaped the guillotine.

4. Tavoris Cloud, 20-0 (18)

Super survivor Reggie Strickland managed to see the final bell in Cloud’s sixth paid start and was the last opponent to do so until Sheffield veteran Clinton Woods managed to hang tough with the Floridian light heavyweight in his last outing.

One look at Cloud’s record indicates that he may not really belong here, in fact only a few fights back he was snuffing out a guy with a 9-19 (6) record; time will tell I guess.

5. Juan Manuel Lopez, 28-0 (25)

Here’s a guy who definitely belongs. In the second half of 2008, ‘Juanma’ defeated Daniel Ponce de Leon, Cesar Figueroa and Sergio Medina in a grand total of 290 seconds.

Lopez has a bull whip of a right hand which he’ll look to unleash on the featherweight division after invading 126 lbs last month and starching Steve Lueveno.

6. Yuriorkis Gamboa, 17-0 (15)

You can’t seem to mention Lopez’s name right now without Gamboa’s entering the conversation, how apt then to find the dynamic duo sitting adjacent to each other here.

There’s a theory which states that speed equates to power, which explains where Gamboa’s stopping power comes from. The Cuban featherweight may just be the fastest gun in boxing right now and unfortunately for the rest of the division, he can only get better.

7. David Haye, 23-1 (21)

‘The Bermondsey Bomber’ may just be the best pure born puncher on this list. One of the biggest hitters in the relatively brief history of the cruiserweight division, the Londoner now plies his trades up at heavyweight.

There are only three men who have avoided being stopped after sharing canvas time with Haye and just one of those has managed to escape having their senses scrambled at some point during the contest. The man is a freakishly hard puncher.

8. Chris Arreola, 28-1 (25)

Arreola can’t seem to stay in shape for any great length of time, he couldn’t do anything with Vitali Klitschko and wasn’t able to stop cussing after the fight but one thing the Mexican-American big guy can do is punch.

‘The Nightmare’ is a game brawler who’ll force opponents into trading before lowering the boom. He may not look pretty but more often than not, he gets the job done and done quickly.

9. Kelly Pavlik, 35-1 (31)

Pavlik’s punches would appear to have an accumulative affect. Round after round he’ll zone in on his target before eventually making them buckle and when they do, ‘The Ghost’ is a master at closing the show.

Pavlik will be looking to re-emerge as a star in 2010 with a possible match-up with the outstanding Sergio Martinez on the cards.

10. Roman Gonzalez, 25-0 (21)

I’m quite pleased to see a strawweight land on this list, the Nicaraguan just pipping Wladimir Klitschko with an 84% knockout to fight ratio. ‘Chocolatito’ is a rarity, a diminutive hit man who rolls over opponents like a guy three times his size.

The current WBA titlist is chasing a unification bout with Mexican, Raul Garcia (who holds an IBF belt) in a bout which could conceivably qualify as a Ring championship bout.