Boxing’s Best: 2008-2009 All-Star Team

Boxing’s Best: 2008-2009 All-Star Team

By Brandon Estrict, DoghouseBoxing.com (Feb 13, 2009)

In honor of this weekends National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star game in Phoenix, Arizona, I’ve decided to compile my own list of boxing’s top talent. Now there aren’t many things boxing and basketball have in common as far as structurally, so what I’ve done is instead of selecting two players per position, I will choose the top two fighters per weight-class from super flyweight, all the way up to the heavyweight division. And obviously, there is no off-season in our great sport so I’ve decided to date the eligible period of time back to January 1st, 2008 through last night, February 14th, 2009.

Please take into account, the All-Star selections made are not exactly a pound-for-pound ranking, but an All-Star team of fighters who have accomplished the most on the highest level of the sport in this time period. There may be choices that many disagree with but I can only call things how I see them and stand strongly behind my word.

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed are those, solely, of DoghouseBoxing writer/contributor Brandon Estrict, and not necessarily of DoghouseBoxing as a whole.

Now with that out of the way, here goes:

Super Flyweight: Vic Darchinyan, Cristian Mijares
Bantamweight: Gerry Penalosa, Fernando Montiel
Super Bantamweight: Israel Vasquez, Celestino Caballero
Featherweight: Chris John, Steven Luevano
Super Featherweight: Robert Guerrero, Humberto Soto
Lightweight: Juan Manuel Marquez, Nate Campbell
Jr. Welterweight: Ricky Hatton, Manny Pacquiao
Welterweight: Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito
Jr. Middleweight: Paul Williams, Sergio Martinez
Middleweight: Kelly Pavlik, Arthur Abraham
Super Middleweight: Mikkel Kessler, Jermain Taylor
Light Heavyweight: Joe Calzaghe, Bernard Hopkins
Cruiserweight: Tomasz Adamek, Steve Cunningham
Heavyweight: Wladimir Klitschko, Ruslan Chagaev

My apologies to the snubbed, but all wins and losses (however close), activity, and level of opposition was factored into every selection. There are many great fighters who have accomplished plenty in their own right within the time period I selected from and it should not be taken as any slight or disrespect to the unmentioned. The reality of the list is that I can only choose two fighters, and with 5 or more fighters that come to mind in every division, barring heavyweight, imagine my trouble. It was extremely difficult to pick two this time around, but as we all know nothing is set in stone. This entire list can possibly be turned upside down within the next 6 months as, when it comes to the sweet science, the grind never stops.

But for now, ladies and gentleman, applaud your 2008-2009 All-Stars of Boxing!

Send all thoughts/questions/comments to BEstrict@hotmail.com
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