Asian Fighters: Current Top Ten

1. Manny Pacquiao (Philippines)
Not much need be explained here. 4 - 8 weight world champion depending on how you look at it, p4p number one and possibly the best fighter Asia has ever produced. Number 1 here by a fair margin. Can achieve little more in the sport now unless a fight with Floyd Mayweather can be made before he retires. A genuine ATG.

2. Nonito Donaire (Philippines)
Lost the second of his 25 pro fights but has won the last 24, the Filipino Flash wiped out Wladimir Sidorenko in 4 rounds before christmas. Most notable victory prior to Montiel was his KO of top ranked superfly Vic Darchinyan. Donaire has speed and power in bundles and it has carried to bantamweight and could carry beyond. Wiped out fellow top ten p4per Fernando Montiel with a brutal second round KO to cement himself as p4p no2 and, number 2 on this list too.

3. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam (Thailand)
Top ranked flyweight, WBC and Ring title holder. Has lost only 3 times in 81 fights - 2 as a novice - and has inflicted defeats on all the men that beat him, including wiping one out in 34 seconds. Defended the WBC Flyweight title an outstanding 17 consecutive times before losing it to Daisuke Naito in an upset in '07, but has since regained the title and restored himself as top man in his division, fighting on average 4 times a year. A rightful p4p top ten fighter and nailed on ATG flyweight.

4. Chris John (Indonesia)
John is a world class featherweight and current WBA champion. He has an impressive undefeated pro record of 44-0-2 including highly credible wins over Oscar Leon, Derrick Gainer, Rocky Juarez and Juan Manuel Marquez. John has a great chin, is a sound technician with a good jab and defence and has shown an ability to adapt in the ring throughout his career. He had over a year out of the ring following his defeat of Juarez in '09, but won a come back fight against David Saucedo in December. With the 126lb division hotting up I really hope to see John in with the likes of Gamboa, Juanma, Caballero etc as I think he is a match for any of them.

5. Hozumi Hasegawa (Japan)
Not so long ago Hasegawa was on the edge of the p4p top ten, but a 4th round stoppage defeat to Fernando Montiel last year saw him lose his WBC bantamweight title. Prior to that defeat he had defended the title 10 times, a Japanese record, knocked out 5 of his challengers inside 2 rounds and was unbeaten in 9 years. A bad night against montiel doesn't suddenly make Hasegawa a bad fighter and he has since re-established himself by moving up two divisions and winning the WBC featherweight title. It will be highly interesting to see how he fares in what is undoubtedly the most talent rich division in boxing right now.

6. Toshiaki Nishioka (Japan)
Currently top dog at super bantamweight, Nishioka possesses very fast, very accurate hands and highly nimble footwork, and even at 34 he has tremendous stamina. Undefeated in 7 years and 14 fights, he is an exciting come forward aggressive fighter. Most British fans will be familiar with him following his defeat of Rendall Monroe last year. In that fight he showed his adaptability to box on the back foot and counter punch the naturally bigger Monroe out of the fight. A real hidden gem of a fighter.

7. Poonsawat kratingdaenggym (Thailand)
Once rated in the Ring p4p top ten, Poonsawat's stock fell a bit in 2010 following his upset loss to Ryol Li Lee, but he has a good enough record to hold down a place here - his only other loss in 44 fights coming to Donaire victim Sidorenko. He is an aggressive, heavy handed super bantam who is now looking to move up to the talent laden featherweight division, although a rematch with Li Lee has been mentioned. A fight between Poonsawat and divisional no1 Nishioka would be compulsive viewing.

8. Ryol Li Lee (Japan): Super bantamweight and still a novice of only 19 fights of which he has lost one, but his recent win over Poonsawaat has elevated his standing. A possible rematch could happen, and maybe a bout with Nishioka if he gets the win.

9. Koki Kameda (Japan): Highly ranked, brash flyweight whose only loss in 24 was a close fight with Wonjongkam - no shame in that, and holds a victory over Daisuke Naito who himself beat Wonjongkam. Having challenged and lost to the top man in his division he may move up to superfly at some point this year if a rematch with Wonjongkam doesn't materialise.

10. Daiki Kameda (Japan): Little brother of fellow flyweight Koki, not yet as established but had a good 2010 capped by outpointing the highly ranked Takefumi Sakata. One to watch in the flyweight division.

The fact that 3 of these guys - Pacquiao, Wonjongkam and Donaire are currently ranked p4p top ten, and 3 others - John, Hasegawa and Poonsawat, have spent time in the top ten in the last 18 months shows the standard of world class fighters the far east is producing at the moment, and is probably indicative of the shift in boxing both from western domination and from the heavier weight class fighters getting the most recognition.

Thanks for reading, all input welcome.

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I've read about all of the above except for Pac who I've seen fight on telly. But where do you guys see the others fight? Youtube?

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At the current time i'd have to go with Wonjongkam at number, think his longevity is the deciding factor, one of the few fighters around today who's fully established himself number one at his weight and will go down as an all time great flyweight. I like Donaire and if he gets past Montiel and it's a big IF then he's got a very bright future in the sport. Hoping he sticks around Bantamweight for a while and makes a real name for himself.

D4thincarnation wrote:

azania wrote:I've read about all of the above except for Pac who I've seen fight on telly. But where do you guys see the others fight? Youtube?

Youtube is a great source for boxing.

https://www.606v2.com/t431-donaire-vs-montiel-foty

Here is a link to a previous article of mine.

There's nothing quite like watching it live or a re-run on telly. I reckon there should be a dedicated boxing channel

D4thincarnation wrote:Donaire is clearly no.2 on the list.

He has all the makings of a great and is a nailed on future HOF.

D4 - other than knocking out Darchynyan what has Donaire done to suggest he should be ranked above Wonjongkam? Wonjongkam has only lost 3 fights in 81, 2 of them as a novice (much like manny). He defended his title 17 times and is quite clearly the man at flyweight, an ATG flyweight in fact. Donaire doesn't have the record, the title defences or the domination of a division to justify being placed ahead of Wonjongkam. At least not at this stage of his career. It's just trendy to like Donaire, he's a Filipino so the manny comparisons are plentiful (probably explaining your love of him) but Wonjongkam clearly has achieved more and remains more active than Donaire even at 34. I'd be interested to know why you'd rank Donaire no2, other than for the fact he's a filipino and mannys buddy?

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Beating vic and sidorenko and a couple of other contenders doesnt equate to what Wonjongkam has done in his career D4. You're basing far too much of it on potential ie you say he's a "nailed on hall of famer" when he's done nothing to suggest he's a HoFer as yet, what if Montiel knocks him out and he never reaches his potential? He's a great fighter but at the moment not a nailed on HoF. He probably would beat Poonsawat at FW but again that's something that hasn't happened as yet. I think ranking Donaire at 3rd at this stage is fair. If he beats Montiel - which I am certain he will - then there's a much better arguement for having him 2nd, but your current arguement is mostly based on Donaires potential rather than his achievements.

D4thincarnation wrote:Nonito and Manny are not buddies, there relationship has been frosty at times with accusations of Manny trying to hold back Nonito's career.

Manny wouldnt do that - after all he's a saint who can do no wrong isn't he? Just ask the mother of his lovechild who's brining him up in poverty. Or the lawyer he threatened to kill. Or his doormat of a wife. Good job powerful people in the Philippines can have their indiscretions swept under the carpet a lot easier than in the West.

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At this moment in time one good win doesn't out do a decade of domination

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His title fight record isn't padded at all D4, don't mistake facing easy opposition in tune up fights with him having a padded record

He's beaten the divisions number two on three occassions, beaten Kameda who is now a title holder at bantamweight as well as consistently fighting ranked contenders in title fights. There's not any more he could do at his weight to prove himself and not all of us rate boxers on their ability to hop from weight to weight. Sometimes a body of work in one division means a lot more.

imperialghosty wrote:His title fight record isn't padded at all D4, don't mistake facing easy opposition in tune up fights with him having a padded record

He's beaten the divisions number two on three occassions, beaten Kameda who is now a title holder at bantamweight as well as consistently fighting ranked contenders in title fights. There's not any more he could do at his weight to prove himself and not all of us rate boxers on their ability to hop from weight to weight. Sometimes a body of work in one division means a lot more.

Is he involved in any catchweight contests?

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D4thincarnation wrote:Wonjongkam also stayed away from the likes of Donaire and Darchinyan when they were at fly

D4, stop the ducking accusations. The simple truth is that you do not know the reason why many fighters do not fight each other. Big fights mean big money. In most cases its their respective managers who screw things up with their greed and not the boxers.

Boxers will fight whoever their managers put in front of them.

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D4thincarnation wrote:Not saying he ducked but his record is very padded with poor fighter and the top fighters around he did not face for what ever reason.

Donaire left the fly weight division in 2008 as the no.1 in the division, since then he has gone on to fight better opponents than Wonjongkam. How does Wonjongkam over take him in the rankings?

You said he stayed away from Donaire. That is an insinuation of ducking. Maybe Donaire stayed away from him. But in all honesty, I dont know either of the two. Anything below featherweight holds little interest to me....except for Ricardo Lopez who I thought as one of the best boxers I have ever seen.

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D4thincarnation wrote:Donaire took on Darchinyan the champion and the no.1 ranked fighter in the division.

Though Wonjongkam has been in the division he has never looked to unify the division and take on the other champions.

Donaire has oozed class in his performances putting on show and stopping fighters than have never been stopped before and has rarely got out of 3rd gear.

That means nothing. Quite a few times a fighter has been frozen out of mgafights for whatever reason. For instance no-one included Mike McCallum when Hagler, SRL, hearns and Duran were in their pomp. MM would have given them all fits imo. Was MM ducking them/avoiding them/staying away from them?

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It's his overall record that is better and as such he should be ranked above him, instead of doing your usual and belittling the achievements of boxers whom you don't like or challenge the superiority of those you do.

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D4thincarnation wrote:

azania wrote:

D4thincarnation wrote:Donaire took on Darchinyan the champion and the no.1 ranked fighter in the division.

Though Wonjongkam has been in the division he has never looked to unify the division and take on the other champions.

Donaire has oozed class in his performances putting on show and stopping fighters than have never been stopped before and has rarely got out of 3rd gear.

That means nothing. Quite a few times a fighter has been frozen out of mgafights for whatever reason. For instance no-one included Mike McCallum when Hagler, SRL, hearns and Duran were in their pomp. MM would have given them all fits imo. Was MM ducking them/avoiding them/staying away from them?

So you think a fighter that less quality opponents deserve to be ranked higher because they stay in the same division?

Seems a strange view to hold.


Here check out some fights for yourself and judge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3Ko98sfzr4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se559cVWlDU


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6Gw1z1o51I&feature=related

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7M6Y_F9V06c

Honestly I know little about those fighters so cannot comment on their respective opponents. But a fighter who stays in his division is currently overlooked in todays game in favour of those who rise up the weights and winning titles. I wonder how Hagler would have been rated today given that he is a lifelong middleweight. imo it shows great discipline to remain in your weight division for the duration of your career a la Hagler and Calzaghe.

Head to heads don't prove a great deal D4 and we both know that, Ponjongkam is about as natural a flyweight as you can get whereas both Donaire and Darchinyan are more natural Bantamweights given their natural size and frame.
I like Donaire and have him at about 6 on my p4p list just one behind Ponjongkam, he will undoubtably surpass him in the near future but at the moment he ranks slightly behind for me. He is the heir apparent to Pacquiao but think he may have bitten off more than he can chew too soon against Montiel. Only time will tell.

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D4 - I said I would once he'd beaten Montiel and the list has now been updated. Also moved him up to no2 on my p4p list.

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