Top 50 featherweights ever (41-50)

When drawing up a list of top featherweights, it becomes clear that we are fortunate to have been going through a golden age in the division in recent years. How would Manny Pacquiao or Marco Antonio Barrera done against a Sandy Saddler or a Freddie Miller. This list does not attempt to solve that, but it does give us a chance to compare eras. The first part of the list compares its own interesting comparison between different eras of British boxers.

A quick reminder that super-bantamweights (junior/light-featherweights) are included. As always, comments, suggestions and top tens very welcome.

41. Israel Vazquez
After moderate early attempts at the top level, Vazquez has turned into something of a modern-day legend, thanks to a thrilling win over Jhonny Gonzalez and his trilogy with Rafael Marquez. Perhaps not the most talented, but this Mexican fights with his heart making him about the most exciting fighter in the world right now.

42. Chris John
Undefeated in 43 bouts, with eight successful title defences and a win over Juan Manuel Marquez, John might not register on most fans' radar but he is clearly very good.

43. Chalky Wright
From a family of migrant farm workers, Wright was a tough boxer and hard puncher who shared the ring with some of the greats in the Forties. Won the title with a knockout of Joey Archibald, but found the likes of Willie Pep and Henry Armstrong far too good.

44. 'Kid' Kaplan
Born in Ukraine, but grew up in the US, the "Meriden Buzzsaw" took the featherweight title in 1925 after Johnny Dundee had vacated it, beating some decent fighters like Bobby Garcia and Danny Kramer along the way.

45. Jose Legra
One of the wave of Cuban professionals who left their homeland after the Castro revolution, he settled in Spain and was a two-time WBC champion - although he failed to make a successful defence. He stopped Howard Winstone to win the title in Porthcawl in 1968 and regained the title by beating Clemente Sanchez in Mexico.

46. Baby Arizmendi
They breed them tough in Mexico, as Arizmendi proves - he turned pro at 13, hence the nickname. His greatest achievement in more than 100 pro fights was winning one of his five fights against Henry Armstrong which, oddly, was for the Mexican featherweight title. He failed in world title bids against Armstrong and Freddie Miller, but recorded a decent win over Mike Belloise for the New York State title.

47. Scott Harrison (left)
Two-time WBO featherweight champion whose problems outside the ring have clouded his achievements in it. At his best, however, he was a fearsome champion, whose wins over Julio Pablo Chacon, Wayne McCullough (particularly comparing the performances of Erik Morales and Naseem Hamed against McCullough)  and  Manuel Medina (second time) show.

48. Tony Canzoneri
A real great, although his best days were up the weight scale from featherweight. At 9st, he followed Kid Caplan as New York world champion and beat Benny Bass for the NBA version.

49. Howard Winstone (top)
A Welsh legend who perhaps would have achieved more had he not bumped into a great in Vicente Saldivar, who beat him three times. Once Saldivar retired, he briefly held the world title after beating Mitsunori Seki, but Saldivar had taken his best days.

50. Shozo Saijo
Became the first Japanese boxer to win a world title outside Japan when he beat Raul Rojas at the Olympic in Los Angeles in 1968 - no mean feat - and lost it in the sixth defence to Antonio Gomez.

Comments

[James Fairweather]

I'm still not quite clear what there is in Scott Harrison's record that demands that he be placed above Howard Winstone. You mention Harrison's relatively impressive showing against McCullough when set against Hamed's - in fairness, Harrison feasted on the Irishman's carcass some four and a half years and a spell of inactivity after Hamed had finished with him. Otherwise, we have a string of defences of a fairly worthless strap, including admittedly superb efforts against Chacon and Brodie. These, however, need to be set against a dismal loss at the hands of a 32 year-old Medina and a home-town draw against the ho-hum Polo.

I don't see how this record can be given the nod over Winstone's CV. In his prime, other than his 2-round loss to a respected banger in Leroy Jeffery, Winstone's record seems to be as good as any modern British-based feather, excepting only Hamed and, more arguably, McGuigan. Dominating Europe, beating Legra and Johnson (thereby reversing a ridiculous decision first time round) and forcing Saldivar to dredge up every last bit of his greatness to establish superiority over the Welshman seem to me to be of a higher order than anything Harrison managed.

A time-travelling match between the two might have been interesting. Personally, I don't think that a prime Harrison would have been able to get anywhere near the Winstone who so narrowly failed to beat an all-time great in both London and Cardiff.

Elsewhere in the 41-50 list, no real complaints, although Chalky Wright, who did beat a few world title claimants in his day, might deserve a slightly higher berth.