Holyfield slips up, slips back

I've been an Evander Holyfield fan for 15 years now and he even had me believing that this last comeback was real. In reality, though, he barely showed up against Sultan Ibragimov and everyone around him wants him to retire.

Each loss diminishes what he used to be. This setback dropped him two spots in my list of boxing's 100 greatest fighters. Iron Mike Tyson, a fighter he beat twice, and Floyd Mayweather passed him.

Here is the newest No. 45 through No. 60.


45. Mike Tyson, 1985-05, U.S., 51.734
46. Floyd Mayweather Jr., 1996-07, U.S., 51.464
47. Evander Holyfield, 1984-07, U.S., 51.403
48. Jack Johnson, 1897-28, U.S., 51.380
49. Flash Elorde, 1951-71, Phillippines, 51.315
50. Jimmy McLarnin, 1923-36, U.S., 51.268
51. Oscar De La Hoya, 1992-07, U.S., 50.971
52. Pascual Perez, 1952-64, Argentina, 50.932
53. Bob Foster, 1961-78, U.S., 50.704
54. Vicente Saldivar, 1961-73, Mexico, 50.623
55. Floyd Patterson, 1952-72, U.S., 50.614
56. Kostya Tszyu, 1992-05, Australia, 50.605
57. Benny Leonard, 1911-32, U.S., 50.595
58. Lennox Lewis, 1989-03, United Kingdom, 50.527
59. Stanley Ketchel, 1904-10, U.S., 50.521
60. Tony Canzoneri, 1925-39, U.S., 50.512

Sultan Ibragimov is well out of the top 100 at No. 143 -- which is incomplete, I haven't ranked every single champion ever -- and he'll need to collect some more titles before he even challenges Wladimer Klitschko, No. 120.

Another fighter to watch is Juan Diaz, the lightweight champion. Juan now holds the WBA, WBO and IBF lightweight titles after beating Julio Diaz for the WBO title the same night Holyfield lost to Ibragimov. Just David Diaz is in his way for the WBC title and a very rare -- in this day and age -- unified championship.

Despite this, Juan Diaz is still a rather pedestrian No. 130. He wants to fight Manny Pacquiao, No. 134, instead of David Diaz. If he fights and wins both, he'll threaten the top 100.

There are two fights coming up that will change the standings.

Nov. 3: Mikkel Kessler (No. 104) vs. Joe Calzaghe (No. 62)
Nov. 10: Shane Mosley (No. 67) vs. Miguel Angel Cotto (No. 78)