Sunday, April 20, 2008

Calzaghe moves into top 50


It may not have been an official title fight, but Calzaghe's close -- and disputed -- win over Bernard Hopkins was enough to move him to No. 49 in my ranking of the 100 greatest fighters.

Although the fight itself isn't worth much on my scale now -- it will be worth a lot more when Hopkins goes into the International Boxing Hall of Fame -- Calzaghe picked up 92 bonus points for beating one of the best 125 fighters ever. The bonus points pushed him up 13 positions.

The Executioner didn't suffer much with the loss. A win would have eventually pushed him into the top 20. The loss dropped him just one spot. It'll be interesting to see who both fight next or whether Hopkins finally decides to give it up.

Here are the updated No. 20 through No. 50 greatest fighters ever.

Rank, figher, years, country, points
20. Willie Pep, 1940-66, U.S., 57.220
21. Jose Napoles, 1958-75, Cuba, 56.234
22. Salvador Sanchez, 1975-82, Mexico, 56.016
23. Ricardo Lopez, 1985-01, Mexico, 55.704
24. Eder Jofre, 1957-76, Brazil, 55.341
25. Bernard Hopkins, 1988-08, U.S., 54.374
26. Julio Cesar Chavez, 1980-05, Mexico, 54.110
27. Roberto Duran, 1968-01, Panama, 54.076
28. Felix Trinidad, 1990-08, Puerto Rico, 53.578
29. Thomas Hearns, 1977-06, U.S., 53.432
30. Abe Attell, 1900-17, U.S., 53.132
31. Khaosai Galaxy, 1980-91, Thailand, 53.056
32. Sandy Saddler, 1944-56, U.S., 53.025
33. Sugar Ray Leonard, 1977-97, U.S., 53.003
34. George Foreman, 1969-97, U.S., 52.962
35. Antonio Cervantes, 1964-83, Colombia, 52.905
36. Tommy Ryan, 1887-07, U.S., 52.803
37. Carlos Zarate, 1970-88, Mexico, 52.574
38. Azumah Nelson, 1979-98, Ghana, 52.548
39. Mike Tyson, 1985-05, U.S., 52.547
40. James Jeffries, 1896-10, U.S., 52.458
41. Gene Tunney, 1915-28, U.S., 52.352
42. Joe Frazier, 1965-81, U.S., 52.302
43. Floyd Mayweather Jr., 1996-07, U.S., 52.236
44. Terry McGovern, 1897-08, U.S., 52.224
45. Yoko Gushiken, 1974-81, Japan, 52.167
46. Eusebio Pedroza, 1973-92, Panama, 52.145
47. Evander Holyfield, 1984-07, U.S., 52.053
48. Jack Johnson, 1897-28, U.S., 51.446
49. Joe Calzaghe, 1993-08, United Kingdom, 51.363
50. Flash Elorde, 1951-71, Phillippines, 51.315

Monday, April 14, 2008

The new king ... sort of


For those of you who somehow found this blog in 2006 or 2007, you'll remember Tiger Woods had a ways to go to catch Jack Nicklaus as the greatest golfer of all time.

At least in my old system.

This winter I decided to standardize my rankings among the various sports. I was using a mix of ways to decide the greatest athletes and the one for golf -- which was the first system I finished -- was tilted toward longevity instead of dominance.

I had one year, three year, five year, 10 year and career point totals added up, then added the career totals again and divided by two. That meant a players career total ended up being worth 60 percent of the final ranking.

That of course tilted my list Jack's way, since he still has more major victories and a lot more second place finishes than Woods.

But if you look at the 10 greatest seasons in major championship golf history, Tiger has accomplished three of them:

1. 2000 -- Woods earned 91 points in my system, winning the U.S. Open by 15 shots, the British by eight and the PGA in a playoff. He set scoring records in each tournament.
2. 1953 -- Ben Hogan, won all three majors he played in.
3. 1930 -- Bobby Jones, the original Grand Slam.
4. 2005 -- Tiger Woods, winning the Masters and British Open, second at the U.S. Open and fourth at the PGA.
5. 1980 -- Jack Nicklaus, won the U.S. Open and PGA championship.
6. 1962 -- Arnold Palmer, won the Masters and British Open.
7. 1960 -- Arnold Palmer, won the Masters and rallied from seven back to win the U.S. Open.
8. 1972 -- Jack Nicklaus, opens the year winning the Masters and U.S. Open but then is edged by Lee Trevino in the British.
9. 2002 -- Tiger Woods, won the Masters and British Open and loses by a shot to Rich Beem in the PGA.
10. 1948 -- Ben Hogan, won the U.S. Open and PGA championship.

If you look at dominance, even Nicklaus remarked in 2000 that he was never as good as Woods at his very peak.

After changing my rankings to a combined total of the best three year, six year, 10 year and career scores -- similar to all of my other rankings other than boxing -- then Tiger passed Nicklaus last year and just continues to build on his lead.

In fact, there was no movement in my new all-time golf tournament. Mickelson is one more top 10 finish away from passing Seve Ballesteros, otherwise from now on it's Tiger everyone is chasing.

Here's my new top 72 golfers after the Masters -- oh and congratulations Trevor Immelman, who has the potential to make this field in the next few years:

Rank, player, country, years, points
1. Tiger Woods, United States, 1994-2008, 179.44
2. Jack Nicklaus, United States, 1959-1998, 178.61
3. Ben Hogan, United States, 1939-1967, 145.30
4. Arnold Palmer, United States, 1954-1977, 127.39

5. Bobby Jones, United States, 1919-1930, 122.57
6. Tom Watson, United States, 1974-2000, 118.94
7. Walter Hagen, United States, 1913-1940, 118.49
8. Gene Sarazen, United States, 1921-1956, 108.67

9. Gary Player, South Africa, 1956-1984, 108.41
10. Sam Snead, United States, 1937-1974, 103.41
11. Nick Faldo, England, 1978-2003, 101.33
12. Byron Nelson, United States, 1935-1955, 90.94

13. Lee Trevino, United States, 1967-1986, 82.67
14. J.H. Taylor, England, 1893-1925, 81.90
15. Harry Vardon, England, 1894-1922, 81.47
16. Seve Ballesteros, Spain, 1976-1991, 79.46

17. Phil Mickelson, United States, 1990-2008, 79.35
18. Jim Barnes, Eng/U.S., 1913-1930, 77.25
19. Greg Norman, Australia, 1979-1999, 77.23
20. Raymond Floyd, United States, 1965-1994, 75.77

21. Ernie Els, South Africa, 1992-2007, 72.92
22. James Braid, Scotland, 1894-1914, 71.88
23. Nick Price, Zimbabwe, 1982-2005, 69.27
24. Peter Thomson, Australia, 1951-1971, 67.91

25. Jimmy Demaret, United States, 1938-1962, 66.93
26. Cary Middlecoff, United States, 1948-1959, 66.40
27. Ralph Guldahl, United States, 1933-1941, 65.57
28. Bobby Locke, South Africa, 1936-1957, 65.24

29. Craig Wood, United States, 1929-1944, 64.70
30. Hale Irwin, United States, 1973-1993, 63.05
31. Julius Boros, United States, 1950-1973, 62.58
32. Billy Casper, United States, 1958-1976, 60.90

33. Leo Diegel, United States, 1920-1933, 60.81
34. Johnny Miller, United States, 1966-1985, 58.53
35. Ben Crenshaw, United States, 1972-1995, 58.13
36. Harold Hilton, England, 1892-1913, 57.08

37. Paul Runyan, United States, 1931-1951, 57.08
38. Vijay Singh, Fiji, 1993-2006, 56.74
39. Tom Weiskopf, United States, 1969-1982, 55.53
40. Henry Cotton, England, 1927-1958, 55.48

41. Denny Shute, United States, 1928-1950, 55.30
42. Payne Stewart, United States, 1985-1999, 55.07
43. Jock Hutchison, Scot/U.S., 1908-1928, 54.47
44. Bernhard Langer, Germany, 1981-2005, 54.19

45. Ted Ray, England, 1902-1925, 53.91
46. Lloyd Mangrum, United States, 1940-1956, 53.05
47. Horton Smith, United States, 1928-1954, 51.87
48. Henry Picard, United States, 1932-1950, 51.85

49. Hubert Green, United States, 1974-1989, 51.18
50. Lawson Little, United States, 1934-1951, 50.84
51. Mark O'Meara, United States, 1979-2003, 48.08
52. Alex Smith, Scot/US, 1898-1921, 48.03

53. Larry Nelson, United States, 1979-1991, 47.75
54. Jose Maria Olazabul, Spain, 1984-2006, 47.67
55. Jim Furyk, United States, 1996-2007, 47.03
56. Fred Couples, United States, 1980-2006, 45.63

57. Doug Ford, United States, 1955-1962, 44.72
58. Davis Love III, United States, 1995-2005, 44.67
59. Gene Littler, United States, 1953-1979, 44.65
60. Retief Goosen, South Africa, 1997-2007, 44.48

61. Tony Jacklin, England, 1967-1972, 44.42
62. Lanny Wadkins, United States, 1970-1993, 44.35
63. Curtis Strange, United States, 1980-1995, 44.32
64. Jim Ferrier, Aus/U.S., 1936-1964, 43.97

65. Johnny Farrell, United States, 1922-1937, 43.71
66. Harry Cooper, Eng/U.S., 1923-1942, 43.71
67. Jack Burke Jr., United States, 1951-1965, 43.34
68. Tommy Bolt, United States, 1952-1971, 42.83

69. Tom Kite, United States, 1970-2001, 42.83
70. David Graham, Australia, 1975-1990, 42.66
71. Charles Evans Jr., United States, 1909-1927, 42.13
72. Jerry Pate, United States, 1974-1982, 40.69

Sunday, April 13, 2008

Cotto, Dawson wins should mean bigger fights


Miguel Angel Cotto, as expected, outclassed Alfonso Gomez in a WBA welterweight title match and moved up three spots on my list of the 100 greatest boxers ever.

Light heavyweight Chad Dawson also easily outpointed former champ Glenn Johnson.

Cotto, who already has beaten fighters such as Sugar Shane Mosley and Zab Judah, now will get a shot at Antonio Margarito, who knocked out Kermit Cintron.

Should Cotto win that fight, it will increase the public clamor for fellow welterweight champ Floyd Mayweather (No. 43 on my list) to take him on. The undefeated Mayweather's lone legitimate criticism is that he hasn't really taken on a top fighter in his prime.

Dawson can't even get a Margarito-level fight as the top light heavys continue to duck him. Antonio Tarver, who knocked off Clinton Woods Saturday on the same card, has shown no interest in taking on Dawson.

At 39, Tarver seems to be more interested in talking about how great he is than proving it against the 25-year-old Dawson. Dawson is going to have trouble in general proving his ability. Five of the six top light heavyweights in the world are age 35 or above. Fighters like Tarver, Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones Jr. are taking on hand-picked opponents to build their legacies.

Dawson is No. 143 on my list.

Here is the updated No. 60 through No. 69 standings:

60. Tony Canzoneri, 1925-39, U.S., 50.429
61. Harry Greb, 1913-26, U.S., 50.428
62. Joe Calzaghe, 1993-07, United Kingdom, 50.066
63. Duilio Loi, 1948-62, Italy, 49.893
64. Emile Griffith, 1958-77, U.S., 49.476
65. Miguel Angel Cotto, 2001-08, Puerto Rico, 49.470
66. Naseem Hamed, 1992-02, United Kingdom, 49.407
67. Chiquita Gonzalez, 1984-95, Mexico, 49.112
68. Dariusz Michalczewski, 1991-05, Poland, 49.014
69. Michael Carbajal, 1989-99, Canada, 48.883

Next week Calzaghe gets his chance to significantly move up the list when he takes on Bernard Hopkins (No. 25). Should Hopkins win, he could move into the top 20.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Ochoa climbing quickly in all-time women's golf tourney


Lorena Ochoa, the pride of Mexico, soared into the top 25 of the all-time women's golf tournament.

Ochoa has won the past two women's golf majors by a total of nine shots and is severely slowing Annika Sorenstam's march to the top of the rankings.

Here is the updated top 54 golfers in women's pro golf history:

Rank, player, years, points
1. Mickey Wright, 1958-1973, 150.19
2. Annika Sorenstam, 1995-2008, 142.82
3. Karrie Webb, 1996-2008, 128.43
4. Pat Bradley, 1977-1996, 118.66
5. Kathy Whitworth, 1963-1984, 117.39
6. Patty Berg, 1937-1965, 112.83
7. Julie Inkster, 1984-2006, 107.39
8. Patty Sheehan, 1981-1997, 99.77
9. Louise Suggs, 1946-1969, 97.69
10. Amy Alcott, 1976-1994, 94.56
11. Sandra Haynie, 1963-1983, 92.15
12. Babe Didrikson Zaharias, 1940-1954, 91.11
13. Meg Mallon, 1990-2004, 86.76
14. Betsy Rawls, 1951-1969, 83.66
15. Laura Davies, 1987-2005, 81.77
16. Se Ri Pak, 1998-2008, 81.28
17. JoAnne Carner, 1970-1992, 80.33
18. Nancy Lopez, 1975-1997, 79.58
19. Donna Caponi, 1969-1982, 69.94
20. Beth Daniel, 1980-2006, 68.88
21. Susan Maxwell Berning, 1965-1979, 67.02
22. Mary Mills, 1963-1974, 65.27
23. Sandra Palmer, 1967-1986, 61.52
24. Lorena Ochoa, 2002-2008, 60.45
25. Dottie Pepper, 1988-2001, 60.04
26. Carol Mann, 1963-1975, 59.63
27. Marilyn Smith, 1963-1972, 59.60
28. Jan Stephenson, 1976-2000, 59.47
29. Hollis Stacy, 1976-1996, 56.85
30. Sally Little, 1975-1988, 56.17
31. Ayako Okamoto, 1983-1993, 56.00
32. Liselotte Neumann, 1988-2005, 52.38
33. Rosie Jones, 1983-2005, 50.75
34. Jane Geddes, 1985-1996, 50.01
35. Tammie Green, 1989-1998, 48.13
36. Clifford-Ann Creed, 1963-1976, 43.90
37. Kelly Robbins, 1994-2004, 43.85
38. Brandie Burton, 1991-2001, 42.54
39. Cristie Kerr, 1999-2007, 40.96
40. Jane Blalock, 1971-1980, 39.45
41. Beverly Hanson, 1955-1958, 39.33
41. Betty Jameson, 1942-1954, 39.33
43. Marlene Hagge, 1956-1972, 39.17
44. Sherri Steinhauer, 1992-2006, 38.63
45. Judy Kimball-Simon, 1962-1967, 38.56
46. Grace Park, 1999-2005, 38.55
47. Shirley Englehorn, 1963-1970, 35.14
48. Donna Andrews, 1992-1998, 35.02
49. Judy Rankin, 1964-1979, 34.07
50. Colleen Walker, 1987-1997, 33.23
51. Pat Hurst, 1996-2006, 32.84
52. Chris Johnson, 1983-2000, 32.79
53. Nancy Scranton, 1986-2000, 32.67
54. Helen Alfreddson, 1992-2006, 31.97