Any questions?

Depending on how Kelly Pavlik rebounds from the lessons he received from Bernard Hopkins Saturday night this win may be Hopkins' defining moment.

He came in an 8-to-1 underdog despite fighting Joe Calzaghe to what many thought was a draw. But from the opening bell it was apparent that Pavlik was no match for Hopkins, at least at this point in his career.

One of the judges gave Hopkins all 12 rounds.

In a career loaded with solid wins, Hopkins really has few memorable ones. He lost to Roy Jones Jr. way back in 1993. His better wins as middleweight champ were over Glen Johnson when he was undefeated, an overmatched Oscar De La Hoya, William Joppy and Felix Trinidad in 2001 when he was undefeated but unable to bring his power with him to the 160-pound division.

If Pavlik rebounds, returns to 160 pounds and cleans out the division by beating Felix Sturm and Arthur Abraham -- who before this fight showed little willingness to test Pavlik -- then Hopkins will have a domination of one of the greats.

If Hopkins turns out to have solved the Pavlik puzzle then maybe the win loses its luster. In any case, Hopkins was back on top at least for this night even if it wasn't for a championship belt.

In terms of my rankings, because it wasn't for a title it didn't lift Hopkins at all in the rankings. He remains No. 25 behind Eder Jofre and in front of Julio Cesar Chavez. Pavlik dropped to No. 133 just in front of Vitali Klitschko. If Pavlik continues on to a Hall of Fame career, then Hopkins will receive a lot more for the win.

In terms of all-time Middleweights, this is where I have Hopkins:

1. (4 all-time) Sugar Ray Robinson, 1940-1965
2. (7) Carlos Monzon, 1963-1977
3. (16) Marvin Hagler, 1973-1987
4. (25) Bernard Hopkins, 1988-2008
5. (36) Tommy Ryan, 1887-1907
6. (56) Harry Greb, 1913-1926
7. (61) Stanley Ketchel, 1904-1910
8. (67) Nino Benvenuti, 1961-1971
9. (76) Marcel Cerdan, 1934-1949
10. (79) James Toney, 1988-2007 (middleweight was his best weight)

There are some other greats who held the Middleweight title at some point, including Sugar Ray Leonard, Roy Jones Jr., Bob Fitzsimmons, but they did way more damage in other divisions. Robinson was better at welter but still best at middle.

Measuring the Klitschko brothers

I got Showtime just in time to catch the double-header of Vitali Klitschko vs. Samuel Peter and Antonio Tarver vs. Chad Dawson.

I gave Peter a punchers chance and was shocked he showed so little skill. He just stood there, no bobbing and weaving, no feinting. Instead, he just ate jab after jab and then right hands over the top. This was no Frazier-Ali match for sure.

The Dawson-Tarver fight was much better. They were even for a while and then Dawson's speed took over and by the end Tarver looked like a shot fighter. The only drawback is that both were so good defensively neither really got a clean shot or an opening to go for a knockout.

Back to the Klitschko's though. Now the Klitschkos own two of the four major title belts and since they say they'll never fight each other it means we won't have a unified title anytime soon.

So that means relatively few options for those two to move up on my list of all-time greatest fighters. Their records are sterling -- Wladimir is 51-3 with 45 knockouts and Vitali is 36-2 with 35 KOs.

Yet Wladimir is ranked No. 114 on my list and Vitali is No. 131, one behind Valuev. For both it comes down to lack of enough title fights and neither will improve much in retirement because of a lack of Hall of Fame level victories.

Wladimir is 6-0 with 5 KOs in his major title fights and 6-2 with 5 KOs in lesser title fights. Of all his wins, the only fighter he's beaten who has even a small chance at the International Boxing Hall of Fame is Chris Byrd. So Wladimir needs to defend his title several more times to move into the top 100.

Vitali, because of his injuries, has even less of a chance. The win over Peter was his first fight in four years and he's 37 now. Vitali's greatest fight was a loss. He was ahead on points against Lennox Lewis when the referee had to stop the fight because of Vitali's chopped up face.

Had Vitali been able to stop Lewis, arguably one of the 10 best heavyweights ever, then he'd have a chance to finish in the top 100.

Really, both are hurt by the era they fight in. We'll never really know how good they were.

Iron man leads QB rankings -- for now

I've read lots of different rankings of the QB position. I believe Sports Illustrated has, at various times, picked three -- Johnny Unitas, Joe Montana and John Elway. I seem to remember Dr. Z picking Otto Graham once as well.

Fran Tarkenton owned a lot of the records that Dan Marino broke that just recently were broken by Brett Favre. But between those three there is just one Super Bowl trophy and winning counts for a lot.

So who is my No. 1, the guy who mixes longevity and health with stats as well as a title. If you look No. 6, though, he may not hold on to the spot for long. Unlike the other positions, I chose to put the top 32 out there because some guys with glittery reputations and lots of Super Bowl trophies are pretty far down the list.

Rank, player, years, point total
1. Brett Favre, 1991-2007, 39015.4
2. Steve Young, 1985-1999, 38662.0
3. Johnny Unitas, 1956-1973, 38555.4
4. Joe Montana, 1979-1994, 37691.0
5. Dan Marino, 1983-1999, 37535.2
6. Peyton Manning, 1998-2007, 37256.1
7. John Elway, 1983-1998, 36392.6
8. Fran Tarkenton, 1961-1978, 36136.1
9. Otto Graham, 1946-1955, 36072.7
10. Sid Luckman, 1939-1950, 35928.8
11. Roger Staubach, 1969-1979, 35428.8
12. Y.A. Tittle, 1948-1964, 34935.6
13. Len Dawson, 1957-1975, 34276.7
14. Ken Anderson, 1971-1986, 34224.2
15. Dan Fouts, 1973-1987, 34198.2
16. Sammy Baugh, 1937-1952, 34056.9
17. Randall Cunningham, 1985-2001, 33958.8
18. Warren Moon, 1984-2000, 33741.3
19. Norm Van Brocklin, 1949-1960, 33564.4
20. Boomer Esiason, 1984-1997, 33404.0
21. Sonny Jurgensen, 1957-1974, 33288.1
22. Daryle Lamonica, 1963-1974, 33142.7
23. Jim Kelly, 1986-1996, 33093.3
24. Rich Gannon, 1987-2004, 33031.0
25. Terry Bradshaw, 1970-1983, 32785.9
26. Bart Starr, 1956-1971, 32734.9
27. Bobby Layne, 1948-1962, 32297.2
28. Ken Stabler, 1970-1984, 32266.5
29. Bob Griese, 1967-1980, 32068.0
30. John Hadl, 1962-1977, 32024.0
31. Tom Brady, 2000-2007, 31408.2
32. Drew Bledsoe, 1993-2006, 31300.5

Brady was poised to start moving way up the list when he blew out his knee. Bradshaw was a terrible QB early in his career and the Steelers won most of those titles on defense and a running game. Stabler's career numbers also don't match his reputation.

Ken Anderson deserves to be in the Hall of Fame. The only on the list I really question myself is Rich Gannon, but he had some top shelf years.

Looking at the top of the list:

Here is the top 10 of the 3-year rankings (the peak years):
1. Steve Young; 2. Johnny Unitas; 3. Brett Favre; 4. Sid Luckman; 5. Joe Montana; 6. Peyton Manning; 7. Y.A. Tittle; 8. Roger Staubach; 9. Dan Marino; 10. Otto Graham

Top 10 for 6-year rankings:
1. Steve Young; 2. Johnny Unitas; 3. Peyton Manning; 4. Brett Favre; 5. Joe Montana; 6. Roger Staubach; 7. Otto Graham; 8. Dan Marino; 9. Sid Luckman; 10. Y.A. Tittle

Top 10 for 10-year rankings:
1. Johnny Unitas; 2. Brett Favre; 3. Joe Montana; 4. Otto Graham; 5. Peyton Manning; 6. Steve Young; 7. Dan Marino; 8. Fran Tarkenton; 9. John Elway; 10. Sid Luckman

Top 10 for career rankings:
1. Brett Favre; 2. Dan Marino; 3. John Elway; 4. Fran Tarkenton; 5. Joe Montana; 6. Johnny Unitas; 7. Steve Young; 8. Peyton Manning; 9. Warren Moon; 10. Len Dawson