Who was the greatest racecar driver in the world?

A few weeks ago I posted the ultimate NASCAR race, grids 1 through 43.

Richard Petty took the top spot naturally, but of course a NASCAR ranking wouldn't include two of the biggest names in U.S. auto racing -- A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti.

Both Foyt and Andretti won Daytona 500s but spent the vast majority of the careers in open-wheel racing, chasing titles world wide.

So I started thinking about how to rank racers in Indy Car with NASCAR and Formula One. Even with the explosion of NASCAR in the U.S., the Formula One series title remains the most coveted in the world.

On the other hand, U.S. open wheel actually has the longest running series championship if you trace Champ Car -- which thankfully merged with the Indy Racing League to hopefully save open-wheel in the U.S. -- all the way back. It's evolved from the AAA series that actually was going on before the Indianapolis race became a 500-miler, to USAC, to CART and finally to Champ Car/IRL.

But the series title meant little. When people look at A.J. Foyt's career, they mention the four Indy 500 wins, the Daytona 500 and his 24 Hours of LeMans wins. Very few rank his six USAC series titles among his greatest accomplishments.

So the series titles aren't of equal stature and drivers can't drive more than one circuit a year, so you don't see the best worldwide squaring off.

Where you do occasionally see the best going head-to-head is in the most historic races. Doing a little research I found that Formula One's Grand Prix of Monaco, endurance racing's 24 Hours of LeMans and the Indianapolis 500 are considered the Triple Crown of Auto Racing.

For my rankings, though, I'm adding a fourth to the list -- the Daytona 500. Although it doesn't have the history as the other three, the first Daytona 500 was in 1959 -- it has surpassed the Indy 500 as the top race in the U.S., again thanks to NASCAR's growth.

So I based my rankings on golf, which centers around the four majors for men and women. The winning driver of the above four races received 20 points, with second place worth nine, third place eight and on down to 10th place receiving a point.

I didn't totally disregard season-long results. The Formula One title is the most prestigious in the world. Winning it is worth six bonus points, second in the series gets three, third is worth two and fourth place earns a point.

NASCAR, even though it hasn't been around as long, has long been considered a more prestigious series than open-wheel in the U.S. The fact that Dale Earnhardt won seven Winston Cups is central to his reputation. So the Grand National/Winston/Nextel Cup is worth five points to the winner, two to second and third gets a point.

The various open-wheel series championships were worth four points to the winner and one point to second place. During the Champ/IRL split, though, the winner of each series received two points.

Endurance racing has had just a handful of season series even worth mentioning. Truthfully, beyond LeMans, the 12 hour at Sebring and 24 hours at Daytona races are bigger than any series. The winners of those races each year received two points.

A few points for the ranking:

* It was tilted ever so slightly toward Formula One. A Monaco Grand Prix win and Formula One series title is worth 26 points. A Daytona 500 and Nextel Cup championship is worth 25. An Indy 500 and AAA/USAC/CART/IRL at most was worth 24 and if you swept the endurance "Triple Crown" of LeMans, Sebring and Daytona, that was worth 24 points.

* Endurance racers had a slight advantage overall. Because of the length of the races, teams use between two and four drivers. That means there's a lot more points available each year to endurance racers. You could win as many points being the No. 4 driver at LeMans as being the lone winner at Monaco.

* One-series wonders had to really, really dominate to get near the top. This really limits NASCAR drivers because that series is so full very, very few over the years have ventured outside NASCAR. You'll see what I mean as the standings unfold.

* Modern drivers have an advantage because safety equipment is so much better. Who knows what a guy like Bill Vukovich would have accomplished if he hadn't been killed dominating the Indy 500 after winning two straight in the 1950s?

I'll release the top 100 over the next four nights. In reverse order, here are the No. 100 down to No. 76 greatest auto racers worldwide.

Rank, racer, country, years, points
100. Geoff Bodine, United States, 1984-2000, 29.71
99. Bob Wollek, France, 1977-1998, 29.82
98. Allan McNish, United Kingdom, 1998-2006, 29.87
97. Eddie Cheever, United States, 1981-2002, 29.96
96. Mauro Baldi, Italy, 1983-2002, 30.01
95. Paul Frere, Belgium, 1955-1960, 30.53
94. Michael Andretti, United States, 1983-2006, 30.63
93. Buddy Lazier, United States, 1996-2004, 30.81
92. Hans Herrman, Germany, 1958-1970, 30.88
91. Jimmie Johnson, United States, 2003-2007, 30.89
90. Jimmy Murphy, United States, 1920-1924, 30.95
89. Jim Rathmann, United States, 1952-1962, 31.07
88. Jacques Villeneuve, Canada, 1993-2001, 31.07
87. Ronnie Peterson, Sweden, 1970-1978, 31.17
86. Vern Schuppan, Australia, 1975-1984, 31.91
85. Mika Hakkinen, Finland, 1994-2000, 31.95
84. Lorenzo Bandini, Italy, 1962-1967, 32.01
83. Rudolf Caracciola, Germany, 1929-1939, 32.09
82. Nigel Mansell, United Kingdom, 1982-1993, 32.24
81. Jochen Rindt, Austria, 1965-1970, 32.31
80. Fred Lorenzen, United States, 1960-1971, 32.35
79. Raymond Sommer, France, 1932-1950, 32.53
78. Jan Lammers, Netherlands, 1980-2005, 32.75
77. Nelson Piquet, Brazil, 1979-1996, 32.77
76. Jean-Pierre Jaussaud, France, 1973-1980, 33.17

Newman wins Daytona, moves into all-time Daytona field

Ryan Newman's 13th win was a lucky one -- the Daytona 500.

The five points he receives in my system for winning Daytona plus the one point for winning a race was enough to move him into the top 43 racers in NASCAR history.

The person he knocked out of the all-time race is still active -- Kevin Harvick -- so he may make his way back in. The guy on the cut line is Ernie Irvan. Here is the updated starting grid for the all-time NASCAR race.

Pole pos., Racer, Total
1. Richard Petty, 119.68
2. Dale Earnhardt, 92.16
3. Cale Yarborough, 86.59
4. Darell Waltrip, 84.33
5. Jeff Gordon, 80.00
6. David Pearson, 76.66
7. Bobby Allison, 72.36
8. Lee Petty, 67.11
9. Bill Elliott, 66.64
10. Herb Thomas, 65.13
11. Jimmie Johnson, 61.87
12. Dale Jarrett, 60.94
13. Buck Baker, 58.67
14. Ned Jarrett, 57.72
15. Tim Flock, 57.47
16. Tony Stewart, 52.14
17. Terry Labonte, 50.50
18. Mark Martin, 49.90
19. Benny Parsons, 49.75
20. Joe Weatherly, 42.90
21. Bobby Labonte, 41.53
22. Bobby Isaac, 39.26
23. Rex White, 38.27
24. Fireball Roberts, 38.00
25. Matt Kenseth, 37.37
26. Harry Gant, 36.29
27. Fonty Flock, 36.23
28. Jeff Burton, 35.31
29. James Hylton, 35.22
30. Kurt Busch, 34.91
31. Ricky Rudd, 33.77
32. Curtis Turner, 33.56
33. Junior Johnson, 33.16
34. Sterling Marlin, 31.51
35. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 30.61
36. Davey Allison, 30.29
37. Speedy Thompson, 28.54
38. Dave Marcis, 26.25
39. Jim Paschal, 25.79
40. Ken Schrader, 24.63
41. Buddy Baker, 23.88
42. Ryan Newman, 23.73
43. Ernie Irvan, 23.47

The ultimate NASCAR race

I'm no gearhead -- I haven't watched a race for more than two minutes in 20 years -- but I keep up with the sport through Sports Illustrated and obviously NASCAR is as major a league as there is in the United States.

With the end of the football season tonight, the next big event on the U.S. calendar is the Daytona 500 so tonight I'll present my ultimate NASCAR race. Racers one through 43, just like the starting Daytona grid.

I based the system a bit on golf but customized it a bit to fit with the Chase in that the top 12 drivers received points. Winning the Grand National or Winston or Nextel Cup was worth 20 points. Second place was 11, third eight 10, etc.

A driver received a bonus point for every race won during the season. And the top three drivers in the Daytona 500 received points as well. The winner received five, second received two and third place was worth one.

I totaled all three to give a driver a yearly score and then ranked drivers based on their best three year, six year, 10 year and career totals.

Let's break down a driver to show how it works. How about Bill Elliott.

Elliott's best year -- in my system -- was 1985 when he finished second in the Winston Cup, won the Daytona 500 and 11 races overall. His score was 11 points for the season series, five for winning Daytona and 11 bonus points for wins (So winning Daytona actually amounts to six points). That's 27 points.

His second best year was 1992 when he actually won the Winston Cup. He got 20 points for that, but he was not in the top three at Daytona and won just five races so his yearly score was 25.

In 1987, he was again second in the Cup, won Daytona and six races for a score of 22.

To figure his top three year score, I added 27, 25 and 22 and divided by three for a score of 24.67. I took his top six scores and divided by that number for that total and the same with 10.

For the career score, I took all of the points he scored in 18 seasons -- 181 -- and divided it by 27. Why 27? That's the number of seasons Richard Petty scored at least one point in my system so he's the one to be measured against.

To reach a final score, I added the 3-year, 6-year, 10-year and career rankings together for a total.

Then I made one little adjustment. Richard Petty's 200 wins were off the charts, but when you look back at NASCAR's season, the King's numbers are a bit inflated. Before 1955, the season had on average about 29 races a season. From 1955 through 1971, NASCAR was running numerous mid-week races to generate cash for the drivers. In that time, the average number of races included in the Cup was just under 50.

In 1972, NASCAR scaled back on the schedule to where between 28 and 36 races are run each year. Since drivers in the '60s had so many more opportunities to pick up bonus points, the wins from 1955 through 1971 were worth 0.67 points.

That changed the standings slightly, but as you'll see the same driver finished on top with or without the adjustment.

So with Daytona two weeks away, here would be the all-time field in an ultimate Daytona 500.

Pole pos., Racer, Years, Total
1. Richard Petty, 1959-1987, 119.68
2. Dale Earnhardt, 1979-2000, 92.16
3. Cale Yarborough, 1965-1985, 86.59
4. Darell Waltrip, 1975-1994, 84.33
5. Jeff Gordon, 1994-2007, 80.00
6. David Pearson, 1961-1980, 76.66
7. Bobby Allison, 1966-1988, 72.36
8. Lee Petty, 1949-1961, 67.11
9. Bill Elliott, 1983-2003, 66.64
10. Herb Thomas, 1950-1956, 65.13
11. Jimmie Johnson, 2002-2007, 61.87
12. Dale Jarrett, 1991-2005, 60.94
13. Buck Baker, 1952-1964, 58.67
14. Ned Jarrett, 1959-1965, 57.72
15. Tim Flock, 1949-1956, 57.47
16. Tony Stewart, 1999-2007, 52.00
17. Terry Labonte, 1979-2003, 50.50
18. Mark Martin, 1989-2007, 49.90
19. Benny Parsons, 1970-1987, 49.75
20. Joe Weatherly, 1958-1963, 42.90
21. Bobby Labonte, 1995-2003, 41.53
22. Bobby Isaac, 1964-1973, 39.26
23. Rex White, 1958-1963, 38.27
24. Fireball Roberts, 1950-1964, 38.00
25. Matt Kenseth, 2000-2007, 37.37
26. Harry Gant, 1980-1992, 36.29
27. Fonty Flock, 1949-1956, 36.23
28. Jeff Burton, 1997-2007, 35.31
29. James Hylton, 1966-1977, 35.22
30. Kurt Busch, 2002-2007, 34.47
31. Ricky Rudd, 1979-2002, 33.77
32. Curtis Turner, 1949-1965, 33.56
33. Junior Johnson, 1955-1965, 33.16
34. Sterling Marlin, 1987-2002, 31.51
35. Dale Earnhardt Jr., 2000-2006, 30.61
36. Davey Allison, 1987-1993, 30.29
37. Speedy Thompson, 1953-1960, 28.54
38. Dave Marcis, 1970-1984, 26.25
39. Jim Paschal, 1953-1967, 25.79
40. Ken Schrader, 1987-1998, 24.63
41. Buddy Baker, 1965-1983, 23.88
42. Ernie Irvan, 1990-1997, 23.47
43. Kevin Harvick, 2001-2007, 23.42

A couple of names you don't see on this list are A.J. Foyt and Mario Andretti. Foyt won a Daytona 500 but neither he nor Andretti spent much time in NASCAR. Foyt won four Indy 500s and a 24 Hours at LeMans in open wheel while Andretti is the last U.S. driver to win the Formula 1 title.

Personally, I'm biased because I grew up when Foyt was winning his last Indy races but I don't see how he can't be the best U.S. born driver ever.

But this is a NASCAR ranking. I'm working on a worldwide all-time ranking I hope to have done by the end of the Daytona 500. So if you're a racing fan, check back then.

A new challenger for all-time men's tennis tourney

For the first time since the 2005 Australian Open someone other than Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal won a major tennis tournament.

Novak Djokovic's win ended a remarkable run to the top of the all-time tennis tournament by Federer. For Nadal, it was his first semifinal in a hard-court major so it was a step forward for him.

Still, Djokovic, even with last year's U.S. Open final and Wimbledon semifinal, is not in our top 32 so the standings did not change.

I did incorporate semifinalist points and standardized the system with my other systems, eliminating the 1-year category. That mixed things up a bit toward the bottom of the rankings. Here's the updated list:

Rank, Player, Country, Years, Total
1. Roger Federer, Switzerland, 2003-2008, 101.17
2. Pete Sampras, United States, 1990-2002, 92.63
3. Bjorn Borg, Sweden, 1974-1981, 90.42
4. Ivan Lendl, Czechoslovakia, 1981-1991, 86.07
5. Jimmy Connors, United States, 1973-1991, 85.57
6. John McEnroe, United States, 1979-1985, 81.72
7. Mats Wilander, Sweden, 1982-1988, 68.92
8. Andre Agassi, United States, 1988-2005, 65.32
9. Boris Becker, Germany, 1985-1996, 62.07
10. Stefan Edberg, Sweden, 1985-1993, 59.37
11. Jim Courier, United States, 1991-1995, 52.67
12. Rod Laver, Australia, 1968-1971, 50.00
13. John Newcombe, Australia, 1968-1976, 48.60
14. Rafael Nadal, Spain, 2005-2008, 40.33
15. Ken Rosewall, Australia, 1968-1974, 39.33
16. Guillermo Vilas, Argentina, 1975-1982, 36.12
17. Jan Kodes, Czechoslovakia, 1970-1973, 35.00
18. Arthur Ashe, United States, 1968-1977, 32.58
19. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia, 2000-2005, 30.17
20. Illie Nastase, Romania, 1971-1976, 28.83
21. Marat Safin, Russia, 2000-2005, 28.67
22. Gustavo Kuerten, Brazil, 1997-2001, 25.33
23. Pat Rafter, Australia, 1997-2001, 24.50
24. Stan Smith, United States, 1968-1980, 23.50
25. Yevgeny Kafelinikov, Russia, 1996-2000, 23.00
26. Pat Cash, Australia, 1984-1988, 22.00
27. Michael Chang, United States, 1989-1996, 21.67
28. Andy Roddick, United States, 2003-2007, 20.67
29. Sergei Bruguera, Spain, 1993-1997, 20.33
30. Goran Ivanisevic, Croatia, 1990-2001, 19.83
31. Michael Stich, Germany, 1991-1996, 18.83
32. Johan Kriek, South Africa, 1981-1982, 18.00

Sharapova moves into top half of all-time draw

At the end of 2006, I thought Maria Sharapova was set to go on one of those runs you see by the top women's tennis players where she ran off five or six major titles out of seven.

The kind of dominance that came from King, Court, Navratilova and Serena Williams.

Instead, Williams kind of put her into a permanent funk by beating her in the 2007 Australian Open.

Sharapova rebounded in the '08 Aussie though. Her 6-4, 6-0 beat down of Justine Henin may mark a permanent shift in that battle. Of course, she'll have to hold off Ana Ivanovic for the next few years since they are both just 20.

The win gives Sharapova three of the four major titles and she was a semifinalist last year. She leapfrogged several players in the all-time women's tennis tournament.

Here's the new top 32:

Rank, Player, Country, Years, Points
1. Martina Navratilova, Czechoslovakia, 1974-2006, 165.63
2. Steffi Graf, Germany, 1985-1999, 154.13
3. Chris Evert-Lloyd, United States, 1971-1989, 113.40
4. Margaret Smith-Court, Australia, 1968-1975, 96.75
5. Monica Seles, Yugoslavia, 1989-2002, 92.85
6. Billie Jean King, United States, 1968-1983, 88.14
7. Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, Australia, 1971-1980, 80.35
8. Serena Williams, United States, 1998-2007, 68.62
9. Martina Hingis, Switzerland, 1996-2006, 65.15
10. Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario, Spain, 1989-2000, 63.14
11. Justine Henin, Belgium, 2001-2007, 62.14
12. Venus Williams, United States, 1997-2007, 61.12
13. Hana Mandlikova, Czechoslovakia, 1980-1987, 47.65
14. Lindsay Davenport, United States, 1996-2005, 47.40
15. Maria Sharapova, Russia, 2004-2008, 31.97
16. Jennifer Capriati, United States, 1990-2004, 29.93
17. Virginia Wade, England, 1968-1977, 28.92
18. Tracy Austin, United States, 1979-1981, 28.55
19. Mary Pierce, France, 1994-2005, 27.15
20. Gabriela Sabatini, Argentina, 1985-1995, 27.03
21. Amelie Mauresmo, France, 1999-2006, 25.00
22. Kim Clijsters, Belgium, 2001-2005, 23.76
23. Conchita Martinez, Spain, 1994-2000, 22.69
24. Jana Novotna, Czechoslovakia, 1991-1998, 21.55
25. Ann Haydon-Jones, England, 1968-1969, 20.17
26. Kerry Melville-Reid, Australia, 1970-1977, 15.61
27. Virginia Ruzici, Romania, 1978-1980, 15.40
28. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia, 2004-2007, 14.91
29. Helena Sukova, Czechoslovakia, 1984-1993, 14.74
30. Mimi Jausovec, Yugoslavia, 1977-1983, 14.41
31. Mary-Joe Fernandez, United States, 1989-1997, 13.33
32. Nancy Richey, United States, 1968-1970, 12.83

Roy Jones Jr. -- best of his generation

Many are going to dismiss Roy Jones Jr.'s win over Felix Trinidad as two has-beens cashing in on a final pay day.

True, this would have been a much more lucrative and important fight in 2001 than it was in 2008. But we can't dismiss Roy's win. It cements his place as the best fighter of the 1995-2005 era.

Even though it wasn't a title fight and worth minimal points in my all-time top 100 fighter ranking, Trinidad is a future Hall of Famer and easily among the top 50 fighters ever so Jones piled up even more bonus points for beating all-time greats.

In his 52 wins, Jones now has wins over Virgil Hill, Mike McCallum, James Toney, Bernard Hopkins and Felix Trinidad. No other fighter of his time has taken on so many challenges.

The bonus points alone helped Jones jump five spots to No. 12 on the list. And even if he decides there are no more challenges, he will continue to climb. As the fighters he has beaten retire and go into the Hall of Fame -- McCallum already is in and the other four figure to get there -- then his wins will be worth even more over time.

Jones could finish as high as No. 5.

Trinidad fell two spots to No. 28.

Here's the new top 30:

1. Muhammad Ali, 1960-81, U.S., 84.972
2. Joe Louis, 1934-51, U.S., 84.312
3. Henry Armstrong, 1931-45, U.S., 79.434
4. Sugar Ray Robinson, 1940-65, U.S., 75.282
5. Rocky Marciano, 1947-55, U.S., 62.776
6. Wilfredo Gomez, 1974-89, Puerto Rico, 62.665
7. Carlos Monzon, 1963-77, Argentina, 61.514
8. Joe Gans, 1891-09, U.S., 60.829
9. Alexis Arguello, 1968-95, Nicaragua, 60.008
10. Larry Holmes, 1973-02, U.S., 60.004
11. Archie Moore, 1936-63, U.S., 59.812
12. Roy Jones Jr., 1989-08, U.S., 59.792
13. Aaron Pryor, 1976-90, U.S., 59.526
14. Marvin Hagler, 1973-87, U.S., 59.457
15. Ezzard Charles, 1940-59, U.S., 59.078
16. Manuel Ortiz, 1938-55, U.S., 59.017
17. Carlos Ortiz, 1955-72, Puerto Rico, 58.838
18. Barney Ross, 1929-38, U.S., 57.821
19. Michael Spinks, 1977-88, U.S., 57.381
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, 55.570
24. Eder Jofre, 1957-76, Brazil, 55.341
25. Bernard Hopkins, 1988-07, U.S., 55.327
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

G'day to 2008

I love the Australian Open just because it's the first major event of the new year. Over the Christmas break I decided to standardize my rankings among the sports. I had tweaked golf one way, tennis another, football and basketball a different way.

Now I've settled on 1-year, 3-year, 6-year, 10-year and career points and arriving at a total by adding them all together. Basketball and football, though, I do not use the 1-year, instead I use the 3, 6, 10, career numbers.

That puts the focus back on domination. Case in point, men's tennis. Here's how one great year plays out.

1-year, obviously it's 100 percent of the score.
3-year, it's 33 percent of the score.
6-year, it's 16.7 percent of the score.
10-year, it's 10 percent of the score.
In men's tennis, Pete Sampras scored in 12 different years so I'm taking the total career points and dividing by 12 -- in women's tennis, Martina Navratilova scored in an amazing 23 years.

So in men's tennis, one great year is worth more than 30 percent of the total score.

That moved a few people around. Here are the revised top 16 players for both men and women in the Open era.

Rank, Player, Country, Years, Total
1. Roger Federer, Switzerland, 2003-2007, 147.53
2. Pete Sampras, United States, 1990-2002, 131.92
3. Bjorn Borg, Sweden, 1974-1981, 130.17
4. Jimmy Connors, United States, 1974-1984, 128.49
5. John McEnroe, United States, 1979-1985, 124.13
6. Ivan Lendl, Czechoslovakia, 1981-1991, 124.12
7. Mats Wilander, Sweden, 1982-1988, 109.27
8. Rod Laver, Australia, 1968-1971, 106.75
9. Boris Becker, Germany, 1985-1996, 93.06
10. Andre Agassi, United States, 1990-2005, 92.42
11. Stephan Edberg, Sweden, 1985-1993, 84.01
12. Guillermo Vilas, Argentina, 1975-1982, 81.58
13. Jim Courier, United States, 1991-1993, 80.78
14. John Newcombe, Australia, 1968-1976, 73.38
15. Rafael Nadal, Spain, 2005-2007, 65.50
16. Ken Rosewall, Australia, 1968-1974, 64.94

Women
Rank, Player, Country, Years, Points
1. Martina Navratilova, Czechoslovakia, 1974-2006, 228.99
2. Steffi Graf, Germany, 1987-1999, 219.36
3. Chris Evert-Lloyd, United States, 1973-1988, 152.76
4. Margaret Smith-Court, Australia, 1968-1975, 149.32
5. Monica Seles, Yugoslavia, 1990-1998, 146.64
6. Billie Jean King, United States, 1968-1979, 130.19
7. Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, Australia, 1971-1980, 114.18
8. Serena Williams, United States, 1999-2007, 113.57
9. Martina Hingis, Switzerland, 1996-2006, 107.69
10. Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario, Spain, 1989-1998, 103.47
11. Venus Williams, United States, 1997-2007, 91.10
12. Justine Henin, Belgium, 2001-2007, 88.46
13. Lindsay Davenport, United States, 1998-2005, 68.75
14. Hana Mandlikova, Czechoslovakia, 1980-1987, 67.41
15. Amelie Mauresmo, France, 1999-2006, 52.52
16. Jennifer Capriati, United States, 2001-2002, 51.42

All-time top 100 boxers, end of 2007

The newest members of the International Boxing Hall of Fame were announced this week and since my ranking depends on who is in the Hall, the new inductees -- especially Larry Holmes -- shake up the rankings a bit.

That plus the fact the next major fight is not until Jan. 19 when Felix Trinidad and Roy Jones Jr. try to recapture their youth against other and I've decided to publish my all-time 100 top boxers in history a couple of weeks early.

That allows me to concentrate on finishing my next project. The greatest pro football players of all time. The offensive players should be ready by Jan. 1 but defense is going to take me well into the spring.

Back to boxing. Below is the updated list with an additional category -- how much a fighter rose or dropped in the ranking. I made two significant revisions to the list this year -- adding a bonus category for defeating all-time greats and a unified champion category for fighters after 1983 with more points -- so there was a lot of shuffling. Way more than what will happen in the coming years.

The top 10 were unchanged:

1. Muhammad Ali, 1960-81, U.S., 84.955, +0
2. Joe Louis, 1934-51, U.S., 84.312, +0
3. Henry Armstrong, 1931-45, U.S., 79.434, +0
4. Sugar Ray Robinson, 1940-65, U.S., 75.299, +0
5. Rocky Marciano, 1947-55, U.S., 62.776, +0
6. Wilfredo Gomez, 1974-89, Puerto Rico, 62.665, +0
7. Carlos Monzon, 1963-77, Argentina, 61.514, +0
8. Joe Gans, 1891-09, U.S., 60.829, +0
9. Alexis Arguello, 1968-95, Nicaragua, 60.008, +0
10. Larry Holmes, 1973-02, U.S., 60.004, +0

There were some real climbers at 11 through 19.

11. Archie Moore, 1936-63, U.S., 59.812, +4
12. Aaron Pryor, 1976-90, U.S., 59.526, +0
13. Marvin Hagler, 1973-87, U.S., 59.440, +5
14. Ezzard Charles, 1940-59, U.S., 59.078, -3
15. Manuel Ortiz, 1938-55, U.S., 59.017, -2
16. Carlos Ortiz, 1955-72, Puerto Rico, 58.838, -2
17. Roy Jones Jr., 1989-07, U.S., 58.473, +8
18. Barney Ross, 1929-38, U.S., 57.821, -2
19. Michael Spinks, 1977-88, U.S., 57.381, +11

Hagler and Jones benefitted from the unified champion category as did Spinks. Spinks also gained a lot of points with Holmes' induction into the Hall of Fame courtesy of his two controversial decisions that ended Larry's unbeaten streak.

20. Willie Pep, 1940-66, U.S., 57.220, -3
21. Jose Napoles, 1958-75, Cuba, 56.234, +1
22. Salvador Sanchez, 1975-82, Mexico, 56.016, -3
23. Ricardo Lopez, 1985-01, Mexico, 55.570, -3
24. Bernard Hopkins, 1988-07, U.S., 55.444, +21
25. Eder Jofre, 1957-76, Brazil, 55.341, -4
26. Felix Trinidad, 1990-05, Puerto Rico, 54.589, +0
27. Julio Cesar Chavez, 1980-05, Mexico, 54.110, -3
28. Roberto Duran, 1968-01, Panama, 54.076, -5
29. Thomas Hearns, 1977-06, U.S., 53.432, -2

30. Abe Attell, 1900-17, U.S., 53.115, +1
31. Khaosai Galaxy, 1980-91, Thailand, 53.056, +3
32. Sandy Saddler, 1944-56, U.S., 53.025, +1
33. Sugar Ray Leonard, 1977-97, U.S., 52.986, +2
34. George Foreman, 1969-97, U.S., 52.962, -6
35. Antonio Cervantes, 1964-83, Colombia, 52.905, +3
36. Tommy Ryan, 1887-07, U.S., 52.803, +0
37. Carlos Zarate, 1970-88, Mexico, 52.574, +1
38. Azumah Nelson, 1979-98, Ghana, 52.548, +2
39. Mike Tyson, 1985-05, U.S., 52.547, +27

Tyson had a remarkable year without actually winning a fight. Adding the unified title fight category really added a lot of points. He also gained points on the Holmes Hall of Fame induction and even picked up some bonus points because of the rapid rise of Michael Spinks, whom Tyson destroyed in about 1 minute.



40. James Jeffries, 1896-10, U.S., 52.475, +1
41. Gene Tunney, 1915-28, U.S., 52.352, -2
42. Joe Frazier, 1965-81, U.S., 52.302, -13
43. Floyd Mayweather Jr., 1996-07, U.S., 52.236, +5
44. Terry McGovern, 1897-08, U.S., 52.224, -2
45. Yoko Gushiken, 1974-81, Japan, 52.167, -2
46. Eusebio Pedroza, 1973-92, Panama, 52.145, -2
47. Evander Holyfield, 1984-07, U.S., 52.053, +20
48. Jack Johnson, 1897-28, U.S., 51.430, -11
49. Flash Elorde, 1951-71, Phillippines, 51.315, -2

50. Jimmy McLarnin, 1923-36, U.S., 51.251, -4
51. Stanley Ketchel, 1904-10, U.S., 51.021, +4
52. Oscar De La Hoya, 1992-07, U.S., 50.954, +6
53. Pascual Perez, 1952-64, Argentina, 50.932, -4
54. Lennox Lewis, 1989-03, United Kingdom, 50.711, +16
55. Bob Foster, 1961-78, U.S., 50.704, -5
56. Floyd Patterson, 1952-72, U.S., 50.664, -3
57. Vicente Saldivar, 1961-73, Mexico, 50.623, -5
58. Kostya Tszyu, 1992-05, Australia, 50.605, +5
59. Benny Leonard, 1911-32, U.S., 50.579, -8


Lennox Lewis is going to climb quite a bit in the coming years. He has wins over both Holyfield and Tyson, sure Hall of Famers, and even may gain from Vitali Klitschko, if he somehow sneaks in. Eventually, he'll end up higher than Tyson and Holyfield.



60. Tony Canzoneri, 1925-39, U.S., 50.429, -6
61. Harry Greb, 1913-26, U.S., 50.428, -5
62. Joe Calzaghe, 1993-07, United Kingdom, 50.083, +14
63. Duilio Loi, 1948-62, Italy, 49.893, -3
64. Emile Griffith, 1958-77, U.S., 49.476, -5
65. Naseem Hamed, 1992-02, United Kingdom, 49.407, +7
66. Chiquita Gonzalez, 1984-95, Mexico, 49.112, -9
67. Dariusz Michalczewski, 1991-05, Poland, 49.014, NR
68. Miguel Angel Cotto, 2001-07, Puerto Rico, 48.936, +16
69. Sam Langford, 1902-26, U.S., 48.890, -8

I simply hadn't rated Michalczewski before. He's a sure Hall of Famer. Cotto flew up the charts with the win over Mosley. I'm hoping a Cotto/Mayweather fight comes in 2008. Calzaghe jumped with the win over Kessler, but he also needs some more big name wins.

70. Michael Carbajal, 1989-99, Canada, 48.883, -6
71. Erik Morales, 1993-07, Mexico, 48.733, -5
72. Nino Benvenuti, 1961-71, Italy, 48.617, -7
73. Jackie Kid Berg, 1924-45, U.S., 48.427, -5
74. Marcel Cerdan, 1934-49, France, 48.376, +6
75. Pernell Whitaker, 1984-01, U.S., 48.308, NR
76. Hector Camacho, 1980-05, Puerto Rico, 48.191, -7
77. Sugar Shane Mosley, 1993-07, U.S., 48.178, -15
78. Ike Williams, 1940-55, U.S., 48.142, -8
79. Juan Carlos Gomez, 1995-07, Cuba, 48.011, -6

Mosley took a tumble because of the Cotto loss. Whitaker's initial ranking was why I added the unified title fight category. He ranked No. 102 because of his low rate of knockouts. But he dominated his weight class for five years and deserved more points.

80. John Henry Lewis, 1928-39, U.S., 47.995, -6
81. Jack Dempsey, 1914-27, U.S., 47.989, -7
82. Panama Al Brown, 1922-42, Panama, 47.827, -7
83. James Toney, 1988-07, U.S., 47.797, -4
84. Marco Antonio Barrera, 1989-07, Mexico, 47.350, +3
85. Fabrice Tiozzo, 1988-06, France, 47.326, NR
86. Wilfredo Benitez, 1973-90, Puerto Rico, 47.300, -5
87. Jorge Arce, 1996-07, Mexico, 47.260, +5
88. Freddie Welsh, 1905-22, United Kingdom, 47.195, -5
89. Maxie Rosenbloom, 1923-39, U.S., 47.071, -4

Tiozzo is another fighter I didn't rank until just recently.

90. Myung Woo Yuh, 1982-93, South Korea, 46.932, -4
91. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, 1994-07, Thailand, 46.803, -3
92. William Joppy, 1993-07, U.S., 46.681, -2
93. Bob Montgomery, 1938-50, U.S., 46.653, -4
94. Lou Ambers, 1932-41, U.S., 46.542, -3
95. Sven Ottke, 1997-04, Germany, 46.465, -1
96. Arthur Abraham, 2003-07, Germany, 46.436, NR
97. Victor Galindez, 1969-80, Argentina, 46.395, -2
98. Mickey Walker, 1919-35, U.S., 46.395, -3
99. Orlando Canizales, 1984-99, U.S., 46.371, -2

100. Jimmy Wilde, 1910-23, United Kingdom, 46.333, -2

Ottke retired as an undefeated champ but didn't fight anyone of note. Abraham hopefully will start fighting some better competition -- Kelly Pavlik? William Joppy seems high but he held various titles for nine years.

Mayweather more than a mouth

It's getting harder to dismiss Floyd Mayweather's claims that he's an all-time great. His 10 round TKO over previously undefeated Ricky Hatton proves much more than his decision over the now part-time fighter Oscar De La Hoya.


Now, I'm not agreeing with Mayweather's assertions that he ranks up there with Sugar Ray Robinson and Henry Armstrong, but he is climbing my list of the top 100 fighters in modern history.

Mayweather climbed four spots to No. 42 on the all-time list and undoubtedly will go higher. Both of the fighters he beat this year likely will be Hall of Famers after their careers, which means his wins will become worth more in my scoring system, and eventually will move him into the top 35.

What will be interesting now is to see who is next. Miguel Angel Cotto (No. 68) has expressed interest.

As for Hatton, he tumbled all the from No. 84 out of the top 100. But Hatton is only 29 and will have several more title fights.

With Hatton dropping out, a new fighter moved in. Germany's 27-year-old Arthur Abraham won a yawner in Switzerland to move to 25-0 and into No. 96.

Here's the new No. 40-49:

40. Gene Tunney, 1915-28, U.S., 52.402
41. Joe Frazier, 1965-81, U.S., 52.319
42. Floyd Mayweather Jr., 1996-07, U.S., 52.269
43. Terry McGovern, 1897-08, U.S., 52.224
44. Yoko Gushiken, 1974-81, Japan, 52.167
45. Eusebio Pedroza, 1973-92, Panama, 52.128
46. Mike Tyson, 1985-05, U.S., 51.734
47. Evander Holyfield, 1984-07, U.S., 51.337
48. Jack Johnson, 1897-28, U.S., 51.330
49. Flash Elorde, 1951-71, Phillippines, 51.315

And the new No. 80-100

80. Panama Al Brown, 1922-42, Panama, 47.827
81. James Toney, 1988-07, U.S., 47.647
82. John Henry Lewis, 1928-39, U.S., 47.645
83. Marcel Cerdan, 1934-49, France, 47.400
84. Marco Antonio Barrera, 1989-07, Mexico, 47.366
85. Fabrice Tiozzo, 1988-06, France, 47.309
86. Wilfredo Benitez, 1973-90, Puerto Rico, 47.300
87. Jorge Arce, 1996-07, Mexico, 47.260
88. Freddie Welsh, 1905-22, United Kingdom, 47.195
89. Maxie Rosenbloom, 1923-39, U.S., 47.004
90. Myung Woo Yuh, 1982-93, South Korea, 46.932
91. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, 1994-07, Thailand, 46.803
92. William Joppy, 1993-07, U.S., 46.681

93. Bob Montgomery, 1938-50, U.S., 46.669
94. Lou Ambers, 1932-41, U.S., 46.542
95. Sven Ottke, 1997-04, Germany, 46.465
96. Arthur Abraham, 2003-07, Germany, 46.436
97. Victor Galindez, 1969-80, Argentina, 46.378
98. Mickey Walker, 1919-35, U.S., 46.378
99. Orlando Canizales, 1984-99, U.S., 46.371
100. Jimmy Wilde, 1910-23, United Kingdom, 46.333

A new entry and one moves up

There have been hundreds of boxing champions since the beginning of the 20th century. Although I hope to someday have put every single one into my rankings, so far I've gone through the careers of 298.

Every once in a while I come across a true great that I missed. I wasn't watching a lot of boxing from 1995 through 2005 so there were some guys in that era that I'm unaware of.

I was updating Virgil Hill's score after his loss a couple of weeks ago and I found Dariusz "The Tiger" Michalczewski. The Polish light heavy and cruiserweight was 25-2 in world title fights. These were mainly WBO battles where he was 24-1 with 20 knockouts. He held the WBO light heavyweight title from 1994 to 2003.

Hill was his biggest victory. In 1997 Michalczewski won a unanimous decision to win the WBA, WBO and IBF light heavyweight titles. Michalczewski never defended the WBA and IBF titles, though because of the silly rules by sanctioning bodies that continue to screw up the sport.

According to Wikipedia, "the WBA stripped him for displaying its belt along with that of the WBO, an organization it didn't recognize. The IBF did so a few weeks later, when Michalczewski refused to defend his title against mandatory challenger William Guthrie within 30 days."

In any case, once I ran Michalczewski's career through my system, he came in a solid 67th. Just after Chiquita Gonzalez and just before Miguel Angel Cotto.

Jorge Arce also picked up a win over the weekend. It was a non-title bout but enough to maintain his 88th ranking since everyone below Michalczewski dropped a spot.

Here is the updated all-time ranking from No. 60 through No. 100. I'll publish the whole list on Jan. 1.

Rank, fighter, years, country, points
60. Tony Canzoneri, 1925-39, U.S., 50.462
61. Harry Greb, 1913-26, U.S., 50.428
62. Joe Calzaghe, 1993-07, United Kingdom, 50.066
63. Emile Griffith, 1958-77, U.S., 49.510
64. Naseem Hamed, 1992-02, United Kingdom, 49.407
65. Duilio Loi, 1948-62, Italy, 49.393
66. Chiquita Gonzalez, 1984-95, Mexico, 49.129
67. Dariusz Michalczewski, 1991-05, Poland, 49.014
68. Miguel Angel Cotto, 2001-07, Puerto Rico, 48.953
69. Michael Carbajal, 1989-99, Canada, 48.949

70. Sam Langford, 1902-26, U.S., 48.874
71. Erik Morales, 1993-07, Mexico, 48.733
72. Nino Benvenuti, 1961-71, Italy, 48.634
73. Jackie Kid Berg, 1924-45, U.S., 48.427
74. Pernell Whitaker, 1984-01, U.S., 48.342
75. Hector Camacho, 1980-05, Puerto Rico, 48.225
76. Sugar Shane Mosley, 1993-07, U.S., 48.194
77. Ike Williams, 1940-55, U.S., 48.142
78. Juan Carlos Gomez, 1995-07, Cuba, 48.011
79. Jack Dempsey, 1914-27, U.S., 47.989

80. Panama Al Brown, 1922-42, Panama, 47.827
81. James Toney, 1988-07, U.S., 47.664
82. John Henry Lewis, 1928-39, U.S., 47.645
83. Marcel Cerdan, 1934-49, France, 47.400
84. Marco Antonio Barrera, 1989-07, Mexico, 47.366
85. Ricky Hatton, 1997-07, United Kingdom, 47.348
86. Fabrice Tiozzo, 1988-06, France, 47.309
87. Wilfredo Benitez, 1973-90, Puerto Rico, 47.300
88. Jorge Arce, 1996-07, Mexico, 47.260
89. Freddie Welsh, 1905-22, United Kingdom, 47.195

90. Maxie Rosenbloom, 1923-39, U.S., 47.021
91. Myung Woo Yuh, 1982-93, South Korea, 46.932
92. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, 1994-07, Thailand, 46.803
93. William Joppy, 1993-07, U.S., 46.681
94. Bob Montgomery, 1938-50, U.S., 46.669
95. Lou Ambers, 1932-41, U.S., 46.542
96. Sven Ottke, 1997-04, Germany, 46.465
97. Victor Galindez, 1969-80, Argentina, 46.378
98. Mickey Walker, 1919-35, U.S., 46.378
99. Orlando Canizales, 1984-99, U.S., 46.371

100. Jimmy Wilde, 1910-23, United Kingdom, 46.333

Cotto, Mosley flip-flop positions in boxing's greatest list

Miguel Angel Cotto, the 27-year-old Puerto Rican, moved up 11 spots on my all-time greatest boxer rankings with a unanimous decision over the fading Sugar Shane Mosley.

Mosley is Cotto's second big name victim this year, following his win this summer over Zab Judah. Mosley, though, thanks to his past wins over Fernando Vargas and Oscar De La Hoya, is Cotto's first win over a fighter ranked in my 125.

The fight was close with the AP scoring it 114-114. So it'll be interesting to see who Cotto fights next. Mosley, who dropped from No. 67 to No. 75 on my list, hinted at retirement.

Here is the updated rankings for No. 60 through No. 79.

60. Lennox Lewis, 1989-03, United Kingdom, 50.511
61. Harry Greb, 1913-26, U.S., 50.445
62. Joe Calzaghe, 1993-07, United Kingdom, 50.066
63. Emile Griffith, 1958-77, U.S., 49.526
64. Naseem Hamed, 1992-02, United Kingdom, 49.407
65. Duilio Loi, 1948-62, Italy, 49.393
66. Chiquita Gonzalez, 1984-95, Mexico, 49.162
67. Miguel Angel Cotto, 2001-07, Puerto Rico, 49.019
68. Sam Langford, 1902-26, U.S., 48.874
69. Michael Carbajal, 1989-99, Canada, 48.866
70. Erik Morales, 1993-07, Mexico, 48.733
71. Nino Benvenuti, 1961-71, Italy, 48.651
72. Jackie Kid Berg, 1924-45, U.S., 48.427
73. Pernell Whitaker, 1984-01, U.S., 48.342
74. Hector Camacho, 1980-05, Puerto Rico, 48.241
75. Sugar Shane Mosley, 1993-07, U.S., 48.211
76. Ike Williams, 1940-55, U.S., 48.159
77. Juan Carlos Gomez, 1995-07, Cuba, 48.011
78. Jack Dempsey, 1914-27, U.S., 47.989
79. Panama Al Brown, 1922-42, Panama, 47.827

We're less than a month from the next big fight that will scramble the rankings. On Dec. 8, Floyd Mayweather (No. 46) takes on Ricky Hatton (No. 84) in Las Vegas. Although Mayweather is undefeated, he needs wins over a few more greats if he wants to get in the territory of Felix Trinidad (No. 26), Jose Napoles (No. 24) or Barney Ross (No. 18) not to mention Henry Armstrong (No. 3) or Sugar Ray Robinson (No. 4).

After Hatton-Armstrong, which is the last big fight of 2007, I'll republish the entire 100.

Why isn't Calzaghe higher?

With a perfect 44-0 record and 21 title defenses, you'd assume England's Joe Calzaghe would be higher than No. 62 on a list of the 100 greatest fighters pound-for-pound in history. Even his win over Mikkel Kessler didn't push him any higher.

A couple of things are working against Calzaghe.

First, of his 21 defenses, 18 are WBO defenses only and the WBO is given slightly less weight in my ranking than the WBA, WBC and IBF.

Second, he doesn't have any unified title fights. He's worked around it. He's had the WBO crown since October of 1997. He held the IBF title for two fights in 2006 and now he has the WBA and WBC crowns from Kessler. Still, in my system, you need the IBF, WBA and WBC titles to be considered unified. I may have to revisit that at some point because of the alphabet soup of championships today.

Third, Calzaghe only has one win over a fighter in the top 125 bonus point system and that was Kessler, which earns him 14 extra points. If Kessler rebounds and wins more titles, he would move up and Calzaghe's bonus points would increase. If Kessler heads south and loses more fights, then Calzaghe would lose all bonus points.

To really move up the list, Calzaghe needs some mega fights. So far Chris Eubank, Jeff Lacy and Kessler are his big wins, and I'm not sure any of those fighters will make it into the Hall of Fame, which would elevate those wins to 100 point contests.

Of course, Calzaghe at 35 may get a shot against a Bernard Hopkins or even Roy Jones Jr. Perhaps Kelly Pavlik will move up and take him on if he can beat Jermaine Taylor again. If Taylor wins, he's committed to fighting at 166 so that could be an option. The current IBF champion is Lucian Bute, which wouldn't excite anyone, but it would give Calzaghe a chance to have all four titles.

Here are the the No. 60-69 all-time greatest boxers:

60. Tony Canzoneri, 1925-39, U.S., 50.512
61. Harry Greb, 1913-26, U.S., 50.445
62. Joe Calzaghe, 1993-07, United Kingdom, 50.066
63. Emile Griffith, 1958-77, U.S., 49.510
64. Naseem Hamed, 1992-02, United Kingdom, 49.407
65. Duilio Loi, 1948-62, Italy, 49.393
66. Chiquita Gonzalez, 1984-95, Mexico, 49.162
67. Sugar Shane Mosley, 1993-07, U.S., 49.035
68. Sam Langford, 1902-26, U.S., 48.874
69. Michael Carbajal, 1989-99, Canada, 48.866

At least it isn't long to the next big fight. Saturday, Nov. 10, Sugar Shane Mosley (No. 67) takes on Miguel Angel Cotto (No. 78).

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)

Barrera tumbles in all-time boxing standings

If Marco Antonio Barrera is true to his word and retires, he goes out as one of the best 100 pound-for-pound fighters in history.

His decision loss to Manny Pacquiao knocked him back five spots to No. 83 and he remains the eighth best Mexican native in my listing.

Because moving up and down in the rankings affects those who beat those fighters, Erik Morales also slipped a spot, falling behind Sam Langford at No. 69.

Here are the updated No. 65 to No. 85 fighters.

Rank, name, years, country, points, moved up or down
65. Duilio Loi, 1948-62, Italy, 49.393
66. Chiquita Gonzalez, 1984-95, Mexico, 49.145
67. Sugar Shane Mosley, 1993-07, U.S., 49.035
68. Michael Carbajal, 1989-99, Canada, 48.866
69. Sam Langford, 1902-26, U.S., 48.857, +1
70. Erik Morales, 1993-07, Mexico, 48.733, -1
71. Nino Benvenuti, 1961-71, Italy, 48.651
72. Jackie "Kid" Berg, 1924-45, U.S., 48.427
73. Pernell Whitaker, 1984-01, U.S., 48.342
74. Hector Camacho, 1980-05, Puerto Rico, 48.258
75. Ike Williams, 1940-55, U.S., 48.159
76. Juan Carlos Gomez, 1995-07, Cuba, 48.011
77. Jack Dempsey, 1914-27, U.S., 47.989
78. Miguel Angel Cotto, 2001-07, Puerto Rico, 47.938, +1
79. Panama Al Brown, 1922-42, Panama, 47.827, +1
80. James Toney, 1988-07, U.S., 47.797, +1
81. John Henry Lewis, 1928-39, U.S., 47.645, +1
82. Marcel Cerdan, 1934-49, France, 47.400, +1
83. Marco Antonio Barrera, 1989-07, Mexico, 47.383, -5
84. Ricky Hatton, 1997-07, United Kingdom, 47.348
85. Wilfredo Benitez, 1973-90, Puerto Rico, 47.300

Manny Pacquiao moved up to No. 136. The win over Barrera was for a lesser "international" title and not worth that much, although it will gain status later when Barrera makes the Hall of Fame. Still, Pacquiao has to fight several more world title fights before he threatens the top 100.

Less than a week to go to see if Evander Holyfield can win another heavyweight title and improve upon his ranking of No. 45.

Taylor down, Pavlik up

I was able to watch tonight's middleweight title fight and it was amazing. Taylor looks like a world beater and Pavlik looks like a skateboarder. In the second round, Taylor was one more clean punch from knocking Pavlik out. Pavlik was able to hold on and in the third, Taylor looked to counterpunch rather than run right through Pavlik.

In the end, Taylor's lack of aggression gave Pavlik a second chance and he just took it to Taylor from then on. Pavlik may not look that powerful but he now has 29 KOs in 32 fights. Something must be working.

Taylor could have moved into the top 100 fighters all-time with a win and was looking for a career-defining KO. Instead, he tumbles all the way to No. 134, just behind Julian Jackson.

Pavlik, who now has a world of opportunities open for him, jumps up to No. 135. He still trails Taylor because this was just his fourth title fight of any kind.

The question now is will Pavlik fight Taylor again or go after the other title holders, Arthur Abraham (IBF) and Felix Sturm (WBA). Abraham ranks No. 109 on my list and Sturm isn't in the top 150.

Taylor can move into top 100

Although he's taken criticism for not winning convincingly, Jermaine Taylor can move into the top 100 greatest fighters with a win tonight against Kelly Pavlik.

Taylor already has beaten Bernard Hopkins and William Joppy and earned a draw with Winky Wright. That's a pretty good list of fighters, even if they were cautious fights. Right now, he ranks tied for No. 107 with Miguel Canto.

Of course, Pavlik can take a big step toward becoming a top 100 fighter by winning tonight as well.

HBO, 10:15 p.m. eastern time.

Arce moves up in boxing's top 100

Although rarely discussed, Jorge Arce is one of the greatest Mexican fighters of all time. He has a record of 22-2 in title fights and has held junior flyweight, flyweight and super flyweight world titles in his career.

On Sept. 16, Arce knocked out an overmatched Tomas Rojas to win the WBC Latino bantamweight title as he tries to get a rematch with Cristian Mijares.

Winning a lesser title at this point in Arce's career only helped him pick up a few points, but it was enough to bump him up a couple of spots in my ranking of boxing's 100 greatest fighters. He remains the ninth best fighter in my system to come out of Mexico.

Here are the updated top 100:

Rank, boxer, years, country, points
1. Muhammad Ali, 1960-81, U.S., 84.822
2. Joe Louis, 1934-51, U.S., 84.262
3. Henry Armstrong, 1931-45, U.S., 79.434
4. Sugar Ray Robinson, 1940-65, U.S., 75.315
5. Rocky Marciano, 1947-55, U.S., 62.760
6. Wilfredo Gomez, 1974-89, Puerto Rico, 62.665
7. Carlos Monzon, 1963-77, Argentina, 61.581
8. Joe Gans, 1891-09, U.S., 60.416
9. Larry Holmes, 1973-02, U.S., 60.004
10. Alexis Arguello, 1968-95, Nicaragua, 59.975

11. Aaron Pryor, 1976-90, U.S., 59.526
12. Marvin Hagler, 1973-87, U.S., 59.440
13. Ezzard Charles, 1940-59, U.S., 59.028
14. Manuel Ortiz, 1938-55, U.S., 59.017
15. Carlos Ortiz, 1955-72, Puerto Rico, 58.805
16. Archie Moore, 1936-63, U.S., 58.743
17. Roy Jones Jr., 1989-07, U.S., 58.657
18. Barney Ross, 1929-38, U.S., 57.838
19. Willie Pep, 1940-66, U.S., 57.236
20. Salvador Sanchez, 1975-82, Mexico, 56.049

21. Ricardo Lopez, 1985-01, Mexico, 55.587
22. Bernard Hopkins, 1988-07, U.S., 55.477
23. Eder Jofre, 1957-76, Brazil, 55.374
24. Jose Napoles, 1958-75, Cuba, 55.266
25. Michael Spinks, 1977-88, U.S., 55.215
26. Felix Trinidad, 1990-05, Puerto Rico, 54.623
27. Roberto Duran, 1968-01, Panama, 54.143
28. Julio Cesar Chavez, 1980-05, Mexico, 54.110
29. Thomas Hearns, 1977-06, U.S., 53.649
30. Abe Attell, 1900-17, U.S., 53.115

31. Khaosai Galaxy, 1980-91, Thailand, 53.056
32. Sandy Saddler, 1944-56, U.S., 53.041
33. Sugar Ray Leonard, 1977-97, U.S., 52.986
34. George Foreman, 1969-97, U.S., 52.979
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. Gene Tunney, 1915-28, U.S., 52.452
40. James Jeffries, 1896-10, U.S., 52.425

41. Joe Frazier, 1965-81, U.S., 52.336
42. Terry McGovern, 1897-08, U.S., 52.224
43. Yoko Gushiken, 1974-81, Japan, 52.167
44. Eusebio Pedroza, 1973-92, Panama, 52.112
45. Evander Holyfield, 1984-07, U.S., 52.015
46. Mike Tyson, 1985-05, U.S., 51.734
47. Floyd Mayweather Jr., 1996-07, U.S., 51.464
48. Jack Johnson, 1897-28, U.S., 51.363
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., 50.938
52. Pascual Perez, 1952-64, Argentina, 50.932
53. Bob Foster, 1961-78, U.S., 50.704
54. Lennox Lewis, 1989-03, United Kingdom, 50.661
55. Vicente Saldivar, 1961-73, Mexico, 50.623
56. Floyd Patterson, 1952-72, U.S., 50.614
57. Kostya Tszyu, 1992-05, Australia, 50.605
58. Benny Leonard, 1911-32, U.S., 50.595
59. Stanley Ketchel, 1904-10, U.S., 50.521
60. Tony Canzoneri, 1925-39, U.S., 50.479

61. Harry Greb, 1913-26, U.S., 50.428
62. Joe Calzaghe, 1993-07, United Kingdom, 49.601
63. Emile Griffith, 1958-77, U.S., 49.510
64. Naseem Hamed, 1992-02, United Kingdom, 49.407
65. Duilio Loi, 1948-62, Italy, 49.393
66. Chiquita Gonzalez, 1984-95, Mexico, 49.129
67. Sugar Shane Mosley, 1993-07, U.S., 49.035
68. Michael Carbajal, 1989-99, Canada, 48.916
69. Erik Morales, 1993-07, Mexico, 48.883
70. Sam Langford, 1902-26, U.S., 48.840

71. Nino Benvenuti, 1961-71, Italy, 48.651
72. Jackie Kid Berg, 1924-45, U.S., 48.427
73. Pernell Whitaker, 1984-01, U.S., 48.342
74. Hector Camacho, 1980-05, Puerto Rico, 48.258
75. Ike Williams, 1940-55, U.S., 48.159
76. Juan Carlos Gomez, 1995-07, Cuba, 48.011
77. Jack Dempsey, 1914-27, U.S., 47.989
78. Marco Antonio Barrera, 1989-07, Mexico, 47.984
79. Miguel Angel Cotto, 2001-07, Puerto Rico, 47.938
80. Panama Al Brown, 1922-42, Panama, 47.827

81. James Toney, 1988-07, U.S., 47.797
82. John Henry Lewis, 1928-39, U.S., 47.645
83. Marcel Cerdan, 1934-49, France, 47.400
84. Ricky Hatton, 1997-07, United Kingdom, 47.348
85. Wilfredo Benitez, 1973-90, Puerto Rico, 47.300
86. Freddie Welsh, 1905-22, United Kingdom, 47.195
87. Jorge Arce, 1996-07, Mexico, 47.082
88. Maxie Rosenbloom, 1923-39, U.S., 47.021
89. Myung Woo Yuh, 1982-93, South Korea, 46.932
90. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, 1994-07, Thailand, 46.803

91. Bob Montgomery, 1938-50, U.S., 46.703
92. William Joppy, 1993-07, U.S., 46.681
93. Lou Ambers, 1932-41, U.S., 46.542
94. Sven Ottke, 1997-04, Germany, 46.465
95. Victor Galindez, 1969-80, Argentina, 46.378
96. Mickey Walker, 1919-35, U.S., 46.378
97. Orlando Canizales, 1984-99, U.S., 46.371
98. Jimmy Wilde, 1910-23, United Kingdom, 46.333
99. Sung Kil Moon, 1987-93, South Korea, 46.248
100. Johnny Kilbane, 1907-23, U.S., 46.238

All hail king Roger, best ever of the open era

Officially, Roger Federer needs to win two more major titles to match Pete Sampras' total of 14. But in my rankings, if Federer decided to walk away from the game today, he is the best player of the open era.

The statistical system I've set up rewards dominance and no one has been more dominant than Federer over the past four seasons. Out of the 10 greatest tennis campaigns in the open era, Federer has the second (2007), third (2006) and sixth best (2004) ever.

Only Rod Laver's grand slam ranks higher and that was back when three of the four majors were played on grass.

Really, the only knock on Federer is that he has not won the French to complete the feat of winning on all three surfaces -- grass, hard court and clay -- like Andre Agassi and Jimmy Connors. People forget one of Jimbo's U.S. Open titles was won on clay.

But Federer has made it to the past two French finals -- Sampras didn't make any French finals and John McEnroe made just one -- only to face Nadal, who may go down as the best ever on clay.

Really, Federer has beaten all kinds of players. Roadrunners like Lleyton Hewitt, pure power players like Andy Roddick (three times) and Marat Safin, an all-time great giving it has last big shot in Andre Agassi and young guns like Nadal and Novak Djokovic.

Nadal seems to be somewhat closing the gap on other surfaces and Djokovic could develop into a nemesis, so maybe we've seen the best of Federer. It certainly is the best of the open era.

Here are the updated standings for the all-time men's tennis tournament (active players are in bold):

Rank, Player, Country, Years, Total
1. Roger Federer, Switzerland, 2003-2007, 688.00
2. Pete Sampras, United States, 1990-2002, 656.50
3. Bjorn Borg, Sweden, 1974-1981, 648.50
4. Ivan Lendl, Czechoslovakia, 1981-1991, 619.50

5. Jimmy Connors, United States, 1974-1984, 597.00
6. John McEnroe, United States, 1979-1985, 558.00
7. Mats Wilander, Sweden, 1982-1988, 472.50
8. Andre Agassi, United States, 1990-2005, 470.00

9. Boris Becker, Germany, 1985-1996, 423.50
10. Stephan Edberg, Sweden, 1985-1993, 409.00
11. Rod Laver, Australia, 1968-1971, 355.50
12. Jim Courier, United States, 1991-1993, 334.50

13. Guillermo Vilas, Argentina, 1975-1982, 323.00
13. John Newcombe, Australia, 1968-1976, 323.00
15. Ken Rosewall, Australia, 1968-1974, 295.50
16. Rafael Nadal, Spain, 2005-2007, 264.50

17. Jan Kodes, Czechoslovakia, 1970-1973, 228.00
18. Arthur Ashe, United States, 1968-1975, 214.50
19. Illie Nastase, Romania, 1971-1976, 197.00
20. Lleyton Hewitt, Australia, 2001-2005, 192.50

21. Marat Safin, Russia, 2000-2005, 191.00
22. Gustavo Kuerten, Brazil, 1997-2001, 166.00
23. Stan Smith, United States, 1968-1980, 156.50
24. Pat Rafter, Australia, 1997-2001, 155.50

25. Yevgeny Kafelinikov, Russia, 1996-2000, 145.00
26. Pat Cash, Australia, 1987-1988, 141.00
27. Michael Chang, United States, 1989-1996, 134.00
28. Sergei Bruguera, Spain, 1993-1997, 133.00

29. Goran Ivanisevic, Croatia, 1992-2001, 131.00
30. Andy Roddick, United States, 2003-2006, 130.50
31. Michael Stich, Germany, 1991-1996, 121.50
32. Johan Kriek, South Africa, 1981-1982, 113.00

Here are the greatest years in the open era:

1. Rod Laver, Australia, 1969, 55.00
2. Roger Federer, Switzerland, 2007, 44.50
3. Roger Federer, Switzerland, 2006, 44.00
4. Jimmy Connors, United States, 1974, 42.00
5. John McEnroe, United States, 1984, 41.00
6. Roger Federer, Switzerland, 2004, 40.50
7. Mats Wilander, Sweden, 1988, 39.50
8. Pete Sampras, United States, 1995, 37.00
8. Bjorn Borg, Sweden, 1978, 37.00
10. Ivan Lendl, Czechoslovakia, 1987, 36.00
11. John McEnroe, United States, 1981, 35.00
11. Bjorn Borg, Sweden, 1980, 35.00
13. Ivan Lendl, Czechoslovakia, 1986, 34.00
13. Guillermo Vilas, Argentina, 1977, 34.00
15. Boris Becker, Germany, 1989, 32.00
16. Jimmy Connors, United States, 1982, 30.50

Who will be this generation's best women's tennis player?

Justine Henin not only took apart Svetlana Kuznetsova in the U.S. Open, she completed the rare double over Venus and Serena Williams.

No player from this generation is going to threaten the top six players of the Open era. But it should be interesting which of the three will end up as the best of their time.

Serena has the lead right now, but Venus appears to be more motivated, and Henin is at the top of her game. The three players won all four majors this year. Even with the U.S. Open win, Henin remained third among the three. Martina Hingis is between Serena and the other two, but she doesn't appear to have the game anymore to play at the very highest level.

The player who made the largest leap was Kuznetsova. Her second place finish allowed her to jump three places.

Here are the 32 greatest women in the Open era. Active players are in bold:


Rank, Player, Country, Years, Points
1. Martina Navratilova, Czechoslovakia, 1974-2006, 1308.50
2. Steffi Graf, Germany, 1987-1999, 1215.50
3. Chris Evert-Lloyd, United States, 1973-1988, 953.50
4. Monica Seles, Yugoslavia, 1990-1998, 684.00

5. Margaret Smith-Court, Australia, 1968-1975, 675.00
6. Billie Jean King, United States, 1968-1979, 650.50
7. Evonne Goolagong-Cawley, Australia, 1971-1980, 579.50
8. Serena Williams, United States, 1999-2007, 503.00

9. Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario, Spain, 1989-1998, 468.50
10. Martina Hingis, Switzerland, 1996-2006, 449.00
11. Venus Williams, United States, 1997-2007, 440.00
12. Justine Henin, Belgium, 2001-2007, 429.00

13. Hana Mandlikova, Czechoslovakia, 1980-1987, 334.00
14. Lindsay Davenport, United States, 1998-2005, 312.00
15. Virginia Wade, England, 1968-1977, 197.00
16. Mary Pierce, France, 1994-2005, 194.00

17. Tracy Austin, United States, 1979-1981, 186.50
18. Jennifer Capriati, United States, 2001-2002, 184.00
19. Amelie Mauresmo, France, 1999-2006, 170.00
20. Gabriela Sabatini, Argentina, 1988-1991, 165.00

21. Maria Sharapova, Russia, 2004-2007, 162.00
22. Kim Clijsters, Belgium, 2001-2005, 151.00
23. Jana Novotna, Czechoslovakia, 1991-1998, 150.00
24. Ann Haydon-Jones, England, 1968-1969, 141.00

25. Conchita Martinez, Spain, 1994-2000, 140.00
26. Virginia Ruzici, Romania, 1978-1980, 107.50
27. Kerry Melville-Reid, Australia, 1970-1977, 103.00
28. Svetlana Kuznetsova, Russia, 2004-2007, 101.50

29. Mimi Jausovec, Yugoslavia, 1977-1983, 97.00
30. Helena Sukova, Czechoslovakia, 1984-1993, 94.50
31. Christine O'Neill, Australia, 1978, 85.00
32. Wendy Turnbill, United States, 1977-1980, 80.00

10 greatest fighters from .....

I saw a thread on CBS Sportsline talking about the greatest Mexican fighters ever. Here are the top 10s of various countries based on my rankings -- which I tweaked again to give a little more weight to WBO champions as well as the rare unified champions of the past 24 years.

So here are the top 10 Mexican fighters:

1. Salvador Sanchez, 1975-82, 56.049
2. Ricardo Lopez, 1985-01, 55.587
3. Julio Cesar Chavez, 1980-05, 54.110
4. Carlos Zarate, 1970-88, 52.574
5. Vicente Saldivar, 1961-73, 50.623
6. Chiquita Gonzalez, 1984-95, 49.145
7. Erik Morales, 1993-07, 48.883
8. Marco Antonio Barrera, 1989-07, 47.984
9. Jorge Arce, 1996-07, 46.902
10. Miguel Canto, 1969-82, 45.789

Here are the five best Puerto Ricans:

1. Wilfredo Gomez, 1974-89, 62.665
2. Carlos Ortiz, 1955-72, 58.805
3. Felix Trinidad, 1990-05, 54.623
4. Hector Camacho, 1980-05, 48.258
5. Miguel Angel Cotto, 2001-07, 47.938

The five best from the United Kingdom:

1. Lennox Lewis, 1989-03, 50.661
2. Joe Calzaghe, 1993-07, 49.601
3. Naseem Hamed, 1992-02, 49.407
4. Ricky Hatton, 1997-07, 47.348
5. Freddie Welsh, 1905-22, 47.195

The 61 greatest pro basketball players ever

If you have looked at the top players at each of the positions, you may have pieced together the top 61 players -- which is one player for every year there has been a top professional league. But I adjust the overall rankings by position. I take the top five scores of each position, average them out and then add points to positions that are lower than the leading average.

The top five centers easily outscore the top five shooting guards. Centers collect more rebounds and blocked shots and score more on inside baskets, all things that give them a natural advantage in my scoring system.

Since we are in a lull for great centers, the scoring gap is narrowing every year, especially at power forward.

Here are the top 61 players in pro hoops history starting from the bottom and the active players are in bold:

Rank, player, years, raw score, adjusted, total
61. Kevin Johnson, 1987-2000, 13653.7 + 525.9 = 14179.6

60. Gus Williams, 1975-1987, 13733.0 + 525.9 = 14258.9
59. Robert Parish, 1976-1997, 14340.4 + 0 = 14340.4
58. Dennis Johnson, 1976-1990, 13731.9 + 630.9 = 14362.8
57. Hal Greer, 1958-1973, 13769.2 + 630.9 = 14400.1
56. Bill Sharman, 1950-1961, 13802.7 + 630.9 = 14433.6
55. Mo Cheeks, 1978-1993, 13909.0 + 525.9 = 14434.9
54. Willis Reed, 1964-1974, 14458.4 + 0 = 14458.4
53. Tim Hardaway, 1989-2003, 13990.9 + 525.9 = 14516.8
52. Mel Daniels, 1967-1977, 14557.3 + 0 = 14557.3
51. Bob Lanier, 1970-1984, 14649 + 0 = 14649.0

50. Chris Webber, 1993-2007, 14324.4 + 386.2 = 14710.6
49. Dan Issel, 1970-1985, 14331.7 + 386.2 = 14717.9
48. Alex English, 1976-1991, 14486.0 + 507.1 = 14993.1
47. Dominique Wilkins, 1982-1999, 14542.8 + 507.1 = 15049.9
46. Steve Nash, 1996-2007, 14707.9 + 525.9 = 15233.8
45. Dave Cowens, 1970-1983, 15258.6 + 0 = 15258.6
44. Billy Cunningham, 1965-1976, 14869.1 + 507.1 = 15376.2
43. Paul Arizin, 1950-1962, 14906.3 + 507.1 = 15413.4
42. Connie Hawkins, 1967-1976, 14956.0 + 507.1 = 15463.1
41. Tracey McGrady, 1997-2007, 14877.8 + 630.9 = 15508.7

40. Bob McAdoo, 1972-1986, 15574 + 0 = 15574.0
39. Walt Frazier, 1967-1980, 15210.5 + 525.9 = 15736.4
38. Dirk Nowitzki, 1998-2007, 15511.3 + 386.2 = 15897.5
37. George McGinnis, 1971-1982, 15661.4 + 386.2 = 16047.6
36. Clyde Drexler, 1983-1998, 15594.0 + 630.9 = 16224.9
35. Isiah Thomas, 1981-1993, 15847.2 + 525.9 = 16373.1
34. Allen Iverson, 1996-2007, 15950.0 + 525.9 = 16475.9
33. Pat Ewing, 1985-2002, 16609.2 + 0 = 16609.2
32. John Havlicek, 1962-1978, 16248.4 + 507.1 = 16755.5
31. Jason Kidd, 1994-2007, 16302.3 + 525.9 = 16828.2

30. George Gervin, 1972-1986, 16304.3 + 630.9 = 16935.2
29. Scottie Pippen, 1987-2004, 16536.3 + 507.1 = 17043.4
28. Rick Barry, 1965-1980, 16677.6 + 507.1 = 17184.7
27. Kobe Bryant, 1996-2007, 16652.3 + 630.9 = 17283.2
26. Artis Gilmore, 1971-1988, 17375.7 + 0 = 17375.7
25. Gary Payton, 1990-2007, 16925.2 + 525.9 = 17451.1
24. Charles Barkley, 1984-2000, 17139.1 + 386.2 = 17525.3
23. John Stockton, 1984-2003, 17006.1 + 525.9 = 17532.0
22. Elvin Hayes, 1968-1984, 17347.0 + 386.2 = 17733.2
21. Elgin Baylor, 1958-1972, 17552.2 + 507.1 = 18059.3

20. Dolph Schayes, 1949-1964, 17694.8 + 386.2 = 18081.0
19. George Mikan, 1948-1956, 18123.1 + 0 = 18123.1
18. Moses Malone, 1974-1995, 18246.1 + 0 = 18246.1
17. David Robinson, 1989-2003, 18490.3 + 0 = 18490.3
16. Jerry West, 1960-1974, 17946.0 + 630.9 = 18576.9
15. Bob Pettit, 1954-1965, 18297.2 + 386.2 = 18683.4
14. Kevin Garnett, 1996-2007, 18560.1 + 386.2 = 18946.3
13. Shaquille O'Neal, 1992-2007, 18958.9 + 0 = 18958.9
12. Bob Cousy, 1950-1970, 18554.9 + 525.9 = 19080.8
11. Magic Johnson, 1979-1996, 18692.0 + 525.9 = 19217.9

10. Oscar Robertson, 1960-1974, 18753.0 + 525.9 = 19278.9
9. Bill Russell, 1956-1969, 19765.2 + 0 = 19765.2
8. Karl Malone, 1985-2004, 19407.7 + 386.2 = 19793.9
7. Tim Duncan, 1997-2007, 19462.6 + 386.2 = 19848.8
6. Larry Bird, 1979-1992, 19386.9 + 507.1 = 19894.0
5. Hakeem Olajuwon, 1984-2002, 19935.7 + 0 = 19935.7
4. Julius Erving, 1971-1987, 20247.8 + 507.1 = 20754.9
3. Michael Jordan, 1984-2003, 20809.7 + 630.9 = 21440.6
2. Wilt Chamberlain, 1959-1973, 21697.2 + 0 = 21697.2
1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1969-1989, 22721.5 + 0 = 22721.5

Nash and McGradey made the leaps onto the list. Again, in McGrady's case, I just ommitted him last year. Duncan jumped past several people to hit third on the list and may get up to Dr. J's level.

Shaq is winding down and may not climb much further. He even could be passed by Kevin Garnett. For many, that would be a crime considering he's taken teams to four titles and Garnett has gotten the Timberwolves out of the first round once. But Shaq has played along side Penny Hardaway, Kobe Bryant and Dwayne Wade. Kevin Garnett's best teammate was Stephan Marbury.

The other player in the top 61 who may make the top 10? Kobe Bryant -- love him or hate him.

The top 10 centers -- no change

After dominating the NBA landscape for four decades, the role of the center has dramatically declined since the heyday of Hakeem Olajuwon, David Robinson and Pat Ewing.

Only one of the centers on my list of 10 greatest is still active, Shaquille O'Neal, and he's on his way out.

Of course, the center position isn't totally dead. Yao Ming, if he can stay healthy, perhaps could work his way on to the list, and Dwight Howard is the next big thing for the pivot.

For now, here are the 10 best:

Player, years, points
1. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 1969-1989, 22721.5
2. Wilt Chamberlain, 1959-1973, 21697.2
3. Hakeem Olajuwon, 1984-2002, 19935.7
4. Bill Russell, 1956-1969, 19765.2
5. Shaquille O'Neal, 1992-2007, 18958.9
6. David Robinson, 1989-2003, 18490.3
7. Moses Malone, 1974-1995, 18246.1
8. George Mikan, 1948-1956, 18123.1
9. Artis Gilmore, 1971-1988, 17375.7
10. Pat Ewing, 1985-2002, 16609.2

Wilt was a colossus but there is truth to the critics who say he didn't deliver in the playoffs. He rarely met his season averages in the postseason. Abdul-Jabbar on the other hand routinely exceeded his regular season stats in the playoffs. When you are as close as these two, that was enough to tip the equation in Kareem's favor.

There are still those that choose Russell as the greatest player ever. He is the greatest winner, but his teams were loaded and he was very limited offensively. The more rounded Olajuwon outscored him in a variety of ways.

Both Russell and Chamberlain were hurt by the fact the NBA didn't keep stats on blocks and steals in their careers. I had to use estimated numbers based on their first-time All-NBA finishes of the centers that came after them. If Russell was as good as people say, his block numbers most likely were off the charts and could have pushed him ahead of Hakeem. We'll never know for sure.

David Robinson and Moses Malone illustrate how your eyes can lie. I saw Moses in his prime when he took the Rockets and 76ers to the finals and absolutely dominated Abdul-Jabbar. I would never have picked Robinson ahead of Moses.

But Robinson played at his peak much longer than Moses, who had five top-shelf seasons and then dropped down a tier. Also, Moses didn't block shots or have many steals. Robinson filled up a boxscore in a lot more ways.

Top 10 power forwards -- a new No. 1

This is the golden age of the No. 4 position and the best to ever play the position is active right now. Here are the 10 best power forwards in pro basketball history.

1. Tim Duncan, 1997-2007, 19462.6
2. Karl Malone, 1985-2004, 19407.7
3. Kevin Garnett, 1996-2007, 18560.1
4. Bob Pettit, 1954-1965, 18297.2
5. Dolph Schayes, 1949-1964, 17694.8
6. Elvin Hayes, 1968-1984, 17347.0
7. Charles Barkley, 1984-2000, 17139.1
8. George McGinnis, 1971-1982, 15661.4
9. Dirk Nowitzki, 1998-2007, 15511.3
10. Dan Issel, 1970-1985, 14331.7

Not only are three of the top 10 playing right now but three more are among the top 17 (Chris Webber, Shawn Marion and Elton Brand). There was a shuffling at the top and the bottom of the top 10.

Duncan, fresh off his fourth world title, passed Malone, the ultimate workhorse. In terms of filling a boxscore, Duncan doesn't do that as well as No. 3 Kevin Garnett, but he's helped tremendously by his play in the playoffs, where he consistently performs above his season averages, and the Spurs' team success.

I write this even though I'm one who puts a mental asterisk by title No. 4. I didn't agree with the suspensions that essentially handed the Spurs the series this year against the Suns and now the whole Tim Donaghy mess brings game four into doubt.

That being said, Duncan is THE player of the late 90s-2000s. Even Shaq fans are having trouble arguing against that.

At the bottom end, Chris Webber played so poorly this year, he actually lost career points and fell behind Dan Issel. It's clear to everyone but Webber that it's time to retire.

Marion at No. 14 seems to be the next best bet to get on this list. He's really a small forward but he's a 4 in the Suns system and that's where he's had his best years.

Top 10 small forwards unchanged

The last decade has been the decade of the power forward and point guard. The only great small forward to come along since Larry Bird retired has been Grant Hill and his ankle injury has kept him out of the top 10.

Here are the 10 greatest small forwards:

1. Julius Erving, 1971-1987, 20247.8
2. Larry Bird, 1979-1992, 19386.9
3. Elgin Baylor, 1958-1972, 17552.2
4. Rick Barry, 1965-1980, 16677.6
5. Scottie Pippen, 1987-2004, 16536.3
6. John Havlicek, 1962-1978, 16248.4
7. Connie Hawkins, 1967-1976, 14956.0
8. Paul Arizin, 1950-1962, 14906.3
9. Billy Cunningham, 1965-1976, 14869.1
10. Dominique Wilkins, 1982-1999, 14542.8

Hill is at No. 12 and it's possible, if his ankle holds up for a couple more seasons, that he could pass Alex English and Wilkins to get into the top 10. More realisticly is in about three seasons LeBron James will break into the rankings and eventually challenge Bird and Dr. J. James is already ranked No. 20 (ahead of Chris Mullin and Bernard King) with just four seasons played.

Any NBA fan my age (38) or younger believes Bird was better than Erving. They are all missing how dominant Dr. J. was in the ABA. Even putting a 10 percent discount on his stats in that league didn't lower his score to Bird's. When Bird was battling Erving in the 1980s, Dr. J. was already on his way down.

Top 10 shooting guards

Here are the top 10 shooting guards. There is one new player in the rankings and another player climbing fast.

Player, years, points
1. Michael Jordan, 1984-2003, 20809.7
2. Jerry West, 1960-1974, 17946.0
3. Kobe Bryant, 1996-2007, 16652.3
4. George Gervin, 1972-1986, 16304.3
5. Clyde Drexler, 1983-1998, 15594.0
6. Tracey McGrady, 1997-2007, 14877.8
7. Bill Sharman, 1950-1961, 13802.7
8. Hal Greer, 1958-1973, 13769.2
9. Dennis Johnson, 1976-1990, 13731.9
10. Walter Davis, 1977-1992, 13313.6

Tracey McGrady knocked Sydney Moncrief from the top 10. I actually forgot to rate McGrady last year so it's possible he was already a top 10 guard. If you look at the list, these are all big shooting guards. The classic spot-up shooter type like Reggie Miller just doesn't fare well (No. 15) because all they do is score. The guys on this list either contributed with rebounds or a little as playmakers. Gervin and McGrady especially because they spent a lot of time as small forwards.

Bryant passed Gervin this year and considering he only is 29 and has several prime years left, he should pass Jerry West and perhaps even challenge Jordan.

Just on the outside of the rankings are Vince Carter at No. 11 -- he passed Moncrief as well -- and Ray Allen at No. 13.

Updated greatest pro basketball players

Who are the best pro basketball players in NBA, ABA and even ABL history? I'll update last year's lists starting by position. There were some major changes in three positions.

First, here are the 10 greatest point guards:

Player, years, points
1. Oscar Robertson, 1960-1974, 18753.0
2. Magic Johnson, 1979-1996, 18692.0
3. Bob Cousy, 1950-1970, 18554.9
4. John Stockton, 1984-2003, 17006.1
5. Gary Payton, 1990-2007, 16925.2
6. Jason Kidd, 1994-2007, 16302.3
7. Allen Iverson, 1996-2007, 15950.0
8. Isiah Thomas, 1981-1993, 15847.2
9. Walt Frazier, 1967-1980, 15210.5
10. Steve Nash, 1996-2007, 14707.9

Nash's third straight near MVP season for Phoenix helped him jump five spots and bumb Tim Hardaway from the top 10. Iverson passed Isaiah Thomas but lost ground to Jason Kidd. Gary Payton is one more good season away from passing John Stockton but Payton actually lost points this season. Stockton seems safe at No. 4.

The march goes on for Woods

Tiger is not be as dominant as he was in 2000 and 2001. But each time you begin to wonder if his goal of passing Jack Nicklaus' haul of 18 professional majors and 20 overall majors he rises up and walks off with another.

The old Tiger would have stepped on the gas and won the PGA by 8 shots. This one just held his ground and let others fall away.

No matter. Woods now has 13 professional majors and the three U.S. amateurs and is just four away from catching Nicklaus.

Since he has won five of the last 12 and he has made several lifestyle adjustments, now the betting is whether he'll catch Nicklaus by the time he is 35.

How good is Woods. He finished first in one major and second in two others in 2007, good for 38.5 points in my system, and that's just his fifth best year.

Like Roger Federer in tennis, Tiger may set marks no one will ever be able to reach.

With just the U.S. Amateur left for 2007, here's the updated Golf's Ultimate Playday:

On the first tee
1. Jack Nicklaus, United States, 1959-1998, 858.59
2. Tiger Woods, United States, 1994-2007, 717.92
3. Ben Hogan, United States, 1939-1967, 583.95
4. Walter Hagen, United States, 1913-1940, 517.29

On the second tee
5. Arnold Palmer, United States, 1954-1977, 515.33
6. Tom Watson, United States, 1974-2000, 493.36
7. Gary Player, South Africa, 1956-1984, 477.43
8. Bobby Jones, United States, 1919-1930, 477.25

On the third tee
9. Sam Snead, United States, 1937-1974, 464.41
10. Gene Sarazen, United States, 1921-1956, 458.63
11. Nick Faldo, England, 1978-2003, 401.50
12. Byron Nelson, United States, 1935-1955, 367.54

On the fourth tee
13. Harry Vardon, England, 1894-1922, 351.50
14. J.H. Taylor, England, 1893-1925, 348.75
15. Lee Trevino, United States, 1967-1986, 334.54
16. Seve Ballesteros, Spain, 1976-1991, 321.08

On the fifth tee
17. Phil Mickelson, United States, 1990-2006, 317.81
18. Greg Norman, Australia, 1979-1999, 316.82
19. Raymond Floyd, United States, 1965-1994, 309.32
20. James Braid, Scotland, 1894-1914, 301.63

On the sixth tee
21. Jim Barnes, Eng/U.S., 1913-1930, 301.11
22. Ernie Els, South Africa, 1992-2007, 300.90
23. Peter Thomson, Australia, 1951-1971, 277.10
24. Nick Price, Zimbabwe, 1982-2005, 267.98

On the seventh tee
25. Jimmy Demaret, United States, 1938-1962, 263.44
26. Bobby Locke, South Africa, 1936-1957, 259.75
27. Julius Boros, United States, 1950-1973, 252.92
28. Cary Middlecoff, United States, 1948-1959, 252.50

On the eighth tee
29. Craig Wood, United States, 1929-1944, 251.94
30. Billy Casper, United States, 1958-1976, 251.21
31. Ben Crenshaw, United States, 1972-1995, 243.52
32. Hale Irwin, United States, 1973-1993, 243.38

On the ninth tee
33. Ralph Guldahl, United States, 1933-1941, 237.13
34. Leo Diegel, United States, 1920-1933, 235.56
35. Willie Anderson Jr., Scot/U.S., 1898-1908, 223.50
36. Vijay Singh, Fiji, 1993-2006, 223.00

37. Tom Weiskopf, United States, 1969-1982, 222.43
38. Lloyd Mangrum, United States, 1940-1956, 221.60
39. Harold Hilton, England, 1892-1913, 221.50
40. Johnny Miller, United States, 1966-1985, 221.38

On the 10th tee
41. Paul Runyan, United States, 1931-1951, 221.13
42. Denny Shute, United States, 1928-1950, 219.25
43. Payne Stewart, United States, 1985-1999, 216.50
44. Henry Cotton, England, 1927-1958, 210.92

On the 11th tee
45. Jock Hutchison, Scot/U.S., 1908-1928, 210.25
46. Bernhard Langer, Germany, 1981-2005, 209.58
47. Ted Ray, England, 1902-1925, 204.88
48. Tommy Armour, Scot/US, 1925-1937, 202.63

On the 12th tee
49. Horton Smith, United States, 1928-1954, 198.31
50. Alex Smith, Scot/US, 1898-1921, 193.69
51. Henry Picard, United States, 1932-1950, 192.44
52. Hubert Green, United States, 1974-1989, 190.00

On the 13th tee
53. Mark O'Meara, United States, 1979-2003, 188.70
54. Tom Kite, United States, 1970-2001, 187.94
55. Fred Couples, United States, 1980-2006, 187.70
56. Lawson Little, United States, 1934-1951, 187.33

On the 14th tee
57. Jose Maria Olazabul, Spain, 1984-2006, 187.10
58. Lanny Wadkins, United States, 1970-1993, 185.50
59. Gene Littler, United States, 1953-1979, 184.00
60. Jim Furyk, United States, 1996-2007, 180.45

On the 15th tee
61. Davis Love III, United States, 1995-2005, 177.89
62. Jim Ferrier, Aus/U.S., 1936-1964, 176.50
63. Larry Nelson, United States, 1979-1991, 173.75
64. Johnny Farrell, United States, 1922-1937, 170.46

On the 16th tee
65. Curtis Strange, United States, 1980-1995, 170.17
66. Jack Burke Jr., United States, 1951-1965, 169.95
67. Harry Cooper, Eng/U.S., 1923-1942, 169.50
68. Doug Ford, United States, 1955-1962, 168.50

69. Tommy Bolt, United States, 1952-1971, 166.63
70. Retief Goosen, South Africa, 1997-2007, 166.50
71. Tony Jacklin, England, 1967-1972, 164.50
72. David Graham, Australia, 1975-1990, 163.70

Boxing's top 100 -- final 25

Here are the No. 100 down to No. 76 on my revised rankings as well as the point totals of some fighters on the outside looking in.

100. Sung Kil Moon, 1987-93, South Korea, 46.248
99. Johnny Kilbane, 1907-23, U.S., 46.288
98. Jimmy Wilde, 1910-23, United Kingdom, 46.333
97. Orlando Canizales, 1984-99, U.S., 46.371

95. (tie) Mickey Walker, 1919-35, U.S., 46.395
95. Victor Galindez, 1969-80, Argentina, 46.395
94. Sven Ottke, 1997-04, Germany, 46.465
93. Tommy Burns, 1900-20, U.S., 46.513
92. Jorge Arce, 1996-07, Mexico, 46.547
91. Lou Ambers, 1932-41, U.S., 46.576

90. William Joppy, 1993-07, U.S., 46.714
89. Bob Montgomery, 1938-50, U.S., 46.769
88. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, 1994-07, Thailand, 46.803
87. Marco Antonio Barrera, 1989-07, Mexico, 46.847
86. Myung Woo Yuh, 1982-93, South Korea, 46.932

85. Maxie Rosenbloom, 1923-39, U.S., 47.121
84. Miguel Angel Cotto, 2001-07, Puerto Rico, 47.229
83. Freddie Welsh, 1905-22, United Kingdom, 47.245
82. Ricky Hatton, 1997-07, United Kingdom, 47.348
81. Wilfredo Benitez, 1973-90, Puerto Rico, 47.383

80. Marcel Cerdan, 1934-49, France, 47.400
79. James Toney, 1988-07, U.S., 47.418
78. John Henry Lewis, 1928-39, U.S., 47.662
77. Mike Tyson, 1985-05, U.S., 47.784
76. Joe Calzaghe, 1993-07, United Kingdom, 47.789

Tyson's sad ending to his career cost him points at every turn. He will gain some ground when Larry Holmes goes into the Hall and maybe if they elect Trevor Berbick -- hey, there are weaker Hall of Famers, why is Jack Sharkey in?

William Joppy is a curious one. He has lost to Felix Trinidad, Bernard Hopkins and Jermaine Taylor, but he held the WBA Middleweight Title for five years -- along the way beating an ancient Roberto Duran. That's enough to sneak in the top 100 for now.

There are several fighters just outside the top 100 who may fight their way in or move up as people are elected to the Hall.

* Ratanapol Sor Vorapin (No. 101) is just 33 and is fighting again after losing to Ricardo Lopez in 2000 and retiring for five years. He's fighting nobodies though and will need to get back to the championship level to move up.

* Pernell Whitaker (No. 102) will gain some points from his draw with Julio Cesar Chavez when Chavez is inducted.

* Mikkel Kessler (No. 107) takes on No. 76 Joe Calzaghe on Nov. 11.

In fact, there are several fights scheduled this year that will have an impact on the top 100.

Aug. 18, Arthur Abraham (No. 124) vs. Khoren Gevor.
Sept. 22, Vitali Klitschko (No. 126) vs. Jameel McCline.
Oct. 6, Marco Antonio Barrera (No. 87) vs. Manny Pacquiao (No. 164)
Oct. 13, Evander Holyfield (No. 67) vs. Sultan Ibragimov.
Nov. 10, Sugar Shane Mosley (No. 62) vs. Miguel Angel Cotto (No. 84)
Dec. 8, Floyd Mayweather Jr. (No. 48) vs. Ricky Hatton (No. 82).

Top 100 boxers, part 3

Here are the No. 75 down to No. 51 boxers. It contains one major surprise.

75. Panama Al Brown, 1922-42, Panama, 47.827
74. Jack Dempsey, 1914-27, U.S., 47.989
73. Juan Carlos Gomez, 1995-07, Cuba, 48.011
72. Naseem Hamed, 1992-02, United Kingdom, 48.178
71. Ike Williams, 1940-55, U.S., 48.225

70. Lennox Lewis, 1989-03, United Kingdom, 48.240
69. Hector Camacho, 1980-05, Puerto Rico, 48.423
68. Jackie Kid Berg, 1924-45, U.S., 48.427
67. Evander Holyfield, 1984-07, U.S., 48.532
66. Erik Morales, 1993-07, Mexico, 48.633

65. Nino Benvenuti, 1961-71, Italy, 48.684
64. Michael Carbajal, 1989-99, Canada, 48.812
63. Kostya Tszyu, 1992-05, Australia, 48.855
62. Sugar Shane Mosley, 1993-07, U.S., 48.885
61. Sam Langford, 1902-26, U.S., 48.957

60. Duilio Loi, 1948-62, Italy, 49.393
59. Emile Griffith, 1958-77, U.S., 49.560
58. Oscar De La Hoya, 1992-07, U.S., 49.571
57. Chiquita Gonzalez, 1984-95, Mexico, 49.674
56. Harry Greb, 1913-26, U.S., 50.478

55. Stanley Ketchel, 1904-10, U.S., 50.521
54. Tony Canzoneri, 1925-39, U.S., 50.612
53. Floyd Patterson, 1952-72, U.S., 50.614
52. Vicente Saldivar, 1961-73, Mexico, 50.623
51. Benny Leonard, 1911-32, U.S., 50.645

Just about every ranking I've even seen puts Jack Dempsey in the very top tier of heavyweight champions with Joe Louis, Muhammad Ali and Rocky Marciano.

But after looking at his career I'll stand by this ranking. Dempsey had a fine career mark of 61-6-8 with 51 KOs. He was heavyweight champion from 1919 until 1926. That's a long time.

But he rarely defended his title, once going more than three years without fighting.

He also fought very few great fighters. True, he did defeat three Hall of Famers in world title fights. But Jess Willard is one of the weakest Hall of Famers ever. He's in for his defeat of Jack Johnson, which was a 26-round knockout in sweltering Cuba. If it was a 15 rounder -- the standard just a couple of years later -- then Johnson wins all 15 rounds over the lumbering Willard.

The other Hall of Famers he beat in title fights were Tommy Gibbons, a good but not really great fighter, and Georges Carpentier, a light heavyweight.

Really, he spent most of the decade ducking the only other heavyweight at the top of his game, the black Harry Wills, who had to pay for the unpopularity of Jack Johnson.

Finally, Dempsey did face one of the all-time greats in Gene Tunney and Tunney beat him twice easily. Even in the long-count second fight, Tunney essentially won every round other than the one in which he was knocked down.

Dempsey's reputation comes from his demolition of the average Willard, his exciting win over Luis Angel Firpo and the fact he was champion in the roaring twenties. The numbers don't lie, though, he didn't do enough in the ring to warrant being in the top 50.

Someone who did is Lennox Lewis, who will move up as the fighters he defeated are added to the Hall of Fame. Evander Holyfield is a shoe-in, Mike Tyson probably is one as well and Vitaly Klitschko may make the Hall. If they all do, then Lewis will move into the neighborhood of Gene Tunney and James Jeffries at No. 39 and No. 41.

Boxing's top 100, No. 50 down to No. 26

Part two of my revised rankings:

50. Bob Foster, 1961-78, U.S., 50.704
49. Pascual Perez, 1952-64, Argentina, 50.932
48. Floyd Mayweather Jr., 1996-07, U.S., 51.314
47. Flash Elorde, 1951-71, Phillippines, 51.332
46. Jimmy McLarnin, 1923-36, U.S., 51.334

45. Bernard Hopkins, 1988-07, U.S., 51.461
44. Eusebio Pedroza, 1973-92, Panama, 52.145
43. Yoko Gushiken, 1974-81, Japan, 52.167
42. Terry McGovern, 1897-08, U.S., 52.224
41. James Jeffries, 1896-10, U.S., 52.475

40. Azumah Nelson, 1979-98, Ghana, 52.548
39. Gene Tunney, 1915-28, U.S., 52.569
38. Carlos Zarate, 1970-88, Mexico, 52.574
37. Jack Johnson, 1897-28, U.S., 52.621
36. Tommy Ryan, 1887-07, U.S., 52.803

35. Sugar Ray Leonard, 1977-97, U.S., 52.899
34. Khaosai Galaxy, 1980-91, Thailand, 53.056
33. Sandy Saddler, 1944-56, U.S., 53.091
32. Antonio Cervantes, 1964-83, Colombia, 53.093
31. Abe Attell, 1900-17, U.S., 53.165

30. Michael Spinks, 1977-88, U.S., 53.340
29. Joe Frazier, 1965-81, U.S., 53.352
28. George Foreman, 1969-97, U.S., 53.479
27. Thomas Hearns, 1977-06, U.S., 53.540
26. Felix Trinidad, 1990-05, Puerto Rico, 53.848

A few questions in this group. Who is Yoko Gushiken? He was a junior flyweight who fought just 24 times -- 23-1. But 15 of those fights were major title fights and he won all but the last one.

Jack Johnson usually is ranked much higher, but he did lose 13 times, seven by knockout. He also was not a very active champion and that hurt his point total. Johnson's unadjusted score was even lower but he zoomed up the list thanks to the bonus points. He had the most bonus-point victories of anyone, beating James Jeffries, Stanley Ketchel, Tommy Burns, Bob Fitzsimmons, Sam Langford and Joe Jeannette over his career.

Sugar Ray Leonard also seems low at No. 35, which puts him several spots behind Thomas Hearns. The mid-injury eye injury kept Leonard from stringing together a bunch of title defenses. He, like Johnson, benefitted from the bonus point system thanks to his wins over Hearn, Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran.

Leonard's score will improve dramatically when Hearns goes into the Hall of Fame. His knockout and draw against Hearns, which is worth about 60 points now will be worth 175 then. Those extra points will move Leonard down around Ricardo Lopez at No. 20.

Michael Spinks also will climb a few slots when Larry Holmes goes into the Hall of Fame.

Lorena makes major move in golf's ultimate playday

After yet another meltdown in a major, I was starting to wonder if Lorena Ochoa would break through. She answered that question in the British Open.

Her win solidified her status as the No. 1 female player in the world and gave her a major boost in the Golf's Women's Ultimate Playday. She moved up 20 spots and seems poised to win a string of these.

A final note. No. 20 on the list, Beth Daniel, retired from competitive golf after the British.

With all the majors in the books, here are the current top 54 professional female players:

On the first tee
1. Mickey Wright, 1958-1973, 575.40
2. Annika Sorenstam, 1995-2006, 541.42
3. Karrie Webb, 1996-2007, 474.80

On the second tee
4. Pat Bradley, 1977-1996, 460.93
5. Julie Inkster, 1984-2006, 458.05
6. Kathy Whitworth, 1963-1984, 453.10

On the third tee
7. Patty Berg, 1937-1965, 441.50
8. Patty Sheehan, 1981-1997, 400.62
9. Louise Suggs, 1946-1969, 377.64

On the fourth tee
10. Amy Alcott, 1976-1994, 358.22
11. Sandra Haynie, 1963-1983, 353.00
12. Babe Didrikson Zaharias, 1940-1954, 350.00

On the fifth tee
13. Betsy Rawls, 1951-1969, 329.09
14. JoAnne Carner, 1970-1992, 321.85
15. Meg Mallon, 1990-2004, 321.63

On the sixth tee
16. Laura Davies, 1987-2005, 303.42
17. Nancy Lopez, 1975-1997, 298.88
18. Se Ri Pak, 1998-2007, 293.17

On the seventh tee
19. Donna Caponi, 1969-1982, 266.85
20. Beth Daniel, 1980-2006, 266.30
21. Susan Maxwell Berning, 1965-1979, 242.50

On the eigth tee
22. Mary Mills, 1963-1974, 232.45
23. Clifford-Ann Creed, 1963-1976, 230.20
24. Carol Mann, 1963-1975, 226.50

On the ninth tee
25. Dottie Pepper, 1988-2001, 221.25
26. Sandra Palmer, 1967-1986, 220.00
27. Jan Stephenson, 1976-2000, 216.25

On the 10th tee
28. Marilyn Smith, 1963-1972, 211.45
29. Hollis Stacy, 1976-1996, 207.51
30. Sally Little, 1975-1988, 205.47

On the 11th tee
31. Ayako Okamoto, 1983-1993, 204.93
32. Rosie Jones, 1983-2005, 200.53
33. Liselotte Neumann, 1988-2005, 198.45

On the 12th tee
34. Jane Geddes, 1985-1996, 178.30
35. Lorena Ochoa, 2002-2007, 173.73
36. Tammie Green, 1989-1998, 173.10

On the 13th tee
37. Kelly Robbins, 1994-2004, 158.80
38. Brandie Burton, 1991-2001, 151.00
39. Cristie Kerr, 1999-2007, 150.62

On the 14th tee
40. Grace Park, 1999-2005, 136.60
41. Sherri Steinhauer, 1992-2006, 134.08
42. Jane Blalock, 1971-1980, 132.00

On the 15th tee
43. Judy Rankin, 1964-1979, 130.58
44. Judy Kimball-Simon, 1962-1967, 130.38
45. Beverly Hanson, 1955-1958, 130.00

On the 16th tee
46. Betty Jameson, 1942-1954, 130.00
47. Shirley Englehorn, 1963-1970, 124.25
48. Chris Johnson, 1983-2000, 122.50

On the 17th tee
49. Marlene Hagge, 1956-1972, 122.00
50. Nancy Scranton, 1986-2000, 120.50
51. Donna Andrews, 1992-1998, 116.93

On the 18th tee
52. Pat Hurst, 1996-2006, 116.90
53. Helen Alfreddson, 1992-2006, 116.83
54. Colleen Walker, 1987-1997, 116.80

100 greatest boxers -- revised

A few months ago I posted my choices as the 100 greatest boxers using a system I set up to grade all of the boxers in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

I liked it, but when I ran through some modern boxers they just scored way too high because of all the additional weight classes and sanctioning bodies. There is just a pea soup of champions today.

So I reworked it. Boxers still score points based on wins, but I had to do some additional breakdowns for era.

It's still based on a 60 fight career so fighters who fought more than 60 fights had their point totals divided and fighters who fought less than 60 points had their non-title fights multiplied.

In any era, a world title win against a Hall of Famer was worth 100 points with a knockout being an additional 25. For the 1983 on era a world title fight is one for a WBA, WBC or IBF belt. If they were knocked out they had five points deducted.

The oldtimers who won world title fights before 1963 (fewest divisions and usually only one recognized world title holder) received 80 points. Knockouts were worth an additional 20 points. Getting knocked out was a -10.

Wins over Hall of Famers in non-title bouts or lesser title fights (WBO, IBU, whatnot) earned 70 points. A KO is a plus 17.5 and getting KO'd is a negative 12.5.

Then it gets messy. World title wins in the WBA-WBC only era of 1963-1982 is worth 60. A pre-1963 lesser title fight (European or just one of the N.Y. bodies) is worth 40. The modern 1983 plus title wins are worth 35. The 1963-1982 lesser title fights (NABF etc.) drop to 30. WBO or IBC titles from 1983 on are worth 25 points and the stepping stone titles from 1983 on (WBU, IBU and all the rest are worth 15.

Non title fights -- after they've been adjusted for the 60 fight total -- are worth 10 with a KO an additional 5 points. Getting KO'd in a non-title bout takes 25 points off your score.

You get a career score -- which helps guys like Ricardo Lopez and Rocky Marciano -- where wins are worth 25 points, draws 12.5, KOs 6.25 and getting KOd a negative 8.25.

You take all of those points and then divide by 60 for a score.

Now, at this point a few boxers seemed out of place. Several fighters with less than 30 fights scored awfully high and a few that accomplished major wins over all-time greats seemed low.

So I adjusted points downward for fighters with fewer than 30 fights and created a bonus system based on quality wins.

My original score treated wins over Hall of Famers evenly and truthfully there are a lot of weak hall of famers. Why is Lew Jenkins or Fritzie Zivic in the hall of fame? Without the bonus system, a knockout win over Sammy Mandell in a title fight had the same weight as Joe Frazier's KO of Muhammad Ali.

I took the top 125 scorers on the unadjusted list and gave fighters points for wins over those fighters. So a win over the top ranked golfer in any fight would be an additional 125 points, the second fighter on the list would be worth 124 and so on. The bonus points were one-time additions. You didn't get the points each time you beat the fighter and you just needed one win over a great even if you lost five other times (Jake LaMotta's 1-5 mark against Sugar Ray Robinson).

The bonus points painted a truer picture. Sugar Ray Leonard, who fought relatively few title fights because of a mid-career eye injury but scored victories over Marvin Hagler, Thomas Hearns and Roberto Duran, jumped up the rankings considerably.

One thing to remember is boxers can gain or lose points even after they retire. Take Leonard and Hagler for example. Both defeated Thomas Hearns by knockout. Those wins are worth 43.75 points right now (35 for the victory, 8.75 for the knockout). Thanks to Hearns' comeback this decade, he is not in the Hall of Fame. Of course, he's a shoe-in. Once he is elected, the wins by Hagler and Leonard will be worth 125 points (100 for the win and 25 for the knockout).

With the all-time standings so close once you get past the top four boxers, those extra points will be enough for Hagler and Leonard to move past several boxers.

The best part is that I can keep the rankings up to date with each fight. There are several fights in the coming months that will affect the rankings and I'll update the list after each.

This post is long enough. I'm going to post my greatest 100 boxers over the next four days. I'll begin with No. 25 down to No. 1.

Rank, fighter, years, country, points
25. Roy Jones Jr., 1989-07, U.S., 53.998
24. Julio Cesar Chavez, 1980-05, Mexico, 54.110
23. Roberto Duran, 1968-01, Panama, 54.210
22. Jose Napoles, 1958-75, Cuba, 55.300
21. Eder Jofre, 1957-76, Brazil, 55.391

20. Ricardo Lopez, 1985-01, Mexico, 55.620
19. Salvador Sanchez, 1975-82, Mexico, 56.066
18. Marvin Hagler, 1973-87, U.S., 56.382
17. Willie Pep, 1940-66, U.S., 57.253
16. Barney Ross, 1929-38, U.S., 57.954

15. Archie Moore, 1936-63, U.S., 58.743
14. Carlos Ortiz, 1955-72, Puerto Rico, 58.871
13. Manuel Ortiz, 1938-55, U.S., 59.017
12. Aaron Pryor, 1976-90, U.S., 59.526
11. Ezzard Charles, 1940-59, U.S., 59.653

10. Larry Holmes, 1973-02, U.S., 59.879
9. Alexis Arguello, 1968-95, Nicaragua, 60.008
8. Joe Gans, 1891-09, U.S., 60.416
7. Carlos Monzon, 1963-77, Argentina, 61.664
6. Wilfredo Gomez, 1974-89, Puerto Rico, 62.715

5. Rocky Marciano, 1947-55, U.S., 62.793
4. Sugar Ray Robinson, 1940-65, U.S., 75.382
3. Henry Armstrong, 1931-45, U.S., 79.451
2. Joe Louis, 1934-51, U.S., 84.329
1. Muhammad Ali, 1960-81, U.S., 85.805

I'll admit there are some head scratchers in here. Ezzard Charles at No. 11? He had 25 losses, but he lost 13 of his last 23 fights at the end of his career after losing to Rocky Marciano. He also was knocked out by Jersey Joe Walcott.

Still, he was a very light heavyweight, usually fighting between 175 and 190 pounds, and he took on the best of his day early and often. He was 15-2 against Hall of Fame fighters in non-title or lesser title fights and he had bonus point wins over Joe Louis and Archie Moore.

Aaron Pryor at No. 12 also seems high. Few mention prior when they talk about the best fighters of the 1980s and 1990s. The conversation usually revolves around Hearns, Leonard and Hagler.

But Pryor had a great career record -- 39-1 with 35 KOs -- and a perfect 12-0 mark with 10 knockouts in title fights. Three of those knockouts were bonus point wins over Antonio Cervantes and Alexis Arguello.

The top two actually changed places after the bonus points were figured in. Joe Louis was well ahead of Muhammad Ali thanks to his 26-1 record in world title fights, but only one of Louis' wins was over a fighter in the top 125 of my unadjusted rankings. And even that fighter, John Henry Lewis, deserves an asterisk. Lewis was at the end of his career, had eye injuries and only fought Louis because Joe knew he needed a final payday before retiring.

Ali, on the other hand, scored wins over Joe Frazier, George Foreman, Floyd Patterson and great light heavyweights Bob Foster and Archie Moore. Ali didn't even get bonus points for his shocking wins over Sonny Liston. Liston is highly regarded but had so few title fights -- four total -- that he didn't make the unadjusted top 125.