Thailand flyweight drops a spot in busy weekend

There were major championship fights at both ends of the boxing spectrum this weekend but little change in my all-time top 100 boxer ranking.

Pongsaklek Wonjongkam of Thailand failed to get his WBC flyweight title back Saturday night, fighting Daisuke Naito of Japan to a draw.

Wonjongkam fell to 63-3-1 and is 2-1-1 against Naito. The draw caused Wonjongkam to fall one spot in my ranking to No. 92, trailing Ratanapol Sor Vorapin, the former IBF minimum weight champion, also of Thailand. Vorapin and Wonjonkam are the No. 2 and No. 3 highest ranked Thai fighters in history. Khaosai Galaxy is the all-time best at No. 31.

Here's the new No. 91-100 ranking.

Rank, fighter, years, country, points
90. Myung Woo Yuh, 1982-93, South Korea, 46.932
91. Ratanapol Sor Vorapin, 1990-07, Thailand, 46.792
92. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, 1994-07, Thailand, 46.763
93. Bob Montgomery, 1938-50, U.S., 46.653
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, 46.395
98. Mickey Walker, 1919-35, U.S., 46.395
99. Orlando Canizales, 1984-99, U.S., 46.371
100. Jimmy Wilde, 1910-23, United Kingdom, 46.333

Also this weekend, David Haye knocked off Enzo Maccarinelli in the second round to add the WBO cruiserweight title to his WBA and WBC titles. He picked up valuable "unified title" points by picking up three of the top four belts and moved into the top 150 at No. 149. It may take him a bit to threaten the top 100 though. He's apparently moving up to heavyweight. I'll be interesting to see if he can add enough muscle to stand in with the 230-plussers today.

Speaking of heavyweights, Samuel Peter, the Nigerian Nightmare, TKO'd Oleg Maskaev to take one of the top belts away from an Eastern European. Peter is No. 2 on my list of the three heavyweight title holders at No. 130 all-time. Ruslan Chageav, while Wladimir Klitschko is No. 116.

Klitschko's recent win against Sultan Ibragimov clears things up a bit but Chageav apparently is going to fight Nikolay Valuev in a rematch, while Vitali Klitschko may get first crack at Peter.

Where Haye plays in, who knows. It'd be an actual event if Peter for Wladimir Klitschko again, but that will have to wait.

Greatest pro basketball pickup teams

Let's say you were going to have a 5-on-5 tournament, best player at each position. Which NBA or ABA team would be able to put together the best team?

It's not a question of best franchise. Then you'd have to talk titles and of course it'd be centered around Boston and the Lakers. It's the question of which team has had the best players at each position over the course of professional basketball.

Each year I do a pro basketball ranking. To come up with the best team I simply gave franchises -- and I use this term loosely -- points by position. I have Kareem as the greatest center so the Lakers get 30 points (the scoring is a 1 to 30 scale) as well as the Milwaukee Bucks.

Now, some teams have bounced from city to city. I doubt a L.A. Laker fan really considers George Mikan an L.A. player. Just like Sacramento fans don't consider Tiny Archibald -- a Kansas City King -- to be one of theirs.

So for this ranking, you'll see some teams that no longer exist.

In all, 37 different teams scored.

No. 37 -- New Orleans Jazz, 5 points from Pistol Pete Maravich.
No. 36 -- Charlotte Hornets, 14 points from Alonzo Mourning.
No. 35 -- Kansas City Kings, 15 points from Tiny Archibald.
No. 33 (tie) -- Toronto Raptors, 20 points from Vince Carter.
No. 33 (tie) -- Buffalo Braves, 20 points from Bob McAdoo.
No. 32 -- Cleveland Cavaliers, 9 points from Brad Daugherty, 11 points from LeBron James and one point for World B. Free.
No. 31 -- Minneapolis Lakers, 23 points for George Mikan.
No. 30 -- Sacramento Kings, 20 points for Chris Webber, four points for Mitch Richmond.
No. 29 -- Syracuse nationals, 26 points for Dolph Schayes.
No. 28 -- Atlanta Hawks, 21 points for Dominique Wilkins and six points from Lou Hudson.
No. 27 -- Minnesota Timberwolves, 28 points from Kevin Garnett.
No. 26 -- Los Angeles Clippers, 14 points for Elton Brand and 15 points for Terry Cummings.
No. 25 -- Miami Heat, 14 points for Alonzo Mourning and 20 for Tim Hardaway.
No. 24 -- Portland Trailblazers, 13 points for Maurice Lucas, 26 points for Clyde Drexler. This does seem low but Bill Walton didn't play long enough. Terry Porter wasn't a highly enough ranked point guard.
No. 23 -- Dallas Mavericks, 22 for Dirk Nowitzki and 21 for Steve Nash.
No. 22 -- Washington Bullets/Wizards, 12 for Wes Unseld, 25 for Elvin Hayes and 11 for Earl Monroe.
No. 21 -- Cincinnati Royals, going way back, 19 points for Jerry Lucas and 30 for Oscar Robertson.
No. 20 -- Orlando Magic, 26 points for Shaquille O'Neal and 25 points for Tracey McGrady.
No. 19 -- Philadelphia Warriors, 29 points for Wilt Chamberlain and 23 for Paul Arizan.
No. 18 -- Houston Rockets, 28 points for Hakeem Olajuwon, 25 points for Tracey McGrady.
No. 17 -- Kentucky Colonels, 22 points for Artis Gilmore, 21 for Dan Issell and 12 for Lou Dampier.
No. 16 -- Indiana Pacers, 17 points for Mel Daniels, 23 points for George McGinness and 16 for Reggie Miller.
No. 15 -- St. Louis Hawks, 27 points for Bob Petit, 18 for Cliff Hagan and 14 for Lenny Wilkens.
No. 14 -- San Francisco/Golden State Warriors, 13 points for Nate Thurmond, 27 points for Rick Barry, four for Mitch Richmond and 20 for Tim Hardaway.
No. 13 -- Seattle Supersonics, 16 points for Spencer Haywood, eight for Tom Chambers, 18 for Ray Allen and 26 for Gary Payton.
No. 12 -- Utah Jazz, 29 points for Karl Malone, 12 for Adrian Dantley and 27 for John Stockton.
No. 11 -- Denver Rockets/Nuggets, 11 for Dikembe Mutombo, 21 for Issel, 20 for Alex English and 17 for David Thompson.

Here is the top 10:
No. 10 -- Detroit Pistons, 18 for Bob Lanier, 10 for Dennis Rodman, 19 for Grant Hill, two for Joe Dumars and 23 for Isaiah Thomas.
No. 9 -- New York/New Jersey Nets, 30 for Julius Erving, 20 for Vince Carter and 25 for Jason Kidd.
No. 8 -- New York Knicks, 21 for Patrick Ewing, 15 for Dave DeBusschere, nine for Bernard King, 11 for Earl Monroe and 22 for Walt Frazier.
No. 7 -- San Antonio Spurs, 25 for David Robinson, 30 for Tim Duncan and 27 for George Gervin.
No. 6 -- Phoenix Suns, 24 for Charles Barkley, 25 for Connie Hawkins, 21 for Walter Davis and 21 for Steve Nash.
No. 5 -- Milwaukee Bucks, 30 for Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, 16 for Bobby Dandridge, 19 for Sydney Moncrief and 30 for Oscar Robertson.
No. 4 -- Chicago Bulls, 22 for Artis Gilmore, 10 for Dennis Rodman, 16 for Scottie Pippen, 30 for Michael Jordan and 10 for Norm Van Lier.
No. 3 -- Los Angeles Lakers, 30 for Abdul-Jabbar, 28 for Elgin Baylor, 29 for Jerry West and 29 for Magic Johnson. The problem here is no great power forwards in the franchise's history and Karl Malone doesn't count here.
No. 2 -- Boston Celtics, 27 for Bill Russell, 18 for Kevin McHale, 29 for Larry Bird, 24 for Bill Sharman and 28 for Bob Cousy.

Leaving ...

No. 1 -- Philadelphia 76ers, even though the Sixers have just two NBA titles, they have had star power throughout the decades. Here's the starting five: Chamberlain (29), Barkley (24), Erving (30), Hal Greer (23) and Allen Iverson (24).

Try starting a bar discussion by saying the best five 76ers would beat the best Celtics or Lakers and see how that goes.

Bute knocks Joppy from boxing's top 100

Lucien Bute defeated three-time middleweight champion William Joppy last night in his second title defense of the IBF Super Middleweight title.

The knockout loss sent Joppy -- now 39-5-1 -- tumbling from the top 100. Bute -- 22-0 with 18 knockouts -- is No. 137.

Also, Ratanapol Sor Vorapin, who came out of retirement last year, has added a string of knockouts over little known fighters. It's been enough to climb back into the top 100.

Here's the new No. 90 through 100.

Rank, fighter, years, country
90. Myung Woo Yuh, 1982-93, South Korea
91. Pongsaklek Wonjongkam, 1994-07, Thailand
92. Ratanapol Sor Vorapin, 1990-08, Thailand
93. Bob Montgomery, 1938-50, U.S.
94. Lou Ambers, 1932-41, U.S.
95. Sven Ottke, 1997-04, Germany
96. Arthur Abraham, 2003-07, Germany
97. Victor Galindez, 1969-80, Argentina
98. Mickey Walker, 1919-35, U.S.
99. Orlando Canizales, 1984-99, U.S.
100. Jimmy Wilde, 1910-23, United Kingdom

The 25 greatest racers in the world

Here are my picks as the top 25 racers to climb into a cockpit.

Rank, Racer, Country, Years, Total
25. Mario Andretti, United States, 1965-1995, 52.00
* 7th highest Indy racer
* 10th ranked U.S. driver
(One of two drivers to score top 10 tens at Monaco, LeMans, Indy and Daytona. Only driver with Formula One title, Indy 500 and Daytona 500 wins on resume)

24. Juan Manuel Fangio, Argentina, 1950-1957, 52.02
* 7th highest Formula One driver
* No. 1 ranked Argentine
(Five Formula One titles in just eight years, two-time Monaco winner and added two 12 Hours at Sebring wins)

23. Henri Pescarolo, France, 1970-1999, 52.06
* 8th highest endurance driver
* No. 2 ranked French driver
(Four time LeMans winner with a 24 Hours at Daytona win as well)

22. Lou Meyer, United States, 1928-1937, 52.44
* 6th highest Indy driver
* No. 9 U.S. driver
(First three-time Indy 500 winner. Also had three AAA titles to his credit)

21. Emerson Fittipaldi, Brazil, 1971-1994, 53.34
* 5th highest Indy driver
* No. 2 driver from Brazil
(A two-time Formula One champion, he switched to Indy car racing and won two Indy 500s and a CART championship)

20. Olivier Gendebien, Germany, 1955-1962, 53.95
* 7th highest endurance racer
* No. 3 German driver
(Won four LeMans titles in a five-year span to go along with two Sebring wins)

19. Wilbur Shaw, United States, 1927-1940, 54.29
* 4th highest Indy driver.
* No. 8 U.S. driver
(Won three Indy 500s, along with three second place finishes, and added two AAA titles)

18. Bobby Allison, United States, 1968-1988, 54.53
* Third highest NASCAR driver
* No. 7 U.S. driver
(Two Daytona 500 wins and three runner up finishes plus one Winston Cup title)

17. Stirling Moss, United Kingdom, 1953-1961, 56.17
* 6th ranked Formula One driver
* No. 4 from the United Kingdom
(Three time Monaco winner was twice runner up at LeMans. Also finished in top three in Formula One championship -- but never first -- for seven straight years)

16. Rick Mears, United States, 1979-1991, 56.93
* 3rd ranked Indy car driver
* No. 6 U.S. driver
(One of three four-time Indy 500 winners. Also had three CART titles)

15. Emanuele Pirro, Italy, 1991-2007, 57.18
* No. 6 endurance driver
* No. 1 Italian driver
(Five LeMans wins and four third-place finishes in the past nine years. Added a Sebring title in 2007)

14. Frank Biela, Germany, 1999-2007, 58.20
* No. 5 endurance driver
* No. 2 German driver
(Five wins at LeMans to go along with four at Sebring)

13. Jackie Stewart, United Kingdom, 1965-1973, 58.59
* No. 5 Formula One driver
* No. 3 driver from United Kingdom
(Three Monaco wins and three Formula One titles in nine years. Also recorded top 10s at LeMans and Indianapolis)

12. Cale Yarborough, United States, 1965-1987, 60.72
* No. 2 NASCAR driver
* No. 5 driver from U.S.
(Four Daytona 500 wins and three Winston Cup titles. Also one of rare NASCAR drivers to compete outside of NASCAR with one top 10 at Indy to his credit)

11. Al Unser, United States, 1965-1992, 62.05
* No. 2 Indy car driver
* No. 4 driver from U.S.
(Four Indy 500 wins with three CART titles and a win at 24 Hours of Daytona. Also one fourth place finish in Daytona 500)

10. Tom Kristensen, Denmark, 1997-2006, 63.84
* No. 4 endurance racer
* No. 1 driver from Denmark
(All-time leading LeMans winner with seven, including six in a row. Also has four Sebring wins)

9. Phil Hill, United States, 1958-1964, 64.37
* No. 3 endurance racer
* No. 3 driver from U.S.
(Won three LeMans titles, two Sebring races and a 24 Hours at Daytona. Also won a Formula One title and was top three at Monaco three times)

8. Derek Bell, United Kingdom, 1972-1996, 65.14
* No. 2 endurance racer
* No. 2 driver from United Kingdom
(Six time winner at LeMans and a top 10 finisher there 16 times. Also won three 24 Hours at Daytona races)

7. Alain Prost, France, 1982-1993, 67.12
* No. 4 Formula One driver
* No. 1 driver from France
(Won four Monaco titles and four Formula One titles in 12 seasons)

6. Ayrton Senna, Brazil, 1984-1993, 69.98
* No. 3 Formula One driver
* No. 1 driver from Brazil
(Three time Formula One champion. Won six times at Monaco, including his last five before being killed at age 34)

5. Jacky Ickx, Belgium, 1968-1985, 70.78
* No. 1 endurance racer
* No. 1 driver from Belgium
(Six LeMans wins to go along with two at Sebring and one at 24 Hours of Daytona. Also competed in Formula One, finishing in top three at Monaco in 1971 and 1972 and finishing in top three of Formula One championship from 1968 to 1972)

4. Michael Schumacher, Germany, 1992-2006, 77.35
* No. 2 Formula One driver
* No. 1 German driver
(His six Monaco wins and seven Formula One series championships are both records. Perhaps had more wins in him but retired in 2006 at just 37)

3. Richard Petty, United States, 1960-1987, 79.77
* No. 1 NASCAR driver
* No. 2 driver from U.S.
(Most dominant single series driver ever. Won seven Daytona 500s and seven Winston Cups. Finished in top 10 at Daytona 17 times and was in top three of season series 15 times)

2. Graham Hill, United Kingdom, 1958-1974, 81.65
* No. 1 Formula One driver
* No. 1 driver from United Kingdom
(Won five times at Monaco and claimed two Formula One championships. Also won 24 Hours at LeMans and the Indianapolis 500 making him the only driver to win racing's "Triple Crown")

1. A.J. Foyt, United States, 1959-1992, 87.69
* No. 1 Indy car driver
* No. 1 from U.S.
(First four-time Indy 500 winner and only driver to win Indy and Daytona 500s along with 24 Hours at LeMans. Claimed six CART titles from 1960 to 1975 and later in his career tacked on two wins at 24 Hours of Daytona and one at Sebring. In 1967, became the first and still only driver to win two -- Indy and LeMans -- of racing's big four races in same year. He added a CART title that season)

World's greatest racers, part III

Now we start getting in to some of the big, big names in auto racing in the past 95 years. Here are the No. 50 down to No. 26 greatest racecar drivers in the world.

Rank, racer, country, years, points
50. Fernando Alonso, Spain, 2003-2007, 41.19
49. Luigi Chinetti, Italy, 1932-1951, 42.08
48. Rinaldo Capello, Italy, 1999-2006, 42.51
47. Jim Clark, United Kingdom, 1959-1967, 43.12
46. Klaus Ludwig, Germany, 1979-1988, 43.31
45. Gordon Johncock, United States, 1965-1991, 43.33
44. Bill Elliott, United States, 1978-2001, 43.53
43. Al Unser Jr., United States, 1983-2003, 44.91
42. Dale Jarrett, United States, 1991-2006, 45.11
41. Al Holbert, United States, 1976-1987, 45.17
40. Hans Joachim Stuck, Germany, 1976-1996, 45.37
39. Jody Scheckter, South Africa, 1974-1979, 45.45
38. Rodger Ward, United States, 1956-1964, 45.51
37. Denny Hulme, Australia, 1965-1973, 45.63
36. Niki Lauda, Austria, 1974-1984, 45.87
35. Hurley Haywood, United States, 1973-1994, 46.33
34. Dale Earnhardt, United States, 1979-2000, 46.54
33. Jeff Gordon, United States, 1993-2007, 47.10
32. Bruce McLaren, Australia, 1959-1969, 48.09
31. Marco Werner, Germany, 2002-2007, 48.63
30. Mauri Rose, United States, 1934-1950, 48.83
29. Johnny Rutherford, United States, 1963-1986, 48.88
28. Maurice Trintignant, France, 1953-1961, 50.45
27. Yannick Dalmas, France, 1988-2002, 51.15
26. Bobby Unser, United States, 1966-1981, 51.17

Now it's getting tough. Johncock was a two-time Indy winner. Jarrett won three Daytona 500s and two winston Cups and he's behind Dale Earnhardt and Jeff Gordon in this group. I'd never heard of Hurley Haywood, but he's one of the top endurance racers ever to come out of the U.S. He won three LeMans races, two 12 Hours at Sebrings and four 24 Hours at Daytonas. Maurice Trintignant won twice at Monaco and once at LeMans, and Bobby Unser was a three-time Indy 500 winner.

Greatest racecar driver in the world, take two

In my first post I explained how the yearly point totals worked but not how I add them up for a ranking. I use the same 3, 6, 10 and career system as in my other rankings.

To show how, I'll break down the career of one of the most versatile drivers ever -- Dan Gurney.

Gurney scored points in my system in 11 years from 1959 to 1970.

His best year, in terms of points, was 1967 when he recorded his only win among the four biggest races in the world, the 24 Hours at LeMans with A.J. Foyt. He did not score in any other category.

In 1963, he took fifth in the Daytona 500 (six points) and seventh in the Indianapolis 500 (four points) for 10 points for the year.

His third best year was a tie for 1968 and 1969 when he was runnerup at Indianapolis for nine points each. So his ranking for top 3 years was 20 + 10 + 9 divided by 3 for 13.0 points.

I used those top three years, added 1968's 9 points for Indy and then 1970 when he was third at Indy (8 points) and 1961 when Gurney took fifth at the Grand Prix of Monaco (6 points) and fourth in the Formula One series (1 point).

So his six best years were 20 + 10 + 9 + 9 + 8 + 7 divided by 6 for a score of 10.5 points.

For his best 10 years he had an average of 7.7 and his total career points, which included bonus points for winning the 12 Hours at Sebring and 24 Hours at Daytona I divided by 25 for a score of 3.1. Why 25? A.J. Foyt scored points in an incredible 25 years between 1959 and 1993 so he sets the standard.

Although the system rewards drivers like Gurney who went out and tried to win races outside their comfort zone -- Gurney and Mario Andretti are the only drivers to record top 10 finishes in Monaco, LeMans, Indy and Daytona -- it rewards winning even more. Even though Gurney was a threat at all four events for 12 years, he won just one so he's ranked a somewhat pedestrian 68th.

So now that you know a little bit more, here are the No. 75 through No. 51 greatest racecar drivers ever.

Rank, racer, country, years, points
75. Jack Brabham, Australia, 1957-1970, 33.49
74. Ted Horn, United States, 1936-1948, 33.62
72. Buddy Baker, United States, 1969-1988, 33.71
72. Andy Wallace, United Kingdom, 1988-2006, 33.71
71. Andre Rossignol, France, 1923-1928, 34.09
70. Michael Waltrip, United States, 1990-2003, 34.15
68. Jimmy Bryan, United States, 1952-1958, 34.32
68. Dan Gurney, United States, 1959-1970, 34.32
67. Gerard Larrousse, France, 1969-1974, 34.73
66. Michele Alboreto, Italy, 1981-2001, 34.82
65. Helio Castroneves, Brazil, 2001-2006, 35.04
64. Benny Parsons, United States, 1969-1987, 35.16
63. Gijs van Lennap, Netherlands, 1971-1976, 35.35
62. Bobby Rahal, United States, 1981-1995, 35.49
61. J.J. Lehto, Finland, 1992-2005, 36.85
60. Arie Luyendyk, Netherlands, 1985-1998, 36.97
59. Tommy Milton, United States, 1920-1927, 37.29
58. Sterling Marlin, United States, 1980-2005, 37.91
57. Darrell Waltrip, United States, 1974-1997, 37.95
56. Juan Pablo Montoya, Colombia, 1999-2008, 38.39
55. Woolf Barnato, United Kingdom, 1928-1930, 38.40
54. Tom Sneva, United States, 1976-1984, 38.58
53. David Pearson, United States, 1962-1984, 38.59
52. David Coulthard, United Kingdom, 1995-2006, 39.00
51. Tazio Nuvolari, Italy, 1932-1936, 39.99

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.