Chronology of 90’s Pound For Pound Race

[Spicoli]

That's a pretty solid vid with breakdown of the fights. It's been said rightfully 101 times that p4p is subjective though. Are we talking opponent level. Belts won defenses made. Interpretation of actual skill level etc. It's a bit of a sales tag really. Notice they're all mainly HBO and Showtime 'stars' and rarely gave credit outside the boarders . The Ring was definitely respected for the most part but started to lose it's way somewhere in the 2000's. Once Oscar & Co started dropping cologne adds and ranked Broner at #5 p4p I officially used it as cat liter though .

When I think 90's best I instinctively go to Whitaker and Chavez early. If we're breaking down years and fights within as in the video it does vary. One big knock on The ring..and the fans and promoters maybe..is that they didn't even carry rankings for the strawweight/minimum weight division until 2008. Ricardo Lopez found his way to the p4p list but majority of career the division rankings weren't listed. But again to what someone's criteria is..you can clearly watch Lopez preform his craft and know he belongs among the very elite. 95' in interesting with Whitaker. I actually thought he lost to Wilfredo Rivera sick or not sick. Lopez was on a tear but totally under tha radar. Now Oscar went from totally unranked to p4p #4. He ran up wins against all Ring top 10 and capped the start of 96 with top ranked Hernandez. Jones Jr beat Pazienza in a farce, a Byrd and Thornton. But he was also fresh off clowning James Toney and that was massive. Sure Toney was fat but that was on him.

Even though I can't stand the guy I'd go Oscar in 97' too. Roy screwed himself with Griffin fiasco but did return to annihilate him. Lopez was getting deserved airtime but also had but 1 fight and the guy he faced would start next out with a win vs "Unknown". Literally. His first 'super' fight came following year v Alvarez. When you look back Finito really was screwed in a few ways. The ever intelligent wbo even stripped him because he said he wanted to give the belt to his Father . Surely there had to be other reasons .

[Fenster]

Oscar is clearly a P4P elite of the 90s and clearly deserves no.1 in 1997 if wins against top opposition mean anything. His record is outstanding.

He fought five times in 1997 against world-class opposition, let alone stepped up in weight to beat all-time great, lineal welter, P4P no.3 Sweet Pea.

My personal best of the entire 90s is Roy, but he can't hold a candle to Oscar if judging opposition.

((Not finished that video but it's terrific. Well made.))

[Master]

Chavez was my favourite fighter during that early 90's period.

Whitaker was the most skilled and one of the greatest lightweight champions ever in the history of the division.

Roy was just amazing and even more untouacable than JCC and Sweet Pea (which is saying something) he did not lose a round at his best.

Oscar had the courage to go up the weights and take on the best even before he fought the welterweight cartel of good quality champions Ike/Whitaker/Tito.

Good list.

Lopez was truly underrated.

[mikeeod]

JCC and Sweet Pea were tough to beat for the first half of the 90s because they were older and more established than Roy or Oscar during that time frame. JCC had the Meldrick Taylor win, plus a glitzy record with some decent names and highlight reel knockouts until Pea went on his great run of cleaning out 135, dominating Pineda, rising up to beat p4p #3 Buddy Mcgirt, beating JCC (everyone but the judges saw this), dominating Buddy in a rematch, and moving up again to beat JC Vasquez. James Toney was actually pressuring Pea by late 94 and then Roy dominated him to rise to the #1 spot on many people’s lists, which I disagree with since Pea had so many great names on his resume. (Roy was the bigger puncher and more exciting for many to watch).

Oscar had quite a bit of buzz but I don’t recall him getting the top spot until Roy was disqualified against Montel Griffin, and for that short time I would agree with that ranking. Oscar fought some big names and looked impressive during the late 90s. He did t lose until he was ripped off vs Tito in late 99, but he had much better names and bigger fights than Roy did at that time. Roy still remained the top p4p guy after the Griffin rematch, but I’m not so sure he deserved it if you compare quality of opposition with Oscar.

[Stuart___]

In my opinion De La Hoya was a worthy no. 1 in 1997.

There’s an argument Jones could have reclaimed the top spot when he beat Virgil Hill in 1998.

I thought De La Hoya lost Quartey in early 1999 so he deserved to drop off then.

[TitoFan]

Strange.
You look up Ring magazine Fighter of the Year throughout the years and you get Evander Holyfield in '96 and '97. DLH was chosen in '95. Before that it was RJJ ('94).

[Spicoli]

Strange.
You look up Ring magazine Fighter of the Year throughout the years and you get Evander Holyfield in '96 and '97. DLH was chosen in '95. Before that it was RJJ ('94).

All for Holyfield there as he was labeled a dead man walking and Ring mag picked Tyson by KO 1 pre fight . Oops on that one eh Ring. Holyfield and Roy seem singular fight distinctions for Fighter of year. Oscar had a breakout year with wins over 2 current champs and a top form Leija off great fight with Gabe Ruelas and Azumah Nelson 'w'. Maybe they considered another current champ with Hernandez before the voting hit also.