Carl Frampton vs Scott Quigg: Manny Pacquiao among division's best ever
Monday 22 February 2016 16:12, UK
Bob Mee compiles the top 10 super-bantamweights of all time ahead of Carl Frampton and Scott Quigg's unification clash.
IBF champion Frampton clashes with WBA Super champion Quigg at the Manchester Arena on February 27 - live on Sky Sports Box Office.
Ahead of the fight, Mee has looked back on some of the stars the division has seen in the past, in no particular order...
Wilfredo Gomez (Puerto Rico)
44-3-1-KO42
A WBC champion from 1977-83, Gomez was a wonderful boxer with smart, educated moves and punching power that took him to 18 world 122lb title wins - every single one of them inside the distance. He also won world championships at feather and super-feather but was at his dazzling peak as a super-bantam. He was only 20 when he became champion.
Daniel Zaragoza (Mexico)
55-8-3-KO28
Zaragoza was a WBC champion in three spells between 1988 and 1997, by which time he was almost 40. A crafty, knowing southpaw that wasn't spectacular, but was tough, accomplished and underrated. He boxed in more super-bantamweight world title fights than anyone - 20.
Manny Pacquiao (Philippines)
57-6-2-KO38
Pacquiao went on to super-stardom in higher weight divisions but held the IBF super-bantamweight title on the way up. He was unbeaten in five championship bouts at the weight, though a unification battle with the late Agapito Sanchez ended in a technical draw after the WBO champion gave him nightmares in an ugly brawl in 2001.
Jeff Fenech (Australia)
29-3-1-KO22
Fenech was a star, a three-weight champion who eventually fought for world titles in five weight divisions. A compact, all-round fighting machine who won the WBC super-bantamweight crown by knocking out Thai star Samart Payakarun in four rounds in Sydney in 1987. He won three championship bouts then outgrew the weight.
Marco Antonio Barrera (Mexico)
67-7-KO44
Barrera was just 21 when he won the WBO super-bantamweight title - and he went on to have 18 championship fights at the weight, none better than one he lost, the first, magnificent 12-round battle with arch-rival Erik Morales. It was a privilege to be ringside - the Sky team were not alone in thinking Barrera won - and they went on to box twice more further up the weights, with Barrera winning both. As a featherweight, he also beat Naseem Hamed on another spectacular night in Las Vegas.
Erik Morales (Mexico)
52-9-KO36
'El Terrible's' win over Barrera at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas in 2000 is remembered as one of the greatest fights of the modern era. Later on he was also good enough to outbox and outfight Pacquiao in the first of their meetings. At his peak, he had everything, skills, a phenomenal work-rate and one-punch knockout power. Morales won 10 out of 10 world title fights at 122lbs.
Wilfredo Vazquez Sr (Puerto Rico)
56-9-2-KO41
Another three-weight world champion, Vazquez won 10 of 11 championship battles at super-bantam, though he arrived in the division at the relatively late age of 31. His WBA championship reign between 1992 and 1995 began with a three round thrashing of Raul 'Jibaro' Perez and also included a victory over one of the best bantamweight champions Orlando Canizales.
Israel Vazquez (Mexico)
44-5-KO32
The battles between Israel Vazquez and Mexican rival Rafael Marquez have gone down in folklore, with Vazquez coming out on top 2-1 in super-bantamweight title fights (Marquez evened the score in a non-title bout.) Vazquez also beat world class men like Oscar Larios, Jhonny Gonzalez and Ivan Hernandez in a total of nine championship bouts at 122lbs between 2004 and 2008. He held the WBC and IBF belts.
Guillermo Rigondeaux (Cuba)
16-0-KO10
A boxing genius who had the capacity to make good fighters look like novices, Rigondeaux was a brilliant amateur, winning Olympic gold in Sydney in 2000 and Athens in 2004 as well as two world championships. As a professional, after defecting in 2007, he found he was too good for his own good and found it hard to get work. As of now, he's won all 16 bouts, seven of them world title fights. Nobody can go on for ever, and Rigondeaux has looked more vulnerable of late but at 35 has not lost for 12 years.
Celestino Caballero (Panama)
37-6-KO24
Tall, skilful, with a sharp punch but so under-valued that his WBA title reign did not begin until he was 30. Caballero went on to win nine out of nine super-bantamweight title fights between 2006 and 2009, including a four round demolition of previously impressive IBF champion Steve Molitor.
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