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10: Ranking 2000 U.S. Olympians

Fighters Network
20
Apr

A weekly boxing list compiled by Michael Rosenthal. This week: With Brian Viloria’s knockout of Ulises Solis on Saturday and the Jermain Taylor-Carl Froch fight next Saturday in mind, we rank the pro careers of the 2000 U.S. Olympians.

1. Jermain Taylor, super middleweight (28-2-1, 17 KOs): Couldn’t solve Kelly Pavlik but was undisputed middleweight titleholder and beat Bernard Hopkins twice.
2. Brian Viloria, junior flyweight (25-2, 15 KOs): Two-time titleholder’s one-punch knockout of an excellent fighter on Saturday was epic.
3. Rocky Juarez, featherweight (28-4-1, 20 KOs): Has never won a title but has given hell to some of the biggest names in the sport.
4. Jose Navarro, junior bantamweight (26-4, 12 KOs): Also hasn’t won a title but has been extremely close on four occasions in a very productive career.
5. Jeff Lacy, super middleweight (25-2, 17 KOs): Say what you will but he was a major titleholder and has lost only to Jermain Taylor and Joe Calzaghe.
6. Calvin Brock, heavyweight (31-2, 23 KOs): Lost to Wladimir Klitschko in his only title shot but has been consistently competitive.
7. Ricardo Williams Jr., welterweight (15-2, 8 KOS): Gets points for persistence; he’s still hoping to realize what was believed to be substantial potential.
8 Clarence Vinson, bantamweight (16-2, 7 KOs): Apparently retired without ever facing a big-name opponent or getting a title shot.
9. David Jackson, middleweight (9-1, 6 KOs): Won consistently but never stepped up to meaningful opposition in his short career.
10. Michael Bennett, heavyweight (10-4, 8 KOs): Had good power but career was cut short because he couldn’t take a punch.

Remaining two: Dante Craig, middleweight (17-8-1, 13 KOs) and Olanda Anderson, heavyweight (2-0, 1 KO).

Michael Rosenthal can be reached at [email protected]



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