Mark's Top 40 at 40: (30-26)

It's time for another installment of the Mark Lyons Top 40.

This week Mark counts down and shares his memories of numbers 30 through 26 of his top 40 all-time favorite fighters.

30. Eusebio Pedroza Career record: 41-6-1 (25) Three Favorite Fights: Ruben Olivares TKO12, Rocky Lockridge UD15 & Juan Laporte UD15 Viva Panama! Eusebio was a man who lived for the 15 round distance. Six rounds of boxing followed by bruising in-fighting. He had a style that would have given Salvador Sanchez pure hell, and in a world full of talkers, Eusebio was a doer. A complete fighter that some may call "dirty". I would counter with "crafty". The list of defenses isn't a who's who, but guys like Royal Kobayashi, Patrick Ford & Juan Malverez were solid challengers. He was just one of those tough skilled fighters that I always cheered on and it killed me that he never clashed with Sal, because he would have won.

29. Bobby Chacon Career Record: 59-7-1 (47) Three favorite fights: Bazooka Limon UD15, Danny Lopez KO9, Cornelius Boza Edwards UD12 Anybody that didn't love this guy should be jailed. He made Rocky Balboa look like Fredo Corleone. I'm fairly certain that most of today's fans know the name, but not enough of them have seen the fights. Though his featherweight wars with Olivares, Limon & Lopez were fights I had to catch on tape, I saw all of his jr.lightweight renaissance live. The fourth fight with Limon was maybe the greatest fight I've ever seen. I certainly haven't seen one that was anymore barbaric, and I'll never forget Chacon managing to summon the strength to close the show with a last second knockdown to pull out the win. He even showed some rare restraint in out-boxing Alexis Arguello for six rounds with his underrated skills, before a vicious left uppercut along with a hideous gash ended that one. Let me put it this way. If you're familiar with Bobby Chacon's work then Arturo Gatti becomes an occasionally exciting club fighter. Bobby yearned for war, be it with his inner demons or his opponent in the ring. His fights always had amazing momentum swings. You never really knew who would come out on top, no matter how grim it looked for Schoolboy.

28. Cornelius Boza-Edwards Career Record: 45-7-1 (34) Three Favorite Fights: Bazooka Limon UD15, Bobby Chacon TKO14 & LUD12 Talk about a fight that brings wood? These last two maniacs, Edwards and Chacon, went at it in a pair of epic confrontations. The only reason Boza is ahead is because I rooted for him to pound on Bobby. And let's be real, can you come up with a better name than Boza-Edwards? Cornelius fell short in his attempts at beating upper echelon guys like Arguello & Camacho. But fighting at the next tier down, and it was a good one, he brought excitement every night. His tussle with Limon was another classic between those three. Boza out gutted Bazooka down the stretch and kept his crown on pure will. He also had some excellent fights with Robert Elizondo, John Montes, Rolondo Navarette and Rocky Lockridge. The beating against Alexis was getting frightful, but Boza never stopped trying and had his moments in an amazing display of a true fighting man's heart. Boza = you better beat my ass before I beat yours. You had to bring your lunch pail if you were dancing with the Ugandan bad ass. Nobody had an easy night with this man and he took part in several unforgettable moments.

27. Donovan "Razor" Ruddock Career Record: 37-5-1 (28) Three Favorite Fights: Mike Tyson TKO by 7, Bonecrusher Smith KO7, Tommy Morrison TKO by 6 The first time I saw this Canadian was against another favorite of mine, Mike Weaver. Ruddock was a speedy looking guy who controlled the fight with his jab. I know how crazy that sounds, but it's God's honest truth. He looked like a slick boxer in the making. You can call me many things, but I'm not a liar or an apologist. I thought Razor was the second coming of the wrath of God. After his comeback destruction of Bonecrusher, I was convinced he was man enough to handle Tyson. Those two fights are really the basis of what Tyson's "mystique" should be based on. The combination in round 6 of their first fight gave ample warning of what Ruddock was capable of. One of my favourite moments came in the rematch, when after taking countless low blows, Razor responded with a herculean hookercut to the crotch. Couldn't have happened to a nicer guy. But lets not pull punches, my favorite moment was this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkpaKxO5rjA

26. Shane Mosley Career Record: 46-5 (39) Three favorite Fights: Oscar DelaHoya I SD12, Antonio Margarito TKO9, Wilfredo Rivera KO10 You know me. I always go for the knock out. That's "Sugar" Shane. There are few certainties in life. Fat people order a diet soda. Your local news is filled with depression. Blondes never have more fun with you, and Shane Mosley is tougher than you are. Antonio Margarito was the latest to find that out and he wont be the last. Heading into their clash, the "experts" said it wasn't a question of who would win, but if it was possible for Mosley to last the distance. I will not claim that I knew he would he would win. I predicted Marg by close decision, but I knew Shane Mosley would never be knocked out. Leave it to Sugar Shane to shock even his fans when it comes to a test of manhood. After a matter of seconds it was quite apparent that Margarito was Mosley's rage toy. Was it the first time? To quote "Stone Cold" Steve Austin, "Oh Hell No." Wilfredo Rivera was an underrated performer. Shane's first fight at welterweight looked to be a decision win, until he decimated Rivera in the final round to close the show with a bang. Next came the first time Shane Mosley beat Oscar De La Hoya. Shane shrugged off losing four of the first six rounds, before proceeding to show his future boss who the real boss was in a classic. Shane is everything that makes this sport great. Toughness, skills and the willingness to take on anyone at anytime. Has Shane been outboxed? Yes. But Mosley 3:16 says you can't whip my ass. Am I a fan of "Sugar" Shane Mosley? "Oh hell yeah!"

Check out the previous installment of Mark's Top 40 at 40: 35-31

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Vic Darchinyan and the Lethal Lefties

by Lee Payton

Vic Darchinyan beat up Jorge Arce on Saturday night and retained his Super Flyweight World Championship in the process. The proud Mexican never stopped trying to get something big in, and he actually did so from time to time, but he just couldn't find his feet in there.

In the end, Vic's special punching power and superior physical strength won him nearly every round on his way to a convincing TKO win over Arce, who is just unbelievably brave.

Darchinyan puts such a frightening beating on most of his opponents that I got to thinking about how uncommon southpaw destroyers are in boxing. How does this little Armenian assassin stack up against the great offensive lefties in recent memory?

Raphael "Bazooka" Limon was an impossibly rugged, wiry featherweight bomber, who let it all hang out as long as the fight lasted. Like Vic, Bazooka used awkward body movements to set up his bombs, but his were delivered in a wild fashion that created a violent visual effect to the audience.

Both guys are deadly. Wearing a devious grin Vic snipes his man, taking some time to enjoy the victim's pain before finishing the job. Bazooka chases down his prety for miles, whipping rocks the whole way. You wonder if Darchinyan could survive the heat Limon has thrived in. He hasn't had to go there yet.


Cornelius Boza-Edwards (pictured left) and Bazooka Limon were similar in their acceptance of the incoming. They knew they'd probably have to take the other guy's best to have a chance at winning the fight. Neither had the ability to ending it with a single blast, and that usually meant those watching were in for a slugfest. They met in 1981 and it was quicker hands of Ugandan that made the difference over 15 punishing rounds.

Though quite different in style and mentality Darchinyan and Boza share a bruising way of going about business. Vic seldom loses a physical exchange on his way to pounding his man into submission, and Boza was always at home when things got rough.


Marvin Johnson (pictured right) was a ferocious monster. A lot of fighters talk about how they aren't afraid of anything, but Johnson proved it. As a matter of fact that lack of fear is one of the main reasons he is underrated by many today. The other reason was that he fought a lot of extremely tough and skilled guys along the way, losing to the best of them.

He was a thickly muscled attacker, who sprinted to the opponent and smashed bursts of short, damaging blows into whatever he could hit. Some guys could take it and some couldn't. Matthew Saad Muhammad could take it, and he did just that over 2 of the most brutal fights in light heavyweight history. Though Saad stopped him twice, he had to surrender a piece of himself in the process. I often wonder how many other 175 lbers would have been able to stand up to that fierce initial onslaught. The Raging Bull shares Marvin's hunger for the knockout, but is more measured in his approach.


Prince Naseem Hamed will be remembered for his totally unique style in and out of the ring, but the thing that made all the boasting and showmanship worth a damn was the way he took guys out. He dispatched some very solid fighters in shocking fashion before coming to Madison Square Garden for a donnybrook with another exciting southpaw in Kevin Kelley.

Hamed was a stocky swatter who was merciless on hurt fighters. He stood at bizarre angles and held his hands in a way that was entirely his own. Often the opposition never saw the punch that laid them out or had them stumbling around with a cloudy eyes. Sound familiar? Our current 115 lb champion has many of the same characteristics that made The Prince popular around the world. Naz hit harder with a single blow, while Darchinyan is more likely to attack from start to finish.


Manny Pacquiao is on top of the world right now mostly because of his blend of alarming speed and crushing power. That scary combination is usually enough to end matters, but when it isn't, he can fall back on his infinite hunger and pride to get him through. The Pac-Man is one of a kind.

There was a time when a valid comparison could be made between Darchinyan and the current #1 fighter in the world. It wasn't too long ago that Manny was seen as a one handed fighter who only thought about drilling the guy in front of him as hard as he could until he went to sleep. We've all heard the same criticism hurled Vic's way since he came onto the scene, and it got much louder when he was stopped by Nonito Donaire.

Great fighters learn from their mistakes. They always work at getting better. Manny Pacquiao is humble enough to accept that he is not perfect, and that's a major part of why he's the best in boxing. If Darchinyan can swallow some of his pride, he can be even more dangerous than he is today. He seems to have a little more respect for his opponents when the bell rings these days, which is an encouraging sign for the future.

Honourable mentions go to Michael Moorer, Jose Luis Ramirez, Edwin Valero, Ponce De Leon, Vassiliy Jirov and Corrie Sanders.

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