There it was, in USA Today Vets Day issue … the Danny boy Raef monthly rant and personal top six … or super six as he labels it. Bonus is the hits and misses he tosses in for better or worse.

#1 - Bernard Hopkins (45-2-1, 32 KO)
Hits: 20th defense a big deal - only others reaching that milestone are Joe Louis, Larry Holmes, Ricardo Lopez.
Misses: Probably needs moving up to get another mega fite if Trinidad rematch cannot be made.
GEL: Good choice in Hopkins at top rung … earned a berth at Canastota with win over future famer Trinidad - and proved no dummy in mega-heist laugher with De la Hoya.

#2 - Floyd Mayweather Jr. (32-0, 21 KO)
Hits: Summer Gatti fight in final stages and will give both their first super fight.
Misses: Ongoing legal problems casting doubt on long-term ring career.
GEL: Floyd-Arturo a super fight? Debatable at best … Gatti tough customer that bleeds like hemophiliac and could be short nite. Floyd and doubtful long-term career maybe translates to something good. Have seen more than a few retired fighters holding conversations with corner streetlight poles. So bring in the dinero pronto amigos.

#3 -  Erik Morales (47-1, 34 KO)
Hits: Third fight with Marco Antonio Barrera is one of biggest  fights in history of junior lightweight division.
Misses: Boxing’s typically disgusting politics led to him being stripped of one of his belts.
GEL: Barrera-Morales big as in packed house maybe … but would surprise if it lives up to first meeting - or even second one when Marco turned slickster. No matter how it’s sliced, we have a Barrera on wrong side of slope moving up against a bigger and fresher Morales. As for the missing strap because of politics, look at it this way, one less purchase for Barrera. Them trinkets aren’t gifts … they are bought by the champions.

#4 - Kostya Tszyu (31-1, 25 KO)
Hits: Classy Hall of Famer came back after 22 months on shelf because of injuries to blow away Sharmba Mitchell in shocking dominant performance.
Misses: A true mega fight is hard to make because of network conflicts. Tszyu with Showtime, and Mayweather, Gatti, Miguel Cotto with HBO.
GEL: And sometimes a good girl is also hard to find … but let’s try a scenario that has Mayweather, Gatti, Cotto in a round robin with survivor meeting Tszyu. Wouldn’t be first time Sho and HBO got together for a special pairing.

#5 -  Antonio Tarver (22-2, 18 KO)
Hits: Stood up to the sanctioning organizations by giving up belt to make only meaningful light heavyweight fight against Glen Johnson.
Misses: He worked hard for his title and should never have been put in position where he had to choose the money fight over his title.
GEL: Yo Danny boy … are you a fite journalist, or member of the Tarver entourage? Personally, Tarver wears me out with the rat-tat-tat lip service. A single "Hail Mary" to the RJ whiskers and he is suddenly something special.

#6 - Winky Wright (47-3, 25 KO)
Hits: Only a week to go until he can show the world that beating Mosley this year was no fluke.
Misses: Despite being the king at 154 pounds, no one besides Mosley is all that interested in fighting him.
GEL: Hmmm … doubters out there? Not a single fight fan watching Winky manhandle Shane in first meeting could have thought it was a fluke. As for others not interested in meeting Wright, the villain here is likely the respective purse sharing factor.

Questions? Comments? Email Geo Elsasser         

11-10-2004