[JCWeb]

Finally, here's the 1915 wrap-up report and the eagerly awaited annual pound-for-pound ratings. This is always a high point for me because it means I have concluded another year in my Universe and am set to embark on the next year. It also helps me gain some perspective by taking a big picture overview of what's been happening and where things are going.

First observation was the fact that six of the eight world titles changed hands in 1915 -- two of them twice, so the era of the dominant champions (guys like Attell and for awhile it looked like Dillon, Langford, Britton and Ketchel who seemed in position to rule a division for a long time) seems to have ended for now, at least. Of the current champs, only Jimmy Wilde in the really thin Flyweight division appears poised for a long title reign. I think this mainly reflects the influx of many talented fighters in each division that has created more parity (and many more interesting title bouts, too), plus it seems the Perf Pts numbers reflect this with overall inflation in the ratings points for the deeper divisions. More on this ratings inflation issue in a minute.

Without further ado, here are the pound-for-pound ratings for the year just ended (1915):

1. Sam McVey HW (WBA Champ) 1403 pp (+5)
2. Jem Driscoll LW 1390 pp (+3)
3. Sam Langford HW 1338 pp (-1)
4. Packey McFarland WW (NABF Champ) 1308 pp (NC)
5. Freddie Welsh LW (EBU, GBU Champ) 1287 pp (+4)
6. Jack Blackburn LW 1255 pp (-3)
7. Willie Ritchie LW (WBA Champ) 1241 pp (new)
8. Jack Johnson HW (NABF Champ) 1240 pp (NC)
9. Abe Attell FW (NABF Champ) 1217 pp (new)
10. Mike Gibbons MW (WBA Champ) 1199 pp (new)

Dropped out from prior year: Joe Jeannette (was #1 in 1915)
Tommy Burns (was #7)
Johnny Coulon (was #10)

NOTE: Attell was previously in the year-end pound-for-pound list from 1907 through 1913, inclusive, including five years in a row at #1, from 1908 through 1912. Ritchie and Gibbons are making their first appearance. Jack Johnson is the only fighter to make the list every year since its inception in 1907.

Comments: I think this is the first time someone has moved from the very top spot all the way out of the top 10. Again, the list is dominated by HWs and LWs which should be no surprise as these two division are two of three deepest in terms of talent and sheer number of fighters right now. The third one, the MW, has a bit more parity (all the way down to the top 20 or so) which reflects the fact that no one other than Gibbons has enough pp right now to qualify for the list. My take on this is that the deeper divisions will generate more fighters with higher PP values because of the quality of matchups available -- just about everyone in the top 10 in those divisions right now has 800 pp or more, which means even if a top guy loses a bout he's not going to fall that much. Contrast this with say the FLY division where a dominant guy like Wilde still has only about 900 pp and the second-rate guys are only around 400 or so, meaning if Wilde gets beat he drops to around 600-700 whereas there's not much to be gained by winning agains these guys with lower PPs. All this suggests it will take some time to develop more guys with higher rankings, and I think more upsets over time is what it takes to develop more fighters with higher PP numbers. Where there is a huge gap between the top rated guy and the top rated guy loses a couple of bouts, as happened with Attell in the FWs, it takes awhile for him to get the PPs back which is why Attell still has a ways to go in this pound-for-pound list even those he is already back as the top rated FW.

I guess what I am saying is right now it seems like a guy like Wilde is somewhat unfairly punished by the ratings system the way things have worked out, as he would not even make the top 20 despite his dominance. (In fact, if I was picking a fighter of the year for 1915, it would have to be Wilde who made five title defenses and won all by KO or TKO).

In fact, as of the year end of 1915, there were a record number of boxers with over 1000 pp, 22 and of these, 18 had 1100 pp or more. So I guess right there that suggests some degree of ratings inflation has occurred, whatever the reason. I expect as these guys get older and give points back to the pool that may change, but if you look at the LWs where Battling Nelson and Jewey Cooke just retired, the guys who have moved up and replaced them have at least as many and in some cases, even more PPs than those two when they were in their prime 5-10 years ago.

None of this, by the way, should be meant as a criticism of the rankings system, but it's interesting to see how it all plays out after about 10 years' worth of observations running a Universe with multiple divisions.

For me, I will take a few days' break over the new year before cranking up the bouts for 1916, which I hope to try to finish before the end of January -- we'll see if that "bold prediction" comes true or not because each time it's taking longer and longer it seems as the number of active fighters to track is still gradually increasing each year. I also plan to continue with the Dempsey and Tunney career tracking features, the "Champs or Chumps" comparisons, plus a couple of other ad hoc posts on certain topics relating to this Universe every now and then.