Top-10
The inaugural top ten pound-for-pound list from Vegas Sports today. The one today will be different as there is a clear top three and all three have a legit claim for number one and there is no wrong answer.
1. Oleksandr Usyk (22-0, 14 KOs). What else could be said he has traveled to his opponent’s countries and beaten them. He was undisputed at Cruiserweight and now following this weekend’s victory over Tyson Fury, he is undisputed at Heavyweight.
Usyk has accomplished everything he has set out to do and now he sits on the mountaintop of Boxing, and he can begin to be entered into the discussion of an All-time great status.
2. Naoya Inoue (27-0, 24 KOs) Inoue is another fighter with two-time Undisputed at Bantamweight and Super Bantamweight. He has constantly fought the top fighters in his weight, and he has fought every champion available. In his most recent fight, he took out Luis Nery in a grudge match where he was knocked down in round one. Inoue is on his run of defending his title and his next one is being discussed for later this year.
3. Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) Understanding yet? Crawford another two-time undisputed champion. Winning undisputed at Junior Welterweight and Welterweight. Crawford in his biggest when he took on Errol Spence Jr. put in the best performance of his career dominating Spence Jr and stopping him in nine. Crawford now will move up to 154 as he will take on WBA champion Israil Madrimov on August 3rd. Crawford will look to win a title in his fourth weight class.
4. Saul Canelo Alvarez (61-2-2, 39 KOs) The Mexican Superstar and the cash cow in Boxing has a legacy that is well established. Alvarez is the current Undisputed Super Middleweight Champion and continues to fight at a high level. He is coming off a victory over Jaime Munguia in his last fight and now the question of who’s next looks to be between IBF mandatory William Scull or WBO mandatory Edgar Berlanga.
5. Gervonta Tank Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) “Tank” Davis is a superstar who brings action to fights and always draws a big crowd. He is ascending the ranks and has established himself as one of them ones as they say. Davis is the current 135 WBA lightweight champion his next fight will come against undefeated Frank Martin
6. Artur Beterbiev (20-0, 20 KOs) The undefeated Unified light heavyweight Champion has never had a fight to reach the final bell. Beterbiev is a fighter who comes to end fights he is no-nonsense and in his next fight, he gets his chance to become undisputed as he will take Dmitrii Bivol later this year as the bout is being rescheduled after an injury to Beterbiev.
7. Shakur Stevenson (21-0, 10 KOs) The Silver Medalist has blossomed into a three-division world champion. Shakur has one at 126, 130, and 135 and he has eyes on becoming undisputed at 135. The southpaw has been given a lot of heat for at times the lack of action in fights, but there is no denying the skill and ability Stevenson brings. He takes on contender Artem Harutyunyan
8. Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (19-0, 12 KOs) The young star exploded onto the scene when he defeated veteran Carlos Cuadras on short notice. He took on who man who was seen as the guy of the lower weights for a while. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in a stoppage. He then in his biggest fight defeated fellow undefeated champion Sunny Edwards and stopped him. The Young “Bam” now goes on in a passing of the torch type of fight as he takes on Juan “El Gallo” Estrada in June. A victory there could shoot him up the top five of the pound-for-pound list.
9. Junto Nakatani (27-0, 20 KOs) The young Japanese star has shot up the rank winning titles in Flyweight, Super Flyweight, and currently holds a title in Bantamweight. Nakatani brings so much action just look up his knockout of Andrew Moloney. Junto is being talked about as a future opponent for Inoue in what would be a Japanese boxing Superfight. We still could be a year or so away, but it would be a great fight should it come to be.
10. Dmitrii Bivol (22-0, 11 KOs) The current WBA light heavyweight Champion got his big show against Canelo, and he won a clear decision. He followed that up with a dominant victory over former 168 Champion Zurdo Ramirez to cap off a great 2022. He has fought just once since then. His momentum has slowed but following what should be a victory for him against Malik Zinad in June he should face Artur Beterbiev for Undisputed.
