Who Are the Top Pound For Pound (P4P) Fighters in Boxing?
This is something often discussed by fans. Who is actually the best if weight class didn't matter? The first thing you have to look at is dominance in the ring. You can tell the skill level of a fighter by how the approach the fight. Do they actually make changes after the 3rd round or stick to a gamplan that they have worked on in the gym for the last 3 months? Other than dominance what do you look at? Record comes to mind. You want the fighter to have a good record. What else is important? Who you fight. If a fighter is 40-0 and never really fought another great fighter then is he really a top fighter? Or is he being propped up by his promoter. The last thing I look for is activity. I'm giving the top 10 fighters on my list and each should have fought in the last 14 months. If a fighter has recently announced their retirement or impending retirement they won't be featured on the list. That includes Miguel Cotto, Floyd Mayweather, Roman Chocolatito Gonzalez, & Andre Ward. Now let's get to the list.
Top 10 P4P
10) Keith Thurman (28-0) Welterweight- He has beaten everyone in front of him like a lot of other fighters on this list. He beat a guy who was previously on my list of top fighters Danny Garcia. It wasn't a shocking victory to me since they seemed evenly matched but he pushed himself to another level. He recently had elbow surgery which is why I moved him to 10th on the list. He is looking to return in FEB or MAR in a bout and eventually wants to face Errol Spence who is only ahead of him because he was the more active fighter this year.
9) Errol Spence (22-0) Welterweight- A great boxer in the 2012 Olympics and many outlets had him as prospect of the year in 2015. He crushed Chris Algeri in a shocker. Nobody thought the match would end that way. He broke Kell Brook's orbital bone. Kell had a chance to appear on the list but he failed against a bigger fighter in GGG and a smaller fighter in Spence. Now a real test is coming up for Spence in his long time friend Lamont Peteron. This will be an opportunity to move up in the short term for him. He eventually needs to tie up with #10 on the list Keith Thurman who is recovering from elbow surgery. That is the new marquee matchup to replace Floyd and Manny for the fans to chase.
8) Anthony Joshua (20-0) Heavyweight- He beat Wladimir Klitschko and retired one of the most dominant heavyweight champions that we've had in boxing history. Doing that gets you on the list. Now he has a unification match coming up against another top heavyweight in Joseph Parker that could potentially happen. Again in boxing nothing is final until the bell rings but you have a few elite Heavyweights out there that could inspire a return to boxing as a prominent combat sport. This is a big fight for him but not the biggest fight. That would be against #11 on this list Deontay Wilder who is 39-0 and a beast in his own right. That is the money match.
7) Oleksandr Usyk (13-0) Cruiserweight- I've saw this guy's last 4 fights. He is electric as far as crushing his opponents go. He brought Evander Holyfield's record of 12 fights to get a title in the division. It only took him 10 if you are counting. He is currently ranked #1 in the World Boxing Super Series and faces another top contender in January. Will this be the win he needs to move up or will this be his first true challenger in the division?
6) Jermell Charlo (30-0) Junior Middleweight- He was supposed to be in an even fight in his last bout. He won in the first round. He has crushed a lot of the guys who he has encountered in the ring. He is dominating a weak junior middlewieght division. He should be looking for a match against Canelo or GGG to assert himself as the better boxer between them.
5) Canelo Alvarez (49-1-2) Middleweight- He has eventually fought everyone. His only loss was to a much smaller and faster Mayweather. His last draw was against #2 GGG. I thought he lost the fight but I didn't move him up or down based on that opinion. He was judged based on what the judges gave in that fight. Not having a clear concise victory allowed Crawford and Rungvisai to jump ahead of him after obtaining wins in their most recent fight. He is on another level compared to everyone currently ranked behind him.
4) Terrence Crawford (32-0) Junior Welterweight- He just needs that fight. He's beaten everyone in his path. However boxers that weigh both more and less seem to be ducking Bud. Once he begins landing those marquee fights in the Welterweight division against guys like Thurman and Spence he can push up the list farther and maybe even take the P4P lead over Lomachenko who may have to move up in weight again to find a decent fight.
3) Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (43-4-1) Junior Bantamweight- He shocked everyone when he beat Roman Chocolatito Gonzalez. Then he did it again. He came bolting up the list by essentially retiring Roman. He is definitely the; will fight anyone anywhere type of fighter and his recent success bolted him up the list. He became a dominant fighter in 2017. I'm not sure he can reach any higher on the list but if he has a dominant 2018 and one of the guys above him loses than I can definitely see him rise.
2) Gennady Golovkin (37-0-1) Middleweight- Had there been a definitive end to his fight with Canelo he may still be #1. However the judges robbed him of the that. While I think he is the winner I have to accept the judges decision when making a list like this. Hopefully they get a rematch to see who is actually the better fighter. Before his last two fights his first 36 wins were some of the most electric moments that I've saw in boxing. He is a like a terminator that just keeps coming forward and throwing punches. You don't even really see the damage he was taking during the fight. Canelo is the only person to even really hurt or wound him in the ring.
1) Vasiliy Lomachenko (10-1) Junior Lightweight- The best pure fighter in boxing today. He has one of the best amateur careers ever and two Olympic Gold Medals. He had a title fight in his first match ever and while screwed by the judges he has bounced back masterfully. He recently beat Guillermo Rigondeaux and forced him to quit in the 6th round. The interesting note about that fight was that this was the first time in boxing history two two time gold medalist have fought in a professional fight.
As you can see there is a mix of divisions. 8 in total. Welterweight and Middleweight both had two entries on the list. There are a lot of potential big fights on the horizon. 2018 looks like it could be a good year for boxing if we can get a few rematches and some of these undefeated guys get together and start eliminating some of the guys on this list. A lot of boxers stay undefeated but they duck opponents. The guys on this list are at least attempting to go fight the best fighters in their division on the divisions are them. I will probably try to update this in around 5-6 months.
Thanks for reading and I will be back tomorrow with an NFL opinion that I probably should have posted today but a lack of free time forced me to write something I was passionate about but also something that was quick and easy to research.
Top 10 P4P
10) Keith Thurman (28-0) Welterweight- He has beaten everyone in front of him like a lot of other fighters on this list. He beat a guy who was previously on my list of top fighters Danny Garcia. It wasn't a shocking victory to me since they seemed evenly matched but he pushed himself to another level. He recently had elbow surgery which is why I moved him to 10th on the list. He is looking to return in FEB or MAR in a bout and eventually wants to face Errol Spence who is only ahead of him because he was the more active fighter this year.
9) Errol Spence (22-0) Welterweight- A great boxer in the 2012 Olympics and many outlets had him as prospect of the year in 2015. He crushed Chris Algeri in a shocker. Nobody thought the match would end that way. He broke Kell Brook's orbital bone. Kell had a chance to appear on the list but he failed against a bigger fighter in GGG and a smaller fighter in Spence. Now a real test is coming up for Spence in his long time friend Lamont Peteron. This will be an opportunity to move up in the short term for him. He eventually needs to tie up with #10 on the list Keith Thurman who is recovering from elbow surgery. That is the new marquee matchup to replace Floyd and Manny for the fans to chase.
8) Anthony Joshua (20-0) Heavyweight- He beat Wladimir Klitschko and retired one of the most dominant heavyweight champions that we've had in boxing history. Doing that gets you on the list. Now he has a unification match coming up against another top heavyweight in Joseph Parker that could potentially happen. Again in boxing nothing is final until the bell rings but you have a few elite Heavyweights out there that could inspire a return to boxing as a prominent combat sport. This is a big fight for him but not the biggest fight. That would be against #11 on this list Deontay Wilder who is 39-0 and a beast in his own right. That is the money match.
7) Oleksandr Usyk (13-0) Cruiserweight- I've saw this guy's last 4 fights. He is electric as far as crushing his opponents go. He brought Evander Holyfield's record of 12 fights to get a title in the division. It only took him 10 if you are counting. He is currently ranked #1 in the World Boxing Super Series and faces another top contender in January. Will this be the win he needs to move up or will this be his first true challenger in the division?
6) Jermell Charlo (30-0) Junior Middleweight- He was supposed to be in an even fight in his last bout. He won in the first round. He has crushed a lot of the guys who he has encountered in the ring. He is dominating a weak junior middlewieght division. He should be looking for a match against Canelo or GGG to assert himself as the better boxer between them.
5) Canelo Alvarez (49-1-2) Middleweight- He has eventually fought everyone. His only loss was to a much smaller and faster Mayweather. His last draw was against #2 GGG. I thought he lost the fight but I didn't move him up or down based on that opinion. He was judged based on what the judges gave in that fight. Not having a clear concise victory allowed Crawford and Rungvisai to jump ahead of him after obtaining wins in their most recent fight. He is on another level compared to everyone currently ranked behind him.
4) Terrence Crawford (32-0) Junior Welterweight- He just needs that fight. He's beaten everyone in his path. However boxers that weigh both more and less seem to be ducking Bud. Once he begins landing those marquee fights in the Welterweight division against guys like Thurman and Spence he can push up the list farther and maybe even take the P4P lead over Lomachenko who may have to move up in weight again to find a decent fight.
3) Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (43-4-1) Junior Bantamweight- He shocked everyone when he beat Roman Chocolatito Gonzalez. Then he did it again. He came bolting up the list by essentially retiring Roman. He is definitely the; will fight anyone anywhere type of fighter and his recent success bolted him up the list. He became a dominant fighter in 2017. I'm not sure he can reach any higher on the list but if he has a dominant 2018 and one of the guys above him loses than I can definitely see him rise.
2) Gennady Golovkin (37-0-1) Middleweight- Had there been a definitive end to his fight with Canelo he may still be #1. However the judges robbed him of the that. While I think he is the winner I have to accept the judges decision when making a list like this. Hopefully they get a rematch to see who is actually the better fighter. Before his last two fights his first 36 wins were some of the most electric moments that I've saw in boxing. He is a like a terminator that just keeps coming forward and throwing punches. You don't even really see the damage he was taking during the fight. Canelo is the only person to even really hurt or wound him in the ring.
1) Vasiliy Lomachenko (10-1) Junior Lightweight- The best pure fighter in boxing today. He has one of the best amateur careers ever and two Olympic Gold Medals. He had a title fight in his first match ever and while screwed by the judges he has bounced back masterfully. He recently beat Guillermo Rigondeaux and forced him to quit in the 6th round. The interesting note about that fight was that this was the first time in boxing history two two time gold medalist have fought in a professional fight.
As you can see there is a mix of divisions. 8 in total. Welterweight and Middleweight both had two entries on the list. There are a lot of potential big fights on the horizon. 2018 looks like it could be a good year for boxing if we can get a few rematches and some of these undefeated guys get together and start eliminating some of the guys on this list. A lot of boxers stay undefeated but they duck opponents. The guys on this list are at least attempting to go fight the best fighters in their division on the divisions are them. I will probably try to update this in around 5-6 months.
Thanks for reading and I will be back tomorrow with an NFL opinion that I probably should have posted today but a lack of free time forced me to write something I was passionate about but also something that was quick and easy to research.
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