For a while the top of pound for pound lists have been in flux with no real consensus. By now though, the top five has become almost universally agreed upon. The order is still greatly debated but the men who sit at the top of the list are probably correct.
1. Naoya Inoue
Controversial? Sure. There are two real things that I consider on these lists. Quality of wins in terms of opposition and quality of performance by the eye test. Inoue has both. He has comprehensively routed three top quality opponents in a row. Jamie McDonnell, Juan Carlos Payano and Emmanuel Rodriguez have all been world champions but Inoue took a combined four rounds to finish them without looking like he even struggled. It?s a shame that his next opponent is Donaire as opposed to Burnett or Tete as those two are considered the other key men in the division. Can you name a boxer near the weight class of Inoue who you would pick over him? Me neither!
2. Canelo Alvarez
The drug test will always taint Canelo, but you cannot argue with his results in the boxing ring. He dominated the light middleweight division with great wins over Lara, Cotto and Trout. Up at middleweight, he has had two huge fights with Gennady Golovkin, getting a win and a draw. The two bouts were controversial but the records will show him coming out on top. A rematch is set to occur later this year after Canelo dominated Danny Jacobs on the Cinco De Mayo card.
3. Vasyl Lomachenko
Perhaps the most impressive boxer in the world to watch, the Ukrainian makes everything look easy. He has already won world titles in three different weight divisions. Boxers to the level of Gary Russell, Guillermo Rigondeaux and Jorge Linares have been made to look subpar. A fight against Luke Campbell will end the year for Lomachenko but you wonder how much higher he can go before his lack of size severely hinders him.
4. Terence Crawford
Another three weight world champion, Crawford is another who makes opponents struggle to look like they belong in the same ring. He may start slowly but by the end of the bout he has his opponents demoralized and destroyed. No boxer in the world can beat his opponent in so many different styles.
5. Oleksandr Usyk
The Ukrainian was controversially named the WBO mandatory challenger for the heavyweight title. If you found it controversial, you should probably run through his resume again. He dominated at cruiserweight, unifying all four titles with wins over Murat Gassiev, Tony Bellew, Mairis Breidis and Michael Hunter. If his high intensity adjusts to heavyweight, he may be the best of the lot.
6. Kosei Tanaka
In my mind, the biggest sufferer from the lack of attention paid to fighters from the East, especially who are under a certain weight. He took twelve fights to be a three weight world champion. Ryoichi Taguchi, Sho Kimura, Angel Acosta, Vic Saludar and Moises Fuentes are all good names he has beaten and he definitely deserves more recognition.
7. Errol Spence
Spence has been known as the truth for a while and he seems to be living up to that name. After the defeats of gatekeepers, he went to Sheffield and got the title belt off Kell Brook. After a couple of defenses he got a big win against Mikey Garc?a, making a good fighter in his own right look thoroughly outfoxed in every area. He will attempt to unify against Shawn Porter next time before potentially taking on Keith Thurman or Terence Crawford.
8. Juan Francisco Estrada
Since becoming a world champion level fighter, Estrada has only been defeated by Roman Gonzalez and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, considered pound for pound fighters themselves. He has rebounded with big wins and got the big decision over Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in a rematch. Rumors swirl about a Roman Gonzalez rematch.
9. Gennady Golovkin
The Kazakh terrified the middleweight division for most of the past decade but never managed to get a big fight in his prime. He scraped past Daniel Jacobs but in two bouts against Canelo Alvarez he was unable to do enough to get the victory, despite what many fans thought.
10. Donnie Nietes 11. Kazuto Ioka
Two four weight world champions, Nietes hasn?t tasted defeat for almost 15 years. Arguably, his best ever win came at the end of 2018 when he defeated Kazuto Ioka in a hotly debated contest. Ioka was perceived to be the victor by more people and recently dominated shared opponent Aston Palicte. Hopefully a rematch happens soon.
12. Mikey Garc?a
Another four weight world champion, Garc?a has shown a tendency to want to take risks. His most recent fight came in a loss against Errol Spence, stepping up to welterweight. It was his first defeat, with victories over Orlando Salido, Roman Martinez, Adrien Broner and Robert Easter. He has pretty much always looked superb in the ring but Spence did look levels above. Next up, Garc?a will clash namesake Danny.
13. Hiroto Kyoguchi
Another underrated Japanese fighter, Kyoguchi is a two weight world champion. Down at minimumweight he had beat Jose Argumendo and Carlos Buitrago. He then moved up and dominated the impressive Hekkie Budler. A Ken Shiro unification would be brilliant.
14. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
The Thai has had a whirlwind three years. He got two upset wins over Roman Gonzalez, including a vicious stoppage over the man who many believed to be number one pound for pound. He did manage to get a win over Estrada, but subsequently lost the rematch including a baffling tactical switch.
15. Tyson Fury 16. Deontay Wilder
I will group these fighters together until one proves to be above the other. They fought to a draw with Fury somehow getting up in the twelfth round when Wilder landed a huge blow. Wilder has probably had more good wins but the best win is probably when Fury beat Klitschko, although that is coming up on four years. A rematch is said to be coming soon.
17. Oleksandr Gvozdyk
Gvozdyk leads the list of light heavyweight boxers after an impressive win against Adonis Stevenson, stopping the former champion. His power is very real and he is part of the Ukrainian revolution that is happening right now in boxing.
18. Leo Santa Cruz
Santa Cruz is heading down this list. He has not had an especially relevant fight for almost two years. He beat Carl Frampton in a rematch in January 2017. Since then it?s been a poor list, beating Chris Avalos, Abner Mares in a rematch and Rafael Rivera. He needs to step up the opposition.
19. Dmitry Bivol
My favorite of the light heavyweight champions right now is Dmitry Bivol. The Russian just needs a chance to prove it, as the boxers all circle each other. He has shown an ability to box and the power to finish opponents easily. His best performance may have actually come when stopping Sullivan Barrera but decision wins over Joe Smith, Jean Pascal and Isaac Chilemba are hopefully good steps for when the big fight happens.
20. Regis Prograis
Prograis has made his way to the World Boxing Super Series final with impressive wins over Terry Flanagan and Kiryl Relikh. He seems to have it all, an ability to box, matched by a physical gifts which have him already talking about a move up in weight classes. First though, his toughest opponent, in the final, is Josh Taylor.
21. Ken Shiro
Shiro approaches the sixth defense of his WBC Light-Flyweight title having defeated the likes of Ganigan Lopez, Milan Melinda and Pedro Guevera. Everyone is pining for the big domestic clash with Hiroto Kyoguchi.
22. Josh Taylor
The Tartan Tornado has looked like the best prospect in Britain for a while. He has consistently stepped up, beating the likes of Postol, Martin and Baranchyk comfortably. The final will leave either him or Prograis heading towards the top ten of the division.
23. Sergey Kovalev
The terrifying inevitability of Kovalev has disappeared as the Russian has aged. He showed against Elieder Alvarez that he still has boxing ability and can dominate behind his powerful straight shots. It was a rematch after Alvarez had knocked him out in the first bout. Some believe it was a sign of his decline, and rumors are a bout against Anthony Yarde is coming next, where we could find out more.
24. Gervonta Davis
The young brash American is entering the territory of needing a big fight in order to establish himself as still a player in the division. Since impressively winning the title over Jose Pedraza two years ago, his contenders have been a bit meh.
25. Josh Warrington
The Leeds man has made his claims on a loaded featherweight division clear. He has won domestic dust ups against Lee Selby, Carl Frampton and Kid Galahad consecutively. His pressure combined with his underrated boxing ability and power have left him in a strong position in the division.
26. Keith Thurman
Once, the hottest prospect in the welterweight division, his rise has somewhat slowed. In fact, I thought he deserved a loss against Shawn Porter. He got that win though and another close decision against Danny Garc?a. Injury luck has kept him out the ring for a long time but he finally returns to big fights when taking on Manny Pacquaio in July.
27. Mairis Briedis
The Latvian is taking part in his second World Boxing Super Series, where he has made it all the way to the final. Last time, he made it to the semi final, only to be edged out on a close decision against Oleksandr Usyk. This time he has made controversially through to the final where he will come up against Yunier Dorticos.
28. Callum Smith
Another man who has progressed through the World Boxing Super Series, Smith was the winner of the light heavyweight tournament, when he stopped George Groves. His career has somewhat stalled since, again. In a division with interesting fights available, he should be doing better than Hassan N?Dam.
29. Moruti Mthalane
The South African has not lost in over 10 years, when a cut against Nonito Donaire forced the referee to stop the contest. He would become a world champion two bouts later by defeating Julio Cesar Miranda and then stopped Zolani Tete and John Riel Casemiro but inactivity and promotional difficulties left him on the sideline. He won a world title back with a win over Muhammad Waseem and impressively beat Masayuki Kuroda last time out. Both him and Charlie Edwards have referred to a potential unification bout.
30. Gary Russell
I worked my way through a number of names here and to be honest, no one stood out. I ended up plumping for Gary Russell. He has one defeat, a decision loss to Vasyl Lomachenko, no shame in that and it?s a performance that looks good in hindsight with not many going the distance. He did go on to become a world champion and has looked pretty dominant against the likes of Joseph Diaz and Oscar Encandon. Another boxer who needs a big fight to confirm himself as a top level fighter.
Just missed out: Miguel Berchelt, Wanheng Menayothin, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Danny Jacobs and Julian Williams
Will be here soon: Oscar Valdez, Knockout CP Freshmart, Luis Nery, Billy Joe Saunders and Jermall Charlo
