We continue our countdown of the 10-best pound-for-pound boxers in the world with some fresh faces.
- Vasyl Lomachenko (13-1, 10 KOs)
The double Olympic gold medalist still reigns supreme at #1 on our list for the breadth and depth of his ring accomplishments since turning pro in 2013. In his short career, Loma has already put together notable wins over Gary Russell Jr, Nicholas Walters, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Jorge Linares and Jose Pedraza.
Next Fight: HI-TECH will return to the ring in September against an unnamed opponent following confirmation that his hand injury suffered while knocking out Anthony Crolla in April, is not as serious as first feared.
- Canelo Alvarez (52-1-2, 35 KOs)
A convincing win over tough Daniel Jacobs on Cinco de Mayo puts the Mexican powerhouse back in discussion as the greatest fighter of this current generation. However, a pair of controversial decisions prevents Canelo from seizing our pound-for-pound top spot.
Next Fight: TBA
- Terence Crawford (35-0, 26 KOs)
The WBO welterweight champion continues to rank highly based mostly on his dominant wins, world titles and ethereal boxing skills. However, he is still chasing the big fight against an elite opponent. He’ll need to unify the welterweight division to become pound-for-pound king.
Next Fight: All paths lead to Spence, Porter and Thurman for unification but those fights don’t appear any closer to happening than they were several months ago.
- Oleksandr Usyk (16-0, 12 KOs)
He cleaned out the entire cruiserweight division, becoming undisputed champion and did it whilst in his rival’s backyard. He then knocked out Briton Tony Bellew to record his seventh successive world title victory.
Next Fight: The Ukrainian had to pull out of his scheduled May 25th heavyweight debut against Carlos Takam because of a bicep injury sustained in training.
- Errol Spence Jr. (25-0, 21 KOs)
He’s now made three successful title defenses, stopping Lamont Peterson and Carlos Ocampo before dominating Mikey Garcia. Even without all the belts at welterweight, the IBF titlist is widely seen as the best within the division.
Next Fight: Spence vs. Porter is all but certain and no one would blame Porter for walking away because of his last win, a shaky one over Yordenis Ugas.
- Naoya Inoue (18-0, 16 KOs)
Japanese three-weight world champion moves one step closer to winning the WBSS tournament and becoming unified bantamweight champion with his recent destruction of Emmanuel Rodriguez in the semi-finals.
Next Fight: He’ll presumably meet experienced world champion Nonito Donaire in the finals for the Ali Trophy in what is sure to be an explosive match-up between two scary punchers.
- Gennady Golovkin (38-1-1, 34 KOs)
Many still believe he won the first meeting against Mexican star Canelo Alvarez, but it was ruled a draw. GGG lost a narrow decision in the rematch which has hurt his stock and cost him the middleweight belts.
Next Fight: The puncher is still on pace to return to the ring on June 8 against underdog Steve Rolls which should jumpstart his march toward redemption.
- Mikey Garcia (39-1, 30 KOs)
Garcia still craved more challenges even as a four-weight world champion with quality wins over good opponents. So the 31-year old champion tested himself by stepping up several weight classes to challenge Errol Spence Jr and was thoroughly dominated.
Next Fight: His appetite for new challenges does not appear to have been satisfied as the popular Mexican-American prepares to lace up the gloves against another top welterweight in Danny Garcia on August 31.
- Juan Francisco Estrada (39-3, 26 KOs)
Fresh off an impressive return win over Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, the Mexican two-weight world champion cracks this list. It appears that Estrada has exorcised the ghost of his defeat to Roman Gonzalez nearly 7 years ago, winning titles at flyweight in the process before those epic battles with Sor Rungvisai.
Next Fight: TBA
- Tyson Fury (27-0, 19 KOs)
Of course you could make the same claim for fellow heavyweight contenders Wilder and Joshua but Fury just has that unshakable self-confidence that can’t be taught. It’s the kind of swagger that propelled the self-claimed ‘Gypsy King’ to end Klitschko’s long reign and to pick himself off of the canvas after being flattened by Wilder in their highly controversial draw last year.
Next Fight: It’s not the fight fans want to see but Fury will take on Tom Schwarz on June 15 in Las Vegas.
