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Ringside Report’s Top 10 P4P List!

By Bradley “The Bulldog” Johnson

The pound for pound boxing rankings are often controversial, are not always judged by the same standards, and are by all means mythical. I partially think of it as if both fighters were the exact same size, who would win the fight. We know that isn’t exactly logical though. A 112-pound fighter obviously wouldn’t carry the same fighting style, footwork and hand speed of a guy 240 pounds. Also, a 240-pound heavyweight wouldn’t fight the same way a 140-pound guy does and would have to rely on different tools. Therefore, I tend to rely more on one’s dominance in their best/natural weight class over competition and their performance in the weight classes closest to best/natural weight.

Who is the more skilled and/or a more dominant fighter at an equal size? Also, who is more skilled and dominant, passes the eye test at the current moment, combined with a resume to prove it? Now the level each category is weighted, to balance the scale, is not easy to determine. Also, the way we look at resume can vary. An older boxer like a Manny Pacquiao may have one of the best resume’s out, but at this moment may not be able to still compete at a top level, therefore less emphasis is put on the resume. On the other hand, you may have a young boxer that hasn’t quite built an overwhelming resume yet, but defeated some top fighters, and not only beat them, but did so in a very impressive way. My pound for pound list is trying to equate all these variable and balance them in a way to fairly assess who is the best boxer at the current moment.

#10/#9 The winners of Anthony Joshua, 21-0, 20 KO’s Vs Deontay Wilder, 40-0, 39 KO’s and Oleksandr Usyk, 14-0, 11 KO’s Vs Murat Gassiev, 26-0, 19 KO’s.

Number 9 and 10 are a very close call and completely up for grabs right now. The cruiserweight and heavyweight divisions both have 2 guys on the top of their respective divisions that have separated themselves from the pack. We now need them to face off to determine which one is the true champion of their division. The winner of each fight and the skill and dominance shown will help me determine who has earned the number 9 and 10 spots.

#8 Leo Santa Cruz, 34-1-1, 19 KO’s.

Leo’s only loss was in a very close fight to Carl Frampton which Leo avenged their next time out. He is #1 at featherweight and can probable make some noise at super featherweight if he chooses. Santa Cruz can box you or fight you, he has the boxing IQ and power to do both. Notable wins: Abner Mares, Kiko Martinez, Carl Frampton.

#7 Sergey Kovalev, 32-2-1, 28 KO’s.

Kovalev very well could have been higher on this list had the cookie crumbled different when he fought recently retired #1 Andre Ward. I scored it 7 rounds to 5 “Krusher”, plus the knock down 115-112. Unfortunately, the judge’s saw it different and what happened since then has fans and experts questioning where Kovalev’ s heart and mind are currently. He is in a division with some tough rising stars like Bivol, Beterbiev, and Eleider Alvarez, which he will be facing in August. A couple big wins could revive his status once again, but I think it would take a win over Ward to make the revival complete. Notable wins:

#6 Mikey Garcia, 38-0, 30 KO’s.

Mikey is another guy where the resume may not have caught up to his talent. He may be the only guy with potential to beat the #1 and #2 guys on that list. Yes, that’s right, him and Lomachenko at 135 lbs. sounds like a toss-up at this point, and Garcia vs. Crawford at 140 or catch weight would be very interesting. Notable wins: Orlando Salido, Adrien Broner, Sergey Lipinets.

#5 Errol Spence, JR., 23-0, 20 KO’s.

Errol may have the least the least impressive resume at this point but may have as much potential as any on this list. I had him behind early in the fight with Kell Brook, but he wore Brook down and stopped him late. He is young and still improving which is scary. Notable wins: Chris Algieri, Kell Brook, Lamont Peterson.

#4 Canelo Alvarez, 49-1-2, 34 KO’s.

Canelo Alvarez has been a professional boxer since he was 15 years old. In my opinion he has the deepest resume amongst the list thus far. At 27 years old he is a boxer that has entered his prime. He is strong with good hand speed and a great combination puncher. He also has an elusive defense style and a great chin as he displayed against “GGG”. Notable wins: Austin Trout, Erislandry Lara, Miguel Cotto.

#3 Gennady Golovkin, 38-0, 34 KO’s.

“GGG” has defended his middleweight title a record 20 straight times (Tying Bernard Hopkins) and has the highest KO ratio (87%) in middleweight history. He has fought the best middleweights willing to get in the ring with him and dominated most of them handily. A controversial draw with Canelo, that most people saw “GGG” winning may be settled if the rematch is made in September. Notable wins: David Lemieux, Kell Brook, Daniel Jacobs.

#2 Terence Crawford, 32-0, 23 KO’s.

Two division world champion, including being the Unified super lightweight champion, and now one fight away from a title in possibly a 3rd weight class. He will face WBO welterweight champion, undefeated Jeff Horn on June 9th. Crawford is a combination of speed and power and is known to be downright mean in the squared circle. He seems to enjoy punishing anyone that steps in the ring with him and will be a force to be reckoned with at welterweight. Notable wins: Yuriorkis Gamboa, Viktor Postol, Julius Indongo.

#1 Vasyl Lomachenko, 11-1, 9 KO’s.

He is now a world champion in three weight divisions in only 12 fights. His footwork, angles, hand speed, and boxing IQ along with a work ethic and drive that is elite amongst the elite makes him #1 P4P in my book. Notable wins: Nicholas Walters, Guillermo Rigondeaux, and Jorge Linares.

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