As if the existing three-horse race atop boxing’s pound-for-pound rankings wasn’t competitive enough, the previous 3 days saw 2 of those names in crucial battles, which had the prospective to shock the rankings.
The exact same thing took place last July, when Naoya Inoue’s taking apart of Stephen Fulton Jr. enabled him to briefly hold the P4P leading area up until Terence Crawford secured Errol Spence Jr. simply 4 days later on in their indisputable welterweight smash hit. The just distinction this time around was that the king remained the king.
Despite Canelo Alvarez’s outstanding takedown of unbeaten Jaime Munguia in Saturday’s PBC on Prime Video pay-per-view in Las Vegas, which showcased just how much the 33-year-old Mexican icon still belongs atop the sport, what the boxing world saw out of Inoue simply 2 days later on showed too hard to prevent.
Inoue, the 31-year-old Japanese “Monster,” made the very first defense of the indisputable 122-pound title that he combined in December by making it through an early knockdown against previous two-division champ Luis Nery before rallying for 3 of his own en path to a dominant win through sixth-round knockout.
The craziest aspect of Inoue’s increase is that, like Alvarez, he has actually brought his power up with him in outstanding methods. Unlike what Alvarez skilled against Dmitry Bivol at 175 pounds 2 years earlier, nevertheless, Inoue has yet to satisfy his ceiling in regards to which weight department has actually shown to be a bridge too far where his power does not have the exact same effect.
Even though Inoue made an uncharacteristic error against Nery by revoking a clinch with his by far, which resulted in the knockdown through a flush counter left hook, he showcased almost every quality that makes a P4P king so fantastic by how he reacted right away later on.
Just like when Inoue had his orbital bone damaged early by Nonito Donaire in their 2019 fight of the year, he was required to lean upon all of the champion qualities currently within him in order to right the ship and still come away with the triumph.
That’s what the fantastic ones do. And with regard to both Crawford and Alvarez, each of whom still have a seat at the table of the existing P4P argument, Inoue stays in a class of his own as he continues taking one action at a time more detailed to boxing immortality.
Using a requirements that takes into consideration whatever from achievements to existing type, let’s take a better take a look at the leading fighters inside the ring. Below is the current Pound for Pound rankings upgrade after Inoue and Alvarez’s wins in May.
Pound-for-Pound Rankings
1. Naoya Inoue
Undisputed junior featherweight champ (24-0, 22 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 1
The four-division champ who has actually reached indisputable status in at 2 various weight classes just continued his famous takeover of the sport by increasing from the canvas to surface Luis Nery in their May title bout at the Tokyo Dome. “The Monster” might have sustained a quick error however he offseted the mistake by scoring 3 exhilarating knockdowns en path to a sixth-round knockout. Unbeaten necessary opposition Sam Goodman seems next.
2. Terence Crawford
Undisputed welterweight champ (39-0, 29 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 2
If you questioned how fantastic Crawford genuinely was, his taking apart of Spence in their indisputable title bout offered those responses. Crawford, who showed he would be a handful for any welterweight in history will go up to 154 pounds in August when he challenges WBA champ Israil Madrimov.
3. Canelo Alvarez
Undisputed extremely middleweight champ (61-2-2, 38 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 3
The previous P4P king is still the indisputable champ of among the sport’s most popular departments and he showed simply that by remarkably outdueling unbeaten Jaime Munguia in May. That does not imply the Mexican icon stands alone without criticism, nevertheless, as the boxing world continues to promote a superfight against two-time champ David Benavidez.
4. Oleksandr Usyk
Unified heavyweight champ (19-0, 13 KOs | Previous ranking: No. 4
Usyk’s expert run has actually been as embellished as it has actually been best. The previous indisputable cruiserweight champ scored a set of definite triumphes over Anthony Joshua to combine a trio of heavyweight titles. Following a blockage of necessary enemy Daniel Dubois, Usyk now lastly gets his indisputable clash against WBC champ Tyson Fury in May.
5. Artur Beterbiev
Unified light heavyweight champ (20-0, 20 KOs) | Previous ranking: 5
Beterbiev turned away any whispers that he was getting old by taking apart previous 168-pound champ Callum Smith in January. With his mandatories out of the method, an indisputable face-off against WBA champ Dmitry Bivol was set up for June 1. But the 39-year-old Beterbiev took out in May with a burst meniscus.
6. Dmitry Bivol
WBA light heavyweight champ (21-0, 11 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 6
Following an amazing 2022, that included a success over Canelo Alvarez and practically universal praise as the fighter of the year, Bivol remained the majority of 2023 in hopes of dealing with combined champ Artur Beterbiev. Their indisputable title clash was set for June 1 up until Beterbiev suffered a significant injury, requiring Bivol to deal with a replacement challenger.
7. Gervonta Davis
WBA light-weight titleholder (29-0, 27 KOs) | Previous ranking: 7
Davis’ body-shot knockout of Ryan Garcia in their superfight last April looks even much better now that “King Ryan” ended up being the very first fighter to drop and beat previous indisputable light-weight king Devin Haney. With a 2023 prison sentence behind him, “Tank” returns on June 15 against unbeaten Frank Martin in Las Vegas.
8. Tyson Fury
WBC heavyweight champ (34-0-1, 25 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 8
This in 2015 has actually been absolutely nothing except strange for the “Gypsy King.” Fury was slammed greatly for postponing his indisputable fight against combined king Oleksandr Usyk, which will now happen in May. And he was fortunate to hold on to his unbeaten record in his disputed choice win over previous UFC champ Francis Ngannou in October, which saw Fury struck the canvas against the amateur pugilist.
9. Shakur Stevenson
WBC light-weight champ (21-0, 10 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. 10
Although Stevenson restricted the hard-punching Edwin De Los Santos to a CompuBox-record over 12 rounds of simply 40 punches landed, he was extensively slammed for how dull his November triumph remained in their uninhabited 135-pound title bout. Stevenson, who turns 27 in June, won a title in a 3rd weight department and is anticipated to safeguard it in July against Artem Harutyunyan.
10. David Benavidez
Super middleweight (28-0, 24 KOs) | Previous ranking: No. NR
Frustrated with lingering for his chance at indisputable king Canelo Alvarez, “The Monster” will go up to light heavyweight when he challenges previous champ Oleksandr Gvozdyk for an interim title on June 15. The previous two-time titleholder at 168 pounds has actually shown to be simply as experienced as he threatens.
Dropped out: None
Honorable reference: Devin Haney, Vasiliy Lomachenko, Teofimo Lopez Jr., Juan Francisco Estrada, Errol Spence Jr.
