Boxing fans were offered a rare treat in the first weekend of May, with marquee fistic events on three consecutive nights.
Mexican modern-day great Canelo Alvarez, former ‘pound-for-pound’ star Devin Haney and the brilliant Naoya Inoue were all in action on cards which took place in Times Square, Riyadh and Las Vegas.
We’ve also had it confirmed that P4P king Oleksandr Usyk will rematch Daniel Dubois in July, and a date has now been set for Canelo vs Terence Crawford.
Clearly, it’s all been happening on the boxing news front, so what does it all mean in of our ‘pound-for-pound’ ratings?
Here is the Furyjoshua.com take on the current top 10 best fighters in boxing:
P4P Rankings: Current top 10
1 Oleksandr Usyk (Ukraine)
- Record: 23-0 (14)
- Titles: WBC, WBA and WBO world heavyweight champion
- Next Fight: vs Daniel Dubois (July 19)
The consensus best heavyweight on the planet has signed to fight a rematch against Daniel Dubois at Wembley in July. The 38-year-old Usyk its he is nearing the end of his career and if he can retire undefeated, he will go down as one of the best boxers in history. He’s defeated a who's who of his era - at cruiserweight and heavyweight - and usually with relative ease.
A master of timing and distance, the mercurial southpaw is also an amiable personality who does not cut corners when it comes to preparing for big fights. A special fighter.
2 Naoya Inoue (Japan)
- Record: 30-0 (27)
- Titles: WBC, IBF, WBA and WBO world super-bantamweight champion
- Next Fight: TBC
In truth the big cards on Friday and Saturday evening failed to hit the heights, but thankfully ‘The Monster’ from Japan delivered again just when boxing needed him.
Inoue put his undisputed featherweight championship on the line against Ramon Cardenas on Sunday, and came through a firefight to win in eight rounds.
Cardenas didn’t just show up for a paycheck and brought all the smoke, dropping Inoue in round two.
In the best fight of the busy Bank Holiday weekend - by some distance - Inoue showed he had heart as well as power, overcoming that early knockdown to stop Cardenas in round eight in Las Vegas.
In truth the stoppage may have been slightly premature, but when you have a fighter like Inoue getting on top, too early is always preferable to too late.
Summary for the lazy: He got dropped. He got up. Then he reminded the world why they call him ‘The Monster’.
The Japanese star has an ambitious four-fight plan for 2025, and who knows where his ceiling is when he keeps producing spectacular displays like this.
3 Terence Crawford (USA)
- Record: 41-0 (31)
- Titles: WBA world light-middleweight champion *WBC welterweight champion in recess
- Next Fight: vs Canelo Alvarez (September 12)
‘Bud’ beat Israil Madrimov to claim the WBA light-middleweight crown in Los Angeles last year but he has finally secured a super fight against Canelo Alvarez and these two ‘pound-for-pound’ legends will meet at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on September 12.
A switch hitter who can fight from close, medium and long range who is unbeaten since turning over in 2008, Crawford is truly elite.
4 Dmitry Bivol (Russia)
Record: 24-1 (12)
Titles: IBF, WBO and WBA world light-heavyweight champion
Next Fight: TBC
The brilliant Bivol has confirmed that his next fight will indeed be a trilogy bout with Artur Beterbiev (date TBC) but because of this decision, Bivol has been forced to vacate his WBC title meaning he is no longer the undisputed champion at 175lbs.
Last time out Bivol gained revenge over Beterbiev in their February 22 rematch. He won a majority decision in a close, competitive fight marked by ebbs and flows in both directions.
Both fights have been of such high quality, nobody will be complaining if they run it back for a threequel later this year.
5 Artur Beterbiev (Russia)
- Record: 21-1 (20)
- Titles: N/A
- Next Fight: TBC
Nothing has been announced in of date or venue, but it looks like Beterbiev is going to get his trilogy fight with Bivol, and the chance to gain immediate revenge against the only man to beat him as a pro.
While they are fire and ice in of style, there is so little between these two Eastern European greats that a decider is something boxing needs to settle their rivalry once and for all.
Beterbiev has a high KO percentage ratio, but his modus operandi is to accumulate damage on his opponents, as opposed to being a typical one-punch knockout artist.
It will take a Herculean effort to beat Bivol, but Artur has done it before and will fancy his chances in their rubber match.
6 Canelo Alvarez (Mexico)
- Record: 63-2-2 (39)
- Titles: WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO world super-middleweight champion
- Next Fight: vs Terence Crawford (September 12)
The Mexican phenomenon sauntered to a decision win against the reluctant and risk-averse William Scull on Cinco de Mayo weekend to once again become the undisputed super-middleweight champion and set up that September megafight with Terence Crawford in Las Vegas.
Alvarez - boxing outside of North America for the first time - was frustrated and below par himself against a reluctant dance partner, but still won 119-109, 116-112 (and a mystifying) 115-113 to become the first boxer to become a two-time undisputed champion in the same division in the four-belt era.
He really has his hands full against Crawford, but this is the type of assignment which will hopefully bring the best out of a fighter who is nearing 70 fights as a professional.
7 Gervonta Davis (USA)
- Record: 30-0-1 (28)
- Titles: WBA world lightweight champion
- Next Fight: TBC
Word on the street is Davis’ next fight is scheduled for June 21 against Lamont Roach in a rematch at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The first fight between the two resulted in a controversial draw.
While a formal announcement hasn't yet been made, both fighters and their teams have expressed a desire to run it back and it is expected to take place sometime this summer.
Tank remains one of the biggest ‘pound-for-pound’ punchers in the sport but needs to show he is still elite class after that fortuitous draw with Roach last time out.
8 Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (USA)
- Record: 21-0 (14)
- Titles: WBC world super-flyweight champion
- Next Fight: vs Phumelela Cafu (July 19)
Fighting out of San Antonio, Rodriguez is a two-division world champion who has actively pursued - and beaten - the best fighters of his era.
A well-rounded fighter who is brilliant defensively and going forward, it looks like "Bam" will face South Africa's Phumelela Cafu (11-0-3, 8 KOs) next in a super-flyweight unification bout on July 19 in Frisco, Texas.
9 Shakur Stevenson (USA)
- Record: 23-0 (11)
- Titles: WBC world lightweight champion
- Next Fight: TBC
The prodigiously gifted Stevenson is set to face William Zepeda next on July 12. We are led to believe that fight will take place in New York, and will be broadcast on DAZN PPV in both the United States and the UK.
Mexican southpaw Zepeda is 33-0 and should give us an idea just how good Shakur really is. Fighting in a stacked lightweight division, fans will be hoping this is the first of many big fights involving Stevenson at 135.
10 David Benavidez (USA)
- Record: 30-0 (24)
- Titles: WBC world light-heavyweight champion
- Next Fight: TBC
The Mexican Monster wants all the smoke and now looks on a mission to conquer new ground in the light-heavyweight division.
Last seen beating David Morrell on February 1, Benavidez became the WBC light-heavyweight champion without throwing a punch in anger when he was promoted to the full champion after Bivol vacated the title last month.
Benavidez has an exciting style, fusing controlled aggression with speed and explosive strength. His uppercut is a thing of rare beauty and it will be interesting to see where he goes next at 175.
Pushing for inclusion
Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis is the current IBF and WBA welterweight champion and he looked brilliant in making fellow unbeaten Eimantas Stanionis quit after six rounds on April 12.
The stance-shifting, power-punching American could be set for a real test next against Teofimo Lopez. Lopez looked sharp and fast in his recent points win over Arnold Barboza Jr, and has his sights set on Ennis next.
‘The Takeover’ - who himself has held multiple world championships in two weight classes - holds a win over Vasyl Lomachenko and so it will be fascinating to see him in with Ennis, who looks a class apart at welterweight.
Inoue is not the only Japanese ‘pound-for-pound’ star. There is also WBC bantamweight boss Junto Nakatani knocking on the door of the top 10.
A three-division world champion, Nakatani's next scheduled fight is a bantamweight title unification bout against Ryosuke Nishida on June 8 in Tokyo.
NB - Boxing's mythical ‘pound-for-pound’ list has been and always will be a subjective minefield, as fighters in different weight classes often do not compete directly against each other - which makes ratings difficult to compile.
The ‘P4P’ criteria - while not an exact science - is assembled upon fair analysis of fight records, boxers’ skills, strengths and weaknesses and recent title achievements.
