Written by Elliot Worsell
PERHAPS the only thing less important than drawing a pound-for-pound top 10 list is debating the top 10 list. Doing so, in fact, will not be crowned the winner, will not bring any reward, and will ultimately highlight an inability to understand what the pound-for-pound list stands for.
As for what it stands for, it does, like most things, mean different things to different people. Ultimately, though, a pound-for-pound list is only good for wasting time and generating debate. It serves no greater purpose than that and has no bearing on any particular hero's legacy or status in the sport.
That said, for those interested in such things, here are the top three pound-for-pound according to Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez: “For me, (Oleksandr) Usyk is number one, (Naoya) Inoue is number two, and (Terence) Crawford is number three. Usyk is the undisputed heavyweight champion; nothing beats that.” Regarding the overall value of the pound-for-pound list, Rodriguez, 19-0 (12), said Debate News: “At first, I didn't really care (about the list), to be honest. But when I was actually ranked pound for pound it was more of a shock than anything. Since then I wanted to stay on this list and be counted among the best players in the top 10. Being on the list is what I want and this fight will boost me a lot if I win.”
Already, without beating Juan Francisco Estrada, his opponent on Saturday (June 29), Jesse Rodriguez is considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the sport. Win on Saturday, though, and the Texan knows he'll not only join the elite — that is, move up the pound-for-pound list — but he'll have earned 24 years more than most fighters can. think about it. Indeed, even being included in such a list at that time, whether sitting in the 10th or the top spot, is a testament to both his talent and the rate at which he has developed.
Rodriguez taunts and defeats Sunny Edwards in December (Christian Petersen/Getty Images)
Anyway, so what indeed what counts in the end is the win, not the opinions of the fans. What made it somewhat amusing was the reaction of Turki Alalshikh, one of the strongest men in the sport, after receiving some pound-for-pound listings last month. Taken from BoxRec.com of all places, Alalshikh, who is new to the sport, posted this top 10 list on social media and captioned it: “(Naoya) Inoue is a great boxer, but (Terence) Crawford is pound- for- pound number one. I don't know how the standards work or if there is a clear process, but it seems like there are personal opinions and biases involved. I believe that boxing needs a single body to evaluate it openly and honestly. Soon, I will support the project of that matter.”
Too good a post to ignore, hard to know where to start. First, if there's one place where personal opinions don't change at all in the pound-for-pound rankings – or for that matter any of their rankings – it's BoxRec.com, where everything is computer generated and scored. system. That doesn't mean their ranking is perfect, far from it, but any accusation of bias is actually a bad point when it comes to this website.
Second, the idea of a pound-for-pound list on BoxRec.com being the catalyst for change in a sport as unregulated as boxing is extremely strange. Moreover, the idea that sports need “a single body for transparent and honest evaluation” becomes absurd when one considers the types of people involved in providing so-called evaluation, transparency and honesty. Well, yes, things could be better regulated and simplified in the sport, but imagining anything close to what is in the future of boxing is mind boggling to say the least.
Furthermore, despite the phrase “personal opinions and inaccuracies”, Alalshikh's response to the BoxRec.com pound-for-pound list is from the same place, inspired no doubt by the fact that he is now working with Terence Crawford, this. someone he talks about a lot. The best thing, too, by the way, about Alalshikh's opinion that Crawford is the number one pound for pound is not a joke or just his opinion. It's actually a view shared by many, pushed even further after Crawford's crushing 2023 victory over welterweight rival, and fellow pound-for-pound contender, Errol Spence.
Terence Crawford stops Errol Spence in July (Getty Images)
Maybe Alalshikh is just happy, that's all. Maybe as a new player and sports fan he is testing his power level and seeing how far he can take this thing. Perhaps, with Naoya Inoue having recently added to his legacy by performing well against Luis Nery, and Oleksandr Usyk and doing the same by defeating Tyson Fury, the pound-for-pound debate becomes a worthy talking point; or at least as relevant as possible. Maybe next month, when Crawford fights Israel Madrimov, we'll have a clearer picture of where those three (Crawford, Inoue and Usyk) sit in a lineup that doesn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.
Really, the best you can say about it is this: the game, in terms of top talent, is in a healthy place. That is to say, in Crawford, Inoue and Usyk we have three men whose skills may have allowed them to flourish at any previous time in boxing history. These are not the only three men who may have been world champions in their weight classes and are now enjoying long undefeated runs. Instead they are three of the best talents the sport has ever seen, and they just so happen to reach their respective peaks around the same time.
Usyk beats Fury (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)
These three are so good, in fact, that it's hard to guess which of them will be the first to slip; that is, give them a spot in a race they don't know they're competing in. So far there aren't even any symptoms. Inoue, it's true, was knocked down for the first time in his professional career against Nery, but the way he turned that fight around only added credence to his number one ranking. Likewise, Usyk, despite being somewhat handicapped as a relatively light heavyweight, is now achieving feats that the likes of Inoue and Crawford were unable to achieve due to them fighting opponents of their own weight. That, in the fight for number one pound for pound, must definitely count something.
That it does, of course. Like the list itself, for Usyk, being a heavyweight means both everything and nothing. It means that the Ukrainian's success will always contain the x-factor of Crawford and Inoue's lack of success and it means that pound-for-pound rankings become even more meaningless than they are if we only rank fighters whose legacies are built on opponents. with the same weight as theirs.
You've already argued that all three – Usyk, Crawford and Inoue – are pushing it. Usyk, chasing the big dogs in the heavyweight division, pushes it every time he competes, while Crawford and Inoue, whether they're looking for money or pound for pound, are always paired with realistic fights for some type of fan. . That means, in this case, Canelo Alvarez of Crawford and Gervonta Davis of Inoue, the thought of which on the one hand is exciting, however, on the other hand, makes you question not only the purity of the people involved in this sport but, repeatedly, the life of the sport itself.
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