As a Crawford fan none of them are.
What stands out is that all his wins are decisive. Whether he ended up winning by tko or dominating the rounds. No one has come close aside from a good shot here or there.
Right. Which suggests that his opponents haven't been world class.
I don't think he was thrown to the wolves. He was a world champion with wins over excellent fighters Ike Quartey and Winky Wright. Treinidad asked for a fight and he said yes. What was he supposed to say? I am not ready for you yet. Come back in a few years and maybe I'll fight you then. if you are a world champion you are supposed to be the best at that weight and ready to fight all worthy challengers at that weight. Vargas was a good champion who accepted Trinidad's challenge and lost after fighting well and bravely. He also fought well and bravely against Oscar and lost. He just was not as good as Trinidad and Oscar. He was a boxer who peaked early and would still have lost if he had fought Tito and Oscar later in his career.
I agree 100%
I used to be in the camp of people who thought he was thrown in too early. The truth is he was damn good and he was the champ. He was a champ who was willing to fight the best and that included other champs. Sometimes you win those fights and other times you don't. He always gave his best and didn't cherry pick his way to the top or evade any real competition.
Um... he didn't defend his title against the best though.
I'm glad he's ok
But it's not ok to glorify his reign
Are we going to act like he didn't avoid any real fights?
Ortiz, Wilder have what it takes
Ortiz has the skills
Wilder has that freak power with his right hand
Fury will definitely beat him- his style is ALL WRONG for Ruiz
Loads of people. He wouldn't win a round against Fury and Wilder would put him in hospital.
Fury would be the toughest matchup for him.... maybe Usyk as well.
I think Ruiz and Wilder would be a great fight with back and forth action. Wilder has the power for sure but Ruiz showed he's no slouch in that department. A few guys put AJ down and couldn't finish him and he even came back and stopped them.
Ortiz was so close to taking Wilder out.
1. Terence Crawford
His skills seem unmatched in my opinion. Only time will tell if I’m right.
2. Errol Spence, Jr.
Only time will tell if the car accident has diminished his abilities
3. Vasya Lomachenko
He’s staying at number three for me until he either defeats or loses to the likes of Commey or Haney.
4. Naoya Inoue
He’s the most complete fighter in boxing in my opinion. We’ll have to see how he fares against Nonito. He may even move higher on my list (or fall) depending on how everything plays out.
5. Deontay Wilder
I may receive flack for this, but until someone can either clearly outbox him without taking two knockdowns, or else spark him out, he’s staying in my top five.
Thoughts?
P4P list isn't solely about skills - it should really depend on quality of opponents.
Crawford hasn't fought a quality opponent at 147 and he shouldn't be here
don't have a problem with Errol being top five but P4P top three no
Lomachenko should be number 2
Good one on Inoue
Wilder - you put Crawford on this list solely based on skills and Wilder is probably the least skilled of all the heavyweight champs. He is the hardest hitting.
Şpence was just knocked out by his own sports car so I doubt he will ever fight Pacquiao.
He got ejected from a car traveling at high speed and he ate that ****
And you think a man can stop him?
GGG hasn't looked the same. He all but abandoned his jab the other night and he looked completely spent after 3 or 4 rounds. The fact that he was able to finish and keep the fight close is a testament to his heart. I have no problem with the fight the other night going either way. I'd have to watch again but I feel like Deveryanchenko took his foot off the gas in the later rounds (8-11).
Spence's biggest advantage is that he's smart; to heck with all the size talk.
In a similar way to what Lomachenko has been able to do, Manny Pacquiao's entire game is built on him throwing you some bait, the opponent biting on it, opening things up for Pacquiao to get his stuff in on the counter.
Hindsight is 20/20, but the Thurman performance played out the way that it did because Pacquiao and Thurman basically fought the same fight but Pacquiao executed better; a big part of the "One Time" run was built on a decent touch jab and using his feet/legs to get you just out of position for him to land something heavy on the off-beat.
Spence will have no such inclination; no different than Floyd or Marquez (Broner to an extent to), Spence walks into the matchup with great eyes; he'll keep that jab on Pacquiao's chest/jaw, let Pacquiao burn himself with app that unnecessary bait movement, and if he times Pacquiao, Pacquiao's ****ed.
If you want to keep it real, the Thurman that fought Manny is not the same fighter that beat Porter and Garcia.
Even still, he made it a good fight. He won between 4 and 5 rounds. He didn't get completely wiped by Pacquiao.
Only 3 fighters in history have won a belt at 154 and 175, Ray Leonard, Tommy Hearns and Mike McCallum, Canelo can be the 4th.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjhhOLdwc7kAhWrzoUKHQ1-BR4QjRx6BAgBEAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fawwmemes.com%2Ft%2Frahn-stap-meme&psig=AOvVaw323yBOwVAXmPpsi89G25et&ust=1568488639956306
It seems like Wilder is following the Adonis Stevenson/WBC model. Where he secluded himself from the 175 division while the action was going on. Kovalev unifies belts against B-Hop, has two fights against Ward, and Adonis ends getting Ko'd into a coma after years of low profile title defenses.
Well to his credit, he did apparently agree to fight Fury.
And I believe he's fighting Fury again early next year.
WHO has Fury fought? Who is the kid he's fighting next?
I don't think Wilder is scared of anyone. It's become evident that his power is very real. He started boxing very late in life and the fact that he was able to accomplish as much as he has in the amateur and pro ranks speaks to his discipline and athleticism.
He's not the best technician in the ring. But if catches you with that right hand it's lights out 9/10 times.
His record isn't full of big names, but he's fought good fighters as of late. Especially in Ortiz and Fury.
Does Wilder have the EXCUSE that Fury has? Fury is not OBLIGATED to fight mandatories and contenders because he holds no official belts. The lineal thing is a farce.
And why are you moving the goal posts? Did I say i was a Fury fan?
With that said. Fury is trying to stay active. He has no LEVERAGE in negotiations therefore unlikely to get the top guys in the ring unless Top Rank/Warren/ESPN overpays them. Dillan Whyte wasn't available anyway but do you think Eddie Hearn would have fed him to Fury, when he stands to gain the WBC belt if Whyte holds on to his position?
Whyte turned down a fight for the Unified WBO/IBF/WBA belts and wanted more money. Do you think he would've taken the Fury fight (far more risky) for anything less?
Pulev? He is sitting on the IBF #1 spot. Do you think they will give that up when he stands to cash in on the Ruiz/Joshua winner by forcing the IBF mandatory defense, or collecting the vacant title.
Ortiz? Last i heard of him he turned down a fight against Joshua for the titles.
And that still doesn't mean i'm defending Fury but he is just a contender who nonetheless holds victories over Wladimir Klitschko - when he was on top, and a draw vs Wilder. All that in a span of less than 27 fights? Vs a guy who's been fighting 41 times since 2009, and ACTIVE champion since 2015.
Fury's resume looks thin because he RETIRED after 2015, while Wilder was ACTIVE from 2015 and his resume is still razor thin.
I'm not fully convinced on Wilder. Certainly not a fan of his. I'm just saying he's taking tougher fights than Fury after they fought. He's fought Brezeale, now Luis Ortiz (who hurt him bad in their first fight and who many picked to win that) and then he's fighting Fury again.
Like I said, outside of the two times that Fury got caught by Wilder- I thought Fury dominated him pretty handily and should have gotten the nod despite the two knockdowns.
What is up in this board? So many Canelo groupies.
How can you even put him in the same sentence with the greatest Mexican fighters ever? Canelo is good to great but to ask if he would be the best ever? And yea he last fought at 160- but he's fought twice over 160.
No one talking about how Loma just dropped his belt
But nowadays you still get recognized as a champ by the WBC when you refuse to fight your mandatory
Franchise champ
What a *****
My favorite part of the second fight is when Canelo goes back to his corner after the 10th or 11th and his corners says something to the effect of "fight smart there's no way you're knocking him out- he's too strong"
Romero Duno can bang. Ryan better watch that chin he leaves up in the air. He likes to admire his shots.
All that speed on the bags and then he fails to throw any real combinations in fights.
They better take it slow with this kid before he gets exposed.