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YdksabComment
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Dominance means something. The next year will have ATG repercussions, IMO. We are fortunate to have some really good fighters right now, and good hands to leave things to in the future.
For me, Inoue and Usyk are #1&2.
Inoue stakes his case for being at the top by not only achieving undisputed, but the manner in which he's done it, which is to say, he takes on the best guys in the division on his divisional debut (which he's done three times), then following up by taking out everyone with a legitimate claim in the division. I'm no longer interested in Goodman or Casimero because both played Stoopid games and screwed things up. It was Casimero's fault he lost his belt to a sauna and we had Butler instead for undisputed at 118. And it's Goodman's fault we're getting Doheny, who at least is 7th ranked by Ring, and 13th ranked by Boxrec. But if Inoue follows Doheny with MJ, he will have completely cleaned two consecutive divisions, mostly by knockout. The guy has scored more 10-8 rounds than opponents have won rounds against him. And he's never played A-side games. He uses his cash cow status to bring the best guys and give them career high paydays, doesn't do catch weights or rehydration clauses, no short notice crap so they don't get full camps. He takes them on at their best and dominates. The main reason IMO he's not universally acclaimed is that people don't respect the lighter weight classes.
Usyk gets bonus points for being the smaller guy taking on huge weight differences, and doing it all on the road to boot. He's won most of his big fights by very close decisions, but some of that has to do with him being the B-side and getting screwed by the judges and still winning.
Bud is really right up there, but he struggled moving up in weight the first time he took on a top guy when he did, and even though I rate Madrimov, that's not the kind of performance that can be overlooked when it comes to competing with the likes of Usyk and Inoue.
Canelo has had a long and illustrious career, but he's going out rather poorly. His undisputed run was in a weak division and he's avoided the top contenders for virtually the entire run. His other signature wins all came with rather major asterisks, much like Gervonta Davis. Great HOF career, but very disappointed in the way it's finishing.
Bam Rodriguez has several signature wins, and it's worth pointing out that while some of his veterans have been faded, he also took on Edwards in his prime and battered him. He really should be lineal & Ring champ for 112 & 115. And he's young, so it will be fun to watch where his career goes. He and Nakatani both have chances to stake out potential ATG careers.
I'm personally less impressed than the current norm with Bivol, Beterbiev, and Tank Davis because their real accomplishments have primarily come in just one weight class, and one that didn't have much recognition as being a stacked division. Light heavy was viewed as a wasteland, in which there was zero interest by any promoter for years in seeking unification, until Canelo brought interest to the division by first beating an aged Kovalev on short notice, and then losing to Bivol. I'd like to see a clear winner crowned and if that winner can do well at cruiserweight (also a very poor division, in which two guys coming off losses to Beter/Bivol could fight each other in their divisional debut for a title eliminator). If the winner takes on and beats Briedis or Opetaia, then we can talk. Otherwise, much like Spence, the achievements look more like hype than like reality.
Tank in particular has a resume with virtually zero top competitors in the division, and tons of secondary belts with rehydration clauses on his most dangerous opponents. It's a lot of smoke and mirrors and very little substance.
Shakur hasn't really impressed at lightweight, I don't see how he could compete once he's at a physical disadvantage, and his style will not age well. He's got a chance to change that by fighting better opponents, but he blew it, IMO, when he turned down that Haney fight.Comment
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Usyk is already rated P4P #1 and unless he loses to Fury he'll likely remain P4P #1.Comment
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