POUND FOR POUND RANKINGS

Nine years and change after winning his first major title at lightweight, Terence Crawford delivered the defining statement on his career. An anticipated superfight with Errol Spence became a violent showcase for “Bud” Crawford. Three knockdowns punctuated a veritable shutout in one of the best big fight performances one will ever see. Crawford became the first fighter since Barney Ross to lay claim to history’s throne at lightweight, junior welterweight, and welterweight. Boots Ennis, Keith Thurman, Yordenis Ugas, Jermell Charlo, and contractually another round with Spence, give Crawford plenty of possibilities for an encore.

Inoue’s defeat of then-unified 122 pound titlist Stephen Fulton moved him within one fight of being the first undisputed junior featherweight champion since the division as we know it launched in the 1970s. A fight with Marlon Tapales should provide the chance later this year. Last December, he knocked out Paul Butler to become the first undisputed bantamweight champion in fifty years. Across four weight divisions over the last nine years, Inoue has at some point beaten the top rated fighter, by TBRB or The Ring, in the division. Fulton was supposed to be a test but Inoue put on a masterclass, winning every round before scoring an emphatic stoppage. His combination of skill, power, speed, and reflexes can appear comparable to the displays Roy Jones once put on.

Questions about Usyk’s viability at heavyweight were answered emphatically against Anthony Joshua, twice over. Usyk made only one appearance in 2022 but kept his position as the leading threat to lineal heavyweight king Tyson Fury, again outboxing one of boxing’s biggest draws. The former undisputed cruiserweight champion is now one win away from accomplishing the same feat in boxing’s flagship class. Bonus points go to Ukraine’s Usyk for winning ten in a row on the road, including eight of his nine title fights, before getting what amounted to neutral turf for the Joshua rematch.

A popular choice for 2022 Fighter of the Year, Bivol made the most of big opportunities. He was building an impressive resume but his career quieted after a lopsided win over future titlist Joe Smith Jr. It’s roaring now. Bivol was masterful in outboxing super middleweight king Saul Alvarez and clinically dissected undefeated Gilberto Ramirez as an encore. The latter win pushed him past Alvarez in these charts. 2023 would benefit from a showdown with the man who holds the lineal crown and the other three alphabet titles at light heavyweight, knockout machine Artur Beterbiev.

Alvarez slipped from his perch atop the rankings after his loss to Bivol but rebounded with a lopsided trilogy win over Golovkin. Alvarez was riding a lengthy unbeaten streak that included unifying the super middleweight class and his future for the moment is cloudy. His leading contender at super middleweight, David Benavidez, strengthened his demands for a title shot with his win over Caleb Plant. That won’t be next with Alvarez opting for a defense against Charlo in a clash of undisputed champions.

There were doubts about who deserved the decision the first time Charlo faced Brian Castano. There were none after the rematch. Charlo once again showed he’s one of those fighters who get better when they see an opponent a second time. Charlo has now been a centerpiece of the Jr. middleweight division title picture for six years, crowing his time there with an undisputed title. We can begin to ask where Charlo ranks with the Jr. middleweight greats. The audacious Alvarez challenge, Charlo’s first fight in over a year after a hand injury, will see Charlo jump two weight classes to dare another level of greatness.

Devin Haney made moot any conversation about whether he was the WBC’s primary lightweight champion or not by winning it all in 2022. Haney went on the road to wrest the lineal lightweight crown from George Kambosos in Australia and returned to defend it in both his appearances for the year. The next challenge was much stiffer but Haney did enough to hang onto the title in an excellent battle with Vasyl Lomachenko. Haney’s next move is expected to be a challenge of junior welterweight titlist Regis Prograis.

Davis has emerged as one of the game’s biggest draws, headlining the richest fight of 2023 against Ryan Garcia to build on a run of ticket selling events from coast to coast in the US. His charisma, boxing skill, and concussive power are as fan friendly as it gets. Along with three primary titles at junior lightweight, Davis has also won secondary titles at lightweight and junior welterweight and both of those divisions are littered with quality opponents. Still campaigning at lightweight, the best fight in the division for now would be Davis challenging Haney but the window for that may be closing quickly.

There was ample debate about whether Estrada deserved the decision in his second bout with Roman Gonzalez. It was far less the case after their rubber match. Estrada posted his best performance of the trilogy and stamped himself as the clear leader of one of the great four-way rivalries in boxing history. Estada is 5-2 against Gonzalez, Cuadras, and Sor Rungvisai and that’s likely the headline when he gets into Canastota one day. What else will he do before he gets there? A unification clash with Kazuto Ioka is one of the best fights we haven’t seen yet in a junior bantamweight golden era.

Lopez’s upsets of Lomachenko and Taylor give him as good a pair of wins as can be found in the sport. It makes a loss to George Kambosos and a listless performance against Sandor Martin even more head scratching. Lopez appears to fight to the level of opponents, which gives him all the more incentive to keep facing top tier threats. Lopez’s ‘retirement’ didn’t amount to much and he’s fighting in a talent rich area of the scale so there’s more to come from this mercurial talent.