Welcome to the quarterly S8C pound for pound rankings. The divisional rankings are updated weekly, but I only touch the mythical pound for pound list once a season. This is the summer 2018 update and the next edition will be in the fall around late September or early October. Enjoy.
25. Isaac Dogboe – 19-0, 13 KOs – Super Bantamweight – Ghana
The 23 year old Ghanaian burst onto the international scene with a dramatic eleventh round stoppage of Jessie Magdaleno in April to win his first world title. He had to get off the canvas to do so too. He earned the short with a one sided thrashing of veteran contender Cesar Juarez back in Ghana as well. That is really all there is to the former Olympian’s resume, but those two wins highlight an obvious major talent that earns Dogboe a spot on the list.
24. George Groves – 28-3, 20 KOs – Super Middleweight – England
Popular British super middleweight “Saint” George Groves finally got the monkey off his back by winning a world title in his fourth try last May by stopping Fedor Chudinov in an exciting fight. The London native is on a seven fight winning streak, most recently dominating a technically overmatched Chris Eubank Jr in the semifinals of the World Boxing Super Series super middleweight tournament. Callum Smith figures to be a more difficult opponent in the finals in what may ultimately end up being a fight for a spot on the Fall edition of this list.
23. Gilberto Ramirez – 38-0, 25 KOs – Super Middleweight – Mexico
When Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez smoothly outboxed Arthur Abraham in 2016 to win his first world title, it looked like we had a man about to rocket to the top of the pound for pound lists over the next couple years. Two years later, his outlook is more stagnant. Zurdo remains unbeaten, but his opponent list has been quite uninspiring at times. He has also struggled a little bit with Roamer Angulo and Jesse Hart as his style has devolved more into a straight line Mexican brawler than the brilliant boxer that ran circles around Abraham. I don’t know how well this version of Ramirez would do against other elite super middleweights like George Groves.
22. Shawn Porter – 28-2-1, 17 KOs – Welterweight – USA
“Showtime” Shawn Porter could very easily be much higher on this list had narrow decision losses against Kell Brook and Keith Thurman gone his way, but even without them Porter’s resume is littered with strong performances. He has taken down the likes of Devon Alexander, Paulie Malignaggi, Adrien Broner, Andre Berto, and most recently Adrian Granados in clear wins. All the mauling brawler is missing is one slightly bigger one at the very top of the division. That opportunity presents itself next month in the form of Danny Garcia.
21. Erislandy Lara – 25-3-2, 14 – Junior Middleweight – Cuba
The proud Cuban former amateur star took a big hit with his first loss in four years a couple months ago to new junior middleweight king Jarrett Hurd, but Erislandy Lara is still one of the most skilled fighters in the game even at 35 years old. Time is probably limited for him though. Still, he sports a win over Austin Trout, was robbed against Paul Williams, and many thought he should have gotten the decision against Canelo Alvarez. It is true that he had not fought high world level competition in a few years prior to Hurd, but even that fight was an extremely narrow decision loss that proved Lara still belongs with the elite fighters in the sport.
20. Danny Garcia – 34-1, 20 KOs – Welterweight – USA
Danny Garcia is a harder name to place on a list like this. He has a mixed reputation for sure these days. While everyone still thinks of him as a top welterweight, there is also the uncomfortable reality that his resume is pretty thin. His wins over Brandon Rios, Robert Guerrero, and Paulie Malignaggi were wins over faded versions of those names. Rod Salka and Samuel Vargas were notably terrible opposition. He lost to Keith Thurman and probably didn’t deserve the decision over Mauricio Herrera. He did deserve the decision of Lamont Peterson, but it could be argued that was only because Lamont started so passively. In many ways Danny is still coasting off 140 lbs wins over Lucas Matthysse and Amir Khan. Yet, those were major wins and they do still carry weight today. I am comfortable with Danny Garcia where he is on this list.
19. Sergey Kovalev – 32-2-1, 28 KOs – Light Heavyweight – Russia
Where someone might have Sergey Kovalev ranked on a list like this most likely depends on how you saw the two Andre Ward fights. I saw the first one as a close fight that could have gone either way and the second a fair stoppage win for Ward. To me the first result is still a compliment to Kovalev as I would have Ward ranked number one on this list if he was still an active fighter, but I really see that rivalry as the case of the Oakland native needing a little less than half a fight to figure out his Russian opponent and controlling most rounds thereafter. Plus, I didn’t think Sergey looked all that great against Igor Mikhalkin. I will be putting a lot of weight in Kovalev’s performance against Eleider Alvarez on August 4th going forward. He needs to look good against a top fighter like Alvarez.
18. Murat Gassiev – 26-0, 19 KOs – Cruiserweight – Russia
Murat Gassiev, the consensus number two cruiserweight in the world, has looked downright spectacular over the last few years. Only Denis Lebedev was able to avoid being completely ran over and Gassiev still clearly won that fight in my view, split decision or not. Even if you’re the camp of those who saw that fight closer than I did, there is no denying what Gassiev has done in the World Boxing Super Series against Krzysztof Wlodarczyk and Yunier Dorticos. All that remains is a shot at the absolute top of the division in a couple weeks against Oleksandr Usyk in the tournament finals. I am not counting Gassiev out of winning that one either.
17. Deontay Wilder – 40-0, 39 KOs – Heavyweight – USA
What a difference one fight can make. I have always been a little lukewarm on Deontay Wilder. I find him entertaining and fully acknowledge that his one shot power from his right hand might be a little different and more devastating than anything we’ve ever seen before. Yet, his technique has always been about as poor as someone can function with at world level too. Stopping Luis Ortiz was dramatic and an amazing spectacle given the beating “The Bronze Bomber” had taken himself a few rounds earlier without question, but it was also the third time Deontay was largely being outboxed before finding his power. Artur Szpilka and Gerald Washington were finding similar success as much as it is forgotten now. Nevertheless, Deontay is knocking everyone out and his resume received a huge boost by adding the avoided Cuban to the list. That alone gets him comfortably in the rankings.
16. Guillermo Rigondeaux – 17-1, 11 KOs – Super Bantamweight – Cuba
Yes, Guillermo Rigodeaux was soundly defeated by Vasyl Lomachenko. Yes, Rigo almost certainly made up an injury excuse to quit and try to save face. Just remember the weight difference. While I and many others thought that the legendary Cuban amateur standout’s otherworldly skills would be more than enough to compensate, we were very much wrong. Despite that loss, the fact remains that no one has found anything more than a flukish shot against Rigondeaux at his natural weight in his entire pro career. He has comfortably outboxed everyone within his weight range that would get into the ring with him. Age and desire are big questions at 37 years old, but one bad loss as a dramatically undersized underdog against the top pound for pound fighter in the world does not undo everything that came before it.
15. Jorge Linares – 44-4, 27 KOs – Lightweight – Venezuela
When Jorge Linares is on his game, he is one of the prettiest fighters in the sport. The 32 year old Venezuelan can move and attack with a grace that suggests he is one of the very best men to put gloves on in recent history. It is sort of a lie though. While Linares is an outstanding fighter and I am comfortable with him in my top fifteen, he is the rare case of an athlete passing an eye test to a higher level than he is actually on. Linares has always been and will always be vulnerable in there. When he is on his game at his absolute best though, few are better. I can’t penalize him too much for losing to Lomachenko either as Loma will be at one of the top two spots when you get to the bottom of this.
14. Donnie Nietes – 41-1-4, 23 KOs – Flyweight – Philippines
Filipino three division titleholder Donnie Nietes is probably the least well known name on this list, but that is only because he has fought his career from 105 lbs to 112. The 36 year old Filipino hasn’t lost a fight in fourteen years while facing many top fighters along the way. Most recently Nietes finally got some exposure in the form of an HBO slot in February. He took full advantage it by dismantling and stopping a top contender in Juan Carlos Reveco in seven rounds. Next up for Nietes is a super rare opportunity as he moves up and fights for a vacant super flyweight title. In the one hundred plus years of boxing history, Nietes will become only the seventeenth fighter to win world titles in four different weight classes should he succeed as expected.
13. Miguel Berchelt – 34-1, 30 KOs – Junior Lightweight – Mexico
It speaks to the depth and health of the sport right now that I have Miguel Berchelt ranked thirteenth. Though I have been a vocal critic of the quality of Berchelt’s latest two title defenses, I still think he is a special talent. Really good fighters in Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura were just overwhelemed and outclassed by him. He can move and box with agility, stand and slug with power, or simply alternate between the two styles at his own whim. Berchelt is cut from a cloth above the traditional Mexican pressure fighter stereotype, though he is perfectly capable of carrying on in that style too if the situation calls for it. I think Berchelt would have given Vasyl Lomachenko more problems than anyone at 130 lbs if Vasyl had stuck around long enough for the fight. The best part of all of this is that Berchelt is only 26 too.
12. Danny Jacobs – 34-2, 29 KOs – Middleweight – USA
At first glance, it might look like I have “The Miracle Man” Daniel Jacobs ranked a little too high. I did score his fight with Gennady Golovkin for Jacobs, however. I had it by a single point and I have no issue with close cards for Golovkin, but I did legitimately feel like Jacobs won seven rounds. Given that I have huge respect for GGG and he is definitely a top five fighter in the sport, that is a major, major mark in the pro column for Danny Jacobs. It isn’t just about Golovkin either though. Jacobs also blew up previously unbeaten Peter Quillin in a round and took on a much more difficult opponent than people realize in Maciej Sulecki on HBO in April. Like with GGG, I have his rival Canelo Alvarez in my top five. These are the only two middleweights better than Jacobs in the world and to be honest I don’t have a hard time seeing him beating either of them.
11. Naoya Inoue – 16-0, 14 KOs – Bantamweight – Japan
Ah, “The Monster” Naoya Inoue. On a list based on talent alone, I’d have Inoue probably in the top three. The 25 year old Japanese star is a special, special fighter. His offense is unbelievable with perfect form and balance that feed into huge power. His bantamweight belt right now is an illegitimate world title, but with the expected announcement of his inclusion in the World Boxing Super Series bantamweight tournament, opportunities for real belts will present themselves. The only reason I do not have The Monster higher is because of his lack of one big win. Really, who is Inoue’s best win? Is it Kohei Kono? Omar Narvaez? I’d say it is probably Ryiochi Taguchi back in his fourth pro fight. Those are really good wins, but the WBSS’s second season will finally provide him the opportunities for great ones.
10. Jarrett Hurd – 22-0, 15 KOs – Junior Middleweight – USA
If you had told me a year ago that I’d have Jarrett Hurd in my top ten pound for pound, I’d have told you to go get medicated. Yet after two awe inspiring performances over Austin Trout and Erislandy Lara, here he is. A lot has been said about Hurd’s rise, but no one makes the comparison I see as most accurate. Jarrett Hurd is the new prime Antonio Margarito. I know for whatever reason people have difficulty making athlete comparisons across races, but bare with me here for a minute. They are both huge for the weight, get hit a lot early, never stop coming forward, and eventually wear their opponent out in the second half of the fight no matter how far behind they started. To do this against Tony Harrison is impressive enough, but to have watched him do it to Austin Trout and Erislandy Lara is another thing entirely. It doesn’t hurt that he might be the most exciting fighter to watch right now too.
9. Anthony Joshua – 21-0, 20 KOs – Heavyweight – England
Anthony Joshua is a megastar. He is at worst the second most marketable star in the sport behind Canelo Alvarez and even Canelo can’t generate the kind of money in a poorer Mexico than AJ can in the UK. He is just a little bigger internationally so far. As for the fights, of course Joshua has the generational, defining stoppage win over Wladimir Klitschko, but he also has wins that I don’t think he gets enough credit for over Carlos Takam and Joseph Parker his last two times out. Those two are real solid heavyweights. It sounds like Alexander Povetkin is next and the Russian star is another solid test. Of course everyone wants to see Joshua in with Wilder next, myself included, but I get why they are ducking it a bit too. AJ can make major money fight me, why risk fighting Wilder? Wilder is a real big risk too in my eyes. AJ is an awesome offensive fighter whose defense relies on keeping fighters out at range. He is susceptible to long single shots from distance though and landing that long right hand is Deontay’s entire limited game. So while I think AJ is a better fighter in terms of if they fought all the same opponents he would come out looking better than Wilder did more often, I also kind of think he might be knocked out by Wilder. I’d put it off too if I was Joshua or his promoter Eddie Hearn.
8. Errol Spence Jr – 24-0, 21 KOs – Welterweight – USA
It is basically a foregone conclusion at this point that Errol Spence Jr is only going to climb higher in these rankings as time goes on. If it wasn’t always clear, his five round murder of Chris Algieri made it so a few years ago. Going on the road to stop Kell Brook late cemented the reality further. Lamont Peterson had nothing for him and Carlos Ocampo was never going to. The only real negative with Spence right now is that I don’t think PBC is going to get him the fights that he and the fans want any time soon That has nothing to do with his pound for pound status though.
7. Oleksandr Usyk – (14-0, 11 KOs) – Cruiserweight – Ukraine
We were sort of sold a lie when Oleksandr Usyk turned pro. He was billed as this monster puncher not only at cruiserweight, but as such a big power guy that he’d carry it up to heavyweight. Usyk isn’t that. What he is is better, really. The world’s top cruiserweight brings more volume and accuracy mixed with real nice in and out boxing skill. He can be hit, but not consistently, and he’s always hitting his opponent. I do believe Usyk unquestionably faces the toughest test of his career in Murat Gassiev on the 21st though. Gassiev is a guy who doesn’t have to hit you more than once for it to be an issue too. That is a major, major fight, one of the best that can be made in the sport. The US will barely notice though which is a real shame.
6. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai 45-4-1, 40 KOs – Super Flyweight – Thailand
If the old saying of “To be the man, you have to beat the man” holds true, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai is the man in the sport of boxing. In what seems like another life now, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez was deemed the top pound for pound fighter by most pundits. Sor Rungvisai fought him and got a decision, but it was considered controversial so they rematched. There would be no controversy then as the Thai fighter smashed out Chocolatito quickly and violently the second time around. To be honest I always felt like the idea that Chocolatito was this clear cut pound for pound number one guy was a bit of a forced narrative to sell him on HBO, but he was definitely in the conversation and it was a great win. Sor Rungvisai followed those two wins with another big win over Juan Francisco Estrada on HBO in February. Unfortunately he is passing on the big Superfly HBO card this fall though due to some personal issues. Hopefully they don’t derail him because Srisaket Sor Rungvisai has become one of the best fighters in all of the sport.
5. Canelo Alvarez – 49-1-2, 34 KOs – Middleweight – Mexico
At last we reach the biggest star in the sport. Saul Alvarez, better known as simply Canelo, is a two country mega attraction both at home in Mexco and north of the border in the United States. He’s also a damn good fighter with wins over the likes of Austin Trout, Erislandy Lara, and Miguel Cotto when they were in their primes. Sure, all three fights were close, but I have no problem with the Mexican star getting any of those decisions. I also didn’t have a problem with the Golovkin fight being scored a draw last year. I scored it to GGG by a round, but I’m sure I could go back and reasonably give Canelo one of Golovkin’s rounds if I tried. Of course the drug test scandal that delayed the big PPV rematch until later in the year does cast a cloud over Canelo, but I am not going to penalize him for it just yet. I assume he will test clean going forward. It should also be noted that the Mexican superstar is also still only 27 too somehow. He will be on this list for a long time as long as he stays active.
4. Gennady Golovkin – 37-0-1, 33 KOs – Middleweight – Kazakhstan
The longtime middleweight king is still comfortably top five pound for pound, but for how long? The truth about GGG is that he has been an exciting, dominant ruler reigning over a non-competitive division for years. When you honestly sit down and try to determine his best win, I think it is pretty clear that it is Danny Jacobs. Except I scored that fight for Jacobs as I talked about above. By that logic I’d have to give him credit for the Canelo win though as I scored that one just as narrowly for GGG. Otherwise, once you get past those two recent, razor thin fights, we are looking at either David Lemieux or Martin Murray. Those two are really good fighters and were emphatic wins, but GGG really was never presented with that next level fight to prove himself in. When he has recently, he’s struggled to put away enough rounds to win. Is that because he is 36? I think so. He isn’t going to get younger either. This is why I am so intrigued by the September rematch with Canelo.
3. Mikey Garcia – 38-0, 30 KOs – Junior Welterweight – USA
It is time to give Miguel “Mikey” Garcia his due. No one has him this high, but I am really comfortable with putting him here. The four weight world titleholder has faced the likes of Orlando Salido, Rocky Martinez, Adrien Broner, and Sergey Lipinets without ever having been in a competitive fight. He has ranged from 126-140 lbs while styling on everyone he has faced. He is set to face a young, unbeaten titleholder in Robert Easter Jr who just a couple years ago was considered one of the best prospects in the sport and no one expects that fight to be competitive. Maybe Canelo has a few better wins than Mikey and maybe GGG has more longevity, but no one other than the two men ahead of him on this list have been so dominant from the start of their careers to present day.
2. Terence Crawford – 33-0, 24 KOs – Welterweight – USA
It was very tempting to move Terence “Bud” Crawford to the number one spot following his destruction of Jeff Horn last month. The now three division titleholder is a special, special talent in there. There is nothing he cannot do in the ring. Bud Crawford can comfortably outbox top fighters off the back foot or come forward to destroy aggressively. He throws every punch in the game and his ability to adjust during a fight is unparalleled in the sport now that Andre Ward is retired. He used to have the weakness of giving away early rounds while he figured his opponent out, but even that has faded away as a problem. Unfortunately, the thirty year old is going to have a difficult time getting interesting fights with other top welterweights given the current political climate, but that is beyond his control.
1. Vasyl Lomachenko – 11-1, 9 KOs – Junior Lightweight – Ukraine
I wanted to move Bud Crawford to number one, I really did. I just don’t think it is impossible to be objective and do that after Vasyl Lomachenko’s last two fights. It has been obvious to anyone watching the Ukrainian virtuoso that he has otherworldly abilities in the ring thanks to his all time great footwork and now he has the in ring resume to match his excellence on the classic eye test. Stopping both Guillermo Rigondeaux and Jorge Linares consecutively is quite the two fight run. Add those names to a list that already included Nicholas Walters when he was the 130 lb king and Gary Russell Jr, a man some still consider the best featherweight, and you’ve got one of the best resumes in the game to go along with the most obvious talent. Vasyl Lomachenko is generationally elite. He will go down as an all time great fighter. Loma is King, long may he reign.
