By Nedu Obi: There has been much debate regards who is the best boxer on the planet; some say Roman González, while others will swear Andre Ward has that accolade on lockdown, and the debate rages on. However, in this respect, I would like your candid opinion on who is today’s boxing numero uno.
So, for you guys and girls who actually keep the sport afloat today, viz. attending boxing events, PPV/merchandise purchases etc, this is your chance choose your top dog, and send the official pound-for-pound rankings into free fall.
As in all things subjective and objective, feel free to opine to your heart’s content.
Optional criteria:
1) Taking on the best available competition in their weight class.
2) Moving up in weight class to test the waters.
3) Number of fights per calendar year.
4) Offensive and defensive skill sets.
5) Undefeated streak or lack thereof.
Bear in mind, The Ring magazine’s rankings below have only been employed as a benchmark for whomever you might choose as your number one pick.
The Ring magazine’s current Top 10 rankings:
1. Roman González (46-0, 38 KO) Super flyweight
2. Andre Ward (31-0, 15 KO) Light heavyweight
3. Sergey Kovalev (30-1-1, 26 KO) Light heavyweight
4. Gennady Golovkin (36-0, 33 KO) Middleweight
5. Terence Crawford (30-0, 21 KO) Junior welterweight
6. Vasyl Lomachenko (7-1, 5 KO) Super featherweight
7. Guillermo Rigondeaux (17-0, 11 KO) Junior featherweight
8. Saul Álvarez (48-1-1, 34 KO) Middleweight/Light middleweight
9. Shinsuke Yamanaka (26-0-2, 18 KO) Bantamweight
10. Naoya Inoue (12-0, 10 KO) Super flyweight