By Jim Calfa: Oleksandr Usyk has been elevated to the #1 position in Ring Magazine’s updated pound-for-pound list, replacing Canelo Alvarez at the #1 spot after his loss last weekend to Dmitry Bivol.
Naturally, the decision by Ring Magazine to move IBF/WBA/WBO heavyweight champion Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs) to the #1 position in their pound-for-pound list won’t make the fans of WBC champion Tyson Fury happy, as many of them believe that he should have the top spot.
However, Fury’s decision to retire after his successful title defense against Dillian Whyte on April 30th removes him from the possibility of being ranted for the pound-for-pound list, as this is ranking only for active fighters, not retired ones.
If Fury was only pulling everyone’s chain by feigning a retirement for amusement purposes, he shot himself in the foot with this foolish move because he was left out of Ring Magazine’s pound-for-list.
Usyk deserves the #1 spot after his brilliant upset win over former IBF/WBA/WBO champion Anthony Joshua last September. Joshua, by the way, isn’t included in the updated Ring Magazine pound-for-pound list for obvious reasons.
The 2012 Olympic gold medalist has lost two out of his last four fights since 2019, and his once-promising career is on the brink of total collapse.
Ring Magazine’s updated pound-for-pound list:
1. Oleksandr Usyk
2. Terence Crawford
3. Naoya Inoue
4. Errol Spence
5. Juan Estrada
6. Canelo Alvarez
7. Vasyl Lomachenko
8. Dmitry Bivol
9. Josh Taylor
10. Roman Gonzalez
For the boxing fans that disagree with Usyk being moved to the #1 spot in the pound-for-pound list, they argue that he’s only fought three since moving up to heavyweight in 2019.
However, before moving up in weight, Usyk was the undisputed cruiserweight champion in 2018, and he had dominated his opposition.
Terence Crawford is rated #2 in Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound list, and it’s easy to see why he hasn’t been moved to the #1 spot.
Since moving up to welterweight in 2018, Crawford’s best win in that weight class was against a faded 33-year-old Shawn Porter.
Crawford hasn’t fought good enough opposition at 147 for him to be moved to the #1 spot. To be sure, if Crawford had wins over any of these fighters, he’d likely be rated #1 in the pound-for-pound list: Errol Spence Jr., Keith Thurman, Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis or Vergil Ortiz Jr.
“If he does retire, good luck to him,” Eddie Hearn said to iFL TV about Tyson Fury. “I don’t think he will. I think he will fight the winner of AJ and Usyk in December.
“It will be for the undisputed championship, it will be a huge fight financially, and it will be a legacy-defining fight, and it will put the winner down as what we call a generational great.
“If AJ beats Usyk and then goes on to beat Fury, he will go down as one of the greatest heavyweights of all time,” said Hearn.
We’ll soon see if Fury was serious about his retirement after the smoke clears from the July 23rd rematch between Usyk & Joshua.
