Canelo is Number One on the P4P List but Usyk Makes a Strong Case

I have been promising Tunnel Vision Sports CEO (and fellow boxing enthusiast) Stephen Hayes, that I would make a top ten pound for pound list for boxing. Well, the time is now! Considering what Oleksandr Usyk was able to accomplish last weekend by defeating then unified heavyweight champion, Anthony Joshua; I was compelled to finally make my list. So, without further ado, Mr. Hayes, here is Tunnel Vision Sports Boxing’s Top Ten Pound for Pound:

1- Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez: Super Middleweight (56-1-2, 38 KOs)

Canelo is truly the face of the sport and is doing something not many fighters are doing nowadays: staying active. Alvarez’s upcoming fight against the undefeated IBF titlist, Caleb Plant will be his 4^th bout in less than a year. This is arguably the most important fight of his career. He’ll be defending his WBA, WBO, WBC, AND Ring titles versus Plant’s IBF belt. The winner will be crowned the first undisputed champion at the 168-pound weight class. There’s already a bit of bad blood brewing between Alvarez and Plant.

 Historical context for Canelo: After November 6^th, he could become the first boxer of Mexican-decent to hold all the major titles in the four-belt era.

2- Oleksandr Usyk: Heavyweight (19-0, 13 KOs)

Last weekend, Usyk essentially stamped his ticket into the International Boxing Hall of Fame with his outstanding performance against Joshua. The southpaw Usyk battered Joshua repeatedly with his left hand and never allowed AJ to find his groove. The former undisputed cruiserweight champion will now wait to see if Joshua activates his rematch clause. If not, he may look to become undisputed against the winner of the trilogy fight; which was between WBC and Ring champion, ‘The Gypsy King’ Tyson Fury and former WBC champion, ‘The Bronze Bomber’ Deontay Wilder.

3- Naoya Inoue: Bantamweight (21-0, 18 KOs)

The ‘Monster’ has continued to show why he is considered one of the best in the sport. His June knockout of challenger, Michael Dasmarinas displayed that his offensive arsenal is unparalleled.

Time is running out for the rest of 2021. One can only hope that the three-division champion Inoue fights again this year. He does have two possible unification fights on the horizon. One with WBO champion, John Riel Casimero. Or a possible rematch of 2019’s Fight of the Year with WBC champion and future Hall of Famer, Nonito Donaire.

4- Terence Crawford: Welterweight (37-0, 28 KOs)

On November 20^th, we will finally see what Bud has to offer against one of the top welterweights in the world when he takes on a two-time champion, ‘Showtime’ Shawn Porter. The switch-hitting Crawford has been calling out the top welterweights since he moved up in weight after becoming the undisputed champion at super lightweight in 2017. Porter is the first welterweight from Top Rank Promotions (Crawford’s promoter) chief rival, Premier Boxing Champions to agree to fight the WBO champion. Perhaps if he defeats Porter, this may get Crawford closer to a P4P showdown with unified welterweight champion and PBC-promoted, Errol Spence Jr.   

5- Errol Spence Jr.: Welterweight (27-0, 21 KOs)

Errol ‘The Truth’ Spence Jr. was originally scheduled to fight the now-retired, Manny Pacquiao on August 21^st. Unfortunately for both men, this was not meant to be. Eleven days before the fight, Spence was discovered having a retinal tear on his left eye and forced to withdraw from the highly anticipated match. WBA welterweight champion, Yordenis Ugas took the bout on short notice and defeated Pacquiao by unanimous decision and sending the Filipino senator into retirement. Spence will be on the shelf for the next several months and will either wait and see how the rest of the division shakes out or move up in weight. The ever-present P4P showdown with the fellow welterweight champion, Terence Crawford still looms in the background of a unification bout with Ugas.

6- Josh Taylor: Super Lightweight (18-0, 13 KOs)

In May, ‘The Tartan Tornado’ came over stateside. He did so with the intention of the next man to become undisputed in his division; this was last done by Terence Crawford in 2017. He had to dig deep against then fellow champion, Jose Ramirez. He edged out a fight that should catapult him into Fighter of the Year contention. What’s unknown for now is how long will the southpaw Scot remain in the 140-pound division. As of now, Taylor is scheduled to defend his belts against his WBO title mandatory, Jack Catteral.  

7- Teofimo Lopez: Lightweight (16-0, 12 KOs)    

‘The Takeover’ took over the sport. Earning a spot on the P4P list with his upset victory over one-time P4P king, Vasiliy Lomachenko, last October. Unfortunately for Lopez, his “takeover” has stalled a bit due to disputes with his promoter (Top Rank). Also, there was a bevy of changing dates for his upcoming title defense against his IBF mandatory, George Kambosos Jr. The unified champion was supposed to fight Kambosos, October 4^th but the promoter of the fight (Triller) is requesting a change to October 16^th. Hopefully, all parties involved find a solution, sooner rather than later.

8- Juan Francisco Estrada: Super Flyweight (42-3, 28 KOs)

In March, Estrada was awarded a very debatable split decision win over future Hall of Famer, Roman ‘Chocolatito’ Gonzalez. The newly unified champion, ‘El Gallo’ has one of the better resumes in the sport. He has avenged every loss in his illustrious career. On the horizon, lies a potential rubber match against Gonzalez, that could possibly happen, as soon as November or December.

9- Artur Beterbiev: Light Heavyweight (16-0, 16 KOs)

Unified light heavyweight champion Beterbiev showed a bit of ring rust his last time out in March against Adam Deines. The seventeen-month layoff did him no favors. He looked a little sluggish but was still able to inflict damage. He got Deines out of there in the tenth round. Up next for Beterbiev is former WBA interim champion, Marcus Browne. No date has been set yet. If Beterbiev comes out victorious, he could unify with the winner of the WBO title fight between Joe Smith Jr. and Umar Salamov.

10- Jermell Charlo: Super Welterweight (34-1-1, 18 KOs)

Charlo came up a little short of becoming the undisputed champion in the 154-pound division. In July, the WBO champion Brian Castano fought Charlo to a highly contested split draw. Until then, Charlo has fought a who’s who of contenders and former champions in his division. The boxing world awaits to see if he’ll get another crack at Castano next. Or will the IBF enforce Charlo to face his mandatory contender in Russia’s Bakhram Murtazaliev.