CAN ANYONE ARGUE AGAINST CANELO BEING P4P NO1?
Following his impressive points victory over a very decent Danny Jacobs, to retain the WBA super, WBC and lineal middleweight titles. Also, winning the IBF middleweight title. Becoming the first Mexican boxer to unify three belts in one division. With all the talk and debates about the p4p list. Can any other boxer really make a case for themselves to compete with Canelo’s impressive record for the no1 spot.
The Danny Jacobs win was his 55th fight and 52nd win in his 16th title fight. He has held multiple world titles, spanning over three weight classes and has fought multiple world title holders. He has an impressive record of names on his resume with only Floyd Mayweather beating him.
With that said. I do think he was very generously treated in the two fights against Golovkin. In their first fight I thought Golovkin won, but the judges gave it a draw. In their second fight, I thought it was a draw and they gave Canelo the win. That is not the only questionable judging decision Canelo’s had.
When Mayweather virtually shut out a young, inexperienced 23 year old Canelo, in their Las Vegas fight in 2013. One judge miraculously gave him a draw.
I personally thought his fight with Erislandy Lara was a draw, but Canelo took a very comfortable and somewhat contentious to some, points victory. Nevertheless. His record does speak for itself and Canelo has made a reputation of fighting, and more or less, beating the absolute best the sport has to offer. Who else can really get close to him?
The contenders
The boxer that many seem to think is his closest rival for the number no1 spot is Ukraine’s Vasyl Lomachenko. Undoubtably, he has some of the most elite set of skills and abilities in boxing today. Has totally outclassed previous top class looking fighters and what’s more, have made them quit.
Only one fighter has gone the distance with Lomachenko in his last ten fights. And if you list the few who hasn’t, such as Roman Martinez. Nicolas Walters. Guillermo Rigondeaux and Jorge Linares. You can see why he is right up there in the p4p rankings.
The only downside is, although he’s had a long and sterling amateur career, where he holds several all time records. He’s only had 14 pro fights and already has a loss on his record. However, Lomachenko’s unrivalled boxing skills and silky, mesmerising footwork, along with the way he dispatches his opponents, will always keep him in the conversation.
Also in the conversation is Terrance “BUD Crawford. The former unified light welterweight title holder. In August 2017 he became only the fourth boxer in history to simultaneously hold all four major belts. He has gradually moved his way up the P4P rankings and has the distinct quality of improving with every outing.
The downside is, although he has an unbeaten record in 35 fights. Many question the quality of names on his record. But he can only beat the fighters in front of him.
Although he does have wins over names such as Yuriokis Gamboa. Ray Beltran. Viktor Postol. Julius Indongo. Jeff Horn. Jose Benavidez Jr and Amir Khan. All who barely troubled him.
However, moving to welterweight will undoubtably give us a much better indication of his place on the p4p list.
The issue with credible opponents also goes for the fifth out of only six boxers in history to simultaneously hold all four titles. Ukraine’s Oleksandr Usyk dominated the light heavyweight and won all four belts in the division in less than two years. The olympic gold medalist breezed through his division, which culminated in the 8th round destruction of Tony Bellew in Manchester.
Right out of the same stable of Lomachenko. You can see the similarities in his superior boxing abilities and movement. Time will tell whether he was an exceptional. boxer in a decent division or a decent boxer in a average division. But his move to heavyweight will give us a better idea of his abilities and if he can claim titles there, that p4p list will have a new top dog.
I personally feel Gennady Golovkin still has a case. Although he failed to win his two mega fights with Canelo. However, I believed he should have come out of those two fights with a win and a draw, instead of a draw and a defeat.
That said, I feel his win over Jacobs was somewhat controversial and the knockdown helped him immensely. One of the p4p hardest punchers in boxing, I feel he has been a victim of his own fearsome reputation when searching for meaningful fights and his inability to move from his division.
Moving up or down is all the rage now and an old school fighter such as Golovkin, has suffered in the modern era of boxing, where seeking mega fights in various weight classes seems to be the in thing now.
Still a formidable puncher and still has deceivingly good footwork. Another few mega fight wins are needed for him to reignite that old air of invincibility, which has somewhat dimmed recently.
The possibles
The three top dogs in the heavyweight division can all have a case to be on the p4p list. Where they are placed is another story. It’s hard to separate Fury, Wilder and Joshua. However, Fury’s performance against Wilder does put him in the driving seat and Wilder’s recent devastating knockout and unbeaten 42 fight record with 4o knockouts, edges him ahead of Joshua, who now really needs some marquee wins on his record.
Errol Spence Jr is a fighter I really feel can have a say on the p4p list in the coming years. He is at a point where he is about to hit his peak, but still hasn’t really been stretched. He is in one of the most richly contested weight classes and maybe, his record needs more weight on it but his wins over Kell Brook and Lamont Peterson made many sit up and take notice.
As well as his five round destruction of Algieri. Who had previously went the distance with Pacquiao and Khan. And most recently, the virtual shut out against, although moving up two weights, Mikey Garcia, a fighter who would be in the top ten on many p4p lists.
With that said. His unbeaten 25 fight record looks good and has gradually improved. But now needs a mega fight win to step into that elite bracket.
Lastly, the definitely not least, is my dark horse. Japan’s Naoye Inoue could be the p4p hardest puncher in boxing. He is the current WBA and IBF bantamweight champion and has claimed titles in three divisions. He has absolutely destroyed opponents with 16 knockouts in his 18 fights. Out of his 16 knockouts, only two fighters have seen the second half of the fight and got past the sixth round.
The downside is that most of his fights have come in Japan and his international appeal is not as vast as the other fighters on the list.
Only two of his fights have been outside of Japan, in California and Glasgow and history shows, the p4p list are rarely keen to place one of the lighter weight boxers at the top. With the exception of Roman Gonzalez, until he lost twice to Rungvisai, who recently lost to Estrada….
Nevertheless, Naoye has the intelligence, ability and raw power to really challenge for the no1 spot. Watch this space.
Although there is a real case to be made for some fighters and also, a case to be made for potentially, a few more challengers to the throne, depending on their immediate futures. For now, Canelo stands head and shoulders above them all. And I actually feel for the first time in some years in boxing. We have a clear and undisputed p4p no1 king. All hail Saul “Canelo” Alvarez…..For now!
