Who will be the next pound for pound king in boxing?

Love him or hate him there is no doubt Floyd “money” Mayweather has been the No1 pound for pound boxer in the sport for sometime.

On September 12th he will face Andre Berto for his 49th and what seems to be ever more likely, his last fight in boxing.

So when Floyd hangs his gloves up, who will be in line to replace him as the sports pound for pound king? With the likes of Manny Pacquiao, Juan Manuel Marquez and Wladimer Klitschko obviously not having much more, if any, fights left in them. Who are the contenders to lead boxing into a new era.

Below are my top contenders, honorary mentions and possible future ones to watch.

TOP CONTENDERS

GENNADY GOLOVKIN
AGE: 33
33-0 (30 KO)
MIDDLEWEIGHT

He has all the attributes to rule boxing for a good few years. Seems strong and durable with genuine knockout power in both hands. Also, due to his exciting style is a firm fans favourite. Although for me there are still some questions in terms of real big fight pedigree.

Though many may say this is due to him being an avoided fighter, he still needs to get some super fights against top 5 ranked opponents and if he dispatches them in the same way he has his previous opponents, then who could argue?

ANDRE WARD
AGE: 31
28-0 (15 KO)
SUPER MIDDLEWEIGHT

Stylistically he may not be everyone’s cup of tea but for sheer technical skill he’s almost flawless. He’s also been involved in some major fights, against top class opposition in the likes of Froch, Kessler, Abraham and Dawson and came out of it virtually unscathed.

I feel it has worked against him with the fans that his style is so similar to Mayweather, as I get the impression they want more blood and guts from him. But he has demonstrated a killer instinct when is is ready. Injuries has been real problem as he was inactive in 2014.

SERGEY KOVALEV
AGE: 31
28-0-1 (25 KO)
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT

I feel his biggest issue is the Light Heavyweight division and its lack of real top class opposition. It’s possible he may have to jump to heavyweight to really get the recognition and stardom he deserves.

With that being said, he has revolutionised the division, making it interesting by dispatching all his opponents (including Hopkins) in a real dominant fashion, exciting the fans and pushing him into this p4p argument. The real acid test will be Stevenson, if he takes him apart in a similar way, there will definitely be a case for the “Krusher”

ROMAN GONZALEZ
AGE: 28
43-0 (37 KO)
FLYWEIGHT

The general boxing fan will probably have no clue who this is but I would be surprised if he wasn’t in the top 10 p4p lists of the more knowledgeable fans. He also may be suffering from being in one of non glamorous weight divisions, that may not offer up a deep pool of top class opponents.

However, what he has done is make everyone sit up and take notice of the way he has destroyed opponents with power in both hands and tremendously accurate punches. A real fans favourite he has only been the distance 4 times in his last 20 bouts.

TERENCE CRAWFORD
AGE: 27
26-0 (18 KO)
LIGHT WELTERWEIGHT

Though I have seen some real quality from this boxer it is possible he has yet reached his peak. He seems to be improving with every fight and now up to light welterweight, he could be even more comfortable, and we could see even more of an improvement.

He has one of the most smoothest styles in boxing with a combination of speed, skill and power. He seems to mix his shots and put punches together effortlessly. He has already beaten some tough opponents like Ricky Burns, Yuriokis Gamboa and Raymundo Beltron all impressively and he’s still young enough to get much better.

HONORARY MENTIONS

SAUL ALVAREZ
AGE: 25
45-1-1 (32 KO)
MIDDLEWEIGHT

At 25 his experience is scary. I believe the Mayweather defeat would have done him more good than people realise and this could be more valuable as the years tick by.

Already has names on his record such as Mosley, Cintron, Trout, Lara and Kirkland. If he adds Cotto to that list then that would be good enough for him to make the jump into the p4p no1 argument in my opinion.

TIMOTHY BRADLEY
AGE: 31
32-1-1 (12 KO)
WELTERWEIGHT

Personally I am not really convinced of Bradley’s pedigree to be in the p4p king picture but it is possible he is in the p4p top 10 argument. Though he has some impressive names on his record such as Marquez, Peterson, Alexander, Provodnikov and Pacquiao (controversially).

I still feel he is a limited fighter who gets by on unbelievable heart and strength and has done the absolute most with the tools he has been given. But I am not knocking him for that and that reason is why he has been mentioned here.

GUILLERMO RIGONDEAUX
AGE: 34
15-0 (10 KO)
SUPER BANTAMWEIGHT

Much like Andre Ward, what goes against him in this modern-day era is his style being so similar to Mayweather’s. Not that it is easy to perfect such a style, in my opinion only the real skilled fighter can adopt a style like that and make it work, even if it’s not the most exciting.

With that being said, the two-time Olympic gold medal winner has dominated all his opponents since turning pro in 2009. But at 34 he needs more names like Nonito Donaire on his record. Even though, and with good reason he has claimed to be a much avoided fighter.

JUAN FRANCISCO ESTRADA
AGE: 25
32-2 (23 KO)
SUPER FLYWEIGHT

Much like Canelo Alvarez, the defeat to the top rated star in the division could well have done him good in the long run. His loss to p4p contender Gonzalez for the WBA light flyweight belt made everyone sit up and take notice, as he pushed the much fancied fighter all the way to lose on points, in a cracking fight on his American debut.

No doubt he learned a lot from that defeat as he moved up to super flyweight in his very next fight and claimed the unified WBA & WBO crowns.

ONES TO WATCH

DONTAY WILDER – 29 – HEAVYWEIGHT – 34-0 (33 KO)
NICHOLAS WALTERS – 29- FEATHERWEIGHT – 26-0 (21 KO)
ADONIS STEVENSON – 37 – LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT – 26-1 (21 KO)
SHINSUKE YAMANAKA – 32 – BANTAMWEIGHT – 25-0-2 (17 KO)
TAKASHI UCHIYAMA – 35 – SUPER FEATHERWEIGHT – 23-0-1 (19 KO)
CARL FRAMPTON – 28 – SUPER BANTAMWEIGHT – 21-0 (14 KO)
ERISLANDY LARA – 32 – LIGHT MIDDLEWEIGHT – 25-2-2 (12 KO)
ERROL SPENCE JR – 25 – WELTERWEIGHT – 17-0 (14 KO)
ANTHONY JOSHUA – 25 – HEAVYWEIGHT – 13-0 (13 KO)
NAOYA INOUE – 22 – FLYWEIGHT – 8-0 (7 KO)