Terence Crawford among best pound-for-pound best boxers right now alongside Oleksandr Usyk and Gervonta Davis

July 29, 2024

3 minutes read

When his career is all said and done, Terence Crawford will be remembered as an all-time great of boxing.

The Omaha puncher aims to become a four-weight world champion this weekend as he challenges Israil Madrimov for the Uzbek’s WBA super welterweight crown.

Crawford is back in the ring and will face Madrimov for the first time in just over 12 months since beating Errol SpenceCredit: Getty

Crawford has previously won world titles at lightweight, super-lightweight, and welterweight including undisputed status in the latter two divisions.

The American superstar is one of only four two-weight undisputed champions in the four-belt era alongside Oleksandr Usyk, Naoya Inoue, and Claressa Shields.

Despite his lofty achievements, Crawford is not the pound-for-pound number one fighter in the world, according to Ring Magazine.

He topped the list after defeating Errol Spence for all four major sanctioning body belts at 147lbs in July last year.

However, he has slipped down the rankings since his last fight.

Here, talkSPORT.com looks at the top 10 ratings via Ring magazine ahead of Crawford’s upcoming clash with Madrimov.

10. Errol Spence

Age: 34
Record: 28-1, 22 KOs

Spence may have been outclassed when he was knocked out by Crawford last year but there is no denying his excellent resume.

The American was a WBC, IBF, and WBA ‘super’ welterweight champion before running into ‘Bud’ and defeated the likes of Kell Brook, Shawn Porter, and Danny Garcia en route to becoming a unified world champion.

Spence was a dominant welterweight world championCredit: Ryan Hafey/PBC

9. Junto Nakatani

Age: 26
Record: 28-0, 21 KOs

Japan’s Junto Nakatani is one of the most exciting young fighters in the world.

Oleksandr Usyk cheers on Derek Chisora at ringside after his dramatic win against Joe Joyce

At just 26 years old, he is already a three-weight world champion with a flawless 28-0 record and is widely considered to be the best bantamweight in the world.

He beat Alexandro Santiago in February to pick up the green and gold strap and then defended it against Vincent Astrolabio in July. Now he is chasing unification clashes with the other three champions: Yoshiki Takei (WBO), Ryosuke Nishida (IBF), and Takuma Inoue (WBA)

8. Gervonta Davis

Age: 29
Record: 30-0, 28 KOs

‘Tank‘ burst onto the scene by stopping Jose Pedraza to become IBF super featherweight champion at 21 years old in 2017.

He has since gone on to win the WBA strap at lightweight and defeated Ryan Garcia last year in a fight that sold more than 1.2million domestic pay-per-views.

Davis is one of the face’s of boxingCredit: Esther Lin/PBC

7. Dmitry Bivol

Age: 33
Record: 23-0, 12 KOs

Dmitry Bivol has held the WBA light-heavyweight title since 2017 and has defended it 12 times, including a statement victory over Canelo Alvarez in 2022.

He is now set to face Artur Beterbiev on October 12 in a four-belt shootout that will prove who the best 175lber in the world is.

Bivol has held the WBA light-heavyweight title since 2017Credit: Mark Robinson/Matchroom

6. Artur Beterbiev

Age: 39
Record: 20-0, 20 KOs

Like Bivol, Beterbiev has been a light-heavyweight world champion since 2017.

He first won the IBF belt against Enrico Kolling in November 2017 before adding the WBC and WBO titles to his collection with wins over Oleksandr Gvozdyk and Joe Smith Jr.

Beterbiev is the WBC, IBF and WBO light-heavyweight world championCredit: Top Rank

5. Jesse Rodriguez

Age: 24
Record: 20-0, 13 KOs

Jesse Rodriguez is the youngest world champion in boxing right now at 24.

Rodriguez became WBC super-flyweight world champion at just 22 by beating Carlos Cuadras in February 2022. He defended the title twice and then moved down to flyweight where he picked up the WBO and IBF straps before returning to 115lbs to beat Juan Francisco Estrada for the WBC belt last month.

Rodriguez is the youngest world champion in boxing currentlyCredit: Amanda Westcott/Matchroom

4. Canelo Alvarez

Age: 34
Record: 61-2-2, 39 KOs

Canelo is a four-weight world champion from super-welterweight to light-heavyweight.

He was the undisputed super-middleweight world champion until the IBF recently stripped him of their belt after announcing his next against Edgar Berlanga this September.

Canelo was the undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO super-middleweight world champion, but has now been stripped of the IBFCredit: Esther Lin/PBC

3. Terence Crawford

Age: 36
Record: 40-0, 31 KOs

Crawford’s achievements were laid out in the intro but what wasn’t mentioned is the opposition he has faced.

During his 16-year tenure in the paid ranks, Crawford has beaten Julius Indongo, Spence, Brook, Amir Khan, Jeff Horn, Shawn Porter, and Ricky Burns.

Crawford is number one on the Lopez hitlistCredit: Getty

2. Naoya Inoue

Age: 31
Record: 27-0, 24 KOs

Inoue became the second male boxer to be a four-belt undisputed champion in two weight divisions behind Crawford when he knocked Marlon Tapales last December to unify the super bantamweight division.

‘The Monster’ previously collected all the belts at bantamweight and has also held world titles at light flyweight and flyweight.

Inoue is one of Mike Tyson’s favourite boxers and continues to be one of boxing’s biggest drawsCredit: Naoki Fukuda/Top Rank