A lot has been written regarding the pound for pound shake-up ever since Vasyl Lomachenko was knocked off his perch at the top of some media lists.
Lomachenko was regarded by many as the best boxer on the planet. That was until Teofimo Lopez took his opportunity with both hands.
For WBN, ‘Loma’ was certainly up there. His achievements in multiple weight classes spoke for themselves.
Before the Lopez fight, WBN had the formidable Ukrainian at number two, just behind Mexican superstar Canelo Alvarez.
Why was Canelo top? – Simply because there is no fighter in the world today who can match his status, accolades, pulling power, or skills inside those ropes.
Canelo is by far and away today’s number one in the sport of boxing. To WBN, it’s not even a close race.
So, who is second now that Lomachenko has dropped to number ten? – Well, step forward two-time heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
It’s hard enough for any top division puncher in any era to win the lineal title once during their career, and it’s an unbelievable achievement. So to do it twice is a rarity not seen too often in the fight game.
Therefore, the undefeated Fury has to be considered no matter if you believe heavyweights should be on the list or not.
Maybe Pound for Pound should be renamed? Those at 200 pounds are certainly not given the same recognition as the lower weights.
But if you are talking about achievement and manner of victories alone, two of the WBN P4P criteria, Fury more than earns his place.
Another big stipulation for a high appearance on the WBN list is defeating others who were pound for pound before you.
I mean, you can’t be pound for pound in any language unless you have defeated others who graced those rankings before you. Otherwise, it just doesn’t make sense.
That’s also a major factor in crowning Canelo the top dog.
Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. are way up on most American-based lists mainly due to their nationality, not the opponents they beat. That’s very apparent.
It depends on which major promotional company has the highest-profile event that week. This seems to have a huge effect on who is considered number one.
It’s not rocket science to take a step back, take off the blinkers, and look solely at those victories any one fighter has recorded. Clarity is everything.
On Crawford, compared in a WBN vs. ESPN P4P article last month, WBN justified that placing.
Of his 36 victories, only two were rated in the WBN Top 30 when Crawford beat them. And that was six years ago against Ricky Burns and Yuriorkis Gamboa.
Julius Indongo, who Crawford defeated in 2017, had sneaked into the Top 50 at that time but was never really seen as a top world-beater.
POUND FOR POUND DEBATE
Spence’s win over Shawn Porter did a lot to boost ‘The Truth’ up after what was pretty timid opposition before that.
Mikey Garcia was the only other marquee name on Spence’s resume. However, it’s no secret that the Californian was massively out-weighed and out-gunned.
Those two places for Crawford and Spence are usually the most commented on when it comes to the WBN list. But if you truly break it down, the reasoning is there and fully justified.
C.V. alone tells the story.
Once Spence beats Danny Garcia, a former top ten in his own right, Naoya Inoue’s place at four will certainly be under threat.
As for Crawford, beating a much-faded Kell Brook will do nothing at all for his claims to be any higher than his current occupancy at eight.
‘Bud’ firmly needs to beat a Spence, Thurman, or Pacquiao at 147 as his amazing efforts in gaining all the belts at 140 were over three years ago now.
Canelo and Fury are the top two clearly at the moment. That won’t be changing anytime soon.
WBN POUND FOR POUND TOP 10
1 Canelo Alvarez
2 Tyson Fury
3 Teofimo Lopez
4 Naoya Inoue
5 Errol Spence
6 Manny Pacquiao
7 Oleksandr Usyk
8 Terence Crawford
9 Juan Estrada
10 Vasyl Lomachenko
