Of all of the pound-for-pound stars parading the game proper now, Sergey Kovalev doubts there’s a extra full package deal than one champion, specifically.
Kovalev himself was considered as one of many prime pound-for-pound fighters at varied phases in his profession, turning into a a number of time gentle heavyweight world champion.
For a lot of, the world’s number-one present fighter is a toss-up between Oleksandr Usyk and Terence Crawford, although the likes of Naoya Inoue, Dmitry Bivol and Jesse Rodriguez are all sizzling on their heels.
Based mostly on their extraordinary accolades and longevity within the sport, nevertheless, it’s only proper that Usyk and Crawford are thought-about the 2 main candidates.
Fairly remarkably, the latter cemented his greatness with a victory over Canelo Alvarez in September, dethroning the then-super-middleweight king to turn into a three-division undisputed champion.
Earlier wins over Israil Madrimov and Errol Spence Jr solely enhanced Crawford’s legacy throughout 5 weight courses, particularly 147lbs, the place he’s extensively thought to be one of many all-time greats.
That mentioned, it may maybe be argued that Usyk boasts a slightly extra spectacular resume, with notable victories over the likes of Mairis Briedis and Murat Gassiev consolidating his greatness at cruiserweight. The masterful Ukrainian then moved as much as heavyweight and decisively outpointed Anthony Joshua on two events, earlier than turning into a two-weight undisputed champion towards Tyson Fury final 12 months.
Following his second factors victory over Fury, Usyk additionally collected a second win over Daniel Dubois, who he stopped within the fifth spherical of their rematch in July.
However whereas there may be barely a whisker to separate Usyk and Crawford – each 38 years outdated and undefeated – former light-heavyweight world champion Kovalev was nonetheless fast to inform Combat Hub TV that he favours ‘Bud’.
“For me, [it’s] Crawford. I like this man; I like his [mindset], his type. Yeah, Crawford for me.”
With all that mentioned, Kovalev’s take should now change with the latest information that Crawford has retired from the game of boxing, placing him into the Corridor of Fame dialog fairly than the energetic pound-for-pound record. The American shut down discuss of a Canelo rematch with a sudden announcement that he has hung up the gloves as undefeated, five-division world champion.
