Could it be?
Could we finally be getting the fights we want in the lightweight division?
Last week’s announcement that George Kambosos and Devin Haney had agreed to terms for a June showdown in Australia was great news for boxing fans. Kambosos, 28, and Haney, 23, are two of the top fighters in the 135-pound division—who also hold all the belts. If Kambosos wins, he could get straight into a fight with Vasyl Lomachenko. If Haney wins, and Kambosos exercises his rematch clause, we could get two fights between them, with the winner taking on Lomachenko. (Hopefully none of these fighters pay the fee for the WBC’s “franchise” title and that belt goes in the waste bin it belongs.)
While Ryan Garcia and Gervonta Davis will be heavy favorites in their upcoming fights—Garcia will end a 15-month layoff against Emmanuel Tagoe on Saturday while Davis will face rival Rolando Romero in May—there are signs they could be headed for a collision. Davis declared on social media last month that the Romero fight was the last fight of his contract with Mayweather Promotions, which could free Davis to make a deal with the Golden Boy-promoted Garcia in a fight that would pit two of the most-popular fighters in the lower weight classes against each other.
Hey boxing: Don’t screw this up.
On to April’s pound-for-pound rankings …
Handout Photo/USA TODAY Sports
1 – Saul “Canelo” Álvarez
Record: 57-1-2
Last Month: 1
Last Fight: TKO win Caleb Plant
Next Fight: May 7 vs. Dmitry Bivol
In stopping Caleb Plant in November, Álvarez completed an astonishing 11-month stretch that featured three wins over undefeated fighters (Plant, Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders) while collecting all four super middleweight titles, becoming the first undisputed 168-pound champion in the four-belt era. Up next: Bivol, the light heavyweight titleholder and the fourth unbeaten opponent Álvarez has faced in his last five fights. If Canelo wins, get ready: Álvarez and Gennadiy Golovkin have agreed to terms to meet for a third time in September.
2 – Terence Crawford
Record: 38-0
Last Month: 2
Last Fight: TKO win Shawn Porter
Next Fight: TBD
If there was a criticism of Crawford it was that his résumé at 147 lbs was relatively weak. That criticism faded after Crawford became the first fighter to stop Porter, dropping him twice in the tenth round last fall before Porter’s corner threw in the towel. Crawford, 34, is now a promotional free agent, though there has been an eerie silence about his future. Errol Spence said recently he hopes a showdown with Crawford can happen this year. Can PBC make the money work?
3 – Oleksandr Usyk
Record: 19-0
Last Month: 3
Last Fight: UD win Anthony Joshua
Next Fight: TBA vs. Anthony Joshua
Three years removed from winning the undisputed cruiserweight, Usyk picked up three pieces of the heavyweight title, stunning Anthony Joshua in October. Usyk looked like an elite heavyweight in his third fight in the division, blending high-level skills—Usyk won gold in the 2012 Olympics at heavyweight—with a filled out frame. After spending most of March in war-torn Ukraine, Usyk has left his country to begin training camp for the rematch with Joshua, tentatively scheduled for June.
4 – Naoya Inoue
Record: 22-0
Last Month: 4
Last Fight: TKO win vs. Aran Dipaen
Next Fight: June 7 vs. Nonito Donaire
The unified bantamweight title holder is the most devastating puncher in the lighter weight classes, with all but three of his wins coming by knockout. He picked up an eighth-round TKO win over Aran Dipaen in December. Up next: A rematch with Nonito Donaire, the biggest fight in the 118-pound division.
5 – Errol Spence Jr.
Record: 27-0
Last Month: 5
Last Fight: UD win Danny Garcia
Next Fight: April 16 vs. Yordenis Ugas
Spence, 31, is the most accomplished fighter in the 147-pound division, with wins over Danny Garcia, Mikey Garcia, Shawn Porter and Kell Brook. An eye injury forced Spence to withdraw from a high profile fight against Manny Pacquiao, but he is back in April for a title unification fight against Yordenis Ugas. A win over Ugas would further solidify Spence’s place atop the weight class. But will it lead to a showdown with Crawford?
6 – Tyson Fury
Record: 31-0-1
Last Month: 6
Last Fight: KO win Deontay Wilder
Next Fight: April 23 vs. Dillian Whyte
Rarely do heavyweights appear on pound-for-pound lists, but Fury, 33, blends impressive boxing skills with a strong résumé. Early career wins over Dereck Chisora and Wladimir Klitschko have been eclipsed by back-to-back knockouts of Deontay Wilder. While awaiting the winner of the Oleksandr Usyk-Anthony Joshua rematch, Fury will face Whyte—later this month in what will be a huge showdown between two top British fighters.
7 – Josh Taylor
Record: 19-0
Last Month: 7
Last Fight: SD win Jack Catterall
Next Fight: TBD
Taylor, 31, followed up a clean sweep of the World Boxing Super Series 140-pound tournament—which included wins over then unbeaten Ryan Martin, Ivan Baranchyk and Regis Prograis—with a title unifying win over Jose Ramirez this year and a narrow, and hotly disputed, decision over Jack Catterall. Taylor appears headed for 147-pounds, where Top Rank could attempt to make a deal for Taylor to face Crawford for a fight between two former undisputed junior welterweight champions.
Courtesy of Mikey Williams/Top Rank
8 – Vasyl Lomachenko
Record: 16-2
Last Month: 8
Last Fight: UD win Richard Commey
Next Fight: TBD
No titles, no problem for Lomachenko, who even belt-less is the most talented fighter in the 135-pound division. A dominant decision win over Richard Commey in December was Loma’s second straight since an upset loss to Teofimo Lopez in 2020. The question now: What will Lomachenko do next? The war in Ukraine forced Lomachenko to pass on an agreed-upon deal to face George Kambosos. It’s likely Lomachenko will wait to see how Kambosos’s fight with Devin Haney plays out in June before making a decision on his next fight.
9 - Roman Gonzalez
Record: 51-3
Last Month: 9
Last Fight: UD win Julio Cesar Martinez
Next Fight: TBD
The Chocolatito train rolled along in February, with Gonzalez scoring a dominant decision win over Martinez. Gonzalez, 34, has enjoyed a resurgence since absorbing back-to-back knockout losses to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in 2017, with wins over Khalid Yafai and Israel Gonzalez, before being on the wrong end of a questionable decision to Juan Francisco Estrada. In pounding the younger Martinez, Gonzalez proved he still has plenty left in the tank. And in a loaded 115-pound division, there are more big fights ahead for him.
10 – Nonito Donaire
Record: 42-6
Last Month: 10
Last Fight: KO win Reymart Gaballo
Next Fight: June 7 vs. Naoya Inoue
Rarely do you see fighters in their late 30s surge in the pound-for-pound rankings. But there are not many fighters like Donaire, who at 39 picked up his second straight win since a decision defeat to Inoue in 2020, stopping Gaballo, a fellow Filipino, in the fourth round. Since returning to 118 pounds in ’18, Donaire has won four of his last five, showcasing devastating power along the way. This year could be even bigger: Donaire is locked into a rematch with Inoue, a battle for bantamweight supremacy.
