Last week, as the buzz built for a future showdown between Terence Crawford and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, Crawford refused to engage in it. Yes, Crawford said, Alvarez represented a legacy fight, a once-unlikely showdown between two pound-for-pound greats. But Crawford needed to get through Israil Madrimov first.
Crawford did, edging Madrimov last Saturday by unanimous decision (UD). Madrimov, a decorated amateur with just 11 pro fights, was a handful. His steady diet of feints made him difficult to time and his long power jab forced the frequently switching Crawford to fight southpaw most of the night. Entering the 11th round, Crawford was tied on two of the three judges’ scorecards. He needed to sweep both to win—and did just that.
The numbers reflect the fight’s competitiveness. Four or less punches landed separated Crawford and Madrimov in 11 of the 12 rounds, per CompuBox. Crawford held a significant edge in activity, throwing 158 more punches, with Madrimov holding a wide advantage in accuracy (30.5% to 21.9%). Crawford’s jab was his most effective weapon (he landed 21 more than Madrimov), with Madrimov connecting on 10 more power shots.
“He had fast feet, he had good rhythm upstairs and he was strong,” Crawford told me after the fight. “He was waiting to counter me just like I was waiting to counter him. He fought a good fight.”
The win established Crawford as a four-division world champion, burnishing a Hall of Fame résumé. But did it reestablish Crawford as boxing’s pound-for-pound No. 1? On to Sports Illustrated’s latest rankings.
1. Terence Crawford
Record: 41–0
Last Ranking: 2
Last Fight: Unanimous decision (UD) win vs Israil Madrimov
Next Fight: TBD
Crawford continues to build on one of boxing’s most impressive résumés: Four-division world champion, two-division undisputed champion and less than two months shy of his 37th birthday, a return to pound-for-pound No. 1. Future options include a showdown with Alvarez or a pursuit of undisputed status at 154 pounds.
2. Oleksandr Usyk
Record: 22–0
Last Rankings: 1
Last Fight: Split decision (SD) win vs. Tyson Fury
Next Fight: 12/21 vs. Fury
Usyk is one of the most accomplished fighters ever. An Olympic gold medalist and former undisputed cruiserweight champion Usyk, 37, added undisputed heavyweight champion to his résumé with a win over Fury in May. Usyk dropped Fury in the ninth round of that fight, adding heavyweight power to some of boxing’s best technique. Usyk will face Fury in a rematch in December in Saudi Arabia with a chance to go 4–0 against the U.K.’s top heavyweights—Fury and Anthony Joshua—and earn a pile of money in the process.
3. Naoya Inoue
Record: 27–0
Last Ranking: 3
Last Fight: Technical knockout (TKO) win vs. Luis Nery
Next Fight: 9/3 vs. TJ Doheny
It feels disrespectful to place an undefeated, two-division undisputed champion third but such is the state of the top of the sport. In May, Inoue overcame a first-round knockdown to stop Nery—the eighth straight opponent he has knocked out. While there has been talk of Inoue, 31, moving up to 126 pounds, the plan is to remain at 122 for at least a few more fights. Up next is a matchup with former super bantamweight title holder Doheny, who has won three fights in a row.
4. Jesse Rodriguez
Record: 20–0
Last Ranking: 4
Last Fight: Knockout (KO) win vs. Juan Francisco Estrada
Next Fight: TBD
The meteoric rise of Rodriguez, 24, continued with a brutal beating of Estrada, who said he intended to exercise his rematch clause after the fight. If he does, a Rodriguez-Estrada rematch could take place in December. If he doesn’t, Rodriguez, who says he has “two or three fights” at 115 pounds, is targeting Fernando Martinez, the unified champion at 115. And after that? The buzz is growing for a showdown between Rodriguez and Inoue, a matchup Rodriguez calls a “fantasy fight” but one that is inching closer to reality.
5. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez
Record: 61–2–2
Last Ranking: 5
Last Fight: UD win vs. Jaime Munguia
Next Fight: 9/14 vs. Edgar Berlanga
If we learned anything from Alvarez’s win over Munguia in May it’s that Canelo is running out of opponents at 168 pounds. Alvarez dominated Munguia, dropping the Mexican star in the fourth round and wobbling him in the 12th. With David Benavidez moving to 175 pounds—and Canelo showing no interest in facing him—the pickings at super middleweight are slim. Canelo will face heavy handed 168-pound contender Berlanga, the mandatory challenger for one of Alvarez’s belts, in September.
6. Dmitry Bivol
Record: 23–0
Last Ranking: 6
Last Fight: TKO win vs. Malik Zinad
Next Fight: 10/21 vs. Artur Beterbiev
After a scheduled unification fight against Beterbiev was scuttled, Bivol dominated the unheralded Zinad, picking up his first knockout win in six years. Immediately afterward, Turki Alalshikh, the Saudi Arabian government official who has turned the Middle Eastern country into a boxing hotbed, announced that Bivol and Beterbiev would meet for the undisputed light heavyweight title in October.
7. Shakur Stevenson
Record: 21–0
Last Ranking: 7
Last Fight: UD win vs. Edwin De Los Santos
Next Fight: TBD
Stevenson, 27, successfully defended his 135-pound title in a one-sided decision against Artem Harutyunyan last month, flashing the skills and defensive prowess that have made him a three-division world champion. The fight was Stevenson’s last with Top Rank, freeing him to pursue the legacy-defining fights that have eluded him. And he will likely get one this fall, with talks intensifying for either a domestic showdown with Gervonta Davis or a fight with top contender William Zepeda, which could land in Saudi Arabia in October.
8. Artur Beterbiev
Record: 20–0
Last Ranking: 8
Last fight: TKO win vs. Callum Smith
Next fight: 10/21 vs. Bivol
Beterbiev’s body may be breaking down but when healthy enough to get in the ring, he continues to be impressive. In January, just days before his 39th birthday, Beterbiev picked up one of the most impressive wins of his career, a crushing seventh-round knockout win over Smith. Beterbiev’s defense was sharp, his footwork excellent and he used a short right hand to drop Smith in the seventh round. An injury forced Beterbiev out of a scheduled unification fight with Bivol, but Beterbiev will get another chance in October, when the two biggest names at light heavyweight will meet in Saudi Arabia.
9. Gervonta Davis
Record: 29–0
Last Ranking: 9
Last Fight: KO win vs. Frank Martin
Next Fight: TBD
No lead is safe against Davis, who in June made Martin his latest knockout victim. Davis is a predator in the ring, willing to give up a few rounds on the scorecards while he is closing distance and finishing as well as any fighter in the smaller weight classes. Still, calls are intensifying for Davis to face a top-level opponent. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum says there have been preliminary talks for a Davis-Vasyl Lomachenko fight while Stevenson has publicly called for a unification fight against Davis at 135 pounds. There’s also Isaac Cruz, who Davis defeated in 2021. Cruz will defend his 140-pound title on August 3 and is eager to face Davis in a rematch.
10. Devin Haney
Record: 31–0
Last Ranking: 5
Last Fight: No contest (NC) vs. Ryan Garcia
Next Fight: TBD
I get it—Haney is polarizing. But with his loss to Garcia officially changed to a no contest, Haney deserves to remain in the pound-for-pound rankings. His résumé is impressive: Wins over Jorge Linares, George Kambosos and Lomachenko at 135 pounds; and a lopsided decision victory over Regis Prograis in his first fight at 140 pounds. Haney absorbed a beating against Garcia but the combination of Garcia blowing weight and testing positive for a banned substance mitigates it. Haney is likely to sit out the rest of 2024 before pursuing a rematch with Garcia in ’25.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Terence Crawford Climbs Atop SI’s Latest Boxing Pound-for-Pound Rankings.
