Does Oleksandr Usyk rise to the top of the list?

Oleksandr Usyk delivered the performance of his life on Saturday in Saudi Arabia, rallying to defeat giant Tyson Fury by split decision to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion in a quarter of a century.

But will it be enough to put No. 3-ranked Usyk ahead of No. 1 and No. 2 Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list?

ARE NOT.

Usyk (22-0, 14 KO) deserves consideration for the top spot after knocking out Anthony Joshua in back-to-back fights in 2021 and 2022, stopping Daniel Dubois in nine rounds in August and now making Fury suffered the first loss of his career.

It was a terrible run by any standards. And the former cruiserweight champion did it against naturally big men who would have had a hard time competing with him if he were their size. That clearly works in his favor in the weight debate.

So why isn’t he number 1?

Let’s start with Crawford and Inoue. The talented stars in the lower weight classes don’t have as much of a resume as Usyk, but they’ve dominated contender after contender to climb to the top of the list and show no signs of weakness.

Remember: We were surprised when Crawford knocked out Errol Spence Jr. and Inoue got up from the knockdown to destroy Luis Nery just as we were watching Usyk’s historic victory over Fury.

And while we must keep in mind the size difference between Usyk and his heavyweights, he did not dwarf Joshua or Fury and benefited from a controversial referee’s decision – one The shot to the body was considered a low blow – against Dubois to maintain his perfect score.

Fury believes he did enough against Usyk to get the decision, which isn’t too far-fetched given the tense back-and-forth fight. If things go Fury’s way, we wouldn’t even say Usyk is a potential No. 1.

None of the above is intended to disparage Usyk’s achievements. He has proven over the past two years that he is not only the top heavyweight of the moment but also one of the greatest of all time, which is the highest compliment in boxing. .

He still hasn’t done enough to surpass two other future Hall of Famers, Crawford and Inoue.

Of course, we must add one thing: If Usyk fights and defeats Fury again – especially if the second time is more convincing – we will have to reconsider the decision to put him at No. 3 .

What about Fury, who enters Saturday in ninth place? He dropped to 11th – below Bam Rodriguez and Artur Beterbiev – after a disastrous performance against Francis Ngannou in October and defeat to Usyk on Saturday.

And obviously, Fury can also change his destiny if he can turn the tables on Usyk in a rematch.

Up next: No. 8 Gervonta Davis will face Frank Martin and No. 15 David Benavidez will fight Oleksandr Gvozdyk on the same card on June 15 in Las Vegas.

Here is the current list:

ATTRACTIVE AUTHORITY PEOPLE
POUND-FOR-POUND

1. Terence Crawford – Expected to challenge the defending 154-pound champion

   Israil Madrimov on August 3 in Los Angeles.

2. Naoya Inoue – There is no match schedule.
3. Oleksandr Usyk – No match schedule.
4. Dmitry Bivol – His bout with No. 12 Artur Beterbiev for the undisputed 175-pound championship, originally scheduled for June 1, was postponed after Beterbiev injured his knee.
5. Juan Francisco Estrada – Expected to defend his 115-pound title against No. 11 Jesse Rodriguez on June 29 in Phoenix.
6. Canelo Alvarez – There is no match schedule.
7. Jermell Charlo – There is no match schedule.
8. Gervonta Davis – Expected to defend his 135-pound title against Frank Martin on June 15 in Las Vegas.
9. Jesse “Bam” Rodríguez – Scheduled to face No. 5 Juan Francisco Estrada for Estrada’s 115-pound title on June 29 in Phoenix.
10. Artur Beterbiev – His bout with No. 4 Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed 175-pound championship, originally scheduled for June 1, was postponed after Beterbiev injured his knee.
11. Tyson was angry – There is no match schedule.
12. Errol Spence Jr. – There is no match schedule.
13. Vasily Lomachenko – There is no match schedule.
14. Shakur Stevenson – There is no match schedule.
15. David Benavidez – Scheduled to fight 175-pounder Oleksandr Gvozdyk on June 15 in Las Vegas.

honorable mention (alphabetically): Jermall Charlo (no match schedule); Roman Gonzalez (no match schedule); Kazuto Ioka (scheduled to face Fernando Martinez in a 115-pound title unification bout on July 7 in Tokyo); Teofimo López (scheduled to defend his 140-pound title against Steve Claggett on June 29 in Miami); Junto Nakatani (scheduled to defend his 118-pound title against Vincent Astrolabio on July 20 in Tokyo).