The proliferation of titles makes it difficult for all but the most astute fans to determine the cream of the boxing crop.
That’s why Boxing Junkie came up with its “Great Eight” feature, which names the best fighter in each of the original eight weight classes –heavyweight, light heavyweight, middleweight, welterweight, lightweight, featherweight, bantamweight and flyweight.
Heavyweight includes cruiserweight (and the WBC’s bridgerweight), light heavyweight includes super middleweight, middleweight includes junior middleweight and so on.
In this installment of “Great Eight” we crown new champions at featherweight (plus junior featherweight) and bantamweight (plus junior bantamweight).
Here are the top fighters in the original eight divisions:
HEAVYWEIGHT
Tyson Fury (33-0-1, 24 KOs) – The top big man has a gimmie in his next fight, a lucrative, but ridiculous matchup with former MMA star Francis Ngannou on Oct. 28. An opponent with boxing experience should come next.
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHT
Dmitry Bivol (21-0, 11 KOs) – Canelo Alvarez opted to fight a 154-pounder (Jermell Charlo) instead of a 175-pounder (Alvarez’s conqueror Bivol) in his next fight. That leaves Bivol without an opponent. He wants to fight this fall.
MIDDLEWEIGHT
Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KOs) – The 154-pound champ is moving up to a different Great Eight division (175-168) to face Alvarez but he’ll probably fight at 160 or 154 afterward, which would allow him to maintain his place here.
WELTERWEIGHT
Terence Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) – Crawford left no doubt that he’s the best at 147 (and 140) with his sensational ninth-round knockout of rival Errol Spence Jr. on July 29. It will be difficult for him to top that performance.
LIGHTWEIGHT
Gervonta Davis (29-0, 27 KOs) – Devin Haney has the belts at 135 pounds. Shakur Stevenson might be the most gifted in the division. But it’s “Tank” who has made the strongest impression and has the deepest resume.
FEATHERWEIGHT
Naoya Inoue (25-0, 22 KOs) – Inoue turned in a Crawford-like performance on July 25 in Tokyo, where he dismantled Stephen Fulton Jr. in eight rounds to underscore his greatness and become champ of a second Great Eight division.
BANTAMWEIGHT
Juan Francisco Estrada (44-3, 28 KOs) – The 33-year-old Mexican replaces Inoue as the top man here because of his body of work, which includes two victories over the great Roman Gonzalez in his last three fights.
FLYWEIGHT
Sunny Edwards (20-0, 4 KOs) – The slick Englishman will be defending his spot here on Dec. 16 in Phoenix, where he’ll take on Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez in a 112-pound title-unification bout. The winner will be king here.
