By Norm Frauenheim
A consensus pound-for-pound champion is as temporary as it is rare, and — sure enough — Terence Crawford’s retirement this month reignites the debate about who’s No. 1.
Nobody is.
That’s an opinion, of course, but that’s all a pound-for-pound rating is anyway.
From this corner, the top spot is empty. In acronym-speak, it’s vacant and will remain so until somebody delivers a victory that’s proof of ownership.
For now, there are two contenders, both worthy. Take your pick, heavyweight Oleksandr Usyk or junior-featherweight Naoya Inoue, who was a 40-to-1 favorite to stay in contention before his bout Saturday against Allen David Picasso in Riyadh.
One rating already has filled the top spot. The Ring, Saudi-owned since it was purchased 14 months ago from Oscar De La Hoya, put Usyk into the top spot, moving him up like a passenger waiting in line for an open seat.
It was simple enough and somewhat expected. Usyk had been there, off and on, before Crawford left no doubt with his masterful decision over Canelo Alvarez in mid-September.
Even if Crawford makes a comeback nine months from now, his last fight serves as a guide, a lesson of sorts. To wit: One of boxing’s oldest debates should be driven more by performance than process.
Usyk and Inoue have resumes comparable to Crawford’s. Each is unbeaten; each has multiple belts at multiple weights. But neither has the kind of singular performance the equal of Crawford’s last triumph. Not yet.
With Crawford’s retirement, Inoue is the only undisputed champion in the pound-for-pound top 10. Even that, however, is part process. Usyk relinquished a piece of his undisputed title in November when he gave up the World Boxing Organization’s heavyweight version.
He did so because of another process: Healing. Lingering injuries from his last fight prevented him from fulfilling a so-called mandatory date laid down by the acronym’s bureaucracy.
For now, we wait on Usyk’s next date, perhaps against the faded Deontay Wilder. Talks are said to be ongoing.
For now, we also wait on Inoue’s next real challenge. Prohibitive odds said it wouldn’t be against Picasso, a fighter with an artistic name and in need of something surreal to pull off a Buster Douglas-like upset.
It’s expected that Inoue’s chance at a definitive performance might happen early May in Japan against Junto Nakatani — also unbeaten and ranked among the pound-for-pound’s second five. Inoue-Nakatani is already being called the greatest prize-fight in Japanese history.
It’s no coincidence that Nakatani shared the Riyadh card with Inoue in a bout against Sebastian Hernandez, unbeaten before opening bell yet fighting a scheduled 12-rounder for the first time. It sets up what powerful promoter Akihiko Honda – Mr. Honda – has been planning for a couple of years.
Until at least then, there’s a vacancy at the top of this pound-for-pound debate.
