Pound for pound: Josh Taylor slips down list after shaky performance

Pound for pound: Josh Taylor slips down the Boxing Junkie list after his shaky performance against Jack Catterall.

Josh Taylor hasn’t emerged unscathed after his narrow victory over Jack Catterall on Feb. 26 in Scotland.

Taylor (19-0, 13 KOs) retained his undisputed junior welterweight by a split decision but many observers believe Catterall was robbed, which damaged Taylor’s reputation.

As a result, he remains on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list but drops from No. 11 to No. 15.

Why didn’t Taylor drop off the list entirely? One, he won the fight. Two, he remains the undisputed 140-pound champion. And, three, it’s not appropriate to write off a proven champion after one shaky performance.

That said, he can’t afford another slip up if he hopes to retain his status as one of the best in the business.

Here is what the list looks like:

BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND

  1. Terence Crawford – No fight scheduled.
  2. Canelo Alvarez– Scheduled to challenge WBA light heavyweight titleholder Dmitry Bivol on May 7.
  3. Naoya Inoue – In talks to face Nonito Donaire in a rematch.
  4. Oleksandr Usyk – Career on hold because of the war in Ukraine.
  5. Errol Spence Jr. – Scheduled to face Yordenis Ugas in a welterweight title-unification bout on April 16 in Arlington, Texas.
  6. Tyson Fury– Scheduled to defend his heavyweight title against Dillian Whyte on April 23 in London.
  7. Vasiliy Lomachenko – Career on hold because of the war in Ukraine.
  8. Juan Francisco Estrada – No fight scheduled.
  9. Gennadiy Golovkin – Scheduled to face Ryota Murata in a middleweight title-unification fight on April 9 in Japan.
  10. Jermell Charlo – Rematch with Brian Castano is being targeted for May 14 but no official announcement has been made.
  11. Artur Beterbiev – In talks to face Joe Smith Jr. in a light heavyweight title-unification fight in June but no deal is in place.
  12. Gervonta Davis – No fight scheduled.
  13. Jermall Charlo – No fight scheduled.
  14. Kazuto Ioka – No fight scheduled.
  15. Josh Taylor – No fight scheduled.

Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Mairis Briedis (expected to defend his cruiserweight title against Jai Opetaia on April 6 but no official announcement has been made); Nonito Donaire (in talks to face Naoya Inoue in a rematch); George Kambosos (expected to defend his lightweight titles on June 5 but no opponent has been selected); Teofimo Lopez (no fight scheduled); and Yordenis Ugas (scheduled to face Errol Spence Jr. on April 16).