Pound for pound: No. 9 Gennadiy Golovkin holds position, other top fighters getting busy

Pound for pound: Gennadiy Golovkin has stayed put on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list while other top fighters are getting busy.

Gennadiy Golovkin did more than enough in his knockout victory over Ryota Murata on Saturday to retain his spot on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list. Even at 40.

Triple-G, ranked No. 9 going into the middleweight title-unification bout in Japan, overcame some early challenges to break down and then stop Murata in the ninth round.

Is Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) good enough to beat Canelo Alvarez if they meet a third time in September? Who knows? What we do know, based on his performance against Murata, is that he remains a formidable fighter even if he’s a step slower than he was.

Thus, he remains at No. 9 on the list for the time being.

Of course, changes could be on tap as a number of pound-for-pounders are scheduled to see action in the coming weeks.

No. 5 Errol Spence Jr. and Honorable Mention Yordenis Ugas are set for a welterweight title-unification showdown this coming Saturday in Arlington, Texas.

And eight other ranked fighters have scheduled bouts the next two months: No. 2 Alvarez (Dmitry Bivol), No. 3 Naoya Inoue (HM Nonito Donaire), No. 6 Tyson Fury (Dillian Whyte), No. 10 Jermell Charlo (Brian Castano), No. 12 Gervonta Davis (Rolando Romero), No. 13 Jermall Charlo (Maciej Sulecki) and HM George Kambosos (Devin Haney).

Plus, a few others – including Oleksandr Usyk and Artur Beterbiev – are near deals to fight soon.

Here is what the list looks like at the moment:

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 – Scheduled to face Nonito Donaire in a bantamweight title-unification rematch on June 7 in Japan.
  4. Oleksandr Usyk – In talks to defend his heavyweight titles against Anthony Joshua in a rematch.
  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 – No fight scheduled but expected to face Canelo Alvarez a third time in September.
  10. Jermell Charlo – Scheduled to face Brian Castano for the undisputed junior middleweight championship on May 14 in Carson, California.
  11. Artur Beterbiev – In talks to face Joe Smith Jr. in a light heavyweight title-unification fight on June 18 in New York but no deal is in place.
  12. Gervonta Davis – Scheduled to face Rolando Romero on May 28 in Brookly, New York.
  13. Jermall Charlo – Scheduled to defend his middleweight title against Maciej Sulecki on June 18 in Houston.
  14. Kazuto Ioka – The WBO has ordered a rematch between Ioka and Donnie Nietes for Ioka’s junior bantamweight belt but no deal is in place.
  15. Josh Taylor – No fight scheduled.

Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Mairis Briedis (no fight scheduled); Nonito Donaire (scheduled to face Naoya Inoue on June 7); George Kambosos (scheduled to defend his lightweight titles against Devin Haney on June 5); Teofimo Lopez (no fight scheduled); and Yordenis Ugas (scheduled to face Errol Spence Jr. on April 16).

Pound for pound: No. 9 Gennadiy Golovkin holds position, other top fighters getting busy

Pound for pound: Gennadiy Golovkin has stayed put on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list while other top fighters are getting busy.

Gennadiy Golovkin did more than enough in his knockout victory over Ryota Murata on Saturday to retain his spot on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list. Even at 40.

Triple-G, ranked No. 9 going into the middleweight title-unification bout in Japan, overcame some early challenges to break down and then stop Murata in the ninth round.

Is Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) good enough to beat Canelo Alvarez if they meet a third time in September? Who knows? What we do know, based on his performance against Murata, is that he remains a formidable fighter even if he’s a step slower than he was.

Thus, he remains at No. 9 on the list for the time being.

Of course, changes could be on tap as a number of pound-for-pounders are scheduled to see action in the coming weeks.

No. 5 Errol Spence Jr. and Honorable Mention Yordenis Ugas are set for a welterweight title-unification showdown this coming Saturday in Arlington, Texas.

And eight other ranked fighters have scheduled bouts the next two months: No. 2 Alvarez (Dmitry Bivol), No. 3 Naoya Inoue (HM Nonito Donaire), No. 6 Tyson Fury (Dillian Whyte), No. 10 Jermell Charlo (Brian Castano), No. 12 Gervonta Davis (Rolando Romero), No. 13 Jermall Charlo (Maciej Sulecki) and HM George Kambosos (Devin Haney).

Plus, a few others – including Oleksandr Usyk and Artur Beterbiev – are near deals to fight soon.

Here is what the list looks like at the moment:

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 – Scheduled to face Nonito Donaire in a bantamweight title-unification rematch on June 7 in Japan.
  4. Oleksandr Usyk – In talks to defend his heavyweight titles against Anthony Joshua in a rematch.
  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 – No fight scheduled but expected to face Canelo Alvarez a third time in September.
  10. Jermell Charlo – Scheduled to face Brian Castano for the undisputed junior middleweight championship on May 14 in Carson, California.
  11. Artur Beterbiev – In talks to face Joe Smith Jr. in a light heavyweight title-unification fight on June 18 in New York but no deal is in place.
  12. Gervonta Davis – Scheduled to face Rolando Romero on May 28 in Brookly, New York.
  13. Jermall Charlo – Scheduled to defend his middleweight title against Maciej Sulecki on June 18 in Houston.
  14. Kazuto Ioka – The WBO has ordered a rematch between Ioka and Donnie Nietes for Ioka’s junior bantamweight belt but no deal is in place.
  15. Josh Taylor – No fight scheduled.

Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Mairis Briedis (no fight scheduled); Nonito Donaire (scheduled to face Naoya Inoue on June 7); George Kambosos (scheduled to defend his lightweight titles against Devin Haney on June 5); Teofimo Lopez (no fight scheduled); and Yordenis Ugas (scheduled to face Errol Spence Jr. on April 16).