Pound-for-pound: 5 fights that could shake things up

Here are five fights that could shake up the Boxing Junkie pound-for-pound list.

The Boxing Junkie pound-for-pound list could look considerably different in the next few months.

At least 14 of the 20 fighters on our list — the Top 15 and five honorable mentions — are scheduled or expected to fight before the end of the year, several of them before the end of next month.

No. 12 Josh Taylor fights mandatory challenge Apinun Khongsong this coming Saturday in London. On the same day, honorable mention Mairis Briedis faces Yuniel Dorticos in the World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight final in Munich.

Those at least tentatively set to fight next month: No. 1 Vasiliy Lomachenko (vs. honorable mention Teofimo Lopez), No. 4 Naoya Inoue (vs. Jason Moloney), No. 5 Oleksandr Usyk (vs. Derek Chisora), Juan Carlos Estrada (vs. Carlos Cuadras) and No. 15 Leo Santa Cruz (vs. Gervonta Davis).

The rest of the 14 probably will fight before 2021. The remaining six? Several probably will fight early next year while the fate of a few — Canelo Alvarez and Manny Pacquiao, for example — is utterly uncertain.

On top of all that, the winners of the two featured fights on the pay-per-view card this Saturday — Jermall Charlo vs. Sergiy Derevyanchenko and Jermell Charlo vs. Jeison Rosario — will probably get serious pound-for-pound consideration, particularly if they dominate.

So which upcoming matchups are most likely to alter our pound-for-pound list? Here are five that could shake things up.

Gervonta Davis (left, against Jesus Cuellar) will be a handful for Leo Santa Cruz. AP Photo / Frank Franklin II
  1. No. 15 Leo Santa Cruz (37-1-1, 19 KOs) vs. Gervonta Davis (23-0, 22 KOs, Oct. 24: Santa Cruz, who will be defending his 130-pound title, is ranked here and more experienced than Davis but the challenger is naturally bigger, probably more gifted and definitely more explosive. That’s why Davis is around a 2½-to-1 favorite in the fight. Santa Cruz could outwork Davis, as he does against most opponents, but he’ll have his work cut out. Davis most likely will climb onto the list if he wins.
  2. No. 1 Vasiliy Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KOs) vs HM Teofimo Lopez (15-0, 12 KOs), Oct. 17: Yes, the man on top is in danger of being knocked off. Lomachenko is around a 3-to-1 favorite but don’t let that fool you. The Ukrainian is probably the most-gifted active fighter but, at 32, some believe he’s slipping. If that’s the case, this could be Lopez’s breakthrough victory. The Honduran-American has everything but an abundance of experience. He’s skillful, fast and powerful, and has a nasty streak that fans love. No one will be shocked if Lopez wins.
  3. No. 7 Errol Spence Jr. (26-0, 21 KOs) vs. Danny Garcia (36-2, 21 KOs), Nov. 21: Spence is around a 5-to-1 favorite, which seems about right. The welterweight titleholder is both talented and naturally bigger than Garcia, who was at his best at 140 pounds. Two things, though. One, Garcia is an elite fighter who has demonstrated over and over again that he knows how to win. And, two, Spence hasn’t fought since his horrific car accident in October. Garcia was a threat to Spence at his best. If he’s not 100 percent? An upset becomes likely.
  4. Jermell Charlo (33-1, 17 KOs) vs. Jeison Rosario (20-1-1, 14 KOs), Sept. 26: Charlo would probably be on the list now if he hadn’t slipped up in his first fight with Tony Harrison. He got his revenge by knockout, though. And he will be impossible to ignore if he can beat this Dominican beast. Rosario doesn’t have a deep resume but he’s coming off a huge upset stoppage of Julian Williams. If he can beat Williams and Charlo back to back, well, he will have demonstrated that he’s one of the best fighters in the world. And it could happen.
  5. Mairis Briedis (26-1, 19 KOs) vs. Yuniel Dorticos (24-1, 22 KOs), Sept. 26: Briedis proved what he’s made of when he fought Oleksanr Usyk on even terms before losing a razor-thin majority decision in 2018. The Latvian, who can do it all, has since reached the final of the WBSS tournament, stopping Krzysztof Glowacki in the semis. Dorticos is no pushover. The Cuban can box and punch, as his record indicates. A victory over Briedis — around a 2-to-1 favorite — would lift him to star status. And it won’t be shocking if he does.

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No. 1 Vasiliy Lomachenko is in training for his Oct. 17 fight against Teofimo Lopez. Richard Heathcote / Getty Images

BOXING JUNKIE

POUND-FOR-POUND

  1. Vasiliy Lomachenko
  2. Terence Crawford
  3. Canelo Alvarez
  4. Naoya Inoue
  5. Oleksandr Usyk
  6. Gennadiy Golovkin
  7. Errol Spence Jr.
  8. Tyson Fury
  9. Juan Francisco Estrada
  10. Mikey Garcia
  11. Artur Beterbiev
  12. Josh Taylor
  13. Manny Pacquiao
  14. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
  15. Leo Santa Cruz

Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Miguel Berchelt, Mairis Briedis, Teofimo Lopez, Shawn Porter and Kosei Tanaka