Pound-for-pound: Did Isaac Cruz do enough against Rolando Romero to crack list?

Pound-for-pound: Did Isaac Cruz do enough against Rolando Romero to crack Boxing Junkie’s list?

Isaac Cruz made a strong impression with his eighth-round knockout of Rolando Romero on Saturday in Las Vegas.

But did the new 140-pound titleholder from Mexico do enough in that fight — and does he have the resume — to climb onto Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list?

Not quite.

Everyone agrees that Cruz is evolving into a formidable fighting machine, a pressure fighter with the fitness, durability and punching power to dominate opponents.

However, we shouldn’t overreact to a one-sided victory over Romero, a good, but limited fighter. And Cruz still doesn’t have a victory over a top-tier opponent, although he gave Gervonta Davis hell in defeat in 2021.

Bottom line: Cruz has to beat a pound-for-pounder or someone of that caliber to leave no doubt that he belongs with the best in the business.

And those matchups will come soon enough if Cruz (26-2-1, 18 KOs) continues to win. Perhaps showdowns with the likes of fellow beltholders Devin Haney or Teofimo Lopez — or maybe even a rematch with Davis — are in his near future.

A victory over any of the above would be enough to lift Cruz to the next level. Stay tuned.

What about Sebastian Fundora?

The new 154-pound champ defeated rising star Tim Tszyu by a split decision in the main event on Saturday, an accomplishment for which Fundora (21-1-1, 13 KOs) deserves credit.

However, we can’t draw firm conclusions because Tszyu was effectively blinded by blood in his eyes, the result of a ghastly cut on his hairline. Plus, Fundora was knocked out by Brian Mendoza in his previous fight.

Fundora’s time might come, just not now.

Next pound-for-pounder up: No. 10 Devin Haney is scheduled to defend his WBC 140-pound title against Ryan Garcia on April 20 on pay-per-view from Las Vegas.

Here’s what the list looks like at the moment:

BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND

  1. Terence Crawford – No fight scheduled.
  2. Naoya Inoue – Scheduled to defend his undisputed 122-pound championship against Luis Nery on May 6 in Japan.
  3. Oleksandr Usyk – Scheduled to face No. 9 Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight championship on May 18 in Saudi Arabia.
  4. Dmitry Bivol – Scheduled to face No. 12 Artur Beterbiev for the undisputed 175-pound championship on June 1 in Saudi Arabia.
  5. Juan Francisco Estrada – Scheduled to defend his 115-pound title against No. 11 Jesse Rodriguez on June 29 in Phoenix.
  6. Canelo Alvarez – Scheduled to face Jaime Munguia for the undisputed 168-pound championship on May 4 in Las Vegas.
  7. Jermell Charlo – No fight scheduled.
  8. Gervonta Davis – No fight scheduled.
  9. Tyson Fury – Scheduled to face No. 3 Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship on May 18 in Saudi Arabia.
  10. Devin Haney– Scheduled to defend his WBC 140-pound title against Ryan Garcia on April 20 in Las Vegas.
  11. Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez – Scheduled to face No. 5 Juan Francisco Estrada for Estrada’s 115-pound title on June 29 in Phoenix.
  12. Artur Beterbiev – Scheduled to face No. 4 Dmitry Bivol for the undisputed 175-pound championship on June 1 in Saudi Arabia.
  13. Errol Spence Jr. – No fight scheduled.
  14. Vasiliy Lomachenko – Scheduled to face George Kambosos Jr. for the vacant IBF 135-pound title May 12 in Australia.
  15. Shakur Stevenson– Reportedly near a deal to defend his 135-pound title against Artem Harutyunyan on July 6 in Newark, New Jersey.

Honorable mention (alphabetical order): David Benavidez (has agreed to fight 175-pounder Oleksandr Gvozdyk in June but no announcement has been made); Jermall Charlo (no fight scheduled); Roman Gonzalez (no fight scheduled); Kazuto Ioka (no fight scheduled); Teofimo Lopez (reportedly near a deal to defend his 140-pound title against Steve Claggett on June 29 in Miami).

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