Josh Taylor added significantly to his pound-for-pound credentials by outpointing Jose Ramirez to become undisputed 140-pound champ Saturday in Las Vegas.
But what’s his appropriate position on Boxing Junkie’s list? That wasn’t an easy decision.
On one hand, Taylor, who entered the week as an Honorable Mention, has defeated Regis Prograis and Jose Ramirez in a span of three fights and his last six victims had a combined record of 136-1. That’s beyond impressive.
A Top-10 ranking would be justified.
On the other hand, Taylor almost gave away what could’ve been a more-convincing victory on Saturday. He put Ramirez down twice in the middle rounds to take control of the fight but became passive and was outworked in the final third of the fight.
All three judges scored it 114-112, meaning the fight would’ve been a draw had Ramirez remained on his feet. Boxing Junkie had the same score.
In the end, Taylor gave a strong overall performance to beat an elite opponent to become the sixth undisputed champion in the four-belt era. He certainly deserves credit for that.
Thus, the 30-year-old Scottish fighter jumps from Honorable Mention to No. 13 on the list, between No. 12 Jermell Charlo and No. 14 Artur Beterbiev.
And, of course, Taylor could get the opportunity to climb much higher on the list. He’s expected to defend his titles against Jack Catterall next and possibly then challenge 147-pound champ and No. 1-rated Terence Crawford.
For the record, Boxing Junkie took advantage of Taylor’s victory to make other minor adjustments to the list.
Here is where the pound-for-pounders stand.
BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND
- Terence Crawford — No fight scheduled.
- Canelo Alvarez – Expected to fight Caleb Plant to unify all four major 168-pound titles in September but no deal is in place.
- Naoya Inoue — Scheduled to fight Michael Dasmarinas on June 19 in Las Vegas.
- Errol Spence Jr. – Scheduled to face Manny Pacquiao in a welterweight title-unification bout on Aug. 21, although no formal announcement has been made.
- Oleksandr Usyk – In talks to challenge heavyweight titleholder Anthony Joshua this summer.
- Teofimo Lopez — Scheduled to defend his 135-pound titles against George Kambosos Jr. on June 19 in Miami.
- Vasiliy Lomachenko — Scheduled to fight Masayoshi Nakatani on June 26 in Las Vegas.
- Tyson Fury – Scheduled to defend his heavyweight title against Deontay Wilder on July 24 in Las Vegas.
- Juan Francisco Estrada — The WBC announced that Estrada will meet Roman Gonzalez in a third fight as part of a junior bantamweight tournament but nothing is official.
- Gennadiy Golovkin — Reportedly in talks to face Ryota Murata in a middleweight title-unification fight in December. Also rumored to be considering an interim fight against Esquiva Falcao.
- Mikey Garcia — No fight scheduled.
- Jermell Charlo — Scheduled to face Brian Castano in a 154-pound title-unification fight on July 17.
- Josh Taylor — Expected to face mandatory challenger Jack Catterall in his next fight but no deal is in place.
- Artur Beterbiev — Reportedly in talks to face Joe Smith Jr. in a light heavyweight title-unification bout this fall.
- Manny Pacquiao — Scheduled to face No. 4 Errol Spence Jr. in a welterweight title-unification bout on Aug. 21.
Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Mairis Briedis (no fight scheduled), Jermall Charlo (scheduled to face Juan Montiel on June 19), Gervonta Davis (scheduled to face Mario Barrios in a 140-pound bout on June 26), Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (the WBC announced that Sor Rungvisai will meet Carlos Cuadras as part of a junior bantamweight tournament but nothing is official), and Oscar Valdez (expected to defend his title against Robson Conceicao in late summer or fall but nothing is official).
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