Julian Williams had said that his goal was to become the No. 1 fighter pound-for-pound. Well, that’s going to be a lot more difficult now.
Williams, who had been an honorable mention on the Boxing Junkie list of best fighters, was knocked out in five rounds by relatively obscure Jeison Rosario to lose his junior middleweight titles Saturday in Philadelphia.
“JRock” probably will get another crack at Rosario because of a rematch clause. However, even a victory would only be a small step toward pound-for-pound supremacy.
Williams rebounded from disappointment before, climbing back to elite status after he was knocked out by Jermall Charlo. But coming back from two knockouts? That’s not easy.
Alas, Williams is off our list after his setback Saturday. Replacing him as an honorable mention is Teofimo Lopez, the unbeaten lightweight titleholder who is coming off a sensational second-round knockout of Richard Commey in December.
Lopez, 22, could face his own Waterloo soon; he’s negotiating to meet Vasiliy Lomachenko, Boxing Junkie’s No. 1 fighter. Of course, a victory would catapult Lopez into the Top 10.
You just never know. Ask Williams.
Check out our pound-for-pound list below. And let us know what you think.
BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND
- Vasiliy Lomachenko
- Terence Crawford
- Canelo Alvarez
- Naoya Inoue
- Oleksandr Usyk
- Gennadiy Golovkin
- Errol Spence Jr.
- Juan Francisco Estrada
- Mikey Garcia
- Artur Beterbiev
- Josh Taylor
- Manny Pacquiao
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
- Leo Santa Cruz
- Kosei Tanaka
Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Miguel Berchelt, Mairis Briedis, Tyson Fury, Teofimo Lopez, Shawn Porter