Pound-for-pound: Where does Artur Beterbiev land after his dominating victory?

Pound-for-pound: Where does Artur Beterbiev land after his dominating knockout victory over Callum Smith?

Artur Beterbiev demonstrated in his impressive seventh-round stoppage of Callum Smith on Jan. 13 that he’s at the peak of his abilities as he approaches his 39th birthday.

The 175-pound champion now has 20 knockouts in as many fights.

Where does his latest victory leave him on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list?

Beterbiev entered the fight at No. 14, below Nos. 12 and 13 Errol Spence Jr. and Vasiliy Lomachenko, both of whom are coming off losses in their most recent fights.

Thus, Beterbiev jumps up two spots to No. 12, directly below No. 11 Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, who is coming off a sensational ninth-round knockout of previously unbeaten Sunny Edwards last month.

Of course, Beterbiev’s place on the list is tenuous: He and No. 4 Dmitry Bivol have reportedly agreed to meet for the undisputed 175-pound championship in late spring or summer, which would be the toughest matchup of Beterbiev’s career.

Spence (now No. 13) has no fight scheduled. Lomachenko (No. 14) reportedly will face George Kambosos Jr. for a vacant 135-pound title on May 12 in Australia, which would give the Ukrainian a chance to move back up the list.

Next pound-for-pounder up: Honorable Mention Teofimo Lopez is scheduled to defend his WBO 140-pound title against Jamaine Ortiz on Feb. 8 in 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 – No fight scheduled.
  3. Oleksandr Usyk – Scheduled to face fellow titleholder and No. 9 Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight championship on Feb. 17 in Saudi Arabia.
  4. Dmitry Bivol– No fight scheduled.
  5. Juan Francisco Estrada – No fight scheduled.
  6. Canelo Alvarez– No fight scheduled.
  7. Jermell Charlo – No fight scheduled.
  8. Gervonta Davis – No fight scheduled.
  9. Tyson Fury – Scheduled to face fellow titleholder and No. 3 Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship on Feb. 17 in Saudi Arabia.
  10. Devin Haney– No fight scheduled.
  11. Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez – No fight scheduled.
  12. Artur Beterbiev – No fight scheduled.
  13. Errol Spence Jr. – No fight scheduled.
  14. Vasiliy Lomachenko – Reportedly set to face George Kambosos Jr. for the vacant IBF 135-pound title May 12 in Australia, although no formal announcement has been made.
  15. Shakur Stevenson– No fight scheduled.

Honorable mention (alphabetical order): David Benavidez (no fight scheduled); Jermall Charlo (no fight scheduled); Roman Gonzalez (no fight scheduled); Kazuto Ioka (no fight scheduled); Teofimo Lopez (scheduled to defend his WBO 140-pound title against Jamaine Ortiz on Feb. 8 in Las Vegas).

[lawrence-related id=40466,40446,40442]