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One man’s Top 10 pound-for-pound list of American boxers

Terence Crawford heads one man’s Top 10 pound-for-pound list of American boxers.

The United States, the third most populous country with roughly 330 million people, produces more elite boxers than any other nation.

I recently set out to put together my list of the 10 best among them and quickly realized that it was no easy task, as I found that one could make a reasonable case for more than 20 fighters who were either born in the U.S. or spent most of their lives here.

Ultimately, I whittled my list down to 10. Here it is.

No. 1 Terence Crawford
Record: 36-0 (27 KOs)
Titles: Lightweight, junior welterweight, welterweight
Key victories: Yuriorkis Gamboa, Ray Beltran, Thomas Dulorme, Hank Lundy, Viktor Postol, John Molina Jr., Julius Indongo, Jeff Horn, Jose Benavidez, Amir Khan, Egidijus Kavaliauskas
Background: Crawford doesn’t have the best resume among elite fighters – he still needs defining victories – but we see what we see, a consistently dominating fighter with a complete skill set and the flair of a star.

No. 2 Errol Spence Jr.
Record: 26-0 (21 KOs)
Titles: Welterweight
Key victories: Kell Brook, Lamont Peterson, Mikey Garcia, Shawn Porter
Background: Spence is building a strong resume, particularly with the victories over Garcia and Porter. He has all the tools, although he’s not quite as dynamic as Crawford. I’m assuming he’s 100 percent after his car accident in October.

Mikey Garcia (right) defeated Jessie Vargas by a unanimous decision in February. Amanda Westcott / DAZN

No 3. Mikey Garcia
Record: 40-1 (30 KOs)
Titles: Featherweight, junior lightweight, lightweight, junior welterweight
Key victories: Orlando Salido, Juan Manuel Lopez, Roman Martinez, Dejan Zlaticanin, Sergey Lipinets, Robert Easter, Jessie Vargas
Background: Don’t let the Spence setback cloud your judgment of Garcia. He took a big swing and missed but he has otherwise been a dominating fighter over four divisions, with a special skill set and plenty of punching power.

No. 4. Leo Santa Cruz
Record: 37-1-1 (19 KOs)
Titles: Bantamweight, junior featherweight, featherweight, junior lightweight
Key victories: Eric Morel, Cristian Mijares, Abner Mares (twice), Kiko Martinez, Carl Frampton, Miguel Flores
Background: Santa Cruz is the ultimate blue-collar boxer. The Mexican-American isn’t particularly quick or flashy but he’ll out-train you, outwork you and almost always beat you. He avenged his only defeat when he outpointed Frampton.

No. 5 Shawn Porter
Record: 30-3-1 (17 KOs)
Titles: Welterweight
Key victories: Paulie Malignaggi, Adrien Broner, Andre Berto, Danny Garcia, Yordenis Ugas
Background: Porter is only 6-3 in his last night fights but could be 9-0, as all three of his losses — to Kell Brook, Keith Thurman and Errol Spence Jr. – could’ve gone his way. He is a quick, athletic, swarming nightmare for any foe. Ask Spence.

No. 6 Gary Russell Jr.
Record: 30-1 (18 KOs)
Titles: Featherweight
Key victories: Jhonny Gonzalez, Oscar Escandon, Joseph Diaz Jr., Kiko Martinez, Tugstsot Nyambayar.
Background: Russell isn’t active enough and he still lacks a truly defining victory but the man with the blurry-quick hands and polished skills has dominated those in front of him. A big victory or two could lift him higher here.

Jermall Charlo needs a big middleweight fight to rebuild his momentum. Stephanie Trapp / Showtime

No. 7 Jermall Charlo
Record: 30-0 (22 KOs)
Titles: Junior middleweight, middleweight
Key victories: Cornelius Bundrage, Austin Trout, Julian Williams, Hugo Centeno Jr., Matvey Korobov
Background: Charlo is in need of a big middleweight fight (Canelo Alvarez?) to rebuild lost momentum but he has all the tools. He’s skillful, powerful, tough, fun to watch, all the ingredients that comprise a star.

No. 8 Jermell Charlo
Record: 33-1 (17 KOs)
Titles: Junior middleweight
Key victories: Gabriel Rosado, Vanes Martirosyan, Erickson Lubin, Austin Trout, Tony Harrison
Background: Some have questioned his skill set because he was losing to John Jackson before stopping him and lost a decision to Harrison but recent results – wins over Lubin, Trout and Harrison (by KO) in the rematch — speak loudly. Charlo is locked in.

No. 9 Teofimo Lopez
Record: 15-0 (12 KOs)
Titles: Lightweight
Key victories: Diego Magdaleno, Masayoshi Nakatani, Richard Commey
Background: Lopez already has a big victory at 22 – over Commey to win his title – but his inclusion here is based mostly on what I see, a gifted boxer who can also remove your head from your body. He’ll skyrocket if he beats Vasiliy Lomachenko.

No. 10 Jose Ramirez
Record: 25-0 (17 KOs)
Titles: Lightweight
Key victories: Amir Imam, Antonio Orozco, Jose Zepeda, Maurice Hooker
Background: Ramirez is still building his resume but the victories listed above – which came in succession – give you a good idea of what he’s capable of. The former Olympian is skillful and ferocious, which doesn’t bode well for future foes.

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Boxign Junkie Top 10 pound-for-pound

Report: Shakur Stevenson’s left hand not seriously injured

An X-ray of the hand Shakur Stevenson injured against Felix Caraballo on Tuesday revealed no significant damage.

Shakur Stevenson’s hand reportedly will be OK.

Stevenson injured his left hand during the fifth round in his knockout victory over Felix Caraballo on Tuesday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. An X-ray of the hand revealed no significant damage, BoxingScene.com is reporting.

The featherweight titleholder said he’ll rest the hand for a while but expects to fight again in September.

“I hurt it a little bit, but I’m all right,” he told the website. “It’s not broke. I can move it.”

Steven said he injured the head when he landed a punch on Caraballo’s head in the first post-lockdown main event in the U.S. He could be seen wincing immediately after it happened.

Still, it was a left to Caraballo’s body that ended the one-sided 130-pound fight at 1:31 of the sixth round.

Stevenson, who retains his 126-pound title, told BoxingScene.com that he hasn’t decided whether he’ll move up to 130 long term. He said only a title-unification fight with Josh Warrington could keep him at 126 beyond his next fight.

He added that expects to face 126-pounder Can Xu next.

“I felt stronger, fresher, I was more offensive,” Stevenson said of fighting at the junior lightweight limit. “I wanted to show the offensive side of me. I felt good. I felt like a 130-pounder. I felt like I’m so skillfully good I can box at 130, 126, maybe even 135.”

Shakur Stevenson: Thinking big, champing at the bit

Shakur Stevenson is thrilled to get back into the ring against Felix Caraballo but has his eye on big-name opponents.

Shakur Stevenson used to like the comparisons to Floyd Mayweather, especially in terms of defense. Mayweather seemed to be untouchable most of the time, a once-in-a-generation quality Stevenson tries to emulate.

The 22-year-old featherweight champ is growing tired of the comments, however. He wants to be Shakur Stevenson, not the new Floyd Mayweather.

Stevenson will be the first star to fight in the U.S. amid the coronavirus pandemic when he faces Felix Caraballo in a junior lightweight bout Tuesday in Las Vegas. The card, which will have no live audience, will be televised on ESPN.

“I see [the comparisons] everywhere,” Stevenson told Boxing Junkie. “I’m me. I didn’t steal stuff just from Floyd. I stole stuff from Andre Ward, from Pernell Whitaker, from Terence Crawford.

“I understand the comparisons, definitely with defense. Floyd is one of the best defensive fighters of all time and I show flashes of some of that too. But I’m me.”

Shakur Stevenson showed his class against Joet Gonzalez, almost pitching a shutout to win his first major belt. Mikey Williams / Top Rank

Of course, there is one aspect of Mayweather’s remarkable career that Stevenson wouldn’t mind copying outright: His ability to earn a lot of money. Mayweather made around a billion dollars in purses.

One key move Mayweather made to boost his earning power? He became the fighter fans loved to hate.

“Floyd became a villain,” Stevenson said. “I would have to find a way to pick up on that, to become that type of star. I’d have to find a way to become a villain. You know I could do that, to be honest.

“I don’t think Floyd really hated anyone. I think I’d have to really dislike you for me to be that way. I might take some acting classes or something.”

Stevenson (13-0, 7 KOs) has earned high grades in his boxing classes. He won a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics, losing 2-1 to Cuban Robeisy Ramirez in the gold medal match, turned pro eight months later and hasn’t looked back.

He easily outpointed Joet Gonzalez to win a vacant 126-pound world title in October at only 22.

Stevenson celebrates winning his first title Mexican style. Mikey Williams / Top Rank

From there, he was supposed to defend against Miguel Marriaga on March 14 after a two-month training camp only to learn two days before the fight that it would have to canceled because of the pandemic.

Stevenson was devastated.

“The Marriaga cancellation was horrible because I trained for eight weeks,” he said. “I did a whole training camp only to find out I wasn’t going to get paid, wasn’t going to be able to perform. I was excited about that fight because Marriaga was a solid name. And I was planning to beat him up.”

Instead, Stevenson got the longest rest of his career. The self-described gym rat took some time off but then got right back at it, figuring whenever boxing resumed he would be near the front of the line.

Now he has the distinction of being the first major player to get back to action. And that’s exciting.

No, Caraballo (13-1-2, 9 KOs) isn’t the type of big-name opponent he wanted to face but that doesn’t matter much, he said. One, the fight will give him an opportunity to see how he feels at 130 pounds, which could be his home soon. And, two, he knows how excited fans will be that the sport is up and running again.

“I’m definitely more excited than I would normally be because I’m the first fighter back,” he said. “I think I deserve that after my fight was canceled during the week of the fight. I think that’s why I’m back so early.

“And, yes, all eyes will be on me. I’m happy about that.”

Shakur Stevenson put Alberto Guevara down three times in less than three rounds and won by stoppage in July. Mikey Williams / Top Rank

What about fighting in an empty arena? Not an issue.

“To be honest, I’m not like some other guys,” he said. “I probably feed off the crowd a little bit but I really try to block out the crowd, to tune everybody out. All I see is my opponent.”

Stevenson sees a number of big-name opponents in his immediate future, which is what he craves. He’s only had 13 pro fights yet he’s ready to take on the world, including the best in and around his weight class.

He covets a showdown with Vasiliy Lomachenko — No. 1 on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list — at 130 or one with Leo Santa Cruz, fighters against whom he believes he will demonstrate what he already knows about himself – that he’s a special fighter. And fights like those certainly are on the horizon.

PHOTOS

A look back on featherweight titleholder Shakur Stevenson’s rapid rise.

Stevenson is co-managed by Ward, who is more conservative, more methodical when it comes to his prize client’s career. Stevenson is young. Ward wants to take a step-by-step approach to build Stevenson into a pound-for-pound star.

Stevenson gets it but he’s champing at the bit.

“If it were up to me, I would go into the biggest fight right now,” he said. “I have a good team, though. And they do things the right way. I feel I’m ready. I’ve been like that since I turned pro. I was begging for a world title [shot] at 4-0, 5-0. Lomachenko? I would fight him tomorrow. The same with Santa Cruz. And I feel I would beat both of them. That’s just how I feel.

“… I want to become one of the best boxers ever, to go down as a great in the sport. That’s what Floyd was. And I want to be like that.”