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.
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.
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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