Tag: Kazuto Ioka

Pound for pound: No. 9 Gennadiy Golovkin holds position, other top fighters getting busy

Pound for pound: Gennadiy Golovkin has stayed put on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list while other top fighters are getting busy.

Gennadiy Golovkin did more than enough in his knockout victory over Ryota Murata on Saturday to retain his spot on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list. Even at 40.

Triple-G, ranked No. 9 going into the middleweight title-unification bout in Japan, overcame some early challenges to break down and then stop Murata in the ninth round.

Is Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) good enough to beat Canelo Alvarez if they meet a third time in September? Who knows? What we do know, based on his performance against Murata, is that he remains a formidable fighter even if he’s a step slower than he was.

Thus, he remains at No. 9 on the list for the time being.

Of course, changes could be on tap as a number of pound-for-pounders are scheduled to see action in the coming weeks.

No. 5 Errol Spence Jr. and Honorable Mention Yordenis Ugas are set for a welterweight title-unification showdown this coming Saturday in Arlington, Texas.

And eight other ranked fighters have scheduled bouts the next two months: No. 2 Alvarez (Dmitry Bivol), No. 3 Naoya Inoue (HM Nonito Donaire), No. 6 Tyson Fury (Dillian Whyte), No. 10 Jermell Charlo (Brian Castano), No. 12 Gervonta Davis (Rolando Romero), No. 13 Jermall Charlo (Maciej Sulecki) and HM George Kambosos (Devin Haney).

Plus, a few others – including Oleksandr Usyk and Artur Beterbiev – are near deals to fight soon.

Here is what the list looks like at the moment:

BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND

  1. Terence Crawford – No fight scheduled.
  2. Canelo Alvarez– Scheduled to challenge WBA light heavyweight titleholder Dmitry Bivol on May 7.
  3. Naoya Inoue – Scheduled to face Nonito Donaire in a bantamweight title-unification rematch on June 7 in Japan.
  4. Oleksandr Usyk – In talks to defend his heavyweight titles against Anthony Joshua in a rematch.
  5. Errol Spence Jr. – Scheduled to face Yordenis Ugas in a welterweight title-unification bout on April 16 in Arlington, Texas.
  6. Tyson Fury– Scheduled to defend his heavyweight title against Dillian Whyte on April 23 in London.
  7. Vasiliy Lomachenko – Career on hold because of the war in Ukraine.
  8. Juan Francisco Estrada – No fight scheduled.
  9. Gennadiy Golovkin – No fight scheduled but expected to face Canelo Alvarez a third time in September.
  10. Jermell Charlo – Scheduled to face Brian Castano for the undisputed junior middleweight championship on May 14 in Carson, California.
  11. Artur Beterbiev – In talks to face Joe Smith Jr. in a light heavyweight title-unification fight on June 18 in New York but no deal is in place.
  12. Gervonta Davis – Scheduled to face Rolando Romero on May 28 in Brookly, New York.
  13. Jermall Charlo – Scheduled to defend his middleweight title against Maciej Sulecki on June 18 in Houston.
  14. Kazuto Ioka – The WBO has ordered a rematch between Ioka and Donnie Nietes for Ioka’s junior bantamweight belt but no deal is in place.
  15. Josh Taylor – No fight scheduled.

Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Mairis Briedis (no fight scheduled); Nonito Donaire (scheduled to face Naoya Inoue on June 7); George Kambosos (scheduled to defend his lightweight titles against Devin Haney on June 5); Teofimo Lopez (no fight scheduled); and Yordenis Ugas (scheduled to face Errol Spence Jr. on April 16).

Pound for pound: No. 9 Gennadiy Golovkin holds position, other top fighters getting busy

Pound for pound: Gennadiy Golovkin has stayed put on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list while other top fighters are getting busy.

Gennadiy Golovkin did more than enough in his knockout victory over Ryota Murata on Saturday to retain his spot on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list. Even at 40.

Triple-G, ranked No. 9 going into the middleweight title-unification bout in Japan, overcame some early challenges to break down and then stop Murata in the ninth round.

Is Golovkin (42-1-1, 37 KOs) good enough to beat Canelo Alvarez if they meet a third time in September? Who knows? What we do know, based on his performance against Murata, is that he remains a formidable fighter even if he’s a step slower than he was.

Thus, he remains at No. 9 on the list for the time being.

Of course, changes could be on tap as a number of pound-for-pounders are scheduled to see action in the coming weeks.

No. 5 Errol Spence Jr. and Honorable Mention Yordenis Ugas are set for a welterweight title-unification showdown this coming Saturday in Arlington, Texas.

And eight other ranked fighters have scheduled bouts the next two months: No. 2 Alvarez (Dmitry Bivol), No. 3 Naoya Inoue (HM Nonito Donaire), No. 6 Tyson Fury (Dillian Whyte), No. 10 Jermell Charlo (Brian Castano), No. 12 Gervonta Davis (Rolando Romero), No. 13 Jermall Charlo (Maciej Sulecki) and HM George Kambosos (Devin Haney).

Plus, a few others – including Oleksandr Usyk and Artur Beterbiev – are near deals to fight soon.

Here is what the list looks like at the moment:

BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND

  1. Terence Crawford – No fight scheduled.
  2. Canelo Alvarez– Scheduled to challenge WBA light heavyweight titleholder Dmitry Bivol on May 7.
  3. Naoya Inoue – Scheduled to face Nonito Donaire in a bantamweight title-unification rematch on June 7 in Japan.
  4. Oleksandr Usyk – In talks to defend his heavyweight titles against Anthony Joshua in a rematch.
  5. Errol Spence Jr. – Scheduled to face Yordenis Ugas in a welterweight title-unification bout on April 16 in Arlington, Texas.
  6. Tyson Fury– Scheduled to defend his heavyweight title against Dillian Whyte on April 23 in London.
  7. Vasiliy Lomachenko – Career on hold because of the war in Ukraine.
  8. Juan Francisco Estrada – No fight scheduled.
  9. Gennadiy Golovkin – No fight scheduled but expected to face Canelo Alvarez a third time in September.
  10. Jermell Charlo – Scheduled to face Brian Castano for the undisputed junior middleweight championship on May 14 in Carson, California.
  11. Artur Beterbiev – In talks to face Joe Smith Jr. in a light heavyweight title-unification fight on June 18 in New York but no deal is in place.
  12. Gervonta Davis – Scheduled to face Rolando Romero on May 28 in Brookly, New York.
  13. Jermall Charlo – Scheduled to defend his middleweight title against Maciej Sulecki on June 18 in Houston.
  14. Kazuto Ioka – The WBO has ordered a rematch between Ioka and Donnie Nietes for Ioka’s junior bantamweight belt but no deal is in place.
  15. Josh Taylor – No fight scheduled.

Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Mairis Briedis (no fight scheduled); Nonito Donaire (scheduled to face Naoya Inoue on June 7); George Kambosos (scheduled to defend his lightweight titles against Devin Haney on June 5); Teofimo Lopez (no fight scheduled); and Yordenis Ugas (scheduled to face Errol Spence Jr. on April 16).

Kazuto Ioka closes out 2021 with victory over Ryoji Fukunaga

Junior bantamweight titleholder Kazuto Ioka closed out 2021 with a unanimous-decision victory over Ryoji Fukunaga in Japan.

Kazuto Ioka closed out 2021 with another clear victory on New Year’s Eve, although he had to work for it.

The 32-year-old four-division titleholder, making the fourth defense of his WBO 115-pound belt in Tokyo, defeated late replacement Ryoji Fukunaga by a unanimous decision.

The scores were 118-110, 116-112 and 115-113.

Ioka (28-2, 15 KOs) had been scheduled to face fellow titleholder Jerwin Ancajas in a unification bout but the Filipino was unable to enter Japan because of COVID-19 restrictions.

In stepped Ioka’s countryman Fukunaga, who gave a spirited effort in defeat.

The challenger was busier than Ioka, particularly early in the fight. However, Ioka’s punches did more damage and he gradually wore down Fukunaga (15-5, 14 KOs) to take firm control of the fight.

Ioka, No. 15 on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list, has now won five consecutive fights since losing a disputed split decision to Donnie Nietes in December 2018.

Kazuto Ioka closes out 2021 with victory over Ryoji Fukunaga

Junior bantamweight titleholder Kazuto Ioka closed out 2021 with a unanimous-decision victory over Ryoji Fukunaga in Japan.

Kazuto Ioka closed out 2021 with another clear victory on New Year’s Eve, although he had to work for it.

The 32-year-old four-division titleholder, making the fourth defense of his WBO 115-pound belt in Tokyo, defeated late replacement Ryoji Fukunaga by a unanimous decision.

The scores were 118-110, 116-112 and 115-113.

Ioka (28-2, 15 KOs) had been scheduled to face fellow titleholder Jerwin Ancajas in a unification bout but the Filipino was unable to enter Japan because of COVID-19 restrictions.

In stepped Ioka’s countryman Fukunaga, who gave a spirited effort in defeat.

The challenger was busier than Ioka, particularly early in the fight. However, Ioka’s punches did more damage and he gradually wore down Fukunaga (15-5, 14 KOs) to take firm control of the fight.

Ioka, No. 15 on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list, has now won five consecutive fights since losing a disputed split decision to Donnie Nietes in December 2018.

Fight Week: Luis Ortiz vs. Charles Martin highlights all-heavyweight PPV card

Fight Week: Luis Ortiz vs. Charles Martin highlights all-heavyweight PPV card.

FIGHT WEEK

LUIS ortiz will face fellow contender charles martin in an all-heavyweight card saturday.

Kazuto Ioka (27-2, 15 KOs) vs. Ryoji Fukunaga (15-4, 14 KOs)

  • When: Friday, Dec. 31
  • Time: 5:30 a.m. ET / 2:30 a.m. (main event later in show)
  • Where: Ota-City General Gymnasium, Tokyo
  • TV/Stream: No TV in U.S.
  • Division: Junior bantamweight
  • At stake: Ioka’s WBO title
  • Pound-for-pound ranking: Ioka No. 15
  • Odds: NA
  • Also on the card: Akihiro Kondo (32-10-2, 18 KOs) vs. Aso Ishiwaki (9-4-1, 7 KOs), junior welterweights
  • Prediction: Ioka UD
  • Background: Ioka, a four-division titleholder, has been one of the best boxers in the world over the past decade. The 32-year-old Japanese fighter has beaten a long list of championship-caliber opponents – almost exclusively in Japan – and his only losses have come by split decision, the second (against Donnie Niete) of which was disputed. He won his 115-pound belt by stopping Aston Palicte in June 2019 and has successful defended three times. He’s coming of a unanimous decision over Francisco Rodriguez on Sept. 1. Ioka was supposed to have faced IBF champ Jerwin Ancajas in a title-unification bout but the Filipino was unable to enter Japan because of COVID-19 precautions. Thus, Ioka’s countryman Fukunaga agreed to step in. The challenger has won regional titles but has never faced anyone near the caliber of Ioka. Fukunaga is a solid boxer and can punch, as his high knockout percentage (74) indicates. He’s coming off a majority-decision victory over Hayate Kaji on Oct. 2.

 

Luis Ortiz (32-2, 27 KOs) vs. Charles Martin (28-2-1, 25 KOs)

  • When: Saturday, Jan. 1
  • Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
  • Where: Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood, Florida
  • TV/Stream: Fox Sports Pay-per-view
  • Division: Heavyweight
  • At stake: No major titles
  • Pound-for-pound ranking: None
  • Odds: NA
  • Also on the card: Frank Sanchez vs. Carlos Negron, heavyweights; Jonnie Rice vs. Michael Coffie, heavyweights; Gerald Washington vs. Ali Eren Demirezen, heavyweights; Viktor Faust vs. Iago Kiladze, heavyweights
  • Prediction: Martin SD
  • Background: Ortiz and Martin are both contenders fighting to stay in the title hunt on this all-heavyweight pay-per-view card. Ortiz, a 42-year-old southpaw from Cuba, came close to stopping then-titleholder Deontay Wilder but ended up being knocked out in the 10th round himself in March 2018. He lasted only seven rounds in the rematch with Wilder in November 2019. He rebounded by stopping Alexander Flores in the first round this past Nov. 7, which was his most recent fight. Martin, 35, is a former IBF titleholder who lost his belt to Anthony Joshua by a second-round knockout in 2016. He said he fought with injured ribs in that fight. He is 5-1 since, with stoppages of Daniel Martz and Gerald Washington in his last two fights. Ortiz is ranked by three of the four major sanctioning bodies; Martin is the IBF’s No. 2-ranked heavyweight. Frank Sanchez (19-0, 13 KOs), who fights Carlos Negron (25-3, 20 KOS) in the co-feature, might be the best fighter on the card. The Cuban has outclassed all of his opponents, including contender Efe Ajagba by a unanimous decision on Oct. 9.

Fight Week: Luis Ortiz vs. Charles Martin highlights all-heavyweight PPV card

Fight Week: Luis Ortiz vs. Charles Martin highlights all-heavyweight PPV card.

FIGHT WEEK

LUIS ortiz will face fellow contender charles martin in an all-heavyweight card saturday.

Kazuto Ioka (27-2, 15 KOs) vs. Ryoji Fukunaga (15-4, 14 KOs)

  • When: Friday, Dec. 31
  • Time: 5:30 a.m. ET / 2:30 a.m. (main event later in show)
  • Where: Ota-City General Gymnasium, Tokyo
  • TV/Stream: No TV in U.S.
  • Division: Junior bantamweight
  • At stake: Ioka’s WBO title
  • Pound-for-pound ranking: Ioka No. 15
  • Odds: NA
  • Also on the card: Akihiro Kondo (32-10-2, 18 KOs) vs. Aso Ishiwaki (9-4-1, 7 KOs), junior welterweights
  • Prediction: Ioka UD
  • Background: Ioka, a four-division titleholder, has been one of the best boxers in the world over the past decade. The 32-year-old Japanese fighter has beaten a long list of championship-caliber opponents – almost exclusively in Japan – and his only losses have come by split decision, the second (against Donnie Niete) of which was disputed. He won his 115-pound belt by stopping Aston Palicte in June 2019 and has successful defended three times. He’s coming of a unanimous decision over Francisco Rodriguez on Sept. 1. Ioka was supposed to have faced IBF champ Jerwin Ancajas in a title-unification bout but the Filipino was unable to enter Japan because of COVID-19 precautions. Thus, Ioka’s countryman Fukunaga agreed to step in. The challenger has won regional titles but has never faced anyone near the caliber of Ioka. Fukunaga is a solid boxer and can punch, as his high knockout percentage (74) indicates. He’s coming off a majority-decision victory over Hayate Kaji on Oct. 2.

 

Luis Ortiz (32-2, 27 KOs) vs. Charles Martin (28-2-1, 25 KOs)

  • When: Saturday, Jan. 1
  • Time: 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT (main event later in show)
  • Where: Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, Hollywood, Florida
  • TV/Stream: Fox Sports Pay-per-view
  • Division: Heavyweight
  • At stake: No major titles
  • Pound-for-pound ranking: None
  • Odds: NA
  • Also on the card: Frank Sanchez vs. Carlos Negron, heavyweights; Jonnie Rice vs. Michael Coffie, heavyweights; Gerald Washington vs. Ali Eren Demirezen, heavyweights; Viktor Faust vs. Iago Kiladze, heavyweights
  • Prediction: Martin SD
  • Background: Ortiz and Martin are both contenders fighting to stay in the title hunt on this all-heavyweight pay-per-view card. Ortiz, a 42-year-old southpaw from Cuba, came close to stopping then-titleholder Deontay Wilder but ended up being knocked out in the 10th round himself in March 2018. He lasted only seven rounds in the rematch with Wilder in November 2019. He rebounded by stopping Alexander Flores in the first round this past Nov. 7, which was his most recent fight. Martin, 35, is a former IBF titleholder who lost his belt to Anthony Joshua by a second-round knockout in 2016. He said he fought with injured ribs in that fight. He is 5-1 since, with stoppages of Daniel Martz and Gerald Washington in his last two fights. Ortiz is ranked by three of the four major sanctioning bodies; Martin is the IBF’s No. 2-ranked heavyweight. Frank Sanchez (19-0, 13 KOs), who fights Carlos Negron (25-3, 20 KOS) in the co-feature, might be the best fighter on the card. The Cuban has outclassed all of his opponents, including contender Efe Ajagba by a unanimous decision on Oct. 9.

Pound-for-pound: Welcome aboard, Shakur Stevenson

Pound-for-pound: Welcome aboard, Shakur Stevenson.

Shakur Stevenson has made it impossible to keep him off Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list.

The gifted junior lightweight has now won major titles in two divisions and we saw what we saw on Saturday, a brilliant performance against a quality opponent in reigning beltholder Jamel Herring.

Stevenson has a combination of speed and ability that might be unrivaled among active fighters. It was certainly too much for the veteran Herring, who was dominated from the opening bell and stopped in the 10th round.

In the process, the winner claimed the WBO 130-pound title and a place among the pound-for-pound best. Stevenson comes in as an Honorable Mention, although our best bet is that the 24-year-old will begin a steady climb.

He replaces Kazuto Ioka, who was an Honorable Mention going into Saturday.

Here’s how the new list looks:

BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND

  1. Terence Crawford – Scheduled to defend his WBO welterweight title against Shawn Porter on Nov. 20 Las Vegas.
  2. Canelo Alvarez – Scheduled to fight Caleb Plant to unify all four major 168-pound titles on Nov. 6 in Las Vegas.
  3. Naoya Inoue – No fight scheduled.
  4. Oleksandr Usyk – Expected to fight Anthony Joshua a second time but no deal is in place.
  5. Errol Spence Jr. – No fight scheduled.
  6. Teofimo Lopez Jr. – Scheduled to defend his lightweight titles against George Kambosos Jr. on Nov. 27 in New York.
  7. Tyson Fury – No fight scheduled.
  8. Vasiliy Lomachenko – Expected to fight Richard Commey on Dec. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York City but the deal hasn’t be finalized.
  9. Juan Francisco Estrada – In talks to defend his WBA and WBA junior bantamweight titles in what would be a third fight against Roman Gonzalez in November.
  10. Gennadiy Golovkin – In talks to fight Ryota Murata in a middleweight title-unification fight on Dec. 28 in Japan.
  11. Jermell Charlo – No fight scheduled.
  12. Josh Taylor – Scheduled to defend his undisputed junior welterweight championship against mandatory challenger Jack Catterall on Dec. 18 in Glasgow, Scotland.
  13. Artur Beterbiev – Scheduled to defend his light heavyweight titles against Marcus Browne on Dec. 17 in Montreal.
  14. Gervonta Davis – Scheduled to face Rolando Romero in a lightweight bout on Dec. 5 in Los Angeles.
  15. Jermall Charlo (no fight scheduled).

Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Mairis Briedis (scheduled to fight Artur Mann on Oct. 16 in Riga, Latvia), Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (expected to meet Carlos Cuadras as part of a junior bantamweight tournament but nothing is official), Yordenis Ugas (no fight scheduled) and Oscar Valdez (no fight scheduled).

 

Pound-for-pound: Welcome aboard, Shakur Stevenson

Pound-for-pound: Welcome aboard, Shakur Stevenson.

Shakur Stevenson has made it impossible to keep him off Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list.

The gifted junior lightweight has now won major titles in two divisions and we saw what we saw on Saturday, a brilliant performance against a quality opponent in reigning beltholder Jamel Herring.

Stevenson has a combination of speed and ability that might be unrivaled among active fighters. It was certainly too much for the veteran Herring, who was dominated from the opening bell and stopped in the 10th round.

In the process, the winner claimed the WBO 130-pound title and a place among the pound-for-pound best. Stevenson comes in as an Honorable Mention, although our best bet is that the 24-year-old will begin a steady climb.

He replaces Kazuto Ioka, who was an Honorable Mention going into Saturday.

Here’s how the new list looks:

BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND

  1. Terence Crawford – Scheduled to defend his WBO welterweight title against Shawn Porter on Nov. 20 Las Vegas.
  2. Canelo Alvarez – Scheduled to fight Caleb Plant to unify all four major 168-pound titles on Nov. 6 in Las Vegas.
  3. Naoya Inoue – No fight scheduled.
  4. Oleksandr Usyk – Expected to fight Anthony Joshua a second time but no deal is in place.
  5. Errol Spence Jr. – No fight scheduled.
  6. Teofimo Lopez Jr. – Scheduled to defend his lightweight titles against George Kambosos Jr. on Nov. 27 in New York.
  7. Tyson Fury – No fight scheduled.
  8. Vasiliy Lomachenko – Expected to fight Richard Commey on Dec. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York City but the deal hasn’t be finalized.
  9. Juan Francisco Estrada – In talks to defend his WBA and WBA junior bantamweight titles in what would be a third fight against Roman Gonzalez in November.
  10. Gennadiy Golovkin – In talks to fight Ryota Murata in a middleweight title-unification fight on Dec. 28 in Japan.
  11. Jermell Charlo – No fight scheduled.
  12. Josh Taylor – Scheduled to defend his undisputed junior welterweight championship against mandatory challenger Jack Catterall on Dec. 18 in Glasgow, Scotland.
  13. Artur Beterbiev – Scheduled to defend his light heavyweight titles against Marcus Browne on Dec. 17 in Montreal.
  14. Gervonta Davis – Scheduled to face Rolando Romero in a lightweight bout on Dec. 5 in Los Angeles.
  15. Jermall Charlo (no fight scheduled).

Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Mairis Briedis (scheduled to fight Artur Mann on Oct. 16 in Riga, Latvia), Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (expected to meet Carlos Cuadras as part of a junior bantamweight tournament but nothing is official), Yordenis Ugas (no fight scheduled) and Oscar Valdez (no fight scheduled).

 

Pound-for-pound: Mikey Garcia drops off the list after upset loss

Mikey Garcia dropped off Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list after his upset loss to Sandor Martin on Saturday.

Mikey Garcia didn’t look like Mikey Garcia against Sandor Martin last Saturday.

The 33-year-old former four-division titleholder, who had been out of the ring for almost 20 months, was outboxed by the obscure Spaniard en route to losing a stunning majority decision.

That’s two losses in three fights for Garcia, who was shut out by Errol Spence Jr. in March 2019.

As a result, Garcia, No. 11 on the Boxing Junkie list, drops out. He has been replaced by veteran 115-pound titleholder Kazuto Ioka of Japan, who enters as an Honorable Mention.

Here’s how the new list looks:

BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND

  1. Terence Crawford – Scheduled to defend his WBO welterweight title against Shawn Porter on Nov. 20 Las Vegas.
  2. Canelo Alvarez – Scheduled to fight Caleb Plant to unify all four major 168-pound titles on Nov. 6 in Las Vegas.
  3. Naoya Inoue – No fight scheduled.
  4. Oleksandr Usyk – Expected to fight Anthony Joshua a second time but no deal is in place.
  5. Errol Spence Jr. – No fight scheduled.
  6. Teofimo Lopez – Tentatively scheduled to defend his undisputed lightweight championship against George Kambosos as soon as next month but no date has been locked in.
  7. Tyson Fury – No fight scheduled.
  8. Vasiliy Lomachenko – Expected to fight Richard Commey on Dec. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York City but the deal hasn’t be finalized.
  9. Juan Francisco Estrada – In talks to defend his WBA and WBA junior bantamweight titles in what would be a third fight against Roman Gonzalez in November.
  10. Gennadiy Golovkin – In talks to fight Ryota Murata in a middleweight title-unification fight on Dec. 28 in Japan.
  11. Jermell Charlo – No fight scheduled.
  12. Josh Taylor – Scheduled to defend his undisputed junior welterweight championship against mandatory challenger Jack Catterall on Dec. 18 in Glasgow, Scotland.
  13. Artur Beterbiev – Scheduled to defend his light heavyweight titles against Marcus Browne on Dec. 17 in Montreal.
  14. Gervonta Davis – Scheduled to face Rolando Romero in a lightweight bout on Dec. 5 in Los Angeles.

Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Mairis Briedis (scheduled to fight Artur Mann on Oct. 16 in Riga, Latvia), Jermall Charlo (no fight scheduled), Kazuto Ioka (in talks to face Jerwin Ancajas in a junior bantamweight title-unification bout in December);  Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (Sor Rungvisai is expected to meet Carlos Cuadras as part of a junior bantamweight tournament but nothing is official), Yordenis Ugas (no fight scheduled) and Oscar Valdez (no fight scheduled).

Pound-for-pound: Mikey Garcia drops off the list after upset loss

Mikey Garcia dropped off Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list after his upset loss to Sandor Martin on Saturday.

Mikey Garcia didn’t look like Mikey Garcia against Sandor Martin last Saturday.

The 33-year-old former four-division titleholder, who had been out of the ring for almost 20 months, was outboxed by the obscure Spaniard en route to losing a stunning majority decision.

That’s two losses in three fights for Garcia, who was shut out by Errol Spence Jr. in March 2019.

As a result, Garcia, No. 11 on the Boxing Junkie list, drops out. He has been replaced by veteran 115-pound titleholder Kazuto Ioka of Japan, who enters as an Honorable Mention.

Here’s how the new list looks:

BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND

  1. Terence Crawford – Scheduled to defend his WBO welterweight title against Shawn Porter on Nov. 20 Las Vegas.
  2. Canelo Alvarez – Scheduled to fight Caleb Plant to unify all four major 168-pound titles on Nov. 6 in Las Vegas.
  3. Naoya Inoue – No fight scheduled.
  4. Oleksandr Usyk – Expected to fight Anthony Joshua a second time but no deal is in place.
  5. Errol Spence Jr. – No fight scheduled.
  6. Teofimo Lopez – Tentatively scheduled to defend his undisputed lightweight championship against George Kambosos as soon as next month but no date has been locked in.
  7. Tyson Fury – No fight scheduled.
  8. Vasiliy Lomachenko – Expected to fight Richard Commey on Dec. 11 at Madison Square Garden in New York City but the deal hasn’t be finalized.
  9. Juan Francisco Estrada – In talks to defend his WBA and WBA junior bantamweight titles in what would be a third fight against Roman Gonzalez in November.
  10. Gennadiy Golovkin – In talks to fight Ryota Murata in a middleweight title-unification fight on Dec. 28 in Japan.
  11. Jermell Charlo – No fight scheduled.
  12. Josh Taylor – Scheduled to defend his undisputed junior welterweight championship against mandatory challenger Jack Catterall on Dec. 18 in Glasgow, Scotland.
  13. Artur Beterbiev – Scheduled to defend his light heavyweight titles against Marcus Browne on Dec. 17 in Montreal.
  14. Gervonta Davis – Scheduled to face Rolando Romero in a lightweight bout on Dec. 5 in Los Angeles.

Honorable mention (alphabetical order): Mairis Briedis (scheduled to fight Artur Mann on Oct. 16 in Riga, Latvia), Jermall Charlo (no fight scheduled), Kazuto Ioka (in talks to face Jerwin Ancajas in a junior bantamweight title-unification bout in December);  Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (Sor Rungvisai is expected to meet Carlos Cuadras as part of a junior bantamweight tournament but nothing is official), Yordenis Ugas (no fight scheduled) and Oscar Valdez (no fight scheduled).