Pound for pound update for 2018
I never thought that I would see a fighter with only 11 wins ascend to the top of the rankings, but yes, Lomachenko deserves it.
When fists fly, time appears to fly even faster and would you believe it that in a couple of weeks half of the year will have been over? That also means we badly need to update our Poundfor-pound rankings:
1. VASYL LOMACHENKO (11-1, 9KOs)- I never thought I would see a fighter with only 11 wins ascend to the top of our rankings. But yes as unbelievable as it may seem, he truly deserves it. In some P4P rankings “No Maschenko” is at no. 2, while Gennady Golovkin is at no. 1, but I have to rank the former higher.
His recent destruction of Jorge Linares was achieved at a different weight class (lightweight) which should take precedence over GGG ‘s accomplishments which are relegated to a single division (middleweight)
2. GENNADY GOLOVKIN (38-0, 34KOs)- In another scintillating display of firepower, GGG brutalized Vanes Martirosyan in 3 rounds last May. The rematch with Saul Alvarez is on this coming September, and the initial postponement has only heightened our anticipation of this potential barnburner.
3. TERENCE CRAWFORD (320, 24KOs)- He recently moved up to welterweight to stop Jeff Horn in 9 rounds. That victory in his first ever welterweight bout immediately established “Bud” as one of the division’s elite fighters. That’s quite an accomplishment considering that the welterweight division is possibly the deepest in the sport.
4. WISAKSIL WANGEK (45-4, 40KOs)- In Febuary of this year he eked out a well-deserved decision victory over former world champion Juan Francisco Estrada, another elite fighter in this division.
Following his back- to- back victories over former P4P king Roman Gonzalez, there were doubts if he really was an elite fighter or perhaps he just had Roman’s number. The victory over Estrada ended that argument. He also calls himself Srisaket Sur Rongvisai. I don’t really care what he calls himself as long as he calls up Donnie Nietes’ team and requests for a showdown;
5. MIKEY GARCIA (38-0, 30KOs)- In Feb. of this year, he wrested away the WBO 140 lb belt from Sergey Lipinets via unanimous decision. But in July he will be coming back down to the lightweight division for the chance to unify the belts. Now, that is a true hallmark of a pound-for-pound fighter. Weight classes be damned, he fights to collect the belts. (To be continued)
LAST ROUND. It’s on my mother-in-law, former Municipal Mayor of Dapa, Surigao del Norte, Alma Navarro who celebrates her birthday today. Cheers Ma!
First of two parts