Dmitry Bivol and Naoya Inoue gave dominating performances inside a span of two days.
Bivol, the 175-pound titleholder, shut out Lyndon Arthur on the cardboard that includes big-name heavyweights Saturday in Saudi Arabia. And Inoue stopped Marlon Tapales in 10 rounds to develop into solely the second boxer to win all 4 main titles in a second division Tuesday in Tokyo.
Did they do sufficient to maneuver up on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound checklist? No.
No. 4-ranked Bivol didn’t face a critical menace in Arthur, who’s not more than a strong contender. He may quickly have an opportunity to climb, although. No. 3 Usyk presumably would drop if he loses to No. 9 Fury. And Bivol may very well be on a collision course with No. 14 Artur Beterbiev.
No. 2 Inoue overcame a extra authentic problem in opposition to Tapales, a succesful, rugged unified champion going into the combat. The Japanese star’s potential to ship a knockout and make “undisputed” historical past had been vital accomplishments.
Nevertheless, it wasn’t sufficient to supplant No. 1 Terence Crawford, who was the primary to develop into undisputed champion in two divisions when he knocked out Errol Spence Jr. in July.
Inoue’s greatest (solely?) probability to achieve No. 1 on the checklist is that if Crawford falters, maybe in opposition to No. 7 Jermell Charlo in a much-talked-about potential matchup.
Notice: Honorable Point out Kazuto Ioka is scheduled to face Josber Perez on New 12 months’s Eve in Japan. Ioka is anticipated to defeat the obscure Venezuelan, which would depart Ioka in his present place right here.
Subsequent pound-for-pounder up: No. 14 Artur Beterbiev is scheduled to defend his 175-pound titles in opposition to Callum Smith on Jan. 13 in Quebec Metropolis, Canada
Right here’s what the checklist seems like in the intervening time:
BOXING JUNKIEPOUND-FOR-POUND
Terence Crawford – No combat scheduled.
Naoya Inoue – No combat scheduled.
Oleksandr Usyk – Scheduled to face fellow titleholder and No. 9 Tyson Fury for the undisputed heavyweight championship on Feb. 17 in Saudi Arabia.
Dmitry Bivol– No combat scheduled.
Juan Francisco Estrada – No combat scheduled.
Canelo Alvarez– No combat scheduled.
Jermell Charlo – No combat scheduled.
Gervonta Davis – No combat scheduled.
Tyson Fury – Scheduled to face fellow titleholder and No. 3 Oleksandr Usyk for the undisputed heavyweight championship on Feb. 17 in Saudi Arabia.
Devin Haney– No combat scheduled.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez – No combat scheduled.
Errol Spence Jr. – No combat scheduled.
Vasiliy Lomachenko – No combat scheduled.
Artur Beterbiev – Scheduled to defend his 175-pound titles in opposition to Callum Smith on Jan. 13 in Quebec Metropolis, Canada.
Shakur Stevenson– No combat scheduled.
Honorable point out (alphabetical order): David Benavidez (no combat scheduled); Jermall Charlo (no combat scheduled); Roman Gonzalez (no combat scheduled); Kazuto Ioka (scheduled to defend his 115-pound title in opposition to Josber Perez on New 12 months’s Eve in Japan); Teofimo Lopez (no combat scheduled).
