It’s arguably a tougher time than in a long time to pick a fighter everyone can agree is deserving of being ranked the best pound-for-pounder. When Floyd Mayweather was fighting, the title was his and nobody was arguing. But today, who deserves the honour: Gennady Golovkin, Vasyl Lomachenko, Andre Ward?
Ward himself, the current top P-4-P fighter in the world according to Ring Magazine, recently gave his own personal top-5. Speaking on ESPN’s “A Los Golpes,” show, the reigning light-heavyweight world champion broke it down as follows:
1: Guillermo Rigondeax
2: Terence Crawford
3: Canelo Alvarez
4: Vasyl Lomachenko
5: Keith Thurman
Ward (either due to a lack of ego or because he doesn’t think he is the current best!) said that Cuban stylist Rigondeaux doesn’t get the credit or the recognition he is fully deserving of.
“No one gives him the credit he deserves, 300 amateur fights, two [Olympic] gold medals, but they do not give him the recognition,” Ward said of Rigondeaux.
It’s true that Rigondeaux, 17-0(11) is an excellent and hugely talented boxer, but he has been inactive as of late (through no fault of his own, ducked and dodged as he has been by the big names, some of which have preferred to give up a belt or move up in weight to avoid having to fight the super-slick southpaw) and this, along with what many have called his “boring” style, has prevented people from praising him as highly as they might have.
But “The Jackal” finally has a big and meaningful fight lined up. Rigondeaux, who will turn 37 in September, will face tough and unbeaten Mexican Moises Flores, 25-0(17) on the Ward-Sergey Kovalev rematch card in Las Vegas on June 17. This fight, arguably Rigondeaux’s biggest and most important since his dominant April 2013 decision win over Nonito Donaire, could even be the fight of the night.
If Rigondeaux wins in exciting style, maybe a few more people will agree with Ward’s lofty opinion of him. What a shame Rigondeaux and the superb Vasyl Lomachenko are not the same size; what a magnificent match-up that would be!