George Groves debates whether Oleksandr Usyk is pound-for-pound number one

HAVING become undisputed champion in two weight classes where does Oleksandr Usyk now sit in the mythical pound-for-pound rankings?

Listing the top 10 fighters in the world splits the boxing community with some insisting it’s a pointless exercise while others enjoy the debate as to who is the best fighter in the world.

The sport is in an era deep with future hall-of-famers such as Naoya Inoue, Terence Crawford, Usyk, Canelo Alvarez and others. Having watched the Ukrainian claim a stunning victory against Tyson Fury on Saturday night former WBA super-middleweight champion George Groves was asked by Boxing News if the 37-year-old is the new pound-for-pound number one replacing either Inoue or Crawford.

“He’s got to be up there, hasn’t he? He’s got to be up there,” Groves said.

“Pound-for-pound is always hard. That’s always the debate to have because you’ve got Crawford, you’ve got Canelo, you’ve got Inoue.

“He’s in that calibre now [Usyk]. And this, in some ways, is a pound-for-pound fight, because he’s given away so much weight and size and he’s still done the job.

“You couldn’t say that Crawford could go up and beat a Canelo. I’ll put him up there. Only time will tell in terms of where you place him in the all-time great list.

“He’s got to be up there because he’s in the modern era of giants and he’s beating them. The fact that Evander Holyfield did it, but he beat [Mike] Tyson, who’s 5’10”, 5’11″. He’s gone in and beat Tyson Fury, 6’9″. So, you’ve got to put him in there. He’s an exceptional talent.”