World Boxing News provides a comprehensive history of the number one pound-for-pound ranking from 1970, a title revered among boxers around the world.
One of the main talking points in modern boxing is the relevance of the pound-for-pound ranking list among boxers.
A regular feature at most combat sports outlets, P4P sparks heated debates with fans. Many have opinions about what formula is used to decide who is the best fighter on the planet, regardless of weight class.
For a few spells in the past, the best brawler has been an easy call. Like when Mike Tyson ruled the world in the eighties or Muhammad Ali came back to kill the undefeated beast, George Foreman.
Other times it’s a much more challenging choice.
So WBN decided to go back to when the sport began to move away from crowning a single, recognizable face in the separate weight divisions.
To give a definitive summary of who was number one over the decades.
After the days of Sugar Ray Robinson ruling the sport, pound-for-pound came firmly into play with the addition of new titles.
pound for pound
In 1970, unified welterweight champion José Napoles scored two wins over Curtis Cokes along with an impressive performance against Emile Griffith. Those three wins saw Napoles named the 1969 Fighter of the Year, which he cemented in February 1970 with a fifteenth-round knockout of Ernie Lopez.
Naples would keep the tag until December, when he lost for the fifth time against Billy Backus. Napoli avenged the defeat six months later. Unfortunately, “Smokin” Joe Frazier had taken over P4P as the unified heavyweight champion.
Frazier remained at the helm until January 1973. Then he ran into a formidable George Foreman. ‘Big George’ outclassed the slugger in a knockout victory that struck fear into the boxing world.
We all know what happened next.
Muhammad Ali
The shock of Muhammad Ali’s rope-a-dope “Rumble in the Jungle” established him as the Pound-for-Pound champion for the first time in his career. A reign would last more than four years until ‘The Greatest’ lost to the underdog Leon Spinks.
‘Manos de Piedra’ Roberto Durán then enjoyed a brief moment in his seat. Ali regained the world crown for an unprecedented third spell by avenging his loss to Spinks.
Due to age and many brutal fights, Ali’s career quickly declined. Durán once again led the boxing world in the new decade.
Duran’s infamous ‘No More’ loss to Sugar Ray Leonard saw the baton pass. Leonard kept it until the flashy American retired from the ring in early 1982 due to an eye injury.
marvin hagler
As the heavyweight division continued a period of transition, middleweight king Marvin Hagler was the face of the sport. ‘The Marvelous One’ demolished his way through all the haters in the mid-’80s.
Hagler’s list of victims included Duran and Thomas Hearns. Unfortunately, due to the lack of activity in 1986, Mike Tyson’s achievement of becoming the youngest heavyweight champion at age 20 gave them a great opportunity to crown a new champion.
Tyson’s reign was brief as Leonard’s spectacular comeback against Hagler saw the title change hands for the second time in five years.
Leonard’s resurgence was swift, too, once again by retirement.
However, a new permanent king of the world was crowned later that year when the unbeatable ‘Iron’ Mike unified the first division titles to become undisputed.
Tyson remained at the top for two and a half years before his universe imploded against James ‘Buster’ Douglas. This impact left the 200+ pound division again to take a backseat to the lower weight classes.
Pernell Whitaker enjoyed a brief stint as the pound-for-pound best in 1990. A certain Julio Cesar Chavez bested Whitaker when he won in the final round against Meldrick Taylor.
The Mexican legend began a reign that would last until the pair met and wrestled to a stalemate in September 1993.
The Pound for Pound spotlight then briefly fell back on the heavyweights.
Another undisputed champion, Riddick “Big Daddy” Bowe, rose to the top and headed for a rematch with Evander Holyfield.
Holyfield’s rematch victory at Caesar’s Palace would see the two-weight king lead the way. One of the most successful of his era, Whitaker was again rated the best in April 1994.
Roy Jones Jr.
‘Sweet Pea’ was untouchable in the mid-’90s, rivaled only by light heavyweight king Roy Jones Jr.
The emergence of the “golden boy” Oscar De La Hoya altered the panorama. De La Hoya enjoyed a terrific professional career, fresh from his success at the 1992 Olympics.
De La Hoya defeated Whitaker at the Thomas and Mack Center in April 1997 to become boxing’s spearhead. It’s a title he would enjoy for almost two and a half years.
A setback against Félix Trinidad in September 1999 brought another change. The Puerto Rican legend won world titles at 154 and 160 pounds in the eighteen months after ousting De La Hoya.
Subsequently, it’s easy to discuss the chances of a unified Lennox Lewis or the brilliant Jones Jr. The latter, respectively, raced close to Trinidad for the P4P title.
Trinidad’s two-year spell ended when Bernard Hopkins took his crown in September 2001. Also, some inactivity from ‘The Executioner’ eventually led to Jones Jr. being relieved of the number two spot.
Floyd Mayweather
Jones enjoyed a long stint as top P4P until Antonio Tarver derailed his career with a fateful hit in May 2004.
Then the baton fell back on Hopkins until a confident Floyd Mayweather finally reached his destination. Floyd undoubtedly came out on top when Hopkins shockingly lost twice to Jermain Taylor.
Mayweather was in a league of his own once he bested Oscar De La Hoya in 2007. Manny Pacquiao then began to display superhuman powers, relentlessly moving from division to division.
After a clash with Shane Mosley, a self-imposed retirement from Mayweather saw Pacquiao plummet. However, Pacquiao’s career rival again took the WBC belt from Victor Ortiz in September 2011.
A six-fight deal with Showtime meant Mayweather ushered in a long period of renaissance. No one was able to get close to him due to his vast experience.
‘Money’ kept his position until hanging up the gloves in September 2015.
A year later, with no sign of Mayweather returning and contemplating taking on UFC fighters, a new pound-for-pound number one took over. Undefeated Nicaraguan sensation Román González hailed the beginning of a new era.
manny pacquiao
Two months later, however, Manny Pacquiao ended the new revival. He briefly held the mantle after regaining the WBO title against Jessie Vargas.
Shortly after, Andre Ward moved up in weight to claim the ‘0’ from Sergey Kovalev and pave the way for his first race.
On September 22, 2017, Ward decided to retire, leaving Gennadiy Golovkin to take the reins after an impressive performance against Canelo Alvarez in Las Vegas.
Golovkin lost what should have been a definitive victory over the Mexican superstar by two judges scoring ridiculous scores at T-Mobile Arena.
Five months later, the couple announced the long-awaited rematch. However, Canelo surprisingly tested positive for a banned substance twice.
This scenario left ‘GGG’ susceptible to being outdone.
A one-sided victory over Vanes Martirosyan, a dominant super welterweight, was never enough to secure Golovkin’s position.
On May 12, 2018, Vasiliy Lomachenko took advantage seven days later. He beat out competition from Terence Crawford to come out on top.
Lomachenko defeated Jorge Linares in ten rounds after being knocked out earlier in the fight. He added the crown of professional number one to his legendary amateur status.
Following an injury from the fight, ‘Loma’ was out until December 2018. He returned to unify the division.
Cinnamon was
Around the same time, a confident Canelo Alvarez claimed a third-weight world title with an impressive performance at MSG.
Months later, and after Lomachenko similarly dealt with Anthony Crolla’s mandatory TKO, Canelo finally took the top stop by unifying at a further 160lbs.
A polished win against Daniel Jacobs was enough to push Canelo over the line in his 55th start.
Lomachenko soon regained his number one pound-for-pound position with a dominant victory over Luke Campbell in London. He added the WBC lightweight version to his WBO and WBA titles. It was enough to overcome his rival and rule once more.
Various challengers, including prominent names in Naoya Inoue [after beating Nonito Donaire] and a reborn Tyson Fury [after stopping Deontay Wilder]they were in dispute at the time.
However, to Lomachenko’s detriment, it wasn’t long before Canelo reclaimed the top spot with a spectacular knockout of Sergey Kovalev. Canelo became a four-weight ruler and cemented his position as one of the all-time greats.
By early 2020, Canelo had firmly established himself as the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the sport.
The Mexican superstar cemented his place by becoming the undisputed super middleweight champion in 2021.
With the WBN Fighter of the Year award, Canelo entered 2022 as the most famous boxer in the world.
However, facing Dmitry Bivol in his biggest fight ever at 175 pounds in a May matchup, everything came crashing down for Canelo and his aura of invincibility.
His lofty ambitions to work his way through the divisions were put on hold by an excellent title defense by a great fighter in Bivol.
Size does matter, as Bivol demonstrated.
Who is the number one pound for pound boxer?
Canelo’s demise was no doubt to the benefit of Oleksandr Usyk, who became the pound-for-pound king of a previous ranking of two.
His undisputed achievements at cruiserweight and the unified IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight victory over Anthony Joshua spoke for themselves.
Furthermore, seven world title belts in three years meant that few outlets needed little discussion about who replaced Canelo.
match room
Usyk hopes to become undisputed in a second weight division in his next fight.
Pound for Pound: 1970 – Today
WBN editor Phil has over ten years of boxing news experience. Also, follow us on WBN on Twitter @WorldBoxingNews.
