The best fighter in the world is American.
For many, the picks are obvious. And both of the consensus top two are foreign.
There’s Oleksandr Usyk, the two-weight champion who unified cruiserweight and heavyweight, while beating a who’s who of top tier fighters across both divisions. Usyk, a Ukraine king, takes a rare novelty bout next as he fights Rico Verhoeven.
There’s also Naoya Inoue who, like Usyk, is a bona fide pound-for-pound sensation, taking power, speed, and accuracy through multiple weight classes while booking big fights and delivering fan friendly performances. He returns to the ring May 2, weeks before Usyk vs Verhoeven, against fellow Japanese fighter Junto Nakatani.
But for Timothy Bradley, neither Usyk or Inoue are the No.1 fighters.
“Shakur Stevenson is the best fighter in the world,” said Bradley on his YouTube channel. “He ain’t got the accolades of an Usyk, in terms of undisputed and all of that s***, he ain’t done all of that s*** that Inoue did in the lower weight classes.
“No, he ain’t done none of that, but he is a four-division world champion and he is the best fighter in the world.”
Beyond Stevenson’s in-ring exploits against William Zepeda and Teofimo Lopez are the numbers. When it comes to category leaders in the vaunted plus-minus vertical, Stevenson is top.
The plus-minus category is calculated by taking how many times you hit and subtracting how many times you get hit. So, if you hit 20 and get hit 10 then you’re at +10. Whereas hitting 10 but getting hit 20 means -10.
Stevenson is a +21 — almost five points clear of the No.2 in the leaderboard, Dmitry Bivol, on +16.9. David Benavidez is third (+16.7), Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez is fourth (+15.8), and Lamont Roach is fifth (+13.9).
“He gets touch the least, out of any fighter in the world. He the best fighter in the world. Period.”
Timothy Bradley glazes Shakur Stevenson
Oscar de la Hoya Responds to Conor Benn on Ryan Garcia Fight
Oscar de la Hoya, who on Wednesday spoke in the Senate against proposed changes to boxing through the Muhammad Ali American Boxing Revival Act, also found time to respond to Conor Benn, who has been calling for a box office bout against Golden Boy Promotions blue chip Ryan Garcia.
There is, of course, a little problem with Benn’s promotional affiliation, a dispute over the belts, and not even mentioning de la Hoya’s beef with Zuffa Boxing boss Dana White.
“Conor Benn you went on a press tour saying you want to fight Ryan Garcia and every other champion.
“How the f*** do you plan to do that when you’re signed to Zuffa, who only let you fight for their unicorn POS belt?”
Maybe the Benn vs Garcia fight negotiation will go as well as Ortiz vs Boots.
