There have been plenty of high-level match-ups in boxing in the last month with results leading to a switch up in the pound-for-pound rankings, but former number one Floyd Mayweather seems to think one man is being wrongly omitted from discussions.
For a matter of a few days at the end of July, it seemed that Naoya Inoue was fairly unanimously being ranked as the very best pound for pound fighter in the world following his one-sided fight and eventual knockout victory over highly rated champion Stephen Fulton in Japan.
But at the end of the same week, Terrence Crawford then put on a masterful display in shutting out and knocking down Errol Spence Jr on his way to becoming the undisputed welterweight king. In light of that fight, which earned each man “at least” $25 million, he seemed to take the top spot in many fans’ eyes.
Speaking to FightHype, former multi-weight world champion and undefeated fighter, Mayweather, was asked about his views on the pound-for-pound rankings.
“[Nonito] Donaire was giving [Inoue] fits in their first fight and he was close to 40 years old. [Inoue] is in his 20s so should have knocked him out first time fighting a guy his age.”
After admitting Inoue does deserve to be in the rankings somewhere, he asked about the whereabouts of another elite-level talent.
“When is Gervonta Davis going to go somewhere in the pound-for-pound? Do Terrence Crawford deserve to be in the pound-for-pound? Absolutely. But Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis also deserves to be there.”
He was then asked why Davis doesn’t get mentioned at the top.
“Because he was affiliated with me. It comes with the territory.”
Finally, Mayweather posed a tantalising question himself.
“What I would like to see is if [Inoue] can fight Gervonta at a catchweight? That would be a hell of a fight.”
Many fight fans would agree.