Two-division world champion Tim Bradley has declared his pick for the number one pound-for-pound fighter in the sport as the debate continues to heat up in the wake of Naoya Inoue’s impressive knockout win over Marlon Tapales on Boxing Day.
Inoue stopped the game Filipino in round ten of their showdown in Tokyo to become just the second multi-divisional undisputed champion since the dawn of the four-belt era.
It is an accomplishment which Inoue has achieved in just twelve months following his December 2022 undisputed bantamweight title win over Paul Butler.
The other man to have accomplished a two-weight undisputed status is Terence Crawford, who conquered the super-lightweight division in 2017 and dismantled Errol Spence Jr in July to do the same at welterweight.
As a result, both Inoue and Crawford are the prime candidates for the position as pound-for-pound king. Whilst fans are split, Bradley explained his decision to Pro Box TV.
“Eighteen championship fights over a ten-year-span, sixteen of those won by way of knockout. He has been on an unbelievable streak, knocking out world-class competition.
Shawn Porter, think about that now, nobody stopped Shawn Porter – no Errol Spence Jr, no Keith ‘One-Time’ Thurman and then you have a guy like Crawford who comes in and finds a way to stop him.”
Bradley went on further to explain why he felt Crawford had the edge over Inoue.
“His domination is similar to Inoue, his dedication is similar to Inoue, the skillset is what is different. Inoue has his own skillset, he is fantastic at what he does, but with Crawford there is no avenue or alley where he can’t go.
“He can box you, he can pressure you, he can do it all inside the ring, he can switch southpaw if he wants to, orthodox, he has too many tools for you to be able to figure him out. He’s my number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world.”
Crawford has plenty of supporters picking him, with both Antonio Tarver and Roy Jones Jr dismissing Inoue’s claim for the pound-for-pound throne in favour of their fellow American.