Tony Bellew is something of a boxing historian and keen follower of the sport even years after his retirement and this week he has named who he thinks are the top two pound-for-pound fighters in the world.
These mythological rankings are always an interesting and heated talking point for boxing fans, insiders, pundits and fighters and this week one particular pound-for-pound list put out by BoxRec caused quite the stir with Chris Eubank Jr beating Tyson Fury as the only Brit in the Top 10.
For many the list is topped by the likes of undisputed welterweight and and former undisputed light welterweight king Terence Crawford and Japanese knockout artist and current unified super-bantamweight boss Naoya Inoue.
But not Bellew. When asked by Boxing Social about comments some have made saying Anthony Joshua should retire following his back-to-back points losses to Ukrainian technician and WBA, WBO and IBF world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk, he scoffed. In his answer, the former WBC cruiserweight king revealed who he thinks are the best two fighters in the world right now.
“If you’re saying a man who lost a couple of points decisions to probably the best fighter in the world, pound-for-pound right now should retire – well, second best after Terence Crawford – insane comments.”
Next up for Usyk is a historic undisputed clash with Tyson Fury, who himself is often talked about as a pound-for-pound king but first must deal with Francis Ngannou on October 28. Whoever comes out on top of that one will rightly have a very strong claim to be one of the best fighters in any weight division in the world.