Boxing P4P Top 10: Who's the best between Inoue, Crawford and Usyk?

June 2024

Voter: Scott Christ, Will Esko, John Hansen, Patrick Sternberg, Lewis Watson

Other voters: David Benavidez 2, Vasiliy Lomachenko 1, Subriel Matias 1

Scott Christ

(1) Naoya Inoue (2) Oleksandr Usyk (3) Terence “Bud” Crawford (Four) Dmitry Bivol (5) Artur Beterbiev (6) Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (7) Junto Nakatani (8) Kenshiro Terachi (9) Canelo Alvarez, (Ten) David Benavides

Usyk up top, Crawford down, Inoue still the same. This is my take on it, but it's a really good time for boxing fans to be talking about P4P, unless you really want one champion to be way above the pack. There are now three contenders, not two, all performing at an incredible level. I'm happy with either ranking, with Inoue just slightly ahead of Usyk, and Usyk just slightly ahead of Crawford.

For me, the rest remains the same. Both Bam Rodriguez and David Benavidez are in the mix in June, as is P4P list contender Tank Davis. All of these are fights that strengthen their positions. If Rodriguez returns to 115 pounds and crushes Juan Francisco Estrada, he'll probably vault into my top five, unless Estrada gets brutally beaten (which we shouldn't expect). It would also be a big statement. Dmitry Bivol is in the mix, but it's not a fight we want to see.

Will Esco

(1) Terence “Bud” Crawford (2) Naoya Inoue (3) Oleksandr Usyk (Four) Dmitry Bivol (5) Artur Beterbiev (6) Jaron Boots Ennis (7) Canelo Alvarez, (8) Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (9) Kenshiro Terachi (Ten) Junto Nakatani

It's true that I'm biased towards recent trends, but for now, at least until I see him in his next fight, I'm going to fight the urge to put Terence Crawford at No. 1. I'd get deep into that debate, but Scott has already put together a well-written article that pretty much mirrors my opinions on the subject of Crawford, Inoue, and Usyk.

Usyk beating Fury was a big deal for sure, but as you all know, I have never rated Fury as a P4P. Still, there are good reasons for all three to take the top spot, otherwise they would all be at No. 1 at the same time, but I have to nitpick. I really don't think there is a clear, single No. 1 at this point, and I think that's a good thing, in the sense that we are in an era of great talent at every weight class. I can't think of a time in my years following the sport when that has been more true.

John Hansen

(1) Naoya Inoue (2) Terence “Bud” Crawford (3) Oleksandr Usyk (Four) Dmitry Bivol (5) Artur Beterbiev (6) Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (7) Kenshiro Terachi (8) David Benavides (9) Junto Nakatani (Ten) Subriel Mathias

Usyk's latest win will likely be controversial to many readers, but it doesn't change anything for me, and probably some of my colleagues as well.

Right now, we are blessed to have three of the greatest fighters of all time, all of whom have a legitimate claim to being “the best right now” and have reached new heights within the past year. Prior to the Fury fight, I had Usyk half a weight class below Inoue and Crawford at 1a and 1b. Now, these three are clearly worthy of P4P honors, not just now, but in almost any era.

Historically, having someone of my pedigree judge a beauty contest between three immortal beauties has led to misery and suffering, and the comments below will no doubt prove that again. All I can say is that if we could somehow standardize the sizes of these three and have them face off in the ring tomorrow, I don't think there's an objective, clear answer, but Inoue, Crawford and Usyk would be my favorites, with very little difference between the rankings.

I feel like Crawford is closest to the edge, but what I saw in his last fight means he's not over the edge yet, and if he looks like he's taken a step back in August, I'll adjust accordingly.

Patrick Sternberg

(1) Naoya Inoue (2) Oleksandr Usyk (3) Terence “Bud” Crawford (Four) Canelo Alvarez, (5) Dmitry Bivol (6) Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (7) Artur Beterbiev (8) Junto Nakatani (9) Kenshiro Terachi (Ten) David Benavides

So here's my take: Based on win count alone, Oleksandr Usyk's win over Tyson Fury is the most impressive achievement on this list, and his two wins over Anthony Joshua, who I always root for, are impressive as well. I wouldn't argue with anyone putting him at the top.

Naoya Inoue's dominating victory cannot be overlooked. Usyk's heavyweight victories, while generally clear-cut, have been hard-fought and often hit at least a few obstacles along the way. Inoue has only struggled once since defeating the one-eyed generational talent, a full-on counter from perhaps the second-most powerful one-puncher in the division, before rising to his feet and getting revenge with one of the most violent knockouts of the year. There is a lot that can be said about Luis Nery, but he threw punches like a train and slammed him to the ground after enduring 10 incredibly tough rounds against the relentless Azat Hovhannisyan. What Inoue did to Nery was not normal.

Again, one could argue that the quality of Usyk's recent wins and the physical difference that comes with them outweigh the good-but-not-great footprint Inoue has left behind as he has climbed the weight classes. Usyk is a remarkable generational talent, but unlike Inoue, he is mortal in my eyes.

Lewis Watson

(1) Oleksandr Usyk (2) Naoya Inoue (3) Terence “Bud” Crawford (Four) Artur Beterbiev (5) Dmitry Bivol (6) Canelo Alvarez, (7) Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez (8) Kenshiro Terachi (9) Gervonta Tank Davis (Ten) Vasily Lomachenko

P4P rankings, by their very nature, are volatile. Despite Inoue's devastating performance earlier this month, Usyk's win over Fury a few weeks later propelled the Ukrainian to the top of my rankings. In fact, only slightly behind the top three, Usyk caught the tiger by the toe and nearly stopped a man who was bigger by every metric. The rare phenomenon of a cruiserweight dominating a division and then moving up to heavyweight (with a 62-pound weight difference between opponents) should not be treated as a run-of-the-mill achievement. Usyk is well on his way to cementing his status as an ATG.

Lomachenko rolled back the years a bit with his win over George Kambosos Jr., getting back into the top 10. I think we've become a little desensitized to Loma's dominance in the sport and perhaps unfairly criticized the higher-ranked Loma.