Who you got? Naoya Inoue or Terence Crawford.
The imaginary, yet salient pound-for-pound number-one fighter in the world is currently an open debate. Of course, there are a few fighters that are shuffled into the mix.
Oleksandr Usyk, the heavyweight division’s unified champion, has always garnered consideration. So has Canelo Alvarez. But for the most part, the debate is between Crawford and Inoue.
Murodjon Akhmadaliev is somewhat close to the conversation. After all, Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) currently fights in his division and just ran through someone who beat Akhmadaliev in Marlon Tapales. It’s a tough call for the 28-year-old when asked to give his own opinion. He didn’t rush into giving his answer. He paused and thought long and hard before pontificating who he believes is the best fighter in the world.
“There’s no doubt that Inoue is a great fighter,” Akhmadaliev told BoxingScene.com. “But if I had to choose, I would choose Terence Crawford as the best pound-for-pound fighter.”
The two have a ton of differences between them. They compete in completely different weight classes, are from two different sides of the earth, and fight nothing alike. They recently did, however, make history.
Crawford’s cataclysmic knockout win over Errol Spence Jr. last year crowned him as the first male to become undisputed in two weight classes. Inoue recently joined him a few weeks ago after grabbing every title in the super bantamweight division.
Moving up in weight has been practically a walk in the park for the Japanese star. Still, even with no one being able to take him down, Akhmadaliev has a hard time putting Inoue above Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) on his pound-for-pound rankings.
“He has more tools than anyone else,” continued Akhmadaliev. “He has probably the highest ring IQ and he proves it in the ring against the best. He’s that great.”
