Of all the pound-for-pound stars parading the sport right now, Sergey Kovalev doubts there is a more complete package than one champion, in particular.
Kovalev himself was viewed as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters at various stages in his career, becoming a multiple time light heavyweight world champion.
For many, the world’s number-one current fighter is a toss-up between Oleksandr Usyk and Terence Crawford, though the likes of Naoya Inoue, Dmitry Bivol and Jesse Rodriguez are all hot on their heels.
Based on their extraordinary accolades and longevity in the sport, however, it is only right that Usyk and Crawford are considered the two leading candidates.
Quite remarkably, the latter cemented his greatness with a victory over Canelo Alvarez in September, dethroning the then-super-middleweight king to become a three-division undisputed champion.
Previous wins over Israil Madrimov and Errol Spence Jr only enhanced Crawford’s legacy across five weight classes, especially 147lbs, where he is widely regarded as one of the all-time greats.
That said, it could perhaps be argued that Usyk boasts a marginally more impressive resume, with notable victories over the likes of Mairis Briedis and Murat Gassiev consolidating his greatness at cruiserweight. The masterful Ukrainian then moved up to heavyweight and decisively outpointed Anthony Joshua on two occasions, before becoming a two-weight undisputed champion against Tyson Fury last year.
Following his second points victory over Fury, Usyk also collected a second win over Daniel Dubois, who he stopped in the fifth round of their rematch in July.
But while there is barely a whisker to separate Usyk and Crawford – both 38 years old and undefeated – former light-heavyweight world champion Kovalev was nonetheless quick to tell Fight Hub TV that he favours ‘Bud’.
“For me, [it’s] Crawford. I love this guy; I love his [mindset], his style. Yeah, Crawford for me.”
With all that said, Kovalev’s take must now change with the recent news that Crawford has retired from the sport of boxing, putting him into the Hall of Fame conversation rather than the active pound-for-pound list. The American shut down talk of a Canelo rematch with a sudden announcement that he has hung up the gloves as undefeated, five-division world champion.