World Boxing News looks into whether Deontay Wilder has ever been the Pound for Pound number one fighter on the planet.
In an article published by Forbes, a clearly excitable writer claimed Wilder was the current P4P top dog before the Tyson Fury clash.
Wilder was placed above Canelo, Terence Crawford, Naoya Inoue, Vasyl Lomachenko, and Oleksandr Usyk in a move that was probably more driven at getting attention.
All five mentioned were unified in a division then, and two became undisputed.
At the time, WBN held Wilder in high regard as the top heavyweight on the planet after ten straight WBC title defenses. But in no way was Wilder the top fighter on the planet.
Pound for Pound is reserved only for the best boxers around. Wilder had many accomplishments to achieve before that.
Despite this fact, clearly high on Wilder’s recent win, Forbes made it public.
They published this: “As we head into the final month of 2019 with a number of solid fights on the ledger, we have a moment to pause and list the top ten pound-for-pound fighters in the sport.
Following another stunning KO victory, I think it’s time everyone stopped criticizing Deontay Wilder for his lack of conventional boxing skills and started appreciating his dominance.
How high is Deontay Wilder on the pound-for-pound list? Take a look.
The Forbes P4P Top 10 – December 2019
10 – Manny Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KO) – WBN Ranked 5
9 – Gennady Golovkin (40-1-1, 35 KO) – WBN Ranked 6
8 – Errol Spence Jr. (26-0, 21 KO) – WBN Ranked 4
7 – Juan Francisco Estrada (40-3, 27 KO) – WBN Ranked 9
6 – Oleksandr Usyk (17-0 , 13 KO) – WBN Ranked 8
5 – Canelo Alvarez (53-1-2, 36 KO) – WBN Ranked 1
4 – Naoya Inoue (19-0, 16 KO) – WBN Ranked 3
3 – Vasyl Lomachenko (14-1, 10 KO) – WBN ranked 2
2 – Terence Crawford (35-0, 26 KO) – WBN Ranked 7
1 – Deontay Wilder (42-0-1, 41 KO) – WBN Ranked 10
Deontay Wilder
On Wilder, they added: “Forget about his skinny legs. Forget about the penchant to become wild when he hurts an opponent.
“All you need to know is that Wilder’s opponents have the smallest margin for error of any fighter on the planet.
“Luis Ortiz saw this firsthand in his rematch with the WBC champion last month.
“All it takes is one, and no fighter embodies this concept more literally than Wilder. I did score his first fight with Tyson Fury for the Gypsy King, but Wilder is still officially undefeated.
“There is no doubt in my mind that when Wilder faces Fury in the rematch in February, he will win by KO. Furthermore, I’m convinced Wilder also knocks out Andy Ruiz or Anthony Joshua.”
Hmm.
