Seton Hall
Opinion: Pound-for-pound top 20 boxers heading into 2020
Date: January 1, 2020By: Michael Daly
1) Canelo Alvarez- The light heavyweight division saw Alvarez skip two weight classes and snatch Sergey Kovalev’s WBO world title. Alvarez became a four-division world champion and later vacated the WBO light heavyweight title, making his return to either super middleweight or middleweight imminent. His ability to move around in different divisions and take them over is a testament to his dominance.
2) Vasyl Lomachenko- The lightweight division was commanded by Lomachenko in 2019 and he has shown no sign of stepping down from this throne. Two wins against England’s Anthony Crolla and Luke Campbell stamped his mark as the division’s top dog. Fights with Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez, and Gervonta Davis loom in the future.
3) Errol Spence Jr.- Both of his fights in 2019 were steep challenges. His first fight with Mikey Garcia was a boxing master class. He proved to Garcia that he couldn’t handle the explosive power of a top-tier welterweight. In September 2019, Spence narrowly edged out Shawn Porter in a split-decision success. Less than two-weeks after the fight, Spence was involved in a nearly fatal car accident in Dallas, Texas. He is in good spirits and recently returned to the gym to start training again.
4) Terence Crawford- Madison Square Garden hosted his last fight on Dec. 14, 2019. He defended his WBO welterweight title against Egidijus Kavaliauskas and managed to stop Kavaliauskas in the ninth-round. Crawford was hurt by a shot from Kavaliauskas in the early rounds and appeared to be dropped, despite the referee not ruling it a knockdown. Crawford stormed back and controlled the fight against a dangerous opponent. His Top Rank affiliation makes it hard to set up unification fights because of political involvement between promoters.
5) Deontay Wilder- When it looked like he was being completely outclassed by Luis Ortiz in their rematch bout on Nov. 23, Wilder blasted Ortiz with one punch to the forehead and ended the fight in the seventh-round. Wilder’s next bout will be a rematch with Tyson Fury, who he fought in 2018 to a split-draw. This fight will dictate the future of the heavyweight division because Anthony Joshua will be waiting in the wings to fight the winner.
6) Oleksandr Usyk- In his jump from cruiserweight to heavyweight, Usyk proved to be a formidable contender in the heavyweight universe. In his only appearance at heavyweight so far, he took on Chazz Witherspoon and forced a retirement of Witherspoon. Usyk could fight for a world title at heavyweight before the end of 2020. Matchroom Boxing is trying to set up a fight between Usyk and British contender Dereck Chisora in the early part of this year.
7) Naoya Inoue- Arguably the most underrated world champion, Inoue comes into the new year with a stranglehold on the bantamweight division, as he holds two titles in the division. Inoue could possibly move up in weight and begin fighting in the junior featherweight division.
8) Anthony Joshua- Many counted him out after he suffered the first loss of his career to Andy Ruiz Jr. on June 1, in Madison Square Garden. Joshua avenged his loss in a rematch bout with Ruiz on Dec. 7, in Saudi Arabia. Instead of going toe-to-toe with Ruiz like he did in the first fight, Joshua decided to box on the outside and outpoint Ruiz in route to a unanimous decision victory. Joshua will wait until after Wilder-Fury II to make his next career decision.
9) Demetrius Andrade- Securing two wins within the first six months of 2019, Andrade hopes to continue his magical run with a win in his next title defense on Jan. 30, in Miami, Florida. His opponent will be Luke Keeler from Ireland, as Keeler wants to take the WBO middleweight title away from the champion. Andrade looks to use this fight as a steppingstone to eventually being in the ring with the other middleweight champions.
10) Gennady Golovkin- His most recent fight was an entertaining clash against Sergiy Derevyanchenko at Madison Square Garden, on Oct. 5. Golovkin won a controversial unanimous decision, despite seeming to be hurt in the third-round. However, Golovkin managed to knock down Derevyanchenko in the first-round, which gave him the edge over his opponent on the judges’ scorecards. Golovkin began last year with a statement knockout victory against then undefeated challenger, Steve Rolls.
11) Manny Pacquiao- At 41-years-old, Pacquiao is inching closer to a massive unification bout with the likes of Spence Jr. and Crawford. Pacquiao fought twice in 2019 and defended his WBA belt against Adrien Broner and Keith Thurman. His latest fight against Thurman was a split-decision win that showed the world he still possesses blazing speed and lethal power.
12) Josh Taylor- 2019 proved to be his coming out party as a serious champion at the junior welterweight division. Taylor is now the WBA and IBF junior welterweight champion following his unifying majority decision victory over Regis Prograis.
13) Shawn Porter- Putting on one of the most memorable welterweight championship fights in recent years against Spence Jr., Porter hopes to regain his status as an elite welterweight. A rematch against Spence could be in his future. Porter also has other options that could include a Pacquiao fight, or high-profile rematches with Thurman and Danny Garcia.
14) Billy Joe Saunders- In the first defense of his WBO world super middleweight title on Nov. 9, Saunders pulled off a scintillating come from behind knockout victory against Marcelo Esteban Coceres in the 11th-round. There are a bevy of options for Saunders in the near future at 168-pounds.
15) Mikey Garcia- After moving up in weight to fight Spence Jr. for the IBF welterweight title, Garcia took the rest of 2019 off following his loss in March. Garcia will be back in action on Feb. 29, 2020, to fight Jessie Vargas at welterweight. Garcia just signed a promotional deal with Matchroom Boxing USA to promote his next fight.
16) Tyson Fury- After his historic heavyweight title bout with Wilder in 2018, Fury managed to win twice in 2019. His latest fight against Otto Wallin displayed his championship mettle, in which he sustained a deep gash over his eye that required 47 stitches. Fury will face Wilder in a rematch on Feb. 22, 2020, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
17) Teofimo Lopez Jr.- With a ferocious TKO triumph over Richard Commey, Lopez is now the IBF champion in the lightweight division. Massive fights are on the horizon for Lopez.
18) Leo Santa Cruz- On the undercard of Wilder vs Ortiz II at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, Santa Cruz pulled off an imposing unanimous decision victory versus Miguel Flores to win the vacant WBA super featherweight world title. Moving forward, Santa Cruz hopes to defend both of his titles in the super featherweight and junior lightweight divisions.
19) Jermall Charlo- Both Charlo brothers are coming off impressive knockout victories in world championship bouts. This Charlo faced challenger Dennis Hogan for the WBC world middleweight title on Dec. 7. Charlo finished off Hogan with a TKO victory in the seventh-round at the Barclays Center. Fights with Andrade, Golovkin, and Daniel Jacobs interest him.
20) Danny Jacobs- Jacobs is a former two-time middleweight champion who held the IBF and WBA titles from 2014-2019. On Dec. 20, 2019, he moved up in weight to make his debut at 168-pounds against Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Jacobs looked impressive by landing a steady stream of jabs and power shots against Chavez Jr., which eventually forced Chavez Jr. to retire in the corner after the fifth-round.
Michael Daly is the Web Editor at WSOU Sports, and can be reached at wsousportswebeditor@gmail.com.
