By Mauricio Sulaimán
President of the WBC – Son of José Sulaimán

The first half of this historic 2024 ended, with a more than positive balance for world boxing. Never before has there been a situation like the one, we are currently experiencing, in which many fighters claim to hold the famous term best pound for pound. Lets take a look at some of them and see what you think:

• Saúl Canelo Álvarez, Mexico, with a record of 61-2-2, 39 KOs, and who has been at the top of this list for many years. He is currently the undisputed champion (WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF) at super middleweight, and in May he defeated the brave Jaime Munguia in. A sensational fight, in Las Vegas.
• Terence Bud Crawford, USA, with a record of 40-0-0, 31 KOs. He was the undisputed champion at super lightweight, and in 2023 he also became undisputed (WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF) at welterweight, after knocking out his archrival, Errol Spence Jr., impressively in a war of undefeated. His next fight will be at super welterweight, on August 3, in California, in the debut of Riyadh Season, in the United States.
• Naoya Inoue, Japan, with a record of 27-0-0, 24 KOs. He won the WBC light flyweight title against Adrián Hernández, on April 6, 2014, at the Ota City General Gymnasium. He went straight to winning the super flyweight title, and became undisputed bantamweight champion, after defeating Nonito Donaire.He is currently the undisputed monarch (WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF) at super bantamweight, and he won his most recent fight against mandatory challenger, two-time champion, Luis Nery, before fifty thousand fans, at the Tokyo Dome, in Japan.
• Oleksandr Usyk, Ukraine,Olympic gold medallist, with a por record of, 22-0-0, 14 KOs, was the undisputed champion at cruiserweight, and then decided to try his luck by moving up to the highest division. On May 18, he beat the undefeated and heavy favorite world champion Tyson Fury, in one of the best fights in history, precisely in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, to become undisputed monarch (WBC, WBA, WBO and IBF). The rematch will be on December 21.
• Gervonta Davis, USA, with a record of 30-0-0, 28 KOs, is the current WBA lightweight champion, and has defeated top rivals. On June 15, he impressively knocked out Frank Martín, on the commemorative card for the 100 nights of boxing in the history of the legendary MGM Grand Garden Arena.
• Devin Haney, USA, with 31-0-0, 15 KOs, became undisputed champion (WBC-WBA-WBO and IBF) at lightweight, after defeating George Kambosos, in Australia; He beat him in the rematch, and also the legend Vasyl Lomachenko. He won the WBC super lightweight championship against Regis Prograis, and his recent fight is full of controversy and injustice, since his opponent, Ryan García, in addition to not making the official weight, tested positive for two prohibited substances, reason for which the result of said contest has been eliminated.
• Artur Beterbiev, Canada, with a record of 20-0-0, 20 KOs, is light heavyweight world champion (WBC, WBO and IBF), all his victories have been by knockout, and this coming October 12 he will face to Dmitry Bivol, for the undisputed of the division.
• Dimitry Bivol, Kyrjyzstan, with a record of 23-0-0, 12 KOs, will be fighting arch-rival Artur Betrbiev for the undisputed light heavyweight.
• David Benavidez, USA-Mexico with a record of 29-0-0, 24 KOs. Three-time WBC world champion at super middleweight and current interim WBC monarch at both super middleweight and light heavyweight. He won the interim light heavyweight title against the former champion Oleksander Gvozdyk on June 15.
  He is in the process of deciding in which division his career will continue.
• Jesse Bam Rodríguez, USA-Mexico, with a record of 20-0-0 (13 KOs). Quite a natural light flyweight phenomenon; he moved up to super flyweight to win the WBC title, defeating two-time champion Carlos Cuadras; In his next fight he knocked out the two-time monarch Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, from Thailand..Then he came back down to flyweight, and became WBO champion, and last Saturday he categorically knocked out the legendary multi-champion Gallo Estrada, and won the WBC super flyweight title.

There are ten fighters here, and anyone can be considered number one pound for pound; Everything will depend on the tastes of the person who makes his own list.

DID YOU KNOW…?

There are several other fighters who could be on the list due to their great boxing level, among others:
-Tyson Fury, UK, With a record of 34-1-1, 24 KOs, Two-time heavyweight champion and considered the best heavyweight before his split decision loss to Usyk, looking to avenge his sole loss on December 21.

• Shakur Stevenson, USA, with a record (21-0-0, 10 KOs), three-time world champion and current WBC lightweight champion.
• Errol Spence, USA, with a record 28-1-0, 22 KOs, Lost his last fight against top champion Crawford and is looking to come back strong.
• Vasily Lomachenko, Ukraine. With a record of 18-3-0, 12 KOs. Top of the list for many years, 2 time olympic champion and world champion in 3 different weight categories , came back solid and won a title in 2024 and is looking for glory later in the year.
• Teofimo Lopez, USA / Honduras , with a record of 21-1-0, 13 KOs. A complete powerful over all champion looking to land a huge fight in 2024.
• Junto Nakatani (Japan), 27-0-0, 20 KOs, two-time champion and current WBC bantamweight champion.
• Roman Chocolatito González (Nicaragua) with a record of 51-4-0, 41 KOs, belonged to the list for many years, and returns to the ring this coming July 12th.
• The fights during the first semester have been extraordinary, dramatic fights, spectacular events and excitement for the fans of the world, which is your favorite one?
• Fury vs Usyk Ring of Fire in Riyadh Heavyweight Undisputed resulted in an instant classic.
• Inoue vs Nery sell out at Tokyo Dome, first fight since Tyson lost to Douglas, drama at the fullest as Inoue visit the floor for the first time in first round and comes back to Ko Nery.
• Canelo vs Munguia T-Mobile Las Vegas a sensational 5 de mayo celebration with a great fight
• 5 vs 5 in Riyadh unbelievable matches and innovative concept for promotions
• Fundora vs Tzsyu plus great undercard with Pitbull Cruz vs Rollie Romero at T Mobile Las Vegas as the opening card for Amazon Prime Video
• Kenshiro Teraji vs Canizales Tokyo Japan with a dramatic toe to toe war with both fighters visiting the canvas.
• Bam Rodriguez vs Estrada Phoenix Arizona with the passing of the torch from a generation to the next one.
• Gervonta Davis vs Martin, Benavidez vs Gvozdyk and a great card to commemorate the MGM Grand Arena 100 Ko Nights.
• Lomachenko vs Kambosos in Australia sell out stadium to witness the return of the king Lomachenko.
• Rikiishi vs Magnesi in Italy dramatic battle with a last round knockout

TODAY’S ANECDOTE

My father José Sulaimán died 10 years ago, and in one of those last conversations before entering the hospital he expressed his point of view regarding boxers who become outstanding and legendary, and he was so right looking at modern customs in boxing ! “My son, I don’t like the path boxing is taking and the way promoters, managers and boxers are currently managing their careers. The great champions did so by solidifying their legacy with long careers as monarchs of their division, making many defenses of their championship such as: Carlos Monzón, Alexis Argüello, Hagler, Leonard, Chávez and Ricardo López, with 22 defenses of the straw-weight title, among so many others.

Today I see them rushing their careers, taking them to win any title, then move up to win more in different divisions, and thus sell that fighter to the fans as a multiple champion, when in reality his quality is not at the level of what it should be.

I appreciate your comments at [email protected]