For this five-part series we reached out to several boxing insiders with various skills and experience in the industry and asked them about a number of key topics. In this installment, the question is: Who is the best fighter in the world right now and why?
Meet the panel:
Aaron Navarro, a cutman who has worked for more than 20 years at the highest level. He is the cutman for WBC junior lightweight titleholder O’Shaquie Foster and former titleholder Regis Prograis, as well as many others.
Mike Rodriguez, a cutman who has worked with 29 world titleholders, including Manny Pacquiao, Katie Taylor, Julian Williams, Dmitry Bivol and Vergil Ortiz Jnr.
AJ Jafari is one half of 3pt Management along with David Suh. Jafari’s company manages the careers of Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez, John “Scrappy” Ramirez, Oleksandr Gvozdyk and Darius Fulghum.
Roberto Diaz is the president of Sheer Sports and the former matchmaker for Golden Boy Promotions.
John Pullman is a boxing coach who currently trains women’s lightweight Stephanie Simon and flyweight Enkhmandakh Kharkhuu.
Rudy Hernandez is a boxing coach from Los Angeles, California, who currently trains two world titleholders: unified bantamweight titleholder Junto Nakatani and flyweight titleholder Anthony Olascuaga.
Pepe Reilly is a 1992 US Olympian, a former professional fighter, and a trainer at Wild Card Boxing in Los Angeles.
Mark DeLuca is a former professional boxer who now trains fighters in Massachusetts, working with Abraham Nova, Thomas O’Toole, Francis Hogan and other up-and-coming fighters.
Eddie Croft is a former professional boxer and is currently a trainer at his gym, B. St Boxing, in San Mateo, California.
***
John Pullman: Oleksandr Usyk based on both of his performances against Tyson Fury. He is something special.
Pepe Reilly: The best fighter in the world right now is Terence Crawford. I think he has straight up shown his ability amongst the boxers he has beaten. I wish he had had a chance to take on all the big challenges against all the best junior welterweights and welterweights of the last five to 10 years, but that didn’t happen. Because of that, the best Terence Crawford was never really seen. It was only seen when he finally fought and beat Errol Spence.
Mark DeLuca: It’s difficult to deny Oleksandr Usyk the top spot. The quality of opposition he’s been dominating is all-time great status.
Roberto Diaz: I see a few. Usyk is an undisputed world champion in two divisions and is still undefeated. He is special after beating both [Anthony] Joshua & [Tyson] Fury. Inoue, Mr. Honda told me he was special in his eighth fight, and wow was he ever right. A long time ago, I witnessed his brutal stoppage of Omar Narvaez to win a title in his second division. Crawford, a tremendously talented fighter, I like to compare him to Marvelous Marvin Hagler, and he is willing to be great with his confidence and ability to adjust. Canelo has fought them all, every style, and has so much experience over many years, showing a lot of maturity and composure.
Rudy Hernandez: Naoya Inoue, because he dares to be great. When he gets in the ring, he is there to fight. If he can take you out in two rounds, he will take you out in two rounds. If the fight goes eight rounds, it isn’t because he isn’t trying to knock you out; it is because his competition is good.
AJ Jafari: Oleksandr Usyk is the best fighter in the world, in my opinion. The last few years, it's been a shuffle between Usyk, Crawford, and Inoue, but Usyk's two wins over Fury cemented him as the current best fighter. For how undersized he is, it's a testament to how skilled he is against these top-heavyweights.
Eddie Croft: I would say Terence Crawford. I like Naoya Inoue, and Canelo is great. My favorite fighter is Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez. Every time I see “Bam”, I am impressed. He fights like a warrior. All those guys are warriors, but “Bam” is a little guy; he is more active because he is a flyweight and throws more punches, the way he turns angles into body shots. “Bam” is awesome.
Mike Rodriguez: Oleksandr Usyk, based on his complete body of work and resume. He’s never looked for “A” side advantages, and his willingness to fight the best of two divisions, most often if not always, in other world champs' backyards. To me, the ultimate definition of not just a belt holder but a true world champion.
Aaron Navarro: We got one of them in our gym in Shock Foster. Shakur Stevenson is a great boxer. Those two come to mind. I still don’t think people have seen everything Shock can do. I like Naoya Inoue a lot. Everyone looks at his power, but he does some nice things as well. Dmitry Bivol is a great boxer and technician. Bud [Terence Crawford] as well. Canelo has a very high ring IQ, too.
As for Shock, he has a couple of performances that showed me he is one of the best in the world. When he fought Jon Fernandez, they brought him in because he had a couple of losses. They thought he’d be the right guy, and I don’t blame them. If I had Fernandez, I would have taken that fight too. Fernandez was a huge, upcoming prospect that year. He was one of the Boxing Writers' top-five prospects and was managed by Sergio Martinez. When Shock went in there and gave him a boxing lesson, and just beat him, that was one of those moments.
Then he came in and stopped Miguel Roman, a battle-tested Mexican veteran who has upset so many guys on the way up. It wasn’t that he beat him, it was the way that he beat him. Dropped him in the first round, boxed him for a while, then fought him and stopped him. He showed he had more layers to him. Then, coming in and being able to defeat Rey Vargas, an undefeated guy. We all know that wasn’t supposed to happen either.
