Roy Jones Jr. has named Gervonta Davis and Terence Crawford the best fighters in the world.
Both boxers are currently undefeated, although their title accomplishments differ. Davis is the current WBA Lightweight Champion after being elevated once Devin Haney vacated and moved on. He knocked out Frank Martin in his last bout as he chases legacy-defining fights. His biggest win so far was against Ryan Garcia, stopping him in round seven to earn a reported $50 million.
Those earnings will eclipse what Crawford has managed to do for a single fight, but Bud’s accomplishments are far better. Crawford knocked out Errol Spence Jr. in his last fight to become the first Undisputed Welterweight Champion of the four-belt era.
Jones Reacts
The win also made him undisputed in a second weight class. Crawford is now one of the best P4P fighters. He will box Israil Madrimov on August 3. A win makes him a four-division champion as he chases a historic undisputed fight with Canelo Alvarez at 168. Jones had nothing but praise based on what he had seen of them.
“One of the best ones out there… he’s really one of the pound-for-pound best ones out of the coop. He can punch but he also can box. Some that can punch, can’t box. He can box, he can punch, he can move laterally, he can do it left side, right side.
“He can do whatever he needs to do as a southpaw to get the job done and that’s saying a lot because not many guys can do that today. [And] he shows discipline… discipline enough to [know] he got enough shock on his punch but he knows how to set the punch up before he does it. hat’s a real chess player in the boxing ring. [Davis] and Terence Crawford are two of the best right now because of their setup game,” Jones said
Jones also took his time out to praise Naoya Inoue. The Japanese is also a two-weight undisputed champion, having won all the belts at bantamweight and super bantamweight. He is coming off a sixth-round stoppage win against Luis Nery. The fight showed Inoue’s heart. He got off the canvas to stop the Mexican in a dominant fashion.
Who Is The Best?
Inoue will now box TJ Doheny on September 3 in another defense of his title with a view to moving up in weight maybe within the next two years. Inoue fights in a smaller weight class than Davis and Crawford, making him a lesser-known name amongst the casuals. But he continues to sell out stadiums, making him an exciting attraction. Jones found it tough to separate Inoue from Crawford as the best P4P fighter.
“I think that dude is really pound-for-pound No. 1. He just don’t have the competition at that weight class to have that big fight to get it right now, and the United States don’t know him because we don’t have big fighters in his weight class over here that we know that good.
“So he’s really pound-for-pound No. 1, but because he doesn’t have the opposition to prove it, I’ve got to leave ‘Bud’ there. And the reason I leave ‘Bud’ there is because ‘Bud’ was there for so long with the same problem Inoue had. He had no opponent to be able to prove it with. Inoue, I think is No. 1. but he’s going to have to be No. 2 for now because he doesn’t have that opponent, but that’s a badd dude,” Jones stated
