The lightweight division is brimming with up-and-coming talent as well as veterans. You have exciting fighters like Gervonta Davis. You have skilled technicians in Shakur Stevenson, a seasoned Olympian with an awkward style in Vasyl Lomachenko, and a hot prospect in Abdullah Mason. So, the question naturally arises in the fans’ heads. Who are the top 10 fighters in the division? Coach Kenny Ellis endeavored to draw a list, and it seems it didn’t sit well with the fans.
Ellis, 54, who has helped polish Davis along with coach Calvin Ford, into a knockout artist, turned to his social media and dropped the list. The list is full of surprises, to say the least. Well, you could anticipate one slot, ‘Tank’ occupying the top rank.
No surprise: Kenny Ellis puts Gervonta Davis #1
In the list, as soon as you go down the first spot, you start raising your eyebrows. Mason finds himself in the second position, ahead of the third-ranked Stevenson, who himself is placed higher than Lomachenko. Frank Martin, who dropped the last fight with Davis, at 30-0, is in fifth. Then the 2020 Olympic medalist, Andy Cruz, follows, and then comes Floyd Schofield at 7.
Keyshawn Davis, William Zepeda, and Curmel Moton round up the other three ranks. It seems Ellis has mixed up potential and youth with actual achievements in the ring. It eventually attracted the ire of fans, who didn’t shy away from blasting the list in the comments section.
Fans are up in arms against the rankings
A fan pointed out that Mason, at 15-0, right at number 2, and even higher than the interim WBC champion Zepeda, didn’t make sense. They wrote, “Mason that high and Zepeda that low is crazy.” Mason has yet to hold a world title while Zepeda has been the No. 1 contender in the lightweight division on all four sanctioning bodies list.
Pointing out the bias for Mason, a user believed he wanted to witness how the 20-year-old boxer would fare against the likes of more skilled veterans of the division in Stevenson and Lomachenko. They demanded, “If that’s the case, I wanna see Abdullah vs Loma or Shakur.” At 15-0, Mason has not been exposed to the competition the way Shakur or Loma have. Thus, the position does warrant some question.
Someone also questioned the credibility of Stevenson at #3. They announced, “I think Shakur is great but hasn’t proven himself to be better than Loma or Frank yet.” They contested the resume of the WBC champion, which is thinner when compared to Lomachenko. In addition, they also put Martin in the proven fighter’s category.
A comment slammed Davis for his choice of opponents and proposed that the Baltimore native always tended to pick someone smaller and with disadvantages. “Gervonta who has fought no one of his size and or without advantages is your number 1??? LMAO,” wrote the fan rhetorically.
Another fan argued the position of Schofield, who is only 21 years old and has a record of 17-0 but didn’t have a splendid amateur career. They also criticized Mason for being placed second. They declared, “This us stupid. Schofield better than Zepeda? I can’t take that seriously. And Mason is great but hasn’t proven close to enough to be above some of those other guys yet.”
Lastly, another user referenced Timothy Bradley‘s four-year-old statement when he took a jibe at Davis for fighting no-so-popular names. They commented, “A Joke Naming A Guy Who fights 8 rounders against cab drivers over a 3 divison champion makes ur whole list A Straight up joke !!!” They claimed that a three-division champion like Shakur Stevenson deserved to be placed higher than Tank.
