The mythical pound-for-pound boxing ranking is something that every boxer wants to be a part of. Many fans and experts have argued over the topic to decide the best boxer in every category. And while there can never be one definitive answer for that, there are several names that can make the list. During the ‘It Is What It Is’ podcast, even Mike Tyson was not able to come up with one particular name.
While the former heavyweight champion named few boxers worthy of the title, the shocking thing was he did not name the current unified super middleweight champion and ‘the face of boxing’ – Canelo Alvarez as one of them.
Mike Tyson impressed with the current crop of boxers
Rapper Mase asked Tyson about his ‘pound for pound’ boxing champion, and the youngest heavyweight champion in history struggled to answer the question immediately. According to him, there are quite a few boxers who can get that title, not just one. “Wow…Benavidez, Tank. There’s no 1 guy…Crawford. There’s an array of great fighters out here,” stated Mike Tyson while naming David Benavidez, Gervonta Davis, and Terence Crawford as his picks for the current p4p champions.
The shocking thing is that this list does not include two names that everyone expected. Two boxers who have been dominating for the past few years against all odds. The first one was Oleksandr Usyk, who became the undisputed cruiserweight champion in 2018 and then became the undisputed heavyweight champion earlier this year. He is the first boxer to achieve this feat in the 21st century, since Lennox Lewis in 1999.
The second and the most shocking exclusion was that of Alvarez. The Mexican boxer might have lost the title for pound for pound boxer since his loss against Dmitry Bivol, but with only 2 losses in a 2 decade long career, he should be on the list somewhere. Moreover, Mike Tyson, on the same podcast, also opened up about Canelo potentially facing Crawford and David Benavidez and what he thinks about those fights.
Not a fan of Crawford vs Canelo
When asked about Canelo vs Crawford, Tyson made it clear that he didn’t particularly “like that fight.” He explained that Crawford looked uncomfortable in his last fight against Israil Madrimov in August. For that fight, Crawford had to go up to 154 lbs from the 147 lbs division. To fight Canelo, Bud has to go up two more weight classes and this might affect his game too much to be competitive. Canelo had the same viewpoint regarding Terence Crawford and had stated previously that the latter should go back to 147 again, where he was dominant.
Mase further asked Tyson about why “Canelo does not want to fight Benavidez, because that is a fight everyone wants to see?” Benavidez vs Canelo is a fight that everyone wants to see and everyone thought he would be the next challenger for the unified belt. But the 62-2 boxer went in a different direction and chose Edgar Berlanga instead as his opponent. Fans were left confused and bewildered and had no answer.
Well, Iron Mike is no different as even he has no idea why the fight has not happened yet. “I don’t know. We need to bring him here and ask him that. That is a big fight for him and he don’t want to fight that. You have to talk to Canelo about that.” The 58-year-old also made it clear that Alvarez is not ducking Benavidez and stated, “It will appear to everyone that he is running away from the guy, but he just does not want to fight the guy.”
If in the future, David Benavidez gets to fight Canelo, the choice of a pound-for-pound champion would become more clear and straightforward.
