Usyk has dominated a row of killers. Canelo has some good wins but his career is a lot of smoke and mirrors like Joshua's. Ward clearly lost to Kovalev at his absolute peak. No shame in losing to a great fighter in Kovalev and fellow p4per, but it hurts him in this conversation. That's my order.
Usyk has done it all on the road and has had zero controversy. Ward had a little controversy against kovalev. Canelo has 4 controversial fights, a loss and a drugs ban.
Usyk > Canelo > Ward Usyk's best win, whether you think it's Gassiev to become undisputed, or Joshua to become 2-division champ, is with zero controversy in his opponent's backyard. Similarly all his championship wins have come on the road Canelo's best win is a razor-thin decision against GGG clouded in controversy from drugs and scoring. A lot of his best wins have asterisks too To be perfectly honest, I've never really rated Ward, and I thought he lost to Kovalev fair and square
Usyk has won every bout in his pro career with no controversy and nothing stacked in his favor, he's been going all over the world fighting the best in their home countries. Ward has used dirty tactics and home cooking to be where he is, headbutting, low blows... he did it all. Great fighter no doubt but he lost to Kovalev and the use of illegal tactics helped elevate him. Canelo... confirmed PED cheat. Everything always stacked in his favor, crippling rehydration clauses, paid off judges. He could easily have 6 losses on his record and should have 4 losses (2x GGG, Mayweather and Lara). The two best opponents he ever fought outboxed him, both of them were past their peak. He gave up a WBC belt to avoid GGG closer to him prime. Usyk no question. If Canelo wasn't marketable he wouldn't even be in your top 10 p4p lists. If every opponent Canelo fought was more marketable than he was. He'd have losses to Jacobs, Trout, GGG, GGG, Mayweather and Lara and probably Kovalev who took the fight 2 months after a grueling bout with Yarde.
Canelo is the current p4p #1 for a good reason. The guy is an animal. He has been carrying boxing for the past few years…
Let's be honest, if Canelo had been ukrainian and had spent his career fighting on the road , he'd already have 3 losses at the very least.