Do we all agree whoever wins between Kovalev and Ward is #1 pound for pound

People need to learn what p4p actually means.

There's no fighters in the higher weight classes as skilled as Loma or Rigo. They are the p4p #1 and #2, then you have the rest like Ward etc.

 

It all depends on the performance. Danny Garcia has been getting wins lately, but looking like ****, just scraping by or getting a gift decision. No one intelligent is going to claim that he's top ten p4p, even with his resume. If there is some fishy officiating, bad judging, uncalled knockdowns, multiple lowblows, injuries, or lackluster performances it could seriously undercut the quality of the win. Take a year ago when Fury beat Klitschko. Fury didn't look great. Klitschko just looked terrible. Same with the Mayweather vs Pacquiao win or the Cotto vs Martinez win. Or how about when Lara and Canelo danced? Nobody looked good coming out of that one. Context is important.

Even when one of the fighters wins, that just means that they have one of the best victories around, not that they are really a better fighter. Rigondeaux's victory over Donaire didn't put him on top, because it was just one win. And even though he's still sensational, possibly even the best around currently, nobody is rating him because he hasn't done anything noteworthy in years.

 

Yes

 

So you're saying that Golovkin is lineal at light heavyweight?

 

Ward has been taking on the best and he's moving up to take on one of the best at 175.Kov is the man who beat Hop and Pascal. Pascal wasn't a true lhw. He was a tough mother****er that Kov stopped twice. That's enough evidence for me considering he's undefeated. Both have fought the best. Both are undefeated. Who ever wins will be the #1 fighter in the world.

 

You really think that Walters constitutes A grade? What's he done besides beaten the post prime and much smaller Donaire? He's looked average ever since against Marriaga and Sosa who aren't world beaters. He's B level at most. Lomachenko being the same size as him and bigger than Donaire was I expect him to take Walters apart easily exploiting sloppy style. Walters was probably just getting so many knockouts because he cut a lot of weight and his power was too much for smaller men. No way is he more impressive than Jean Pascal.

 

Of course the winner would be p4p number one whether you like it or not. The title has been vacant since Floyd's retirement, people who are saying no just don't want another American as the best fighter in the world, but history always repeats itself.

 

I haven't had Floyd as #1 p4p in years. I had Gonzalez, Ward, and Rigo above him for awhile now. Besides, there's no such thing as a vacancy. If the guy above you retires you get his place.

 

Oouuuffff Kovalev v Beterbiev would be brutal,I'd love to see that.

 

Doesn't matter where YOU had him in, everyone on planet earth agreed that Floyd was the best boxer in the world before he retired.

Of course there's a such thing as a vacancy, once the champ retires or loses, there's a power vacuum on who is the best boxer on the planet. It happened when Roy Jones lost to Tarver, happened when Mike Tyson lost to Douglas, happened when Ray Leonard retired for the first time, and happened when Ali lost to Spinks. The title is vacant until a dominant champion establishes himself as the best. The Kovalev-Ward fight is a fight where 2 dominant p4p champions are fighting for the p4p number 1 spot. They will be universally recognized as the best boxer on planet earth, and a new era will dawn upon us.

 

Ward missed a trick with his endless tune ups,there were plenty of big fights to get him back up there again at light heavy weight and a few at 168,I don't know the ramifications of networks but out of Fonfara,Beterbiev,Joe Smith jnr,Pascal,Bute maybe I'm sure there's more he could of fought,no probs with Barrara but those others were paid peanuts to lose basically,the thing is with Ward he's been fighting rubbish for so long only he knows what he can still do I guess.

The winner will go some ways to being no 1 but potential fights with Beterbiev and Chickenson would seal the deal.

 

Obviously, not everyone on the planet had Floyd #1 if I didn't, did they? When Jones lost to Tarver Hopkins moved up to take his place. In 1990 Tyson wasn't even the best p4p Chavez or Whitaker were. When Leonard retired in 82 the next best guy would have taken his place: Hagler, Arguello, Hearns, or Pryor. And Ali wasn't pound for pound anything in 1978. He was well past his expiration date. Duran was so much better than him at that time. Ali wasn't even the best heavyweight with Foreman and Holmes in the division. With Benitez, Palomino, Canto, Gomez, Cervantes, Zarate, Gushiken, Arguello, Hagler, and Leonard kicking around Ali wouldn't deserve to be listed in the top ten that year. It takes more than not losing to be the best. Ali looked bad in his previous six fights and so you'd have to lower him below the guys who are dominantly blowing people away.

 

Unless someone pulls a hat trick like Inoue and rockets up the divisions beating multiple champions. Then you gotta shrug and be like "Can the p4p guy do that?" Isn't a 4 or 5 weight champion almost by definition better p4p than a 2 weight champion? Inoue is a two weight champ fighting in his third weight class. Gonzalez is a four weight champ. Kovalev has fought in one and Ward in two. That's just math.

 

Yeah, using Ali was a bad example, stoned when I wrote that.

The majority of the planet had Floyd at number 1, especially after beating Pacquaio. If you don't think he was, then I'm not sure what to tell you, this is pretty much fact though.

Tyson was the best p4p fighter before losing to Chavez, the majority of the world had him there. Once he lost in 90, Chavez automatically took the vacant spot until him and Whitaker proved who truly was the best in 93. After Leonard retired in 82, the title became vacant until Hagler-Hearns in 85, although Curry had great claim.

After Jones got knocked out in 04, the title became vacant, Hopkins, Floyd and Winky all had great claim to the throne. Hopkins filled the vacancy until he lost, then Floyd secured that spot until his 1st retirement due to consistency.

Obviously it takes more than a loss or retirement from the champion for someone to take over the p4p spot. You'd have to make a great claim for yourself to challenge for that spot, like when Trinidad knocked out Joppy in his first fight at MW to win a title in another weight class in dominant fashion. Or when Oscar beat Pernell Whitaker to establish dominance in a 4th weight class. Or when Floyd came back from retirement and Pacquaio steam rolled world class opposition in an unprecedented 7th weight class.

Whoever wins between Kovalev-Ward will be THE p4p best fighter in the world, unless Roman can make a claim and beat Inoue, or Lomachenko doing some crazy **** and knocking out Lineras and Crawford in his next 2 fights. But until something like that happens, the winner of November 16th will have the greatest claim to the p4p number 1 spot.

 

Absolutely...