Now that it's fully established that May is the best of this gen, who will be next?

He wasn't the best from 2000 - 2009, but he is the best in 2010 - 2015...he beats PAC. Oh wait, but Maroid almost killed PAC so he can't use the PAC win .

 

Doesn't matter. Still a ridiculous amount of punching power for a guy in his late 30s that started his career at 106. Plus the whole him not wanting to take a drug test thing. If we are going to pull the ped card it makes sense to mention him as well

 

Never heard of a guy who had ridiculous power who couldn't get a single KO.

 

Ward would be smart to start embracing the hate, and talk **** directly to these anti Mayweather fanboys. He's too Christian to do that but even if he was Jesus he'd still be hated for who he is so he might as well do it.

Ward stays in the P4P lists because the boxing industry does a poor job of promoting who the best boxers are, even the fans don't know who they are to make an informed debate about that list. For him to be dropped off the list you'd have to find 10 other fighters that has surpassed him and most cannot think of that many, who's fault is that?

Ward has the best shot at taking that mantle of new best. He has a good shot at cleaning out the light heavy division then he will be the man. P4P lists are also about potential in a lot of people's minds so stop being butthurt about Ward's place in that mythical subjective list anyways.

 

Floyd might be the greatest in the last CENTURY or 100 years, he's been dominating since his 20's and he's over 128 years now.

 

Ward has the most potential to take that torch from Floyd. He is in the best position to do so, and on the shortest path to do so, with a few key wins at LHW.

 

H2H ability is Lomachenko though IMO. As far as who's the best and most skilled fighter out there it's between Gonzalez, Inoue, Loma, GGG and Kovalev I think.

I don't see Ward being the best boxer out there among this new crop of guys.

 

I wish it were more fully established than it was.

But in any case, it depends on who has the best potential to be great, and a lot of that depends on the best opponents around. Ward is the most well rounded fighter, and with his move to LHW seems to have the best opposition around. Him cleaning out SMW already gives him a big edge; if he were to beat Kovalev, he'd have an argument for the Hall of Fame. If he cleaned out Light Heavyweight-Fonfara, Alvarez, Beterbiev, Pascal, Stevenson, Kovalev-he'd have an argument for ATG status (cracking the top 100).

The next guys I can think of are Golovkin and Canelo. Canelo has the better resume, but the best win I can see either getting is each other. Then what? 160 is pretty weak right now. 168 looks too risky for men of their stature, with DeGale and Bute there. But even if they're successful there, are those two or three wins going to guarantee greatness? With some consistency they maybe create an argument for HOF.

Oh wait, I completely forgot Gonzales. Sadly the little guys are in something of a golden age at the moment despite almost no mainstream exposure. Inoue, Ruenroeng, Estrada (2) are all solidified champions who would give Gonzales's resume a huge bump and guarantee his greatness as an ATG Flyweight. He's probably the soonest to achieve greatness.

Lomachenko, Walters, Donaire, Rigondeaux are floating around each other and with a few wins can really impress and start a historic run (less so Donaire but still).

Welterweight can produce a historic champion if they ever get around to fighting each other. Tim, Crawford, Brook, Porter, Garcia, Khan. But nobody seems dominant.

Fury has some momentum with Wlad but he'll have to get quality wins for a good number of years to be considered great.

 

:dead:dead:dead

 

From an eye test and hypothetical standpoint you could argue for Loma. But, he hasn't fought anybody really. And he lost to Salido, who is not on anyone's potential ATG list.

He needs a string of credible wins and available opponents (for that matter) to even be in the conversation, IMO. You could argue that Loma is the most skilled boxer. Rigo comes to mind as well. Mikey Garcia also...if we ever see him again. I've seen very little of Gonzalez and none of Inoue. But, what I have seen from Gonzalez is impressive and he is deserving of that P4P #1 ranking, at the moment.

GGG is a beast at MW. But, he has no standout wins. And possibly none on the horizon, except Canelo, who is not really a MW (in terms of opposition faced in the actual weight class). And GGG is the heavy favorite in that one.

Kovalev hasn't even passed his biggest test at LHW...Stevenson. But, yes, he is, deservedly, in that group considered the cream of the crop right now.

What puts Ward ahead of all these guys is notable wins. Unfortunately, for the little guys, they get very little exposure. In Ward's case he has essentially come out on top in what was considered a talent rich division, within a platform that allowed the best to fight the best, on a major network, minus the politics. And even afterwards, great fights were made in that division. Now he has moved to LHW, which is a pretty competitive division right now. If he beats Kovalev and Stevenson, no one will be able to really catch him as far as the next grestest of the generation. And he will be in ATG conversations, particularly, if all the best guys fight and he comes out on top again. Of course Andre needs to get on track. With Ward these days, there's always a question of when will see him in the ring and matched up tough again.

 

I like "agnostic" andre ward better myself

 

it will be an american.. they market their fighters better than anywhere else so the 'hype' will be with an american. the official best in hardcore fans eyes will be somebody different. Always is.

 

Yeah he was 16 years old and 5 feet tall at 106 pounds. When I was 16 I was about 50 lbs lighter and 3 inches shorter.

 

There's a couple guys that look like they can take the mantle.

I think Vasyl should be considered a lead candidate given his age and the fact he's fought some really legitimate guys so early on in his career.

Rigo and Gennady are also deserving candidates, but their current ages are the only thing holding them back from lengthy reigns.

I'd also have to say Kovalev is somewhere up there as well. He's already fought some really good competition and if he can get Stevenson in the ring at some point this year and beat him, it could be the start of a dominant reign at LHW. He's one of the best LHW fighters I've seen in quite some time.

Also there's ROman Gonzalez. He's not that old yet and has already crosses several weight classes. He's as dominant a fighter as there is right now in the sport.

SO I guess Loma and Gonzalez would be my primary guys.

 

Loma probably has the best win of anybody were talking about here.