Terence 'Bud' Crawford had to wait a year to get back into the ring, but when he did the results were once again emphatic.
Crawford retained his WBO welterweight title against former 147lbs titleholder Shawn Porter, forcing the challenger's corner to withdraw him from the bout in the 10th round and prompting the respected and formidable Porter to announce his retirement following his first ever pro loss inside the scheduled distance.
The likes of Oleksandr Usyk had been given Crawford some real competition in DAZN's regularly-updated charts due to their own impressive feats, but one of Bud's best showings to date made it inevitable he would be back on an upwards trajectory.
The question is, was Crawford able to dislodge current pound-for-pound king Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez with his win over Porter? Or has the Mexican's incredible four fights, four wins and four-belt super-middleweight unification since the Omaha man last laced up the gloves made his top-dog status inpenetrable (for now)?
Before we get to the important stuff, a reminder of how we do things:
The DAZN pound-for-pound list: criteria
Here are some of the things considered by the team towards these rankings:
- Overall record: Wins and losses count, of course. There can be more to a record than numbers, but you've gotta be winning to push upwards.
- Quality of opposition: That said, going 30-0 against part-timers isn't going to impress many when you're being compared with every other fighter in every weight class. Beating your biggest rivals and fellow champions carries much more value.
- Quality of wins : Winning in style also works in a candidate's favour, and overcoming adversity to pull off a big result can be a good thing too.
- Activity : Fighters on the list who haven't competed in a while don't suddenly become unworthy boxers, but their ranking may be under bigger risk from those who have pulled off a big win recently.
With all that in mind, here is DAZN's 2021 men's P4P list in full, as of Nov. 23, 2021.
1. Canelo Alvarez (no change from last rankings)
There is currently no denying Canelo's position right now, hot on the heels of his tremendous undisputed achievement. How well he can hold off other elite fighters in 2022 is set to hinge on exactly which opponents he selects now that his primary 168lbs mission is complete. And it appears that a tilt at cruiserweight is next in his crosshairs.
2. Oleksandr Usyk (no change)
The former undisputed cruiserweight king's heavyweight credentials were up for debate due to the nature of wins over Chazz Witherspoon and Derek Chisora. However his performance to dethrone three-belt champ and former P4P-ranked Anthony Joshua has proven his greatness once and for all.
3. Terence Crawford (up 1)
Deciding who should occupy the second spot for, presumably, the remainder of 2021 was the source of a heated debate at DAZN Towers. Some believed Crawford had shown enough in the Porter fight to rise above Usyk, but ultimately Crawford moves into third place only via the slimmest of margins on the team vote. If both Terence and Oleksandr get the big fights they crave in 2022, this will remain one hell of a side contest — and even Alvarez's position will be up for grabs.
4. Naoya Inoue (down 1)
'The Monster' makes the next defence of his unified bantamweight crown against Aran Dipaen on Dec. 14 in Tokyo. And while Inoue can feasibly make another run at the top 3 in 2022, it will require marquee bouts to do so, such as Johnriel Casimero or even a rematch with Nonito Donaire.
5. Errol Spence Jr. (nc)
Another welterweight king who looked set to climb the rankings with an August win over the legendary Manny Pacquiao, until fate intervened. If he finally agrees a clash of the titans with Crawford next year, one of the two could rise all the way to the top, while the other could take a huge tumble.
6. Josh Taylor (nc)
The undisputed 140lbs champion has had his mandatory defence vs. Jack Catterall pushed back to February 2022, but it's a dream fight against Teofimo Lopez Jr. that likely offers his best chance of breaking into the top 5 in the future.
7. Teofimo Lopez Jr. (nc)
The unified lightweight king will finally end his frustrating absence from the ring at the end of the month with his defence against unbeaten George Kambosos Jr., airing live on DAZN worldwide except China, as the Honduran-American looks set to show us how far he can climb these charts.
8. Tyson Fury (nc)
His trilogy fight against Deontay Wilder seemed like needless deja vu heading into the bout, but the thrilling nature of the slugfest served as decent compensation for a 20-month hiatus. Fury could even attack the top 3 in 2022, if he is able to secure a unification bout against the winner of Usyk-Joshua 2 and succeed.
9. Vasiliy Lomachenko (nc)
Defeat to Teofimo last October forced Lomachenko down the charts, but he bounced back in June and his December showdown with Richard Commey should lead to big fights in 2022.
10. Gervonta 'Tank' Davis (nc)
The undefeated three-weight world champion will likely need to take on better competition in any one of those three divisions if he is to push for top-five consideration in the future, after his Dec. 5 meeting with replacement opponent Isaac Cruz.