Terence Crawford is widely regarded as the pound-for-pound best boxer in the world. But how many champions has Naoya Inoue, his main competition for the title, actually defeated? Antonio Tarver, a retired professional boxer and current boxing analyst, has an opinion on the matter.
It might be just a mythical title, but practically every fighter salivates at the thought of being regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Essentially, the number one slot is being fought over by Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue. Although both fighters have a legitimate claim to the throne, Antonio Tarver finds it downright laughable that Inoue is even in consideration for that distinction.
“They gotta stop this!!” Wrote Tarver on his social media account. “Who he beat? That’s disrespectful. We haven’t seen enough of Inoue and answer me this, how many P4P champions has he defeated? He ain’t fought a top fighter and those lighter divisions with no real names in them can’t count as mush as the glamour divisions where top fighters are known to roam.”
Currently, Inoue (26-0, 23 KOs) has taken out 13 former or current world champions. None, however, have been impressive from Tarver’s point of view. Still, the Japanese star is ignoring Tarver’s words and continuing to rack up the wins. After becoming an undisputed champion in the bantamweight division in 2022, Inoue quickly did it again, cementing his second undisputed run with wins over Stephen Fulton and Marlon Tapales.
All in all, Tarver isn’t moved by Inoue’s accomplishments. His resume, simply put, doesn’t contain recognizable names according to Tarver. Crawford, on the other hand, placed a violent stamp on who should be viewed as the best fighter around. For the better part of the last five years, both Crawford and Errol Spence Jr. were considered the best fighters in the welterweight division. They were also widely recognized as top five pound for pounders.
Once the two met up in the ring earlier this year, conjecture surrounding their clash was split right down the middle, making Crawford’s dominating stoppage victory over him even more eye-catching. Until someone comes along and knocks Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) off his high horse, Tarver doesn’t believe anyone else deserves to be in the same breath as him.
“He (Inoue) in the top #10. Until someone defeats Terence Crawford, he’s the #P4P Champ. Stop playing with his name and his brand!!”
At the end of the day, the debate over who is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world will rage on. However, it’s clear that Antonio Tarver believes that Terence Crawford is the rightful king. Whether or not Naoya Inoue can ever reach that level remains to be seen.
