Hall of Famer Roy Jones Jr has revealed who he believes is the best active fighter after Oleksandr Usyk, Naoya Inoue and Terence Crawford all racked up victories in the last few weeks.
Ukrainian superstar Usyk made his long-awaited return to the ring on July 19 as he stopped Britain’s Daniel Dubois in the fifth round of their Wembley Stadium showdown to become the undisputed word heavyweight champion for the second time.
‘Bud’ Crawford etched his name into the boxing history books on September 13 when he defeated Canelo Alvarez via unanimous decision to capture the undisputed super-middleweight championship and become the first male fighter to achieve this feat in three weight classes.
Japanese sensation Inoue made the fifth consecutive defence of his undisputed super-bantamweight on September 14 as he defeated long-term rival Murodjon Akhmadaliev via unanimous decision at the IG Arena in Nagoya, Japan.
Speaking to Titan Play, three-weight world champion Roy Jones didn’t hesitate to name ‘Bud’ Crawford as the best active fighter in his opinion, but claims Usyk is a ‘close second’ to the three-weight undisputed champion.
“Right now I have to go with Crawford because of how much he climbed. He climbed a little more than Usyk did. Generally, guys at lower weights are a bit more skilful than the higher weights. Usyk is highly skilled for his divisions, but Crawford had to be more skilled — he came from 135 to 160. It’s a bigger field of domination, so you get a lot more skill in that field. I give it to Crawford, but Usyk is a close second — could be 1A and 1B. Both are very high-tech guys.”
Whilst Crawford appears to be entering the final chapter of his glittering career, the 38-year-old from Omaha could be tempted by a move down to middleweight and the opportunity to become a six-weight world champion.
