With former boxing pound-for-pound kings Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao enjoying retirement—one spending away his money as if to prove where his moniker came from, and the other becoming a senator in his home country to prove his other calling—the sports needs new faces to take the throne.
Three names quickly come to mind, owing to their recent performances and rise in the rankings in their respective divisions and in the overall pound-for-pound rankings.
Who has skills that can match Mayweather and Pacquiao’s boxing prowess that has endeared them to fight fans for more than a decade? Who will find the success and emulate the undefeated American and the unparalleled Filipino’s success inside the squared circle to become the new face of boxing?
Here are three boxers that have risen up the ranks; three exciting fighters that are on their way to mainstream consciousness of fight fans in the next few years:
Gennady Golovkin (Kazakhstan)
Pro career record: 35-0-0 (32 knockouts)
Current titles held: IBF, WBC and WBA middleweight belts
Pound-for- Pound rankings:
Ring Magazine: #3
ESPN: #2
Box Rec: #3
Canelo Alvarez (Mexico)
Pro career record: 47-1-1 (33 knockouts)
Current titles held: none
Pound-for-Pound rankings:
Ring Magazine: #8
ESPN: #5
Box Rec: #1
Vasyl Lomachenko (Ukraine)
Pro career record: 6-1-0 (4 knockouts) Title: WBO super featherweight
Pound-for-Pound rankings:
Ring Magazine: #7
ESPN: Outside Top 10
Box Rec: Outside Top 10
Golovkin and Alvarez will possibly be facing off in less than a year in what could be the biggest fight since Mayweather vs. Pacquiao last year. Lomachenko has fought in the pros just a few times but has crashed the Top 10 rankings of Ring Magazine, making him one of the top prospects that can very well surprise a lot of boxing fans.
We’ll never know the future but you can cast out your predictions and bet on top notch boxing competitions online in support of your favorite boxers.
Will one of them become the “next face of boxing” or will other boxers step up to the plate and take over the sport?
Photo courtesy: Presidencia de la República Mexicana/Wikimedia Commons
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