Terence Crawford’s Throne Under Threat as Naoya Inoue Emerges as Boxing’s Next Great Naoya Inoue’s dominance sparks debate over boxing’s pound-for-pound crown as Crawford and Usyk climb up. Can he tru

Naoya Inoue doesn’t yet have a firm grip on boxing’s No. 1 pound-for-pound spot, though he insists he should. The undisputed super bantamweight champion from Japan, currently ranked No. 3 by The Ring , is locked in a three-way battle for supremacy with No.2-ranked Oleksandr Usyk and the king Terence Crawford. Even before Crawford made history by becoming a three-division undisputed champion, Inoue had declared, “I am the pound-for-pound best boxer in the world.” And he backed up that bold claim last week with a dominant win over Murodjon Akhmadaliev, leaving little doubt about where he stands.

“This is the greatest fighter in the world,” his promoter Bob Arum roared to the sold-out crowd at IG Arena, as the 31-0 boxer dismantled a fearless Akhmadaliev just hours after Crawford’s