James Toney is clear with who he believes is the current number one pound-for-pound fighter in boxing.
Toney knows exactly what it is like to be viewed as one of the best around, having been at his peak in the mid 1990s, going unbeaten in his first 46 bouts before a loss to Roy Jones Jr in November 1994.
‘Lights Out’ would last compete in 2017 after 92 professional contests, with his stellar career seeing him become a three-division world champion at middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight.
While fighters such as Naoya Inoue and Oleksandr Usyk are often mentioned in pound-for-pound debates, it is another man who has reigned at both super middleweight and cruiserweight that Toney feels is the best around.
That is because the American Hall of Famer has told About Boxing that he believes David Benavidez is the current top dog in the sport.
Benavidez has an unbeaten record of 32-0, and having previously been a two-time WBC super middleweight champion, he stepped up to 175lbs in 2024 and became the WBC light heavyweight champion after wins over the likes of David Morrell and Anthony Yarde.
His most impressive win to date arguably came last time out though, heading up to cruiserweight and dethroning Gilberto Ramirez inside six rounds to win the WBA and WBO cruiserweight titles.
Benavidez now looks set to return in December against WBC interim champion Michal Cieslak, where the bout could yet be for the full WBC belt due to current champion Noel Mikaelian choosing to face Jai Opetaia rather than ‘The Mexican Monster.’
