Artur Beterbiev did his thing against Anthony Yarde this past Saturday in London, breaking down and then stopping the title challenger in the eighth round.
That’s 19 knockouts in 19 fights for the Russian-Canadian, a remarkable statistic by any standard.
But was Beterbiev’s latest stoppage enough to lift the No. 12-ranked fighter higher on Boxing Junkie’s pound-for-pound list?
No, because of Yarde’s limitations. But an opportunity to a make a significant leap could lie ahead.
Beterbiev and No. 5-ranked Dmitry Bivol have expressed interest in fighting one another for the undisputed 175-pound championship, which would be one of the best possible matchups in the sport.
If that fight happens and Beterbiev wins, he would certainly crack the Top 10 barring unusual circumstances. And he would do it 38 years old if it happens this year, which would be unusual.
Let’s hope boxing politics don’t stand in the way of a wonderful matchup.
Next pound-for-pounder up: Honorable Mention David Benavidez, who is scheduled to face Caleb Plant on March 25.
Here’s what the list looks like at the moment:
BOXING JUNKIE
POUND-FOR-POUND
Honorable mention (alphabetical order): David Benavidez (scheduled to fight Caleb Plant on March 25); Jermall Charlo (no fight scheduled); Stephen Fulton Jr. (no fight scheduled); Kazuto Ioka (no fight scheduled); Josh Taylor (scheduled to defend his WBO junior welterweight title in a rematch with Jack Catterall on Feb. 4 in Glasgow, Scotland).
