They Can’t Ignore Tank: Davis’s Talent Shines Despite The Ring’s P4P Drop

Gervonta Davis’ draw against Lamont Roach this month has resulted in him being pulled from The Ring’s top 10 pound-for-pound list. Fans are up in arms, seeing the ‘Face of Boxing’ Tank Davis (30-0-1, 28 KOs) dropped from the pound-for-pound list when he wasn’t even beaten.

The list needs to be fixed up. How does Tank Davis get dropped from the list while fighters who were recently beaten, Artur Beterbiev and Devin Haney, still remain on The Ring’s top 10 pound-for-pound list? Haney got beaten to a pulp by Ryan Garcia last April, and he shouldn’t be anywhere near the top 10 after that ordeal at the Barclays Center. Fans saw what happened.

The Ring’s Updated Top 10 Pound-For-Pound List

1. Oleksandr Usyk
2. Naoya Inoue
3. Terence Crawford
4. Dmitry Bivol
5. Artur Beterbiev
6. Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez
7. Canelo Alvarez
8. Junto Nakatani
9. Devin Haney
10. David Benavidez

Canelo Alvarez doesn’t belong in the list because he’s been selectively picking his opposition for the last three years. He failed to fight David Benavidez, which looks like plain old-fashioned fear grabbing hold.

Beterbiev, 40, lost his last fight to Dmitry Bivol on February 22nd, and a whole lot of people think he deserved to lose their first match on October 12th last year. That should be two losses for Artur. Why is he still on The Ring’s top 10 pound-for-pound after those performances? Losing to Bivol is enough for Beterbiev not to be included.

Haney and Naoya Inoue and Junto Nakatani should be off the list. Those guys haven’t done enough in terms of solid wins over credible high-level talents for them to be on The Ring’s pund-for-pound list. WBC bantamweight champion Nakatani (30-0 23 KOs) is a good fighter, but who has he beaten for him to be included in a pound-for-pound list? His best career win is arguably Andrew Moloney, who had already lost twice to Joshua Franco.

My List

1. Oleksandr Usyk
2. Jai Opetaia
3. Daniel Dubois
4. Terence Crawford
5. Teofimo Lopez
6. Janibek Alimkhanuly
7. Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez
8. Gary Antuanne Russell
9. Gervonta Davis
10. David Benavidez