BoxRec

Personally?

I like Gvodzyk to take the spot as ace of LHW. Stevenson could very well derail his train, but I rate him slightly higher than Beterbiev, Bivol and Álvarez.

At this moment I go with Alvarez.

The winner of Stevenson-Gvozdyk.

You'd be a hard task master to go against Alvarez, but Gvozdyk will surely end up the main man?

I don't know but it's going to be good to watch the question of who is best at the weight resolve itself.

It would be wonderful to see WBSS tournament at LHW, but it is not a realistic scanario. Unfortunately...................
So, it is very, very difficult question.

Stevenson, easily. It's not Alvarez. He beat the man, but Stevenson was always a close second to Kovalev. They never fought either. Plus, the win over Badou Jack is very good. I'd have my rankings as follows:

1. Stevenson
2. Alvarez
3. Bivol
4. Gvozdyk
5. Beterbiev
6. Kovalev
7. Jack
8. Browne
9. Barrera
10. Hooper

Mexi-Box wrote: ↑26 Nov 2018, 14:59 Stevenson, easily. It's not Alvarez. He beat the man, but Stevenson was always a close second to Kovalev. They never fought either. Plus, the win over Badou Jack is very good. I'd have my rankings as follows:

1. Stevenson
2. Alvarez
3. Bivol
4. Gvozdyk
5. Beterbiev
6. Kovalev
7. Jack
8. Browne
9. Barrera
10. Hooper

"The win over Badou Jack" ?
#5 Beterbiev ? He is among the top 3, absolutely.

ValMar wrote: ↑26 Nov 2018, 15:03

Mexi-Box wrote: ↑26 Nov 2018, 14:59 Stevenson, easily. It's not Alvarez. He beat the man, but Stevenson was always a close second to Kovalev. They never fought either. Plus, the win over Badou Jack is very good. I'd have my rankings as follows:

1. Stevenson
2. Alvarez
3. Bivol
4. Gvozdyk
5. Beterbiev
6. Kovalev
7. Jack
8. Browne
9. Barrera
10. Hooper

"The win over Badou Jack" ?
#5 Beterbiev ? He is among the top 3, absolutely.

He's not done enough, though. H2H, I do think he belongs in the top 3. He's just not done enough while other fighters have been getting deeper resumes. I think he beats Alvarez and probably beats Bivol too.

Who is Beterbiev's best win? Campillo from ages ago, maybe Prieto or Johnson?

Bivol has been fighting plenty of names: Pascal, Chilemba, and Barrera (who is still a top 10 fighter). Gvozdyk also has been fighting relevant fighters: Chilemba, Mohammedi, Karpency, and Gonzalez. They both have a deeper resume than Beterbiev, and they've both been looking amazing.

By the way, I had Stevenson beating Jack. Jack lost that fight because he fought scared for half the damn fight.

beterbiev im not impresses by, nice power but not much else, i think bivol, alvarez, stevenson, jack, and gvodzyk would all have very good chances to beat him. not sure about browne, hes talented but question his toughness

beterbiev would literally knock hoopers head off though

Alvarez
Bivol
Stevenson
Kovalev (I still think he comes back from the Alvarez loss)
Jack

Situation at light heavy is unclear now. Lets wait for Gvozdyk-Stevenson outcome and Alvarez - Kovalev rematch.

squiggy wrote: ↑25 Nov 2018, 23:18 The winner of Stevenson-Gvozdyk.

Yep I'd have to go with that too.

The #1 spot is definitely still up in the air though with the Kovalev/Alvarez 2 winner and Bivol being heavily in the mix as well.

Stevenson for now. I think he loses his next fight. Beterbiev loses to any of the top 5-6 guys.

Haven’t seen much of the nail but we’ll all be watching him v Stevenson. Those Ukrainians seem to be a special bunch.

I still see Bivol as the slight favourite. He’s had two tricky negative opponents and a very competent one in barrea. Hard to look good agaisnt negative fighters. Pascal was not throwing, standing stationary for portions of the fight. He then would explode in bursts, not winning rounds but making things difficult and Bivol did what he could, out box and out worked him taking minimal damage.

He looks smooth, has an engine and is fast (Bivol). Not sure is he has an inside game as he’s very much a distance fighter. Maybe a limitation. Not sure how he’d cope with a big puncher either. Doesn’t have a big frame and believe he could make smh for C Smith.

i think that Bivol will be eventually the no. 1 at LHW

Not that impressed with Bivol tbh, couldn't get Pascal outta there.

Winner of Alvarez-Kov rematch reigns supreme. I suspect it will be Kovalev.

pascals very tough tbf, plus kov stopped pascal and alvarez couldnt, yet alvarez beat kov

I'm also a bit weary about Bivol. He doesn't have much in the way of power while Beterbiev and Gvozdyk both hit hard and are just as skilled.

no way is wild open beterbiev as skilled, plus we can pick out gvozy failing to stop guys too, even losing rounds to a guy like mehdi amar and being dropped by karpency. bivols power is solid ppl just need to stop expecting destructions at higher levels. and look at all the guys alvarez didnt stop (plus closervs chilemba and pascal then bivol) yet then ktfo kov

there are a lot of questions at 175, a tournament wouldve been nice , a lot of guys who could conviably be better or worse then each other. alvarez, steve, gvodzyk, bivol, browne, jack, etc,....at least some are happening now

but im pretty sure beterbiev isnt the best

Just for the moment Alvarez, but there everything can change very quick now.

There’s no clear dominant light heavy at the moment.

The majority of people probably believe that Dmitry Bivol or Eleider Alvarez are the top dogs at 175lbs, but both fighters have their flaws.

Also, if Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson win their next outings, then pendulum will swing the other way and both of these past-their-prime veterans will regain their top-dog status they enjoyed as recently as last year.

Personally-speaking, if Adonis Stevenson can somehow defy my own expectations and defeat Oleksandr Gvozdyk this weekend, then he deserves to be regarded as the very best light heavyweight on the planet.

Enlightened-One wrote: ↑27 Nov 2018, 11:17 There’s no clear dominant light heavy at the moment.

The majority of people probably believe that Dmitry Bivol or Eleider Alvarez are the top dogs at 175lbs, but both fighters have their flaws.

Also, if Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson win their next outings, then pendulum will swing the other way and both of these past-their-prime veterans will regain their top-dog status they enjoyed as recently as last year.

Personally-speaking, if Adonis Stevenson can somehow defy my own expectations and defeat Oleksandr Gvozdyk this weekend, then he deserves to be regarded as the very best light heavyweight on the planet.

Name a fighter in the history of boxing with no flaws.

I agree that The winner of Adonis v Gvodzyk should be rated 1, tied with Alvarez. If Alvarez repeats v Kovalev, I would raise him back to the top, slightly. If Kovalev wins I would rate him number 2.

No matter what a scummy past, and what a patchy championship run he has had, if Adonis wins this weekend, at his age, it will be a huge boost to his legacy.

ironbeard wrote: ↑27 Nov 2018, 12:30

Enlightened-One wrote: ↑27 Nov 2018, 11:17 There’s no clear dominant light heavy at the moment.

The majority of people probably believe that Dmitry Bivol or Eleider Alvarez are the top dogs at 175lbs, but both fighters have their flaws.

Also, if Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson win their next outings, then pendulum will swing the other way and both of these past-their-prime veterans will regain their top-dog status they enjoyed as recently as last year.

Personally-speaking, if Adonis Stevenson can somehow defy my own expectations and defeat Oleksandr Gvozdyk this weekend, then he deserves to be regarded as the very best light heavyweight on the planet.

Name a fighter in the history of boxing with no flaws.

I agree that The winner of Adonis v Gvodzyk should be rated 1, tied with Alvarez. If Alvarez repeats v Kovalev, I would raise him back to the top, slightly. If Kovalev wins I would rate him number 2.

No matter what a scummy past, and what a patchy championship run he has had, if Adonis wins this weekend, at his age, it will be a huge boost to his legacy.

I agree with most of your post, but to answer the question about fighters having flaws...

For sure, no fighter is perfect, but Bivol or Alvarez have sufficient flaws to look very beatable.

I’m not accusing these guys of being bµms, because they’re clearly very good and may improve over time, but then again, none of us would be all that shocked if neither are capable of enjoying lengthy title reigns.

Bivol and Alvarez don’t currently look like dominant champions that are (in terms of talent) clearly head-and-shoulders above their rivals.

My opinion might change in the future, if one or both of these guys show signs of improvement, but at the moment, that’s how I see things.

Enlightened-One wrote: ↑27 Nov 2018, 12:37

ironbeard wrote: ↑27 Nov 2018, 12:30

Enlightened-One wrote: ↑27 Nov 2018, 11:17 There’s no clear dominant light heavy at the moment.

The majority of people probably believe that Dmitry Bivol or Eleider Alvarez are the top dogs at 175lbs, but both fighters have their flaws.

Also, if Sergey Kovalev and Adonis Stevenson win their next outings, then pendulum will swing the other way and both of these past-their-prime veterans will regain their top-dog status they enjoyed as recently as last year.

Personally-speaking, if Adonis Stevenson can somehow defy my own expectations and defeat Oleksandr Gvozdyk this weekend, then he deserves to be regarded as the very best light heavyweight on the planet.

Name a fighter in the history of boxing with no flaws.

I agree that The winner of Adonis v Gvodzyk should be rated 1, tied with Alvarez. If Alvarez repeats v Kovalev, I would raise him back to the top, slightly. If Kovalev wins I would rate him number 2.

No matter what a scummy past, and what a patchy championship run he has had, if Adonis wins this weekend, at his age, it will be a huge boost to his legacy.

I agree with most of your post, but to answer the question about fighters having flaws...

For sure, no fighter is perfect, but Bivol or Alvarez have sufficient flaws to look very beatable.

I’m not accusing these guys of being bµms, because they’re clearly very good and may improve over time, but then again, none of us would be all that shocked if neither are capable of enjoying lengthy title reigns.

Bivol and Alvarez don’t currently look like dominant champions that are (in terms of talent) clearly head-and-shoulders above their rivals.

My opinion might change in the future, if one or both of these guys show signs of improvement, but at the moment, that’s how I see things.

I consider that to be due to the depth of high level competition at LHW, not any glaring flaws in the top 6 or 7.

Whoever is at the top of this group of boxers must have earned it. My choice for the top at the moment is Alvarez.