Naoya Inoue Edges Out Terence Crawford In Tim Bradley's P4P Rankings: "He's Just Different"

Tim Bradley, a former world champion who's now an analyst, puts Oleksandr Usyk ahead of Terence Crawford in his pound-for-pound rankings. Bradley made this call earlier this month, even though Crawford just became a four-division world champion.

Crawford, who's 36 and from Omaha, Nebraska, has never lost a fight in his 41 bouts. He's won world titles in lightweight, super-lightweight, welterweight, and now super-welterweight. On August 3, he beat Israil Madrimov to grab that fourth division title. Crawford's one of only three boxers to become undisputed champ in two weight classes during the four-belt era.

But Bradley thinks Usyk's done more. He told KO Artist Sports:

"You know what, I got Usyk number one. That's just only fair. What Usyk was able to do… If Crawford becomes undisputed at 154 then he's gonna be number one for sure. For me, Crawford is the best fighter in the world skill-wise."

Usyk's won all four titles at cruiserweight and heavyweight. He's beaten some big names like Chaz Witherspoon, Derek Chisora, Anthony Joshua, Daniel Dubois, and Tyson Fury. These wins are even more impressive because he's fighting in an era of super-heavyweights.

Bradley broke down Usyk's win over Fury for Against the Ropes:

"He hurt Fury, several times. But on the flip side Fury hurt him too. He hurt him too, man. But [Usyk] was able to endure it, come back and stay focused and determined. Usyk's a bad man. That's a bad dude bro.

Yeah [he is the best fighter in the world pound for pound.] He earned that, man. He beat the giant. To me, Fury was on point. Those middle rounds he was on point. Feelin' himself, good defence, controlling the smaller man from the outside.

It was interesting to see how strong Usyk was inside the pocket, and how quickly he was bale to get Fury up off of him to create space for himself … Hell of a performance by him. Masterful."

Usyk's got a rematch with Fury set for December 21. They'll fight for three of the four major belts after Usyk gave up the IBF title.

As for Crawford, there's talk he might only want to fight Saul 'Canelo' Alvarez next. That's what Riyadh Season's Turki Alalshikh says, at least.

It's worth noting that Crawford agrees with Bradley. He's also said Usyk deserves the top spot in pound-for-pound rankings.