Thursday 25 August 2016 06:20, UK
With the season over and the new one coming our way, just who is the best in the world right now?
We asked The Panel to pick their top 10 pound-for-pound fighters and with former world champions Carl Froch and Johnny Nelson done, we turn our attention to an active world-title challenger, Paul Smith.
He's been in with one of the best and his brother is going in against another popular pick, but read on to see who sits in Smith's list...
You might be surprised he's in here because he beat my mate Scott Quigg and this is about personal choice but on top of beating a good world champion like Scott, to move up and beat Leo Santa Cruz, in the USA, the way he did and in such a fantastic fight, means he deserves to be on here. We knew all about him and the way he fights but to move up and do what he did means he has to come into the fringes of anyone's top 10.
I'm a big fan. He can bang, can do it all and is taller than most he comes up against and I love watching him. He is the Ring Magazine super-lightweight champion and he is aiming to unify the division, which is what all the best fighters want to do. I do think that is what Crawford actually needs because at times he looks like he can switch off when he wants but when he has a real challenge in front of him, we see just how good he is.
Has to be in. He is simply the best heavyweight out there, he's the number one who beat the man that no-one else could. He nullified Wladimir Klitschko and made him gun-shy in my opinion to the point where he was just scared. Klitschko used to be in everyone's top 10, including the Ring Magazine's, he was the undisputed heavyweight champion, but then comes along Tyson Fury. And he's still unbeaten don't forget.
What he has done is amazing. He's had seven fights and he's already been a two-weight world champion. He went for his first in his second fight, won it on his third - from Gary Russell Jr - so it is unbelievable. We're talking about being in the top 10 pound-for-pound after seven fights - it is not only madness but shows how good he is. Most people who try and do what he has done are way too big for their boots, but not Lomachenko. Quality.
I am obviously going to pick him but not just because my brother's fighting him. I think it is a very winnable fight for Liam but Canelo's results speak for themselves - who he's beaten, how many champions he's beaten and how he's got to where he is. He is another that will be in most top 10s but with him there are so many big fights out there. Hopefully though he will get another loss on his record in September, then my brother will have to make this list, too!
He is probably the most avoided fighter in the world right now and the results speak for themselves. He is a class act and a typical Cuban fighter with the speed and the aggression. We were lucky to watch him up close against poor Jazza Dickens and it showed why he is - or should be - in everybody's top 10. He is just class.
This guy is quality - the only way you can knock him out is in a steam train. To beat him you are going to have to out-box him and out-smart him and above all, be a tough and fit kid to do it. He could well be beaten and someone like Andre Ward could and I've even heard Golovkin has had the better of Kovalev, so you never know. He is a very likeable person and fighter and someone I have the utmost respect for.
I know he's a great fighter and what he has achieved puts him right near the top. If I am honest, though, he is not my cup of tea and although I might watch him do what he does time and time again, I don't necessarily enjoy it. Someone like Billy Graham used to love watching the lower weights knocking seven bells out of each other, but it's not for me. And at least 'Chocolatito' has been knocking seven bells out of everyone but they've had no chance to do it back to him. Cracking fighter.
I am sure Carl Froch agrees when I say the only way to beat him is to knock him out. There is no-one from middleweight to cruiserweight that would out-box him and beat him in that way, either. No-one has come close. He is misleadingly strong, he's good on the inside and he just finds a way to win. He is the Jose Mourinho of boxing - he wins by whatever means necessary and doesn't care if people don't like it or aren't excited by it. He wins.
I am sure people were expecting me to have Andre Ward number one but I am going with Kovalev - until Ward beats him. He has got everyone out of his way as fast as he could and as well as he could. He holds three of the four light-heavyweight belts and is unbeaten having beaten the likes of Bernard Hopkins, Jean Pascal and Nathan Cleverly when he was an unbeaten world champion and they were still a force. Wants big fights and is getting one.
We will be putting all our pundits' Top 10s together to come up with a final list that will let you vote and come up with the current top 10 pound-for-pound fighters...
