Watch Lomachenko against Crolla in Los Angeles from 3am this Saturday on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Action
Thursday 11 April 2019 15:15, UK
Ahead of Vasyl Lomachenko's world title fight with Anthony Crolla, you can find out where the Ukrainian star features in David Coldwell's pound-for-pound list.
The three-weight world champion defends his WBA and WBO lightweight belts against Crolla on Saturday morning from 3am, live on Sky Sports.
But have any pound-for-pound rivals edged ahead of Lomachenko in Coldwell's current rankings?
This is a tough one, because I feel bad about Gennady Golovkin, who has been there for a long time, but got beat by Saul Alvarez. I was leaning towards Naoya Inoue, but I don't think he's quite there yet for No 5.
I'm going to go for Mikey Garcia. Even though he got defeated by Errol Spence Jr, Garcia stepped up into another weight division, totally out of his comfort zone, and got beat. That doesn't mean that he's still not a pound-for-pound entrant, because he dared to be great, he's won world titles at numerous different weights, and he pushed for that one extra.
People will say that surely Errol Spence Jr should go in, but it doesn't work like that. Errol Spence Jr was the bigger man, an elite level welterweight, so he should have beaten the smaller Garcia. For me, he doesn't edge ahead because of that.
Canelo obviously has that black mark against him following his drug suspension, but he was allowed to carry on boxing. The second performance against Golovkin was really good. He boxed in a different manner to the first one when Golovkin bullied him around the ring.
Alvarez came back, he learned from it, and I did think he won the rematch, but in a different style. You look at his resume, the people he fought, you've got to give him credit for that. He's still young as well and keeps doing the business. If he beats Danny Jacobs, that's a massive win, because Jacobs is a very good fighter. It's only because the other guys are very special that he's not higher in the list.
I'm going for Usyk, because he cleaned up a very, very tough division. He was undisputed No 1 and did it with such ease, really, in the World Boxing Super Series.
Seeing him up close, and seeing how he pressures you without doing anything. His feet are fantastic, along with his boxing IQ. He's a man that I think can make a big impact at heavyweight, so I've got Usyk at No 3.
I watch a lot of Lomachenko, and the way that he boxes, he peppers his opponents, and then turns the shot on the end of a combination. He doesn't load up on anything.
If he doesn't want to get hit, he won't. He can box with his hands up, or be a bit flash and drop his hands. His feet are unbelievable.
Lomachenko is my No 2, but he could well have been my No 1.
I've kept twisting and turning between Terence Crawford and Vasyl Lomachenko. I've been saying Crawford is my pound-for-pound No 1, just because from an entertainment level, his fights are just a little bit more exciting for the fans. He isn't scared of taking one to land one.
Crawford cleared up the division and moved up, but you look at Lomachenko, and on a pure boxing level, he's just brilliant. If you held a gun to my head, I would probably lean towards Crawford.
He didn't have the big build-up from the amateurs, but I think that's a positive as you've got to look at where he's come from to get to where he is. I think he's scaled the greater heights in that respect.
Vasyl Lomachenko defends the WBA and WBO lightweight titles against Anthony Crolla on Saturday morning from 3am, live on Sky Sports Main Event and Sky Sports Action.
