Top 10 pound-for-pound boxers

Vasil Lomachenko punches a tennis ball tethered to his baseball... — Vasil Lomachenko punches a tennis ball tethered to his baseball cap during a media workout on Wednesday, May 9, 2018 outside of Madison Square Garden. Credit: Robert Cassidy

By Robert Cassidyrobert.cassidy@newsday.comFebruary 11, 2019

Newsday's Robert Cassidy ranks the best pound-for-pound boxers as the 2019 fight calendar continues to unfold in the ring. The top 10 are presented below in countdown order.

10. Deontay Wilder

Deontay Wilder knocks out Luis Ortiz in the 10th round... — Deontay Wilder knocks out Luis Ortiz in the 10th round of their WBC heavyweight championship bout at Barclays Center on Saturday, March 3, 2018. Credit: Newsday/J. Conrad Williams Jr.

Deontay Wilder (40-0-1, 39 KOs) drops one spot due to his controversial draw with Tyson Fury in December. Despite a late rally, including a dramatic knockdown in the final round, that likely delayed a heavyweight title unification bout with Anthony Joshua.

9. Mikey Garcia

Mikey Garcia (39-0, 30 KOs) is taking a huge step up in weight and class with his March challenge of 154-pound champion Errol Spence Jr.

8. Shawn Porter

Shawn Porter (29-2-1, 17 KOs) won the vacant WBC welterweight title with a hard-fought unanimous decision win over Danny Garcia at Barclays Center on Sept. 8. Porter has an aggressive style and has yet to be in a bad fight. Both of his career losses, to Keith Thurman and Kell Brook, were extremely close fights. Against Garcia, Porter finally got the nod in a close one.

7. Leo Santa Cruz

Leo Santa Cruz (35-1-1, 19 KOs) scored a unanimous decision over Abner Mares in their June rematch. The win helped him secure his status as the best featherweight in the world. He defends his WBA title against Rafael Rivera in February.

6. Keith Thurman

Keith Thurman (29-0, 22 KOs) survived a tougher-than-expected title defense against Josesito Lopez on Jan. 26 at Barclays Center. Thurman raced to an early lead but Lopez made it interesting down the stretch. Thurman, the WBA welterweight champion, had been sidelined with a shoulder injury since his title unification win over Danny Garcia in March of 2017.

5. Errol Spence Jr.

Errol Spence Jr. (24-0, 21 KOs) is riding an 11-bout knockout streak. He puts it all on the line in March against the very talented Mikey Garcia, who is moving up three weight classes to fight Spence.

4. Gennady Golovkin

Many observers felt Gennady Golovkin won his mega-fight against Canelo Alvarez in September of 2017 and the rematch in September 2018. Yet Golovkin (37-1-1, 33 KOs) came up one round short on the judges' card in the rematch, dropping a majority decision.

3. Terence Crawford

Terence Crawford (34-0, 25 KOs) likely faces his toughest welterweight challenge to date when he defends his WBO title against Amir Khan on April 20 at Madison Square Garden.

2. Saul "Canelo" Alvarez

Canelo Alvarez (51-1-2, 34 KOs) stopped an over-matched Rocky Fielding at the Garden in December 2018. to capture the WBA super middleweight title. But he will drop back down to middleweight to fight former champion Danny Jacobs in May.

1. Vasyl Lomachenko

Vasyl Lomachenko (12-1, 9 KOs) has scored dominant victories over quality champions Jose Pedraza, Jorge Linares and Guillermo Rigondeaux in his last three fights.