Predicting the Top 10 Pound-for-Pound Boxers at the End of 2016

Everyone knows who the top 10 pound-for-pound boxers in the sport are as we begin 2016. If you’re still on the fence about any of it, check out Bleacher Report’s latest rankings and rest assured I’ve done my homework. Don’t want to take my word for it? Have a look at the Ring Magazine or ESPN.com or wherever else such things exist. You'll find a general consensus out there right now, give or take a few, on the best of the best.

But what will things look like at the end of 2016? Will Roman Gonzalez still be on top? Will Andre Ward overtake him? Or will someone else emerge?

And maybe even more importantly, who’s bold enough to toss darts at such a moving target with fearless and intrepid predictions?

Let's see. 

10. Canelo Alvarez (46-1-1, 32 KOs)

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Viva Canelo?

Canelo Alvarez takes on the toughest challenges, and he’s only lost to the very best of the generation, Floyd Mayweather Jr.. Still, Alvarez wants to prove himself against the very elite. That’s awesome for fight fans but probably bad for anyone who wants to see him ascend to the very top of pound-for-pound rankings. Yes, Alvarez is a good, young fighter who will be a star for years to come. But he’ll probably bite off more than he can chew in 2016 by taking on someone like Gennady Golovkin. He’ll pay the price for it in the rankings, but not in the hearts and minds of those making them. 

9. Takashi Uchiyama (24-0-1, 20 KOs)

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There's boxing in Japan also, guys.

Takashi Uchiyama is a Japanese-based fighter who is considered by-and-large the best junior lightweight in the world. If you've seen him fight before, be thankful YouTube exists. He’s 36 years old, so if he hopes to make it big on the world stage, he’ll need to brave waters away from his home territory to take on the likes of Nicholas Walters or another known commodity to show people he’s the real deal.

Something tells me he does that in 2016 and finally steals the spotlight from some of his more well-known contemporaries.

8. Timothy Bradley (33-1-1, 13 KOs)

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The new Bradley is dynamic.

Timothy Bradley looked great in his first bout under the tutelage of Teddy Atlas last year, so much so that one can easily envision him giving the aging Manny Pacquiao a tough go in their third fight this April.

Bradley might not beat Pacquiao, but won’t easily get outpointed either, and he’ll beat every other fighter he faces the rest of the year to hang on to his top-10 spot in Bleacher Report’s rankings. (Note: I expect Pacquiao to retire by the end of 2016, so he won't be in this list.)

7. Terence Crawford (27-0, 19 KOs)

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Get this man a megafight.

Nebraska’s Terence Crawford is probably one of the very best fighters in the world, but he’ll languish in the bottom half of the top 10, if anywhere, so long as he keeps fighting the likes of Dierry Jean and Hank Lundy. Those kinds of fights are fine to a point, but Crawford has shown enough flashes of greatness in his career that folks will probably get tired of seeing him take fights in which he enters the heavy favorite very soon.

Crawford probably wants the same thing fans want, but don’t expect his promoters or handlers to hurry toward it in 2016. Boxing isn't a video game. These guys want to make money. 

6. Gennady Golovkin (34-0, 31 KOs)

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Boom goes the dynamite, ya'll.

Is Gennady Golovkin one of the best middleweights ever? It’s debatable. But what isn’t quite as uncertain is that despite not claiming the lineal championship, most folks consider him the best middleweight fighter in the world right now. He’ll prove it in 2016, snagging the rest of the middleweight belts along the way to officially climb to the top of the 160-pound mountain. Then what? Look for Golovkin to move up in weight by the start of next year. 

5. Roman Gonzalez (44-0, 38 KOs)

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Compact and dangerous, Gonzalez will have a good 2016.

Roman Gonzalez was pretty much the consensus pick for No. 1 fighter in the world at the end of 2015, but little fighters like him tend to be candles that burn bright and fast. Gonzalez will give fans thrills and spills next year, but he probably won’t make it through the 12 months unscathed, especially if he takes on the best competition in and around flyweight, something HBO should encourage him to do. 

4. Sergey Kovalev (28-0-1, 25 KOs)

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Is there a more ruthless fighter than Kovalev?

Like Golovkin, Sergey Kovalev is the de facto ruler of his division, light heavyweight, despite not possessing the lineal throne. But unlike GGG, Kovalev probably won’t have the opportunity to prove it against lineal champion Adonis Stevenson next year. But so what?

Kovalev has plenty of top-level fights ahead of him, including an already agreed to superfight against super middleweight king Andre Ward. That one is as good as it gets, folks. 

3. Danny Garcia (31-0, 18 KOs)

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Garcia has his work cut out for him, but he can prevail.

Eventually, undefeated welterweight Danny Garcia will get his due. Look, everyone knows he hasn’t exactly faced a murderer’s row yet at 147, but he certainly did at 140 pounds, and the talent surrounding him within the Premier Boxing Champions promotion at welterweight is superb. The fighter who comes out on top of that heap will surely have to be ranked among the best in the sport.

Some folks think that man will be Keith Thurman, but I see Garcia pulling it off. Regardless, it will be fun to watch (assuming PBC actually makes it happen.)

2. Andre Ward (28-0, 15 KOs)

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Ward is perhaps the most well-rounded fighter in boxing.

If Ward takes on Kovalev as hoped for and expected, the bout will be as tantalizing as they come. Both are absolutely top-of-the-line fighters at the peak of their abilities. I could make a good argument for either guy to come out on top, but history says the better defensive fighter will probably have the edge. While both guys are very well-rounded stars, Ward gets the nod on defense so he gets nod for the higher ranking here. 

1. Naoya Inoue (9-0, 8 KOs)

Shizuo Kambayashi/Associated Press

Behold the future of boxing.

Surprise! Naoya Inoue might be the best-kept secret in boxing, but he won’t be by the end of 2016. Well, that’s the hope anyway. The 22-year-old Japanese super flyweight, nicknamed “Little Monster,” is one of the top offensive fighters in boxing. Bouts against other great flyweightish guys like Roman Gonzalez and Juan Francisco Estrada are exactly the kind of elite action the sport could use next year.

If we get it, and with HBO backing Gonzalez we have at least a chance at it, Inoue should separate himself from the pack.