After the fight: Who’s the best lightweight in boxing?

The Gervonta Davis vs. Isaac Cruz bout probably left fans with more questions than answers about who is the best lightweight boxer in the world. 

Boxing’s lightweight division has been one of the richest in terms of depth of talent. There’s one majority titleholder but many contenders that show promise. Gervonta Davis is one of the fighters in contention to take over the division, but his challenging bout against Isaac Cruz revealed some reason to doubt his prospects.

Even when a unified or undisputed champion is in a division, fans and pundits keep one eye on the upcoming challengers who could alter the division’s leaderboard. Potential is a word that gets thrown around a lot, but for a good reason.

Top-tier fighters in the lightweight division possess more potential than most. Boxers like Gervonta Davis, Isaac Cruz, Ryan Garcia, Devin Haney, Teofimo Lopez, and George Kambosos Jr. are all under 30 years old. Hypothetically, all of them still have room to improve. We tend to see 30-32 years old as the age when a boxer peaks. It’s exciting to see this many fighters in one division with such promise.

Who has the highest ceiling is anyone’s guess, and there doesn’t appear to be a clear-cut favorite at the moment. Yes, Kambosos Jr. has three of the four division titles, but that doesn’t mean that he will be the top dog in two years.

Every top lightweight boxer has some level of vulnerability, and that’s okay. It’s fine for people to clamor for the best fighting the best, but it’s silly to debase any of the fighters previously mentioned.

Gervonta Davis could prove to be the best lightweight in the division, but there’s a lot of competition, and so far, George Kambosos Jr. is winning out

There’s no such thing as a perfect or invincible fighter, and there never will be. It’s fun to debate who will win a potential matchup, but you never know how things will play out in the ring. Most people, myself included, didn’t see Kambosos beating Lopez. That bout exemplifies how a fight’s outcome is filled with many variables. It’s not an exact science.

Many look at the questions surrounding Lopez’s physical and mental health going into the Kambosos fight as excuses. They are real factors that play into a boxer’s performance. Personal problems and injuries decide a fighter’s fate all the time. They can alter a fight’s outcome. For example, Davis’s broken hand gave Cruz a legitimate chance of pulling off an unexpected win.

Stress and emotional problems can disrupt training camps and a boxer’s self-esteem. We’ve seen fighters come in out of shape and lose dramatically. It happened to Mike Tyson against James ‘Buster’ Douglas. Shawn Porter might have stood a better chance against Terence Crawford if he had a better camp as well. The drama behind the scenes could be the difference between winning and losing. Sometimes, those excuses are valid.

It’s easy to get frustrated with the boxing business. It seems like too often, the best don’t fight the best, but there’s hope in the lightweight division. We’re seeing some elite fighters go head to head, although sometimes by mistake.

Kambosos proved he’s a champion through victory, while Cruz proved it in defeat. Those two contests revealed gems in Kambosos and Cruz that might have gone undiscovered if other matches were made in their place.

Haney fought Jojo Diaz, which helped add credibility to Haney’s claim to being a lightweight force. We’ve had three impressive lightweight matchups in a matter of weeks. Legitimate fights are being made, and fighters are proving their worth.

It will take time to see which lightweight fighter lands at the top of the list, or there could be a revolving door. Either way, we’re getting answers, and there is added confidence that the best will fight the best.