James Toney Crowns David Benavidez as Boxing's Pound-for-Pound King

James Toney doesn't hedge, and he isn't hedging now. The three-division Hall of Famer told About Boxing that David Benavidez — 32-0 with 26 knockouts — is the best fighter on the planet right now, full stop. That puts Benavidez ahead of the two names most people reach for first: unified super bantamweight king Naoya Inoue (33-0, 27 KO) and heavyweight great Oleksandr Usyk.

It's a bold call, but Toney has the résumé to make it land. He went 46 fights unbeaten before Roy Jones Jr. outpointed him in November 1994, then kept going until 2017, finishing on 92 pro contests as a champion at middleweight, super middleweight and cruiserweight. When a man like that anoints someone, it carries weight.

Why Benavidez Fits the Pick

The case builds on itself. Benavidez was a two-time WBC super middleweight titlist, then jumped to light heavyweight in 2024 and grabbed the WBC 175lb belt with wins over David Morrell and Anthony Yarde — the latter a #3-ranked contender who left the ring on a seventh-round stoppage.

His loudest statement, though, came at cruiserweight. Benavidez went up to 200lbs and dismantled Gilberto Ramírez inside six rounds, walking off with the WBA and WBO straps. That's a fighter adding titles in a third weight class while keeping his knockout ratio north of 80 percent.

The December Return

Next up is WBC interim champion Michal Cieslak in December. There's a chance the full WBC belt is on the line, too, after current titleholder Noel Mikaelyan opted to chase Jai Opetaia — the 30-0 lineal cruiserweight boss — rather than share a ring with 'The Mexican Monster.'

Whether Benavidez tops your own list or not, the trajectory is hard to argue with. A perfect record, belts across three divisions, and now a live shot at cleaning up the cruiserweight picture. Toney's seen enough elite fighters up close to know one when he watches him work.