Artur Beterbiev is making the sort of noise that has everyone noticing. The IBF, WBO, and WBC light heavyweight champ doesn’t just win, he dominates. But, there’s a difference between beating bottom-feeders and the opponents you’re supposed to walk over and doing the same to elite-level competition. But whether they marched to the ring with poor records or held world titles, none of it mattered.
There’s something scary about the man from Russia who normally greets his opponents with a smile before rearranging their facial features. With his pernicious power stopping all of his previous foes, Callum Smith wasn’t unnerved about facing the unified champ. Yet, by the time their showdown reached the halfway point, bruises were protruding from every part of his body and the swelling around his eyes became grotesque.
Another night, another brutal win. As Smith was taken to the emergency room, there was conversation centered around Beterbiev’s placement amongst the all-time greats. Some have even gone as far as to say that he could be viewed as the best 175-pounder ever.
Chris Algieri is typically a soft-spoken man. He rarely fulminates with those who have differing opinions and prefers to keep things calm. However, the mere mention of Beterbiev being the greatest light heavyweight ever, would mean that he ranks higher than Roy Jones Jr. For Algieri, that’s as flippant as it gets.
“No one beats prime Roy Jones Jr. Nobody,” Algieri told Pro Box TV. “Beterbiev included.”
In the eyes of many, Jones was as good as it gets. Jones didn’t just grab world titles in the middleweight, super middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight divisions, but he rarely lost rounds.
When the Hall of Famer was in his younger years, he either took you out before the sound of the final bell or broke you down without breaking a sweat. Some of his biggest wins at 175 included Antonio Tarver, Felix Trinidad, Mike McCallum, and Montell Griffin. In short, not only does Algieri believe that Jones was untouchable, but if he were thrown into the ring with Beterbiev back when he was at the top of his game, it would’ve been a short and brutal night for the Russian.
“I think Roy stops him early. He doesn’t counterpunch, he beats you to the punch. Nobody beats prime Roy Jones Jr. He is almost a mythological person.”