Terence Crawford’s retirement in December didn’t just leave a collection of vacant world titles behind, it also ended a long, uncontested reign atop American boxing. For the first time since Andre Ward retired in 2017, the unofficial crown of best U.S. fighter is truly up for debate. And that debate has narrowed quickly to two names: Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez and Shakur Stevenson.
Both men arrive at the conversation with spotless records and elite credentials. Stevenson stands 25-0 with titles in four divisions - featherweight, junior lightweight, lightweight and now junior welterweight - after his dominant dismantling of Teofimo Lopez at Madison Square Garden. Rodriguez, meanwhile, is 23-0, a two-division champion at flyweight and junior bantamweight, and the lineal king at 115lbs. While Stevenson’s résumé boasts breadth, Rodriguez counters with ferocity, stopping 16 of his 23 opponents compared to Stevenson’s 11 knockouts.
Stevenson owns what many consider the single best win between them: his near-shutout of Lopez, a performance likened to exhibitions by Pernell Whitaker, Roy Jones Jr. and Floyd Mayweather. Yet Rodriguez’s depth of elite opposition is hard to ignore. He has beaten and mostly stopped Juan Francisco Estrada, Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, Carlos Cuadras and Sunny Edwards, among others. As the numbers suggest, “Bam” is the more destructive puncher, but power alone doesn’t settle pound-for-pound debates.
Stylistically, Stevenson is widely viewed as a generational defensive technician - “A++” at hit-and-don’t-get-hit boxing - while Rodriguez blends high-level technique with genuine knockout force. “Do you prefer the master boxer,” the argument goes, “or the elite boxer-puncher?” The answer often depends on taste, but history tends to favor the pure stylist when careers reach their peak.
Looking ahead, opportunity may decide the race. Stevenson has a wide runway of potential signature wins at 140, welterweight and even beyond - names that could echo Crawford’s conquests of Errol Spence or Canelo Alvarez. Rodriguez, by contrast, has largely cleared out his current division. For him to make the same kind of pound-for-pound leap, it may require a daring jump in weight to face truly transformative opponents.
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