Real or not: O'Shaquie Foster is the best junior lightweight at the moment

Not real. The 130-pound division is currently one of boxing's weakest, allowing Foster to even be involved in this conversation, but until Emanuel Navarrete makes the jump to 135 pounds for the vacant title fight against Denys Berinchyk, a fight already ordered by the WBO, the Mexican is still the king of the junior lightweights.

The junior lightweight division is wide open, and outside of Navarrete, doesn't feature any proven A-level talent. With a convincing victory over Abraham Nova on Friday, Foster can position himself to take the reins from "Vaquero" Navarrete soon enough, but a win won't make him the best in the division, considering the opposition.

Foster has proven he can punch, and he picked up two quality wins last year against two-division champion Rey Vargas and junior lightweight contender Eduardo "Rocky" Hernandez. If Foster is going to cement himself, he'll need to KO Nova, who was already stopped inside five rounds by Robeisy Ramirez in 2022. Foster will also need to pick up another convincing win in a title unification, perhaps against someone like IBF titleholder Joe Cordina.

Until then, there's little separating fighters like Foster, Cordina and a host of others at 130 pounds. -- Coppinger

Tags: Box-Pro, O'Shaquie Foster

Category:  Box-Pro