In the world of boxing, the rankings picture can get a little muddled. There are multiple titleholders and different organizational rankings. We’ve taken the approach of simply identifying who we think are the 10 best fighters in each weight class as of this moment.
Every month, Combat Press will rank each weight class from heavyweight to strawweight, as well as the pound-for-pound rankings.
Note: the numbers in parentheses represent the fighter’s ranking from the previous rankings.
- Anthony Joshua (1)
- Deontay Wilder (2)
- Luis Ortiz (3)
- Joseph Parker (4)
- Alexander Povetkin (5)
- Jarrell Miller (7)
- Kubrat Pulev (6)
- Dillian Whyte (8)
- Andy Ruiz Jr. (9)
- Carlos Takam (10)
Jarrell Miller was the only ranked heavyweight in action in April. He cruised to a unanimous-decision victory over Johann Duhaupas. Miller remains undefeated through his first 22 professional bouts. As a result of his most recent performance, he leapfrogs Kubrat Pulev in the rankings.
- Oleksandr Usyk (1)
- Murat Gassiev (2)
- Mairis Briedis (3)
- Denis Lebedev (4)
- Krzysztof Glowacki (5)
- Yunier Dorticos (6)
- Ilunga Makabu (7)
- Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (8)
- Maksim Vlasov (9)
- Dmitry Kudryashov (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Adonis Stevenson (1)
- Sergey Kovalev (2)
- Eleider Alvarez (3)
- Oleksandr Gvozdyk (4)
- Artur Beterbiev (5)
- Dmitry Bivol (6)
- Badou Jack (7)
- Sullivan Barrera (8)
- Marcus Browne (9)
- Joe Smith Jr. (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged. May, however, will feature the highly anticipated fight between Adonis Stevenson and Badou Jack.
- Gilberto Ramirez (1)
- George Groves (2)
- James DeGale (3)
- Chris Eubank Jr. (4)
- Anthony Dirrell (5)
- Callum Smith (6)
- Jose Uzcategui (7)
- David Benavidez (8)
- Tyron Zeuge (9)
- Jesse Hart (NR)
Dropped from the rankings: Caleb Truax (10)
James DeGale returned to the win column and enacted revenge in his rematch with Caleb Truax. The fight was ugly, but DeGale did what was needed to earn the decision and just his second victory since 2016. No. 5-ranked Anthony Dirrell was also in action. He won a decision over Abraham Han in El Paso, Texas. Jesse Hart enters the rankings and replaces Caleb Truax at No. 10. Hart knocked out Demond Nicholson in his home of Philadelphia, making it two consecutive knockout victories since his narrow loss to No. 1-ranked Gilberto Ramirez late last year.
- Gennady Golovkin (1)
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (2)
- Daniel Jacobs (3)
- Billy Joe Saunders (4)
- Jermall Charlo (6)
- David Lemieux (5)
- Sergiy Derevyanchenko (7)
- Avtandil Khurtsidze (8)
- Ryoto Murata (9)
- Demetrius Andrade (10)
Jermall Charlo made a statement in Brooklyn, N.Y., where he knocked out Hugo Centeno Jr. The win not only catapults Charlo into the top five in the rankings, but he now becomes a very real threat to dethrone Gennady Golovkin, the top name in the division.
- Jarrett Hurd (3)
- Erislandy Lara (1)
- Jermell Charlo (2)
- Julian Williams (4)
- Sadam Ali (5)
- Liam Smith (6)
- Kell Brook (7)
- Amir Khan (NR)
- Maciej Sulecki (8)
- Austin Trout (9)
Dropped from the rankings: Tony Harrison (10)
There’s a new No. 1 fighter in the junior middleweight division. “Swift” Jarrett Hurd won a split decision over Erislandy Lara in a fantastic fight where the young boxer pressed Lara for the duration. Lara was game, but a knockdown in the 12th round was the difference that gave Hurd the victory. On the same card, Julian Williams quieted Nathaniel Gallimore, who was trash-talking for weeks leading up to the fight. The victory makes Williams the mandatory challenger to Hurd. Amir Khan returned from a lengthy layoff and made quick work — 39 seconds, to be exact — in knocking out Phil Lo Greco. Khan is back in the rankings at No. 8, while Harrison falls out as a result.
- Keith Thurman (1)
- Errol Spence Jr. (2)
- Danny Garcia (3)
- Shawn Porter (4)
- Jeff Horn (6)
- Jessie Vargas (7)
- Manny Pacquiao (8)
- Lamont Peterson (9)
- Sadam Ali (10)
- Egidijus Kavaliauskas (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Terence Crawford (1)
- Mikey Garcia (2)
- Regis Prograis (3)
- Antonio Orozco (4)
- Viktor Postol (5)
- Eduard Troyanovsky (6)
- Julius Indongo (7)
- Sergey Lipinets (8)
- Adrien Broner (9)
- Jose Carlos Ramirez (10)
Adrien Broner and Jessie Vargas fought to a majority draw on the headliner of Showtime’s April 21 card in Brooklyn. Broner maintains his No. 9 spot in the rankings.
- Jorge Linares (1)
- Mikey Garcia (2)
- Terry Flanagan (3)
- Robert Easter Jr. (4)
- Raymundo Beltran (5)
- Anthony Crolla (6)
- Dejan Zlaticanin (7)
- Luke Campbell (8)
- Denis Shafikov (9)
- Richard Commey (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Vasyl Lomachenko (1)
- Miguel Berchelt (2)
- Alberto Machado (3)
- Gervonta Davis (4)
- Francisco Vargas (5)
- Jezreel Corrales (6)
- Robinson Castellanos (7)
- Miguel Roman (8)
- Orlando Salido (9)
- Jhonny Gonzalez (10)
Gervonta Davis is one of the most exciting, young fighters in the game. He backed up his talk with an easy win over Jesus Cuellar, a featherweight who was fighting above his normal weight class. Davis had Cuellar down early in round two and finished him off in round three with a body shot.
- Gary Russell Jr. (1)
- Leo Santa Cruz (2)
- Carl Frampton (3)
- Lee Selby (4)
- Abner Mares (5)
- Oscar Valdez (6)
- Scott Quigg (7)
- Joseph Diaz Jr. (8)
- Jesus Marcelo Andres Cuellar (9)
- Jesus Rojas (10)
No. 3-ranked Carl Frampton proved to be too much for Nonio Donaire in Belfast, Ireland. Frampton won a unanimous decision, with all judges giving the contest to him at 117-111.
- Guillermo Rigondeaux (1)
- Rey Vargas (2)
- Julio Ceja (3)
- Issac Dogboe (NR)
- Ryosuke Iwasa (4)
- Jessie Magdaleno (5)
- Diego De La Hoya (6)
- Daniel Roman (7)
- Jonathan Guzman (8)
- Moises Flores (9)
Dropped from the rankings: Hugo Ruiz (10)
Issac Dogboe and Jessie Magdaleno had themselves a brawl that turned out to be yet another entry to the very crowded “Fight of the Year” pool. Dogboe was knocked down in round one, but he rallied and ended up finishing Magdaleno in the 11th frame. Dogboe enters the rankings at No. 4. Hugo Ruiz, who has been inactive since late 2016, falls out of the rankings as a result.
- Luis Nery (1)
- Ryan Burnett (2)
- Shinsuke Yamanaka (3)
- Jamie McDonnell (4)
- Juan Carlos Payano (5)
- Zhanat Zhakiyanov (6)
- Zolani Tete (7)
- Liborio Solis (8)
- Karim Guerfi (9)
- Paul Butler (10)
Zolani Tete defeated Oman Andres Narvaez in an unexciting contest. The South African was never really challenged by his opponent. Tete maintains the No. 7 spot in the rankings.
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (1)
- Naoya Inoue (2)
- Juan Francisco Estrada (3)
- Jerwin Ancajas (4)
- Khalid Yafai (5)
- Roman Gonzalez (6)
- McWilliams Arroyo (7)
- Carlos Cuadras (8)
- Kohei Kono (9)
- Rau’shee Warren (10)
Rau’shee Warren fought on the undercard of the Broner-Vargas event at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn and impressed with a unanimous-decision sweep on the scorecards over Juan Gabriel Medina.
- Donnie Nietes (1)
- Kazuto Ioka (2)
- Juan Carlos Reveco (4)
- Cristofer Rosales (NR)
- Daigo Higa (3)
- Artem Dalakian (5)
- Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (6)
- Sho Kimura (7)
- Moruti Mthalane (8)
- Andrew Selby (10)
Dropped from the Rankings: Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep (9)
An upset occurred in April when Daigo Higa was finished by Cristofer Rosales. With the performance, Rosales enters the rankings at No. 5. Meanwhile, Higa falls to sixth. Andrew Selby slides ahead of Vor Saengthep while holding onto his No. 10 spot. Saengthep drops from the rankings completely.
- Ken Shiro (2)
- Pedro Guevara (3)
- Milan Melindo (4)
- Ryoichi Taguchi (5)
- Carlos Canizales (6)
- Felix Alvarado (7)
- Hekkie Budler (8)
- Ganigan Lopez (9)
- Randy Petalcorin (10)
- Angel Acosta (NR)
Dropped from the rankings: Kosei Tanaka (1)
Felix Alvarado was the lone ranked junior flyweight in action in April. He delivered with a TKO performance against Ivan Meneses Flores. May figures to be a busy month for the division, with Ken Shiro meeting Ganigan Lopez and Hekkie Budler going against Ryoichi Taguichi. Kosei Tanaka, the previous top fighter in the division, falls from the rankings now that he is focused on the flyweight division, where he debuted in late March. As a result, Angel Acosta enters the rankings at No.10.
- Wanheng Menayothin (1)
- Knockout CP Freshmart (2)
- Hiroto Kyoguchi (3)
- Byron Rojas (4)
- Jose Argumedo (5)
- Leroy Estrada (6)
- Simphiwe Khonco (7)
- Carlos Buitrago (8)
- Joey Canoy (9)
- Ryuya Yamanaka (10)
Wanheng Menayothin surpassed Rocky Marciano’s undefeated streak of 49 fights and tied Floyd Mayweather Jr. with 50 wins after scoring a knockout of No. 6-ranked Leroy Estrada. The Thai fighter is now just a win away from having history all to himself. At only 32 years old, Menayothin is still very much in the prime of his career. He will have the opportunity to put distance between himself and Mayweather.
- Terence Crawford (1)
- Vasyl Lomachenko (2)
- Gennady Golovkin (3)
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (4)
- Mikey Garcia (5)
- Oleksandr Usyk (6)
- Guillermo Rigondeaux (7)
- Sergey Kovalev (8)
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (9)
- Naoya Inoue (10)
The pound-for-pound rankings remain unchanged.