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)
- Alexander Povetkin (5)
- Dillian Whyte (8)
- Jarrell Miller (6)
- Kubrat Pulev (7)
- Joseph Parker (4)
- Andy Ruiz Jr. (9)
- Dereck Chisora (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Carlos Takam (10)
There was a bit of a shuffle in the heavyweight rankings in July, with Dillian Whyte moving up a few spots after defeating Joseph Parker. The same event also saw Dereck Chisora finish Carlos Takam, and take his spot at No. 10. Luis Ortiz also returned to action in July, and got back in the win column after suffering his only professional loss to Deontay Wilder.
- 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)
In a fight that lived up to the hype, Oleksandr Usyk bested Murat Gassiev over 12 rounds to win the WBSS Cruiserweight tournament and claim the Muhammad Ali trophy. Both fighters are the clear No. 1 and No. 2 fighters in the division, and both have hinted at moving up to heavyweight in the future.
- Adonis Stevenson (1)
- Sergey Kovalev (2)
- Eleider Alvarez (3)
- Badou Jack (4)
- Oleksandr Gvozdyk (5)
- Artur Beterbiev (6)
- Dmitry Bivol (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.
- 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)
- Rocky Felding (-)
- Jesse Hart (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Tyron Zeuge (8)
In what was a slight upset, Rocky Felding knocked out Tyron Zeuge and captured the WBA title in the process. Felding now enters the rankings at No. 9, replacing Zeuge who has been removed completely.
- Gennady Golovkin (1)
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (2)
- Daniel Jacobs (3)
- Billy Joe Saunders (4)
- Jermall Charlo (5)
- David Lemieux (6)
- Sergiy Derevyanchenko (7)
- Avtandil Khurtsidze (8)
- Ryota Murata (9)
- Demetrius Andrade (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Jarrett Hurd (1)
- Erislandy Lara (2)
- Jermell Charlo (3)
- Julian Williams (4)
- Kell Brook (6)
- Amir Khan (7)
- Jaime Munguia (10)
- Maciej Sulecki (8)
- Austin Trout (9)
- Liam Smith (5)
Jaime Munguia continues his ascent up the 154-pound rankings, and Liam Smith was the latest victim. Smith survived to see the final bell, but Munguia proved to be too much.
- Keith Thurman (1)
- Errol Spence Jr. (2)
- Terence Crawford (3)
- Danny Garcia (4)
- Shawn Porter (5)
- Jeff Horn (6)
- Jessie Vargas (7)
- Manny Pacquiao (8)
- Lamont Peterson (9)
- Sadam Ali (10)
Manny Pacquaio looked like the Pacman of old, even if just for one more night, finishing Lucas Matthysse. The future hall of famer remains at the No. 8 spot in the rankings.
- Mikey Garcia (1)
- Regis Prograis (2)
- Josh Taylor (3)
- Antonio Orozco (4)
- Viktor Postol (5)
- Eduard Troyanovsky (6)
- Julius Indongo (7)
- Sergey Lipinets (8)
- Adrien Broner (9)
- Jose Carlos Ramirez (10)
Regis Prograis continues to make a claim to be the heaviest hitter in the division. He finished Juan Jose Velasco with a vicious liver shot and maintains his standing in the division.
- Mikey Garcia (1)
- Vasyl Lomachenko (2)
- Jorge Linares (3)
- Robert Easter (4)
- Raymundo Beltran (5)
- Anthony Crolla (6)
- Luke Campbell (7)
- Richard Commey (8)
- Jose Pedraza (9)
- Lewis Ritson (10)
Mikey Garcia dropped back down to 135 and unified the IBF and WBC titles by defeating Robert Easter in a 12-round decision. What’s next for Garcia? Nobody really knows, but Garcia called out Errol Spence Jr. after his win.
- 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)
Alberto Machado dominated Rafael Mensah in a fight that should have been stopped, but went to a unanimous decision. Masayuki Ito is creeping towards the top 10 after capturing the WBO title from Christopher Diaz. He’s not there yet, but a successful defense could go a long way in earning him a place in the rankings.
- Gary Russell Jr. (1)
- Leo Santa Cruz (2)
- Carl Frampton (3)
- Abner Mares (4)
- Oscar Valdez (5)
- Scott Quigg (6)
- Josh Warrington (7)
- Lee Selby (8)
- Joseph Diaz Jr. (9)
- Jesus Marcelo Andres Cuellar (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Guillermo Rigondeaux (1)
- Rey Vargas (2)
- Isaac Dogboe (3)
- Ryosuke Iwasa (4)
- Jessie Magdaleno (5)
- Diego De La Hoya (6)
- Daniel Roman (7)
- Moises Flores (8)
- Emanuel Navarrete (9)
- Gavin McDonnell (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Luis Nery (1)
- Ryan Burnett (2)
- Naoya Inoue (3)
- Jamie McDonnell (4)
- Juan Carlos Payano (5)
- Zhanat Zhakiyanov (6)
- Emmanuel Rodriguez (7)
- Zolani Tete (8)
- Paul Butler (9)
- Jason Moloney (10)
With the WBSS beginning shortly and featuring both the junior welterweight and bantamweight division, expect the rankings to shake up over the next year.
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (1)
- Juan Francisco Estrada (2)
- Jerwin Ancajas (3)
- Khalid Yafai (4)
- Roman Gonzalez (5)
- McWilliams Arroyo (6)
- Carlos Cuadras (7)
- Rau’shee Warren (8)
- Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (9)
- Rex Tso (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Donnie Nietes (1)
- Kazuto Ioka (2)
- Juan Carlos Reveco (3)
- Cristofer Rosales (4)
- Daigo Higa (5)
- Artem Dalakian (6)
- Sho Kimura (7)
- Moruti Mthalane (8)
- Andrew Selby (9)
- Vincent Legrand (10)
Sho Kimura has continued his impressive run, which features four straight knockouts. His latest victim was Froilan Saludar, whom he knocked out in the sixth round to retain his WBO title. Moruti Mthalane also notched another win — he hasn’t been defeated since 2008 when he was finished by Nonito Donaire. Mthalane defeated Muhammad Waseem via unanimous decision in what was a close fight that saw Mthalane knocked down in round 11.
- Ken Shiro (1)
- Pedro Guevara (2)
- Milan Melindo (3)
- Hekkie Budler (4)
- Ryoichi Taguchi(5)
- Carlos Canizales (6)
- Felix Alvarado (7)
- Ganigan Lopez (8)
- Randy Petalcorin (9)
- Angel Acosta (10)
Carlos Canizales returned to action and finished Bin Lu in the 12th round — this was Lu’s second pro fight — to retain his WBA title.
- Wanheng Menayothin (1)
- Knockout CP Freshmart (2)
- Hiroto Kyoguchi (3)
- Byron Rojas (4)
- Jose Argumedo (5)
- Leroy Estrada (6)
- Simphiwe Khonco (7)
- Joey Canoy (9)
- Vic Saludar (-)
- Ryuya Yamanaka (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Carlos Buitrago (8)
Knockout CP Freshmart won a decision over Chaozhong Xiong to retain his WBA title. Jose Argumedo also won a decision over Moises Calleros. And to continue the runs of decisions, Ryuya Yamanaka was defeated by Vic Saludar who now joins the rankings. As a result, Carlos Buitrago has been removed and he looks to be joining the light flyweight ranks permanently.
- 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.