Combat Press Boxing Rankings: September 2017

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.

1. Anthony Joshua (1)
2. Deontay Wilder (2)
3. Luis Ortiz (4)
4. Joseph Parker (5)
5. Kubrat Pulev (6)
6. Alexander Povetkin (7)
7. Jarrell Miller (8)
8. Andy Ruiz Jr. (9)
9. Carlos Takam (10)
10. Johann Duhaupas (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Wladimir Klitschko (3)

Klitschko drops out of the rankings after announcing his retirement from the sport. This allows everyone below him to shift up one spot and makes room for Duhaupas to enter at No. 10.

1. Oleksandr Usyk (1)
2. Murat Gassiev (2)
3. Mairis Breidis (3)
4. Denis Lebedev (4)
5. Krzysztof Glowacki (5)
6. Tony Bellew (6)
7. Marco Huck (7)
8. Dmitry Kudryashov (8)
9. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (9)
10. Ilunga Makabu (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Andre Ward (1)
2. Adonis Stevenson (2)
3. Sergey Kovalev (3)
4. Eleider Alvarez (4)
5. Oleksandr Gvozdyk (5)
6. Artur Beterbiev (6)
7. Sullivan Barrera (8)
8. Badou Jack (-)
9. Marcus Browne (9)
10. Dmitry Bivol (10)

Dropped from the rankings: Nathan Cleverly (7)

Jack enters the rankings at No. 8 with a TKO victory over Cleverly on the Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Conor McGregor card. Cleverly, who drops outside the top 10 with the loss, announced his retirement. The shuffle allows Barrera to move up a spot in the rankings to No. 7.

1. James Degale (1)
2. Gilberto Ramirez (2)
3. George Groves (3)
4. Chris Eubank Jr. (4)
5. Anthony Dirrell (5)
6. Callum Smith (6)
7. Andre Dirrell (7)
8. Tyron Zeuge (8)
9. Jose Uzcategui (9)
10. Avni Yildirim (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Gennady Golovkin (1)
2. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (2)
3. Daniel Jacobs (3)
4. Billy Joe Saunders (4)
5. David Lemieux (5)
6. Jermall Charlo (6)
7. Sergiy Derevyanchenko (7)
8. Andy Lee (8)
9. Avtandil Khurtsidze (9)
10. Willie Monroe Jr. (10)

No. 7-ranked Derevyanchenko scored a TKO victory over fringe contender Tureano Johnson, but it wasn’t enough to earn him a bump up in the rankings.

1. Erislandy Lara (1)
2. Jermell Charlo (2)
3. Demetrius Andrade (3)
4. Jarrett Hurd (4)
5. Miguel Cotto (-)
6. Erickson Lubin (5)
7. Julian Williams (6)
8. Liam Smith (7)
9. Austin Trout (9)
10. Maciej Sulecki (8)

Dropped from the rankings: Brian Castano (10)

Cotto returned to action in August with a unanimous-decision victory over Yoshihiro Kamegai. Cotto enters the rankings at Jr. Middleweight at No. 5. Cotto’s entry pushes Castano out of the rankings for the time being.

1. Keith Thurman (1)
2. Errol Spence Jr. (2)
3. Danny Garcia (3)
4. Shawn Porter (4)
5. Kell Brook (5)
6. Jeff Horn (6)
7. Jessie Vargas (7)
8. Manny Pacquiao (8)
9. Lamont Peterson (9)
10. Sadam Ali (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Terence Crawford (1)
2. Mikey Garcia (6)
3. Julius Indongo (2)
4. Antonio Orozco (3)
5. Adrian Granados (4)
6. Eduard Troyanovsky (5)
7. Regis Prograis (7)
8. Sergey Lipinets (8)
9. Adrien Broner (10)
10. John Molina (9)

Crawford remains the top junior welterweight with a spectacular third-round TKO victory over Indongo where he won recognition as the sports only undisputed world champion. Indongo slips a spot to No. 3. Garcia, fresh off his decisive victory over Broner in July, lands at No. 2.

1. Jorge Linares (1)
2. Mikey Garcia (2)
3. Terry Flanagan (3)
4. Robert Easter Jr. (4)
5. Anthony Crolla (5)
6. Raymundo Beltran (7)
7. Denis Shafikov (6)
8. Dejan Zlaticanin (8)
9. Luke Campbell (9)
10. Felix Verdejo (10)

Beltran scored a majority decision over Bryan Vasquez on Aug. 5. He trades places with Shafikov to move into the No. 6 slot in the rankings.

1. Vasyl Lomachenko (1)
2. Miguel Berchelt (2)
3. Jezreel Corrales (3)
4. Gervonta Davis (4)
5. Francisco Vargas (5)
6. Orlando Salido (7)
7. Robinson Castellanos (8)
8. Miguel Roman (10)
9. Jhonny Gonzalez (-)
10. Kenichi Ogawa (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Takashi Uchiyama (6), Takashi Miura (9)

Uchiyama and Miura each announced their retirement from the sport and therefore exit the rankings. Gonzalez and Ogawa take their place, entering at No. 9 and No. 10, respectively.

1. Gary Russell Jr. (1)
2. Leo Santa Cruz (2)
3. Carl Frampton (3)
4. Lee Selby (4)
5. Abner Mares (5)
6. Oscar Valdez (6)
7. Scott Quigg (7)
8. Claudio Marrero (8)
9. Jesus Marcello Andres Cuellar (9)
10. Joseph Diaz Jr. (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Guillermo Rigondeaux (1)
2. Jessie Magdaleno (2)
3. Nonito Donaire (3)
4. Yukinori Oguni (-)
5. Rey Vargas (5)
6. Julio Ceja (4)
7. Jonathan Guzman (6)
8. Moises Flores (7)
9. Hugo Ruiz (8)
10. Cesar Juarez (9)

Dropped from the rankings: Shun Kubo (10)

Oguni jumps into the rankings at No. 4. Kubo falls out for the time being.

1. Luis Nery (7)
2. Zhanat Zhakiyanov (2)
3. Shinsuke Yamanaka (1)
4. Jamie McDonnell (3)
5. Juan Carlos Payano (4)
6. Ryan Burnett (5)
7. Zolani Tete (6)
8. Liborio Solis (8)
9. Karim Guerfi (9)
10. Takuma Inoue (10)

Nery crashes the bantamweight rankings with his upset fourth-round TKO victory over long-reigning champion Yamanaka, who drops to third. The sudden rise of Nery shakes up the rankings from top to bottom. Meanwhile, Payano scored a unanimous decision over unranked Alexis Santiago on Aug. 22.

1. Naoya Inoue (1)
2. Roman Gonzalez (2)
3. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (3)
4. Carlos Cuadras (4)
5. Jerwin Ancajas (5)
6. Khalid Yafai (6)
7. Luis Concepcion (7)
8. Rau’shee Warren (8)
9. Kohei Kono (9)
10. Sho Ishida (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Kazuto Ioka (1)
2. Donnie Nietes (2)
3. Daigo Higa (3)
4. Juan Carlos Reveco (4)
5. Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (5)
6. Sho Kimura (6)
7. Moruti Mthalane (7)
8. Yodmongkol Vor Saengthep (8)
9. Andrew Selby (9)
10. Vincent Legrand (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Kosei Tanaka (1)
2. Pedro Guevara (2)
3. Ken Shiro (3)
4. Milan Melindo (4)
5. Ryoichi Taguchi (5)
6. Carlos Canizales (6)
7. Felix Alvarado (7)
8. Hekkie Budler (8)
9. Ganigan Lopez (9)
10. Randy Petalcorin (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Wanheng Menayothin (1)
2. Knockout CP Freshmart (2)
3. Hiroto Kyoguchi (3)
4. Byron Rojas (4)
5. Jose Argumendo (5)
6. Leroy Estrada (6)
7. Simphiwe Khonco (7)
8. Carlos Buitrago (8)
9. Joey Canoy (9)
10. Ryuya Yamanaka (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Tatsuya Fukuhara (10)

Yamanaka enters the rankings at No. 10 with a decision victory over the previously ranked Fukuhara.

1. Andre Ward (1)
2. Terence Crawford (4)
3. Vasyl Lomachenko (2)
4. Gennady Golovkin (3)
5. Roman Gonzalez (5)
6. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (6)
7. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (7)
8. Guillermo Rigondeaux (8)
9. Mikey Garcia (9)
10. Sergey Kovalev (10)

Crawford moves up to No. 2 with his victory over Julius Indongo. Lomachenko and GGG drop to No. 3 and No. 4, respectively, as a result of Crawford’s rise.