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)
- Tyson Fury (-)
- Luis Ortiz (3)
- Alexander Povetkin (4)
- Dillian Whyte (5)
- Jarrell Miller (6)
- Kubrat Pulev (7)
- Joseph Parker (8)
- Dereck Chisora (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Andy Ruiz Jr. (9)
Tyson Fury won by unanimous decision in his second fight back from hiatus. Fury defeated Francesco Pianeta in Belfast, Ireland, and looked like the Fury of old with his footwork and speed on display. The performance is enough for Fury to regain a spot in the top 10. He enters all the way at No. 3, behind Deontay Wilder. Fury and Wilder are slated to meet next.
- 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)
Ilunga Makabu was the lone ranked cruiserweight in action in August. He defeated Taylor Mabika by TKO to hold steady at No. 7 in the rankings. It was recently announced that the WBSS will feature the cruiserweights yet again for a tournament, with names like Yunier Dorticos and Mairis Briedis involved.
- Adonis Stevenson (1)
- Eleider Alvarez (3)
- Sergey Kovalev (2)
- Badou Jack (4)
- Oleksandr Gvozdyk (5)
- Artur Beterbiev (6)
- Dmitry Bivol (7)
- Sullivan Barrera (8)
- Marcus Browne (9)
- Joe Smith Jr. (10)
Eleider Alvarez pulled off a shocking upset with his knockout of Sergey Kovalev. The win allows Alvarez to slide past Kovalev and take over the No. 2 spot. On the same card, seventh-ranked Dmitry Bivol won via unanimous decision over Isaac Chilemba. Elsewhere, No. 9-ranked Marcus Browne overcame an early knockdown and defeated Lenin Castillo by way of unanimous decision.
- 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 (9)
- Jesse Hart (10)
Jesse Hart, who sits in the No. 10 spot in the rankings, had another great performance in August. The Philadelphia native finished Mike Gavronski to seemingly set up a rematch with top super middleweight Gilberto Ramirez.
- 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 (5)
- Amir Khan (6)
- Jaime Munguia (7)
- Maciej Sulecki (8)
- Austin Trout (9)
- Liam Smith (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- 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)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- 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)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Mikey Garcia (1)
- Vasyl Lomachenko (2)
- Jorge Linares (3)
- Robert Easter (4)
- Jose Pedraza (9)
- Anthony Crolla (6)
- Luke Campbell (7)
- Richard Commey (8)
- Raymundo Beltran (5)
- Lewis Ritson (10)
As a result of Jose Pedraza’s victory over Raymundo Beltran to capture the WBO title, the rankings shuffle. Pedraza, who remains undefeated since moving up to 135 pounds, climbs from ninth to fifth. Meanwhile, Beltran falls to the No. 9 hole. Eight-ranked Richard Commey remains steady in his position within the rankings, but he added a victory in a stay-busy fight against Yardley Cruz, who fell via knockout.
- 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)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- 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)
Joseph Diaz Jr. holds onto his No. 9 spot in the rankings after taking a unanimous decision over Jesus Rojas in his first fight back after losing to top featherweight Gary Russell Jr. in May. Elsewhere, No. 3-ranked Carl Frampton notched a TKO victory over Luke Jackson.
- Guillermo Rigondeaux (1)
- Rey Vargas (2)
- Isaac Dogboe (3)
- Jessie Magdaleno (5)
- Diego De La Hoya (6)
- Daniel Roman (7)
- Moises Flores (8)
- Emanuel Navarette (9)
- TJ Doheny (-)
- Ryosuke Iwasa (4)
Dropped from the Rankings: Gavin McDonnell (10)
Isaac Dogboe continues to look damn impressive. The No. 3-ranked junior featherweight’s latest victim was Japan’s Hidenori Otake, whom Dogboe dispatched quickly via TKO. Ryosuke Iwasa, previously ranked at fourth in the division, was upset on his home soil. Iwasa lost to TJ Doheny, who enters the rankings at No. 9 while Iwasa falls to No. 10. Doheny’s entrance into the top 10 forces Gavin McDonnell out of the rankings.
- 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)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- 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)
Cristofer Rosales, the No. 4-ranked flyweight, was in action in August. Rosales won by fourth-round knockout over Paddy Barnes in Belfast, Ireland, on the same card that featured Tyson Fury and Carl Frampton.
- 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)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Wanheng Menayothin (1)
- Knockout CP Freshmart (2)
- Hiroto Kyoguchi (3)
- Byron Rojas (4)
- Jose Argumedo (5)
- Leroy Estrada (6)
- Simphiwe Khonco (7)
- Joey Canoy (8)
- Vic Saludar (9)
- Ryuya Yamanaka (10)
Top strawweight Wanheng Menayothin made history with his 51st win. He defeated Pedro Taduran by unanimous decision to break Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s previous record of 50 wins with no defeats, albeit Menayothin did his work against lesser competition.
- Terence Crawford (1)
- Vasyl Lomachenko (2)
- Gennady Golovkin (3)
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (4)
- Mikey Garcia (5)
- Oleksandr Usyk (6)
- Guillermo Rigondeaux (7)
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (9)
- Naoya Inoue (10)
- Donnie Nietes (-)
Dropped from the Rankings: Sergey Kovalev (8)
With Eleider Alvarez’s upset of Sergey Kovalev, the pound-for-pound rankings have changed. Kovalev falls completely from the top 10, while Donnie Nietes enters at No. 10.