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 (3)
- Luis Ortiz (4)
- Alexander Povetkin (5)
- Dillian Whyte (6)
- Jarrell Miller (7)
- Kubrat Pulev (8)
- Joseph Parker (9)
- Dereck Chisora (10)
Anthony Joshua knocked out Alexander Povetkin after a sluggish start. Joshua struggled to put any combinations together in the opening rounds, but something clicked for him in the sixth frame and he began to batter Povetkin. Joshua’s next fight date is tentatively set for April at Wembley Stadium. Could this be when we get Joshua against Deontay Wilder, or will Tyson Fury put a dent into those plans?
- 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. 3-ranked Mairis Briedis returned to action for the first time in 2018. He knocked out Hizni Altunkaya in the third round. Dmitry Kudryashov also returned and fought twice in 10 days in his home country of Russia. On Sept. 5, Kudryashov knocked out Mauricio Barragan. On Sept. 15, he knocked out Alexandru Jur in the first round.
- 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)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Gilberto Ramirez (1)
- Callum Smith (5)
- James DeGale (3)
- George Groves (2)
- Chris Eubank Jr. (4)
- Anthony Dirrell (5)
- Jose Uzcategui (7)
- David Benavidez (8)
- Rocky Fielding (9)
- Jesse Hart (10)
The WBSS Super Middleweight tournament came to an end when Callum Smith knocked out George Groves to claim the Muhammad Ali Trophy. Groves appeared to be the favorite to take the fight after Smith looked solid but unspectacular in the tournament, where he notched decision wins over Erik Skoglund and Nieky Holzken. Smith now finds himself in the No. 2 spot in the rankings. Chris Eubank Jr. fought on the undercard and finished JJ McDonagh in what could be considered a confidence-booster fight, after his previous outing ended in a decision loss to the aforementioned Groves. There should be a much bigger fight on the horizon for Eubank. Jose Uzcategui dominated Ezequiel Maderna through 10 rounds on the Top Ranks Sept. 28 card in California.
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (2)
- Gennady Golovkin (1)
- 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)
The highly anticipated rematch between Gennady “GGG” Golovkin and Saul “Canelo” Alvarez finally took place in September. The fight delivered plenty of action and lived up to the hype. It was another close bout, and it ended in another close decision victory for Canelo. There was less controversy this time, however. Alvarez is now atop the rankings after swapping spots with his opponent. On the same card, David Lemieux made quick work of Gary O’Sullivan, who didn’t even make it out of the first round. It was a great and much-needed showing for the French-Canadian.
- 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)
Jaime Munguia continues to look like a real threat to the champs in the division. He absolutely destroyed Brandon Cook in a fight that was stopped in the third round.
- Keith Thurman (1)
- Errol Spence Jr. (2)
- Terence Crawford (3)
- Shawn Porter (5)
- Danny Garcia (4)
- Jeff Horn (6)
- Jessie Vargas (7)
- Manny Pacquiao (8)
- Lamont Peterson (9)
- Sadam Ali (10)
Shawn Porter picked up the biggest win of his career with a unanimous decision over Danny Garcia in the main event of Showtime’s Sept. 8 card. The two men swap spots in the rankings.
- Mikey Garcia (1)
- Regis Prograis (2)
- Josh Taylor (3)
- Viktor Postol (4)
- Eduard Troyanovsky (6)
- Jose Carlos Ramirez (10)
- Sergey Lipinets (8)
- Adrien Broner (9)
- Antonio Orozco (4)
- Julius Indongo (7)
Jose Carlos Ramirez and Antonio Orozco put on one of the more entertaining fights of 2018. Ramirez delivered heavy shots to Orozco, who went down twice but fought through the pain to take the fight to a decision. This was Ramirez’s biggest win in terms of quality of opposition, and it results in a jump up to the No. 6 spot in the rankings. Ramirez finally proved he belongs as a top junior welterweight.
- 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)
Jorge Linares made his first appearance since his loss to Vasyl Lomachenko, but he fought at 140 pounds. Linares intends to continue competing at junior welterweight, but he retains his ranking here at lightweight until he takes another fight at 140. Meanwhile, Lewis Ritson knocked out Oscar Amador in the third round to retain his No. 10 spot in the lightweight poll.
- Vasyl Lomachenko (1)
- Miguel Berchelt (2)
- Alberto Machado (3)
- Gervonta Davis (4)
- Francisco Vargas (5)
- Jezreel Corrales (6)
- Miguel Roman (8)
- Orlando Salido (9)
- Jhonny Gonzalez (10)
- Tevin Farmer (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Robinson Castellanos (7)
Robinson Castellanos was finished by Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov in the second round. It was Robinson’s second straight loss, and one must consider whether the 36-year-old has anything left in the tank. He has struggled to mount good performances. As a result, he cedes his 10th spot in the rankings to Tevin Farmer.
- 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 a loss 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 (4)
- Diego De La Hoya (5)
- Daniel Roman (6)
- Moises Flores (7)
- Emanuel Navarrete (8)
- TJ Doheny (9)
- Ryosuke Iwasa (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)
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)
- Carlos Cuadras (7)
- Kazuto Ioka (-)
- McWilliams Arroyo (6)
- Rau’shee Warren (8)
- Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (9)
Dropped from the rankings: Rex Tso (10)
Jerwin Ancajas put on a lackluster performance and was fortunate to leave with just a split draw on his record. On the Superfly card from Sept. 8, Juan Francisco Estrada defeated Felipe Orucuta by unanimous decision and McWilliams Arroyo was defeated by first-time junior bantamweight Kazuto Ioka. Ioka enters the rankings at No. 7 as a result of the big win. Arroyo slides down to No. 8. Ioka’s entrance into the top 10 bumps Rex Tso from the rankings. Roman Gonzalez also returned to the win column after his two previous losses to Sor Rungvisai. He finished Moises Fuentes on the GGG-Canelo II undercard.
- Donnie Nietes (1)
- Kazuto Ioka (2)
- Juan Carlos Reveco (3)
- Cristofer Rosales (4)
- Daigo Higa (5)
- Artem Dalakian (6)
- Kosei Tanaka (-)
- Sho Kimura (7)
- Moruti Mthalane (8)
- Andrew Selby (9)
Dropped from the Rankings: Vincent Legrand (10)
Sho Kimura lost to Kosei Tanaka, who was making his second straight appearance at flyweight. Tanaka won by majority decision and enters the rankings at No. 7. Vincent Legrand has been removed as a result.
- 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)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Terence Crawford (1)
- Vasyl Lomachenko (2)
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (4)
- Gennady Golovkin (3)
- Mikey Garcia (5)
- Oleksandr Usyk (6)
- Guillermo Rigondeaux (7)
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (8)
- Naoya Inoue (9)
- Donnie Nietes (10)
Canelo and GGG switch spots in the rankings after Canelo bested GGG on what looks to have been the final boxing pay-per-view for HBO.