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)
No. 8-ranked fighter Kubrat Pulev returned to action and defeated Hughie Fury.
- 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)
Yunier Dorticos opened up the second season of the WBSS cruiserweight tournament with a decision victory over Mateusz Masternak in a phenomenal fight. It was a great performance for the Cuban after he suffered his first professional defeat earlier in the year against Murat Gassiev. Dorticos holds steady at No. 6 in the rankings.
- 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 (4)
- Chris Eubank Jr. (5)
- Anthony Dirrell (6)
- Jose Uzcategui (7)
- David Benavidez (8)
- Rocky Fielding (9)
- Jesse Hart (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- 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)
- Demetrius Andrade (10)
- Rob Brant (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Ryota Murata (9)
The middleweights were busy in October. No. 3-ranked Daniel Jacobs defeated fellow top-10 middleweight fighter Sergiy Derevyanchenko via split decision in an HBO headliner. Former No. 9 Ryota Murata was defeated by Rob Brant. The Minneapolis native enters the rankings after the best performance of his career. Meanwhile, Murata slips outside of the top 10 with the loss. Demetrius Andrade captured the vacant WBO title by defeating late replacement Walter Kautondokwa. Andrade’s original opponent, Billy Joe Saunders, was forced to withdraw after failing a drug test. As a result of his win and Murata’s loss, Andrade gains one spot to move to ninth in this month’s rankings.
- 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.
- Terence Crawford (3)
- Keith Thurman (1)
- Errol Spence Jr. (2)
- Shawn Porter (4)
- Danny Garcia (5)
- Jeff Horn (6)
- Jessie Vargas (7)
- Manny Pacquiao (8)
- Lamont Peterson (9)
- Sadam Ali (10)
Terence Crawford successfully defended his WBO title with a knockout of Jose Benavidez Jr. in the 12th round of their fight. It was Crawford’s second outing at 147 pounds, where he looks as comfortable as he did at 140. As a result, Crawford deserves a move up to the top spot at 147.
- Mikey Garcia (1)
- Regis Prograis (2)
- Josh Taylor (3)
- Viktor Postol (4)
- Kiryl Relikh (-)
- Jose Carlos Ramirez (6)
- Sergey Lipinets (7)
- Adrien Broner (8)
- Ivan Baranchyk (-)
- Eduard Troyanovsky (5)
Dropped from the rankings: Antonio Orozco (9), Julius Indongo (10)
The World Boxing Super Series opened up its junior-welterweight tournament this month with Regis Prograis, Josh Taylor and newly ranked fighters Ivan Baranchyk and Kiryl Relikh all picking up victories. This leads to plenty of movement in the top 10. Relikh checks in at No. 5, while Baranchyk enters the fray at ninth. Eduard Troyanovsky falls from fifth to the No. 10 spot, and Antonio Orozco and Julius Indongo depart from the top 10.
- Mikey Garcia (1)
- Vasyl Lomachenko (2)
- Jorge Linares (3)
- Robert Easter (4)
- Jose Pedraza (5)
- Anthony Crolla (6)
- Luke Campbell (7)
- Richard Commey (8)
- Raymundo Beltran (9)
- Emmanuel Tagoe (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Lewis Ritson (10)
Emmanuel Tagoe enters the rankings at No. 10 to replace Lewis Ritson, who dropped a split decision to Francesco Patera.
- Vasyl Lomachenko (1)
- Miguel Berchelt (2)
- Alberto Machado (3)
- Gervonta Davis (4)
- Francisco Vargas (5)
- Jezreel Corrales (6)
- Miguel Roman (7)
- Orlando Salido (8)
- Jhonny Gonzalez (9)
- Tevin Farmer (10)
In a battle of top-10 junior lightweights, Miguel Berchelt knocked out Miguel Roman. It was an exciting contest, which seems to be the theme for recent main events on ESPN+. Elsewhere, Tevin Farmer scored a knockout to retain his ranking at No. 10.
- 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)
- Jessie Magdaleno (4)
- Diego De La Hoya (5)
- Daniel Roman (6)
- Moises Flores (7)
- Emanuel Navarrete (8)
- TJ Doheny (9)
- Ryosuke Iwasa (10)
Rey Vargas defeated Gavin McDonnell by TKO to retain his No. 2 spot in the rankings.
- Naoya Inoue (3)
- Luis Nery (1)
- Ryan Burnett (2)
- Jamie McDonnell (4)
- Juan Carlos Payano (5)
- Zhanat Zhakiyanov (6)
- Emmanuel Rodriguez (7)
- Zolani Tete (8)
- Jason Moloney (10)
- Paul Butler (9)
Another tournament opened up for the World Boxing Super Series, this time in the bantamweight division. Naoya Inoue knocked out Juan Carlos Payano. As a result, Inoue jumps to No. 1 in the rankings. Emmanuel Rodriguez defeated Jason Moloney in a back-and-forth contest. Zolani Tete was victorious, too. Despite a loss to Nonito Donaire, Ryan Burnett only drops down one spot in the rankings. Burnett had to withdraw from the contest due to injury, and he shouldn’t be punished too harshly as a result.
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (1)
- Juan Francisco Estrada (2)
- Jerwin Ancajas (3)
- Khalid Yafai (4)
- Roman Gonzalez (5)
- Carlos Cuadras (6)
- Kazuto Ioka (7)
- McWilliams Arroyo (8)
- Rau’shee Warren (9)
- Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (10)
No. 1-ranked fighter Srisaket Sor Rungvisai was in action for ONE Championship in a boxing match. He defeated Iran Diaz via unanimous decision. Rungvisai now has an impressive streak of 20 straight victories.
- Donnie Nietes (1)
- Kazuto Ioka (2)
- Juan Carlos Reveco (3)
- Cristofer Rosales (4)
- Daigo Higa (5)
- Artem Dalakian (6)
- Kosei Tanaka (7)
- Sho Kimura (8)
- Moruti Mthalane (9)
- Andrew Selby (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Ken Shiro (1)
- Pedro Guevara (2)
- Milan Melindo (3)
- Hekkie Budler (4)
- Ryoichi Taguchi(5)
- Carlos Canizales (6)
- Felix Alvarado (7)
- Ganigan Lopez (8)
- Angel Acosta (10)
- Edward Heno (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Randy Petalcorin (9)
Ken Shiro and Milan Melindo faced off in a battle of top junior flyweights. Shiro looked like his usual dominant self. The Japanese fighter finished Melindo in the seventh round. Felix Alvarado handed Randy Petalcorin a TKO loss that sent the former No. 9 fighter outside of the top 10. Angel Acosta knocked out Abraham Rodriguez to take over the No. 9 spot. Edward Heno debuts in the rankings and overtakes Petalcorin for the No. 10 spot.
- 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 (3)
- Gennady Golovkin (4)
- Mikey Garcia (5)
- Oleksandr Usyk (6)
- Guillermo Rigondeaux (7)
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (8)
- Naoya Inoue (9)
- Donnie Nietes (10)
The pound-for-pound rankings remain unchanged despite the performances from Crawford and Inoue.