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)
- Dillian Whyte (6)
- Alexander Povetkin (5)
- Jarrell Miller (7)
- Kubrat Pulev (8)
- Joseph Parker (9)
- Dereck Chisora (10)
No. 5-ranked Dillian Whyte knocked out Dereck Chisora to set up a rematch with Anthony Joshua, if Joshua intends to not fight Deontay Wilder or Tyson Fury next. This brings us to one of the best fights of the year. Wilder and Fury fought in a epic 12-round battle that ended in a draw. Fury outboxed Wilder for the majority of the fight, but he was knocked down three times, including once in the 12th round when he miraculously beat the 10 count. Luis Ortiz, who sits at No. 4 in our poll, had a knockout victory on the undercard of the Wilder/Fury pay-per-view.
- Oleksandr Usyk (1)
- Murat Gassiev (2)
- Mairis Briedis (3)
- Denis Lebedev (4)
- Krzysztof Glowacki (5)
- Yunier Dorticos (6)
- Ilunga Makabu (7)
- Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (8)
- Dmitry Kudryashov (9)
- Andrew Tabiti (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Eleider Alvarez (2)
- Oleksandr Gvozdyk (5)
- Sergey Kovalev (3)
- Badou Jack (4)
- Adonis Stevenson (1)
- Artur Beterbiev (6)
- Dmitry Bivol (7)
- Sullivan Barrera (8)
- Marcus Browne (9)
- Joe Smith Jr. (10)
The light heavyweight division is the home to some major changes as a result of the fallout from December’s action. Oleksandr Gvozdyk climbs all the way to second following his knockout of former top light heavyweight Adonis Stevenson in the 11th round of their bout. Stevenson is slowly recovering after being placed in an induced coma following the defeat. With Stevenson’s loss, the former No. 1 drops to the five spot and Eleider Alvarez takes control of the top spot in the rankings.
- Gilberto Ramirez (1)
- Callum Smith (2)
- James DeGale (3)
- George Groves (4)
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (-)
- Chris Eubank Jr. (5)
- Jose Uzcategui (7)
- Anthony Dirrell (6)
- Jesse Hart (10)
- David Benavidez (8)
Dropped from the rankings: Rocky Fielding (9)
Canelo Alvarez made the jump up to 168 pounds and made short work of Rocky Fielding. Alvarez dropped the Brit several times with body punches and finished him in the third frame. Alvarez debuts at No. 5 in our super middleweight poll, replacing the man he beat in the top 10. Elsewhere, Gilberto Ramirez retained his title after winning a majority decision over Jesse Hart. Ramirez, who fought the last few rounds with an injured shoulder, remains atop the division’s rankings.
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (1)
- Gennady Golovkin (2)
- Daniel Jacobs (3)
- Billy Joe Saunders (4)
- Jermall Charlo (5)
- David Lemieux (6)
- Demetrius Andrade (8)
- Sergiy Derevyanchenko (7)
- Rob Brant (9)
- Maciej Sulecki (10)
While the scorecards may appear to signal a clear-cut win, Jermall Charlo only narrowly beat short-notice replacement Matvey Korobov. Despite the close nature of the contest, Charlo holds onto his standing as the world’s No. 5 middleweight. Billy Joe Saunders returned from a self-inflicted absence and walked away with a win in his encounter against Charles Adamu. Saunders remains at No. 4 in the rankings.
- Jarrett Hurd (1)
- Erislandy Lara (2)
- Jermell Charlo (3)
- Julian Williams (4)
- Kell Brook (5)
- Amir Khan (6)
- Jaime Munguia (7)
- Austin Trout (8)
- Liam Smith (9)
- Brian Carlos Castano (10)
Top-ranked junior middleweight Jarrett Hurd remained undefeated and walked away with a cool million dollars in his finish of Jason Welborn. Tony Harrison scored the upset over Jermell Charlo on a much-disputed decision, but Charlo holds onto his No. 3 spot in the rankings. Julian Williams knocked out Francisco Javier Castro on the Wilder/Fury undercard to hold onto the fourth spot in our poll and put himself in contention to fight either Harrison or Hurd.
- Terence Crawford (1)
- Keith Thurman (2)
- Errol Spence Jr. (3)
- Shawn Porter (4)
- Danny Garcia (5)
- Jeff Horn (6)
- Jessie Vargas (7)
- Manny Pacquiao (8)
- Lamont Peterson (9)
- Sadam Ali (10)
Sadam Ali returned to 140 pounds, the weight class where he belongs, and defeated Mauricio Herrera. Ali still holds onto his spot in the 147-pound rankings, though.
- Mikey Garcia (1)
- Regis Prograis (2)
- Josh Taylor (3)
- Viktor Postol (4)
- Kiryl Relikh (5)
- Jose Carlos Ramirez (6)
- Maurice Hooker (10)
- Sergey Lipinets (7)
- Adrien Broner (8)
- Ivan Baranchyk (9)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action in December, but Maurice Hooker climbs up to the No. 7 hole after a 2018 campaign in which he beat two previously undefeated foes, including Alex Saucedo in November.
- Vasyl Lomachenko (2)
- Mikey Garcia (1)
- Jorge Linares (3)
- Robert Easter (4)
- Jose Pedraza (5)
- Anthony Crolla (6)
- Luke Campbell (7)
- Richard Commey (8)
- Raymundo Beltran (9)
- Emmanuel Tagoe (10)
Vasyl Lomachenko made easy work of No. 5-ranked Jose Pedraza en route to a unanimous-decision victory. Lomachenko’s performance earns him the top spot at 135 pounds.
- Vasyl Lomachenko (1)
- Miguel Berchelt (2)
- Alberto Machado (3)
- Gervonta Davis (4)
- Francisco Vargas (5)
- Jezreel Corrales (6)
- Miguel Roman (7)
- Tevin Farmer (10)
- Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (-)
- Masayuki Ito (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Orlando Salido (8), Jhonny Gonzalez (9)
The junior lightweight rankings experience some shuffling after a busy December. Masayuki Ito knocked out Evgeny Chuprakov to cap off a solid 2018 and now joins the rankings at No. 10. Jamel Herring looks to be next in line for Ito. Tevin Farmer kept on beating whoever they put in front of him by winning a decision over Francisco Fonseca. Farmer moves on up to eighth in our poll. Meanwhile, Orlando Salido’s inactivity in 2018 was enough to allow Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov to bump him from the rankings altogether. Jhonny Gonzalez also drops out entirely as a result of Ito’s emergence.
- Gary Russell Jr. (1)
- Leo Santa Cruz (2)
- Josh Warrington (7)
- Carl Frampton (3)
- Abner Mares (4)
- Oscar Valdez (5)
- Scott Quigg (6)
- Lee Selby (7)
- Joseph Diaz Jr. (9)
- Jesus Marcelo Andres Cuellar (10)
Josh Warrington threw punches in bunches and pulled off a slight upset over Carl Frampton. Warrington skyrockets to No. 3 with the win and an impressive 2018 campaign.
- Guillermo Rigondeaux (1)
- Rey Vargas (2)
- Jessie Magdaleno (4)
- Emanuel Navarrete (8)
- Diego De La Hoya (5)
- Isaac Dogboe (3)
- Daniel Roman (6)
- Moises Flores (7)
- TJ Doheny (9)
- Ryosuke Iwasa (10)
Emanuel Navarrette is a boxer to be reckoned with after his beatdown of Isaac Dogboe. Navarrete is now the No. 4-ranked boxer at 122 pounds. Dogboe slips to sixth in our poll.
- Naoya Inoue (1)
- Luis Nery (2)
- Ryan Burnett (3)
- Jamie McDonnell (4)
- Juan Carlos Payano (5)
- Zhanat Zhakiyanov (6)
- Emmanuel Rodriguez (7)
- Zolani Tete (8)
- Jason Moloney (9)
- Takuma Inoue (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Paul Butler (10)
Takuma Inoue didn’t have his best performance, but he still won convincingly over the previously undefeated Tasana Salapat. Inoue replaces Paul Butler as the No. 10 bantamweight.
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (1)
- Juan Francisco Estrada (2)
- Jerwin Ancajas (3)
- Khalid Yafai (4)
- Roman Gonzalez (5)
- Donnie Nietes (-)
- Kazuto Ioka (7)
- McWilliams Arroyo (8)
- Carlos Cuadras (6)
- Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Rau’shee Warren (9)
Donnie Nietes moved up to junior bantamweight, where he won a hotly disputed decision over Kazuto Ioka in a contest Combat Press scored in favor of Ioka. Nonetheless, Nietes continues a remarkable run of remaining undefeated since 2004 and, as a result, joins the rankings with his first win at his new weight class. The entry of Nietes pushes Rau’shee Warren outside of the top 10.
- Donnie Nietes (1)
- Juan Carlos Reveco (3)
- Charlie Edwards (-)
- Cristofer Rosales (4)
- Daigo Higa (5)
- Artem Dalakian (6)
- Kosei Tanaka (7)
- Sho Kimura (8)
- Moruti Mthalane (9)
- Andrew Selby (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Kazuto Ioka (2)
Charlie Edwards pulled off an unlikely upset when he defeated Cristofer Rosales. The victory allows Edwards to shoot up to the third spot in the rankings. Moruti Mthalane holds steady at ninth after a knockout of Masahiro Sakamoto. Mthalane deserves a big fight and a payday. With Edwards leaping into the top 10, Kazuto Ioka departs the rankings. Ioka has been inactive as a flyweight for over 16 months while competing as a junior bantamweight.
- Ken Shiro (1)
- Pedro Guevara (2)
- Ryoichi Taguchi (5)
- Hiroto Kyoguchi (-)
- Milan Melindo (3)
- Hekkie Budler (4)
- Carlos Canizales (6)
- Felix Alvarado (7)
- Ganigan Lopez (8)
- Angel Acosta (9)
Dropped from the rankings: Edward Heno (10)
Top-ranked junior flyweight Ken Shiro remained undefeated with a decision over Saul Juarez. Hiroto Kyoguchi ended his year with a knockout of Hekki Budler. Kyoguchi soars into the No. 4 hole, while Budler falls to sixth. It was a short-lived stay in the rankings for Edward Heno, who entered the poll last month but exits as a result of Kyoguchi’s arrival.
- 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)
The fight between No. 7 Simphiwe Khonco and No. 8 Joey Canoy ended in a no-contest after a headbutt opened a cut on Khonco, who was deemed unable to continue.
- Terence Crawford (1)
- Vasyl Lomachenko (2)
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (3)
- Oleksandr Usyk (4)
- Gennady Golovkin (5)
- Mikey Garcia (6)
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (8)
- Naoya Inoue (9)
- Donnie Nietes (10)
- Ken Shiro (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Guillermo Rigondeaux (7)
Following a year of inactivity and a loss to Vasyl Lomachenko in his last bout of 2017, Guillermo Rigondeaux exits the pound-for-pound top 10 to make way for Ken Shiro, whose 2018 campaign included three victories.