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)
- Adam Kownacki (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Dereck Chisora (10)
Adam Kownacki remained undefeated through 19 fights with his knockout of Gerald Washington in the second round of their bout at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The performance is enough for Kownacki to insert himself into the rankings at No. 10. As a result, Dereck Chisora exits.
- 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.
- Sergey Kovalev (3)
- Oleksandr Gvozdyk (2)
- Eleider Alvarez (1)
- Adonis Stevenson (5)
- Artur Beterbiev (6)
- Dmitry Bivol (7)
- Marcus Browne (9)
- Badou Jack (4)
- Sullivan Barrera (8)
- Joe Smith Jr. (10)
The light heavyweight division sees a little bit of shuffling after both the Badou Jack-Marcus Browne and Sergey Kovalev-Eleider Alvarez fights. Browne defeated Jack in an uneventful contest. The performance was nothing to write home about, but it allows Browne to slide into the No. 7 hole, while Jack falls to eighth. Meanwhile, Kovalev avenged his loss to Alvarez and looked damn good in doing so. Kovalev fought a excellent fight, and it was clear the switch to Buddy McGirt as his trainer payed off. Kovalev moves into the top spot in the rankings, and Alvarez drops to No. 3.
- Gilberto Ramirez (1)
- Callum Smith (2)
- James DeGale (3)
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (5)
- Chris Eubank Jr. (6)
- Anthony Dirrell (8)
- Jesse Hart (9)
- Caleb Plant (-)
- David Benavidez (10)
- Jose Uzcategui (7)
Dropped from the rankings: George Groves (4)
George Groves announced his retirement from the sport after a successful career. Combat Press wishes him the best in his future endeavors. With the departure of Groves, Caleb Plant moves into the top 10 after defeating Jose Uzcategui in a largely one-sided fight. Plant enters at No. 8, while Uzcategui drops to No.10.
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (1)
- Gennady Golovkin (2)
- Daniel Jacobs (3)
- Billy Joe Saunders (4)
- Jermall Charlo (5)
- David Lemieux (6)
- Demetrius Andrade (7)
- Sergiy Derevyanchenko (8)
- Rob Brant (9)
- Maciej Sulecki (10)
Demetrius Andrade was the only ranked fighter in action in January. He defeated Artur Akavov on a bout that aired on DAZN. It was another overmatched opponent for Andrade, who holds steady at seventh in our poll.
- Jarrett Hurd (1)
- Erislandy Lara (2)
- Jaime Munguia (7)
- Julian Williams (4)
- Kell Brook (5)
- Amir Khan (6)
- Tony Harrison (-)
- Jermell Charlo (3)
- Austin Trout (8)
- Liam Smith (9)
Dropped from the rankings: Brian Carlos Castano (10)
Tony Harrison enters the rankings at No. 7 after upsetting Jermell Charlo, who falls all the way from third to eighth. Harrison’s entry into the top 10 forces Brian Carlos Castano out of the rankings. Jaime Munguia continues his run after defeating Takeshi Inoue. Munguia catapults into the No. 3 spot as a result of his victory.
- Terence Crawford (1)
- Keith Thurman (2)
- Errol Spence Jr. (3)
- Shawn Porter (4)
- Danny Garcia (5)
- Manny Pacquiao (8)
- Jessie Vargas (7)
- Jeff Horn (6)
- Lamont Peterson (9)
- Sadam Ali (10)
Manny Pacquiao continued to defy age with another solid performance. The Filipino star defeated Adrien Broner, who was his usual self and did not throw enough punches. Pacquiao crawls up to sixth. Keith Thurman returned to action in January. Yes, Thurman finally got back in the ring after a lengthy layoff. He defeated Josesito Lopez. It was not an easy win for Thurman, who was almost stopped in the fight. Thurman holds onto his No. 2 ranking.
- Mikey Garcia (1)
- Regis Prograis (2)
- Josh Taylor (3)
- Viktor Postol (4)
- Kiryl Relikh (5)
- Jose Carlos Ramirez (6)
- Maurice Hooker (7)
- Sergey Lipinets (8)
- Ivan Baranchyk (9)
- Mohamed Mimoune (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Adrien Broner (8)
Adrien Broner fought at 147 pounds and suffered a loss to Manny Pacquiao. After another lackluster fight from Broner, his spot in among the top junior welterweights is up. Mohamed Mimoune step in to fill the void. The Frenchman has not lost since 2013.
- Vasyl Lomachenko (1)
- Mikey Garcia (2)
- Richard Commey (8)
- Robert Easter (4)
- Jose Pedraza (5)
- Anthony Crolla (6)
- Luke Campbell (7)
- Raymundo Beltran (9)
- Emmanuel Tagoe (10)
- Jorge Linares (3)
Richard Commey knocked out Isa Chaniev. His reward will be a unification bout against Vasyl Lomachenko. Jorge Linares was shockingly upset by Pablo Cesar Cano, who knocked out Linares in the first round. Commey jumps from eighth to third in our poll, while Linares goes tumbling down the rankings to No. 10. We can’t write off Linares just yet, but it’s clear he needs a bounce-back performance to extend his career and keep his spot in the rankings.
- Vasyl Lomachenko (1)
- Miguel Berchelt (2)
- Alberto Machado (3)
- Gervonta Davis (4)
- Francisco Vargas (5)
- Jezreel Corrales (6)
- Miguel Roman (7)
- Tevin Farmer (8)
- Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (9)
- Masayuki Ito (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)
- Josh Warrington (3)
- Carl Frampton (4)
- Abner Mares (5)
- Oscar Valdez (6)
- Scott Quigg (7)
- Lee Selby (8)
- Joseph Diaz Jr. (9)
- Jesus Marcelo Andres Cuellar (10)
No. 6-ranked featherweight Oscar Valdez returned to action and knocked out Carmine Tommasone. Tommasone stole a bit of Valdez’s shine, however, by proposing to his girlfriend right after the loss. Perfect heel move. Well done, Tommasone.
- Guillermo Rigondeaux (1)
- Rey Vargas (2)
- Jessie Magdaleno (3)
- Emanuel Navarrete (4)
- Diego De La Hoya (5)
- Isaac Dogboe (6)
- Daniel Roman (7)
- Moises Flores (8)
- TJ Doheny (9)
- Ryosuke Iwasa (10)
There’s been a Guillermo Rigondeaux sighting! The Cuban returned after his embarrassing loss to Vasyl Lomachenko (to his defense, Rigondeaux was severely undersized). The top-ranked junior featherweight made quick work of Giovanni Delgado, who fell by way of a knockout in the first round. Elsewhere, TJ Doheny stopped Ryohei Takahashi in the 11th round.
- 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 (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)
- Donnie Nietes (6)
- Kazuto Ioka (7)
- McWilliams Arroyo (8)
- Carlos Cuadras (9)
- Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Donnie Nietes (1)
- Juan Carlos Reveco (2)
- Charlie Edwards (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)
- Ryoichi Taguchi (3)
- Hiroto Kyoguchi (4)
- Milan Melindo (5)
- Hekkie Budler (6)
- Carlos Canizales (7)
- Felix Alvarado (8)
- Ganigan Lopez (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 (3)
- Oleksandr Usyk (4)
- Gennady Golovkin (5)
- Mikey Garcia (6)
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (8)
- Naoya Inoue (9)
- Donnie Nietes (10)
- Ken Shiro (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action this month, so the rankings remain unchanged.