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 (5)
- Alexander Povetkin (6)
- Jarrell Miller (7)
- Kubrat Pulev (8)
- Joseph Parker (9)
- Adam Kownacki (10)
Kubrat Pulev knocked out Bogdan Dinu in a Top Rank headliner to remain at No. 8.
- 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)
Krzysztof Wlodarczyk won a unanimous decision over Alexandru Jur. The WBSS is taking forever to complete its’ tournament, therefore keeping the rankings at a stand still.
- Sergey Kovalev (1)
- Oleksandr Gvozdyk (2)
- Eleider Alvarez (3)
- Adonis Stevenson (4)
- Artur Beterbiev (5)
- Dmitry Bivol (6)
- Marcus Browne (7)
- Badou Jack (8)
- Sullivan Barrera (9)
- Anthony Yarde (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Joe Smith (10)
Oleksandr Gvozdyk defeated Doudou Ngumbu after Ngumbu was unable to continue with a leg injury. The fight was stopped in the fifth round. Dmitry Bivol cruised to another uneventful decision victory over Joe Smith Jr., dropping Smith from the rankings. Anthony Yarde joins the top 10.
- Gilberto Ramirez (1)
- Callum Smith (2)
- Chris Eubank Jr. (3)
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (4)
- Anthony Dirrell (5)
- James DeGale (6)
- Jesse Hart (7)
- Caleb Plant (8)
- David Benavidez (9)
- Jose Uzcategui (10)
David Benavidez absolutely destroyed J’Leon Love on the pay-per-view card of Spence-Garcia. The second-round knockout was an easy day at the office, keeping Benavidez in ninth.
- 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)
Tenth-ranked Maciej Sulecki won an entertaining battle over Gabriel Rosado in which both fighters were knocked down.
- Jarrett Hurd (1)
- Erislandy Lara (2)
- Jaime Munguia (3)
- Julian Williams (4)
- Kell Brook (5)
- Amir Khan (6)
- Tony Harrison (7)
- Jermell Charlo (8)
- Austin Trout (9)
- Liam Smith (10)
Liam Smith knocked out Sam Eggington after Eggington’s corner threw the towel in the fifth round. Smith rebounded after a loss to Munguia late last year to stay in 10th.
- Terence Crawford (1)
- Errol Spence Jr. (3)
- Keith Thurman (2)
- Shawn Porter (4)
- Danny Garcia (5)
- Manny Pacquiao (6)
- Jessie Vargas (7)
- Jeff Horn (8)
- Sergey Lipinets (-)
- Yordenis Ugas (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Lamont Peterson (9), Sadam Ali (10)
The biggest fight of 2019 (so far) happened with just over 47,000 in attendance at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. Errol Spence Jr. battered Mikey Garcia and won every round en route to a dominant unanimous decision victory. Garcia’s corner could have thrown in the towel and nobody would have been upset. Spence Jr. is further establishing a case for being the top 147er on the planet and a pound-for-pound candidate. He leaps Keith Thurman in the rankings to claim the No. 2 spot. Shawn Porter defended his belt against Yordenis Ugas and barely walked out champ with a split-decision win. Ugas enters the rankings with his performance. Lamont Peterson and Sergey Lipinets headlined a FS1 show and Lipinets got the victory after Peterson’s corner threw in the towel. Peterson retired immediately after the fight. For Lipinets, the second straight win at 147 pounds launches him into the rankings. Due to newly ranked fighters, both Sadam Ali and Peterson are removed.
- Mikey Garcia (1)
- Regis Prograis (2)
- Josh Taylor (3)
- Viktor Postol (4)
- Kiryl Relikh (5)
- Maurice Hooker (7)
- Juan Carlos Ramirez (6)
- Sergey Lipinets (8)
- Ivan Baranchyk (9)
- Mohamed Mimoune (10)
Maurice Hooker defeated Mikkel LesPierre in a successful defense of his WBO title. Mighty Mo has defeated Terry Flanagan, Alex Saucedo and now LesPierre in the last nine months. The performance leaps Hooker above Juan Carlos Ramirez.
- Vasyl Lomachenko (1)
- Mikey Garcia (2)
- Richard Commey (3)
- Robert Easter (4)
- Jose Pedraza (5)
- Anthony Crolla (6)
- Luke Campbell (7)
- Raymundo Beltran (8)
- Emmanuel Tagoe (9)
- Jorge Linares (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action in March, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Vasyl Lomachenko (1)
- Miguel Berchelt (2)
- Gervonta Davis (3)
- Francisco Vargas (4)
- Jezreel Corrales (5)
- Miguel Roman (6)
- Tevin Farmer (7)
- Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (8)
- Andrew Cancio (9)
- Alberto Machado (10)
Tevin Farmer defeated Jono Carroll by unanimous decision in his hometown of Philadelphia. Miguel Roman defeated Ramiro Blanco. Both fighters remain in their respective spots in the top 10.
- 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 fighters in the top 10 were in action in March, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Guillermo Rigondeaux (1)
- Rey Vargas (2)
- Jessie Magdaleno (3)
- Emanuel Navarrete (4)
- Diego De La Hoya (5)
- Isaac Dogboe (6)
- Daniel Roman (7)
- TJ Doheny (9)
- Ryosuke Iwasa (10)
- Shingo Wake (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Moises Flores (8)
Jessie Magdaleno returned to action, albeit at featherweight. It remains to be seen whether he will move up permanently. Shingo Wake joins the top 10 after consecutive defeats by Moises Flores sees him fall from the rankings.
- 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)
Luis Nery absolutely destroyed McJoe Arroyo in his U.S. debut. Arroyo didn’t even make it out of the fifth round. Elsewhere, Jason Maloney finished Cris Paulino to hang onto ninth.
- 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)
- Andrew Maloney (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (10)
Andrew Maloney’s performance against Miguel Gonzalez in March was enough for him to join the top 10 and bounce Francisco Rodriguez Jr. from the rankings.
- 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)
- Julio Cesar Martinez Aguilar (-)
Dropped from the Rankings: Andrew Selby (10)
Charlie Edwards defended his WBC title by winning a unanimous decision over Angel Moreno. Kosei Tanaka remains undefeated by defeating Ryoichi Taguchi. Andrew Selby suffered his first professional loss at the hands of Julio Cesar Martinez Aguilar. Selby is dropped from the rankings and Aguilar takes his spot.
- Ken Shiro (1)
- Ryoichi Taguchi (3)
- Hiroto Kyoguchi (4)
- Milan Melindo (5)
- Hekkie Budler (6)
- Carlos Canizales (7)
- Felix Alvarado (8)
- Ganigan Lopez (9)
- Angel Acosta (10)
- Saul Juarez (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Pedro Guevara (2)
Second-ranked Pedro Guevara is scheduled for another fight above 108 pounds so he has been removed from the rankings. Ganigan Lopez and Angel Acosta faced off and Acosta walked out the winner with an eighth-round knockout.
- 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 in March, so the rankings remain unchanged
- Terence Crawford (1)
- Vasyl Lomachenko (2)
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (3)
- Oleksandr Usyk (4)
- Gennady Golovkin (5)
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (7)
- Naoya Inoue (8)
- Errol Spence Jr. (-)
- Mikey Garcia (6)
- Donnie Nietes (9)
Dropped from the Rankings: Ken Shiro (10)
Errol Spence Jr. enters the pound-for-pound rankings with his dominant performance over Mikey Garcia. As a result of the shuffling, Ken Shiro has been removed.