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.
- Deontay Wilder (2)
- Tyson Fury (3)
- Andy Ruiz (-)
- Anthony Joshua (1)
- Luis Ortiz (4)
- Dillian Whyte (5)
- Alexander Povetkin (6)
- Kubrat Pulev (8)
- Joseph Parker (9)
- Adam Kownacki (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Dominic Breazeale (10)
Andy Ruiz is a world champ. Yes, you read that right. In one of boxing’s biggest upsets in quite some time, Ruiz knocked out Anthony Joshua in the seventh round of their June 1 encounter. Whether you want to call it a Cinderella story or something else, it’s hard not to feel happy for the new champ, who took home the win after many wrote him off coming into the fight. Ruiz was a late-notice replacement who was considered to be “too fat.” Well, he’s now a champion, with multiple belts. Ruiz debuts at third in the rankings, while Joshua slides from the top spot down to third. The new No.1 is Deontay Wilder, who made easy work of Dominic Breazeale.
- 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 ranked fighters were in action, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- 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 (10)
In only his second fight in 18 months, the 34-year-old Artur Beterbiev defeated Radivoje Kalajdzic by knockout.
- 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)
Callum Smith knocked out Hassan N’Dam in the third round. N’Dam is a game fighter, but a clearly overmatched one. It was Smith’s first fight of 2019, and it was pretty much a stay-busy fight since his win over George Groves in September.
- 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)
Canelo Alvarez and Daniel Jacobs didn’t quite live up to the hype in their recent encounter. Canelo outpointed Jacobs to take a unanimous decision. All signs point to a third GGG fight next for Alvarez — that is, if Golovkin can avoid a massive upset against Steve Rolls.
- Julian Williams(4)
- Jarrett Hurd (1)
- Erislandy Lara (2)
- Jaime Munguia (3)
- Kell Brook (5)
- Tony Harrison (7)
- Jermell Charlo (7)
- Liam Smith (9)
- Brian Carlos Castano (10)
- Michel Soro (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Austin Trout (8)
Julian Williams put on a masterful performance in defeating Jarrett Hurd. Williams was written off by many after his knockout loss to Jermell Charlo, but he’s now the top fighter in the division. Elsewhere, Austin Trout and Terrell Gausha fought to a draw., which pushes Trout out of the rankings. Trout’s departure makes way for Michel Soro to enter at No. 10.
- Terence Crawford (1)
- Errol Spence Jr. (2)
- Keith Thurman (3)
- Shawn Porter (4)
- Danny Garcia (5)
- Manny Pacquiao (6)
- Jessie Vargas (7)
- Jeff Horn (8)
- Sergey Lipinets (9)
- Yordenis Ugas (10)
No ranked fighters were in action, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Mikey Garcia (1)
- Regis Prograis (2)
- Josh Taylor (3)
- Viktor Postol (4)
- Maurice Hooker (5)
- Jose Carlos Ramirez (6)
- Kiryl Relikh (7)
- Ivan Baranchyk (8)
- Jack Catterall (9)
- Mohamed Mimoune (10)
Josh Taylor defeated Ivan Baranchyk to advance to the WBSS finals, where he’ll face Regis Prograis. For now, though, Taylor holds steady at No. 3 in our poll.
- Vasyl Lomachenko (1)
- Mikey Garcia (2)
- Richard Commey (3)
- Jose Pedraza (5)
- Robert Easter (4)
- Luke Campbell (7)
- Anthony Crolla (6)
- Raymundo Beltran (8)
- Emmanuel Tagoe (9)
- Rances Barthelemy (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Jorge Linares (10)
Jose Pedraza returned after his decision loss to Vasyl Lomachenko and knocked out Ines Antonio Lozada Torres. As a result, Pedraza passes Robert Easter in the rankings. In another small shuffle, Luke Campbell moves ahead of Anthony Crolla to claim the No. 6 spot. Meanwhile, Rances Barthelemy replaces Jorge Linares at No. 10. The rankings in this division are always in flux, and fans should expect more changes with the rise of Teofimo Lopez and Devin Haney.
- Miguel Berchelt (1)
- Gervonta Davis (2)
- Francisco Vargas (3)
- Miguel Roman (5)
- Tevin Farmer (6)
- Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (7)
- Joseph Diaz Jr. (-)
- Jamel Herring (-)
- Andrew Cancio (8)
- Masayuki Ito (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Jezreel Corrales (4), Alberto Machado (10)
You know what’s a feel-good story? Jamel Herring winning a title after everything he’s been through, inside and outside of the ring. Herring breezed to a decision win over Masayuki Ito. The win brings Herring to the No. 8 spot, while Ito stays at 10th. Jezreel Corrales falls from the rankings after moving up to lightweight. Meanwhile, Joseph Diaz Jr., who moved up from featherweight, enters the rankings at No. 7 after defeating Freddy Fonseca.
- 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)
- Can Xu (10)
- Tugstsogt Nyambayar (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Joseph Diaz Jr. (9)
How nice of Gary Russell Jr. to fight this year! Russell, who has made it a habit to only fight once per year, knocked out Kiko Martinez to push his record to 30-1. With Diaz’s move up to junior lightweight and his subsequent removal from the featherweight rankings, Tugstsogt Nyambayar enters at No. 10.
- Guillermo Rigondeaux (1)
- Rey Vargas (2)
- Emanuel Navarette (3)
- Daniel Roman (4)
- Diego De La Hoya (5)
- Isaac Dogboe (6)
- TJ Doheny (7)
- Jessie Magdaleno (8)
- Ryosuke Iwasa (9)
- Shingo Wake (10)
Emmanuel Navarette once again battered Isaac Dogboe. The No. 3 junior featherweight scored a seventh-round knockout.
- Naoya Inoue (1)
- Luis Nery (2)
- Ryan Burnett (3)
- Jamie McDonnell (4)
- Juan Carlos Payano (5)
- Emmanuel Rodriguez (6)
- Zolani Tete (7)
- Jason Moloney (8)
- Takuma Inoue (9)
- Nonito Donaire (10)
Naoya Inoue is really good at boxing. Really good. The top bantamweight finished sixth-ranked Emmanuel Rodriguez in the second round. However, Rodriguez did accomplish one thing Inoue’s previous two opponents couldn’t, which is make it out of the first round.
- Juan Francisco Estrada (1)
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (2)
- Jerwin Ancajas (3)
- Khalid Yafai (4)
- Roman Gonzalez (5)
- Donnie Nietes (6)
- Kazuto Ioka (7)
- McWilliams Arroyo (8)
- Carlos Cuadras (9)
- Andrew Maloney (10)
No ranked fighters were in action, 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)
- Julio Cesar Martinez Aguilar (10)
Moruti Mthalane defeated Masayuki Kuroda to keep his spot at No. 9 in our poll.
- Ken Shiro (1)
- Ryoichi Taguchi (2)
- Hiroto Kyoguchi (3)
- Milan Melindo (4)
- Hekkie Budler (5)
- Carlos Canizales (6)
- Angel Acosta (7)
- Felix Alvarado (8)
- Ganigan Lopez (9)
- Saul Juarez (10)
Both Felix Alvarado, who sits at No. 8 in the rankings, and No. 6-ranked Carlos Canizales won in May. The two men maintain their spot in the rankings.
- 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)
Wanheng Menayothin remains undefeated at 53-0 after knocking out Tatsuya Fukuhara. Menayothin continues to hold steady as the world’s top strawweight.
- Terence Crawford (1)
- Vasyl Lomachenko (2)
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (3)
- Naoya Inoue (6)
- Oleksandr Usyk (4)
- Gennady Golovkin (5)
- Errol Spence Jr. (7)
- Mikey Garcia (8)
- Juan Francisco Estrada (9)
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (10)
Naoya Inoue leapfrogs Oleksandr Usyk and Gennady Golovkin to land at No. 4 in our pound-for-pound poll after another masterful performance with his win over Emmanuel Rodriguez. Canelo Alvarez keeps his spot at third after defeating Daniel Jacobs.