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 (1)
- Tyson Fury (2)
- Andy Ruiz (3)
- Anthony Joshua (4)
- Luis Ortiz (5)
- Dillian Whyte (6)
- Alexander Povetkin (7)
- Kubrat Pulev (8)
- Joseph Parker (9)
- Adam Kownacki (10)
Adam Kownacki bested Chris Arreola in a PBC heavyweight headliner. Dillian Whyte also won a unanimous decision. Both men keep their respective spots in the rankings. Tony Yoka, Daniel Dubois, Efe Ajagba and Joe Joyce all won in July and are very good prospects in the sport, so the heavyweight division seems to be doing just fine. They could be in the rankings in the next few years, if not sooner.
- Oleksandr Usyk (1)
- Murat Gassiev (2)
- Mairis Briedis (3)
- Denis Lebedev (4)
- Yunier Dorticos (5)
- Krzystztof Glowacki (6)
- Ilunga Makabu (7)
- Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (8)
- Kevin Lerena (9)
- Lawrence Okolie (10)
Lawrence Okolie continued an impressive run with a seventh-round stoppage win over Mariano Angel Gudino.
- Sergey Kovalev (1)
- Oleksandr Gvozdyk (2)
- Eleider Alvarez (3)
- Artur Beterbiev (4)
- Dmitry Bivol (5)
- Badou Jack (7)
- Jesse Hart (8)
- Jean Pascal (10)
- Marcus Browne (6)
- Sullivan Barrera (9)
Jean Pascal pulled off the upset over Marcus Browne with a technical decision win after the fight was stopped due to a clash of heads. Pascal just won’t go away as a veteran who is still capable of winning big fights. Pascal inches up to the eight spot with the win, while Browne falls to ninth.
- 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)
Caleb Plant had an easy fight against an outclassed Mike Lee. A bunch of knockdowns forced the ref to stop it in the third round. Plant has grown into a very good fighter, and bigger bouts should be coming his way.
- 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)
- Ryota Murata (-)
- Jeff Horn (10)
Dropped from the rankings: Rob Brant (9)
Ryota Murata got his revenge — and his WBA title back — with a TKO victory in the second round against Rob Brant. Subsequently, Brant falls from the rankings. Murata enters at No. 9.
- Julian Williams(1)
- Jarrett Hurd (2)
- Erislandy Lara (3)
- Jaime Munguia (4)
- Kell Brook (5)
- Tony Harrison (6)
- Jermell Charlo (7)
- Liam Smith (8)
- Brian Carlos Castano (9)
- Michel Soro (10)
No ranked fighters were in action, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Terence Crawford (1)
- Errol Spence Jr. (2)
- Shawn Porter (4)
- Manny Pacquiao (6)
- Keith Thurman (3)
- Danny Garcia (5)
- Jessie Vargas (7)
- Sergey Lipinets (8)
- Yordenis Ugas (9)
- Kudratillo Abdukakhorov(10)
It was a very active month of July for the welterweights. Keith Thurman and Manny Pacquiao squared off, with Pacquiao earning the split decision. Yordenis Ugas and Sergey Lipinets also picked up wins on the same card. Pacquiao moves up to No. 4, while Thurman falls to fifth and Lipinets and Ugas hold steady at eighth and ninth in the rankings.
- Mikey Garcia (1)
- Regis Prograis (2)
- Josh Taylor (3)
- Jose Carlos Ramirez (6)
- Viktor Postol (4)
- Maurice Hooker (5)
- Kiryl Relikh (7)
- Ivan Baranchyk (8)
- Jack Catterall (9)
- Mohamed Mimoune (10)
Jose Carlos Ramirez scored a TKO win over Maurice Hooker in an exciting affair. Ramirez landed heavy shots in the sixth round to force the referee to intervene. Ramirez moves up to No. 4 as a result of his victory.
- Vasyl Lomachenko (1)
- Mikey Garcia (2)
- Richard Commey (3)
- Jose Pedraza (4)
- Robert Easter (5)
- Luke Campbell (6)
- Anthony Crolla (7)
- Emmanuel Tagoe (8)
- Rances Barthelemy (9)
- Yuriorkis Gamboa (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Raymundo Beltran (10)
Yuriorkis Gamboa turned back the clock and knocked out Roman Martinez in the second round. The Cuban boxer has quietly gone on an impressive run. Gamboa earns the No. 10 spot, which forces Raymundo Beltran out of the rankings.
- Miguel Berchelt (1)
- Gervonta Davis (2)
- Francisco Vargas (3)
- Miguel Roman (4)
- Tevin Farmer (5)
- Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (6)
- Joseph Diaz Jr. (7)
- Jamel Herring (8)
- Andrew Cancio (9)
- Masayuki Ito (10)
Tevin Farmer cruised to another unanimous-decision victory. Gervonta Davis got the knockout in his home city of Baltimore. These two need to finally square off, because the bad blood is real.
- 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 (9)
- Tugstsogt Nyambayar (10)
No ranked fighters were in action, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Guillermo Rigondeaux (1)
- Rey Vargas (2)
- Emanuel Navarette (3)
- Daniel Roman (4)
- Isaac Dogboe (6)
- TJ Doheny (7)
- Jessie Magdaleno (8)
- Ryosuke Iwasa (9)
- Shingo Wake (10)
- Ronny Rios (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Diego De La Hoya (5)
Rey Vargas took the decision victory over Tomoki Kameda to retain his WBC title. Ronny Rios pulled off the stunner of the month when he scored a TKO of Diego De La Hoya with a bodyshot. De La Hoya drops all the way out of the rankings with the loss, thereby clearing the way for Rios to enter at No. 10.
- Naoya Inoue (1)
- Luis Nery (2)
- Ryan Burnett (3)
- Jamie McDonnell (4)
- Emmanuel Rodriguez (6)
- Zolani Tete (7)
- Jason Maloney (8)
- Takuma Inoue (9)
- Nonito Donaire (10)
- Nordine Oubaali (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Juan Carlos Payano (5)
Luis Nery knocked out Juan Carlos Payano in round nine on the Pacquiao-Thurman pay-per-view card. Nordine Oubaali defended his WBC title with a victory over Arthur Villanueva. Oubaali enters the rankings at No. 10. Payano has now lost two of his last three fights, which is not good enough to keep him in the rankings.
- Juan Francisco Estrada (1)
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (2)
- Jerwin Ancajas (3)
- Khalid Yafai (4)
- Roman Gonzalez (5)
- Donnie Nietes (6)
- Kazuto Ioka (7)
- Carlos Cuadras (9)
- Andrew Maloney (10)
- Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (-)
Dropped from the rankings: McWilliams Arroyo (8)
McWiliams Arroyo falls from the junior-bantamweight poll after dropping down to flyweight for consecutive fights. As a result, Francisco Rodriguez Jr. enters at No. 10.
- 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)
No ranked fighters were in action, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Ken Shiro (1)
- Ryoichi Taguchi (2)
- Hiroto Kyoguchi (3)
- Milan Melindo (4)
- Hekkie Budler (5)
- Carlos Canizales (6)
- Elwin Soto (7)
- Angel Acosta (8)
- Felix Alvarado (9)
- Ganigan Lopez(10)
Ken Shiro was his normal, dominant self en route to a TKO victory over Jonathan Taconing. Ganigan Lopez also scored a win, albeit by way of a split decision, over formerly ranked Saul Juarez.
- Wanheng Menayothin (1)
- Knockout CP Freshmart (2)
- Byron Rojas (3)
- Jose Argumedo (4)
- Leroy Estrada (5)
- Simphiwe Khonco (6)
- Joey Canoy (7)
- Vic Saludar (8)
- Melvin Jerusalem (10)
- Ryuya Yamanaka (9)
Joey Canoy scored a knockout win over Ryan Makiputin, ensuring his spot at No. 7 is safe. Vic Saludar picked up the split decision over fellow ranked fighter Ryuya Yamanaka, who slides down to 10th as a result of the defeat.
- Terence Crawford (1)
- Vasyl Lomachenko (2)
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (3)
- Naoya Inoue (4)
- Oleksandr Usyk (5)
- Gennady Golovkin (6)
- Errol Spence Jr. (7)
- Mikey Garcia (8)
- Juan Francisco Estrada (9)
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (10)
No ranked fighters were in action, so the rankings remain unchanged.