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 month.
- 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)
Alexander Povetkin bested Hughie Fury in a rather uninspiring fight. The Russian holds on to the No. 7 spot with the win.
- Oleksandr Usyk (1)
- Murat Gassiev (2)
- Mairis Briedis (3)
- Denis Lebedev (4)
- Yunier Dorticos (5)
- Ilunga Makabu (7)
- Krzystztof Glowacki (6)
- Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (8)
- Kevin Lerena (9)
- Lawrence Okolie (10)
Ilunga Makabu won an entertaining fight against Aleksi Papin. The performance allows Makabu to leapfrog past Krzystztof Glowacki and into seventh.
- Sergey Kovalev (1)
- Oleksandr Gvozdyk (2)
- Eleider Alvarez (3)
- Artur Beterbiev (4)
- Dmitry Bivol (5)
- Badou Jack (6)
- Gilberto Ramirez (-)
- Jesse Hart (7)
- Jean Pascal (8)
- Marcus Browne (9)
Dropped from the rankings: Sullivan Barrera (10)
Sergey Kovalev added another successful title defense to his Hall of Fame career. However, Anthony Yarde was game and rocked Kovalev at one point, coming very close to causing Buddy McGirt to stop the fight. Kovalev weathered the storm, though, and showed his veteran savviness. The champ retains his spot atop the rankings as a result of his victory. Gilberto Ramirez joins the top 10 at No. 7 after moving up from 168 pounds. Subsequently, Sullivan Barrera falls out of the rankings.
- Callum Smith (2)
- Chris Eubank Jr. (3)
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (4)
- Anthony Dirrell (5)
- James DeGale (6)
- Caleb Plant (8)
- David Benavidez (9)
- Jose Uzcategui (10)
- John Ryder (-)
- Willie Monroe Jr. (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Gilberto Ramirez (1), Jesse Hart (7)
Jesse Hart and our former No. 1 super middleweight, Gilberto Ramirez, have both departed the weight class and therefore leave our rankings as well. Willie Monroe Jr. and John Ryder step up to fill the void in the top 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)
- Ryota Murata (9)
- Michael Zefara (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Jeff Horn (10)
Jeff Horn has had quite the fall from grace. His surprising loss to Michael Zerafa drops him from the rankings. Zerafa takes his place.
- 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)
Erislandy Lara scored a knockout victory over Ramon Alvarez. It was just an easy, stay-busy fight for the Cuban, who maintains his spot at No. 3.
- Terence Crawford (1)
- Errol Spence Jr. (2)
- Shawn Porter (3)
- Manny Pacquiao (4)
- Keith Thurman (5)
- Danny Garcia (6)
- Jessie Vargas (7)
- Sergey Lipinets (8)
- Yordenis Ugas (9)
- Kudratillo Abdukakhorov (10)
No fighters were in action in August, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Mikey Garcia (1)
- Regis Prograis (2)
- Josh Taylor (3)
- Jose Carlos Ramirez (4)
- Viktor Postol (5)
- Maurice Hooker (6)
- Kiryl Relikh (7)
- Ivan Baranchyk (8)
- Jack Catterall (9)
- Mohamed Mimoune (10)
No fighters were in action in August, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- 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 (10)
Vasyl Lomachenko defeated Luke Campbell on Campbell’s home turf. Campbell never threatened Lomachenko, who delivered another excellent performance.
- 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)
No fighters were in action in August, 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)
- Can Xu (9)
- Tugstsogt Nyambayar (10)
No fighters were in action in August, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Guillermo Rigondeaux (1)
- Rey Vargas (2)
- Emanuel Navarette (3)
- Daniel Roman (4)
- Isaac Dogboe (5)
- TJ Doheny (6)
- Jessie Magdaleno (7)
- Ryosuke Iwasa (8)
- Shingo Wake (9)
- Ronny Rios (10)
No fighters were in action in August, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Naoya Inoue (1)
- Luis Nery (2)
- Ryan Burnett (3)
- Jamie McDonnell (4)
- Emmanuel Rodriguez (5)
- Zolani Tete (6)
- Jason Maloney (7)
- Takuma Inoue (8)
- Nonito Donaire (9)
- Nordine Oubaali (10)
No fighters were in action in August, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- 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 (8)
- Andrew Maloney (9)
- Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (10)
Juan Francisco Estrada took the win in his native Mexico over Dewayne Beamon. Estrada continues to sit atop the junior-bantamweight mountain.
- Charlie Edwards (3)
- Cristofer Rosales (4)
- Artem Dalakian (6)
- Kosei Tanaka (7)
- Sho Kimura (8)
- Moruti Mthalane (9)
- Julio Cesar Martinez Aguilar (10)
- McWilliams Arroyo (-)
- Andrew Selby (-)
- Junto Nakatani (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Donnie Nietes (1), Juan Carlos Reveco (2), Daigo Higa (5)
Inactivity and shifts to new weight classes combined to create holes for some new entrants at flyweight. Donnie Nietes moved up in weight and therefore relinquishes his hold on the top spot at 112 pounds. Daigo Higa and Juan Carlos Reveco depart our poll after not fighting in almost 18 months. McWilliams Arroyo, Andrew Selby and Junto Nakatani join the rankings.
- Ken Shiro (1)
- Hiroto Kyoguchi (3)
- Milan Melindo (4)
- Hekkie Budler (5)
- Carlos Canizales (6)
- Elwin Soto (7)
- Angel Acosta (8)
- Felix Alvarado (9)
- Ganigan Lopez (10)
- Edward Heno (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Ryoichi Taguchi (2)
Ryoichi Taguichi has moved up to flyweight, which means he no longer qualifies for the junior-flyweight rankings. His departure clears the way for Edward Heno to join the top 10.
- Wanheng Menayothin (1)
- Knockout CP Freshmart (2)
- Byron Rojas (3)
- Jose Argumedo (4)
- Leroy Estrada (5)
- Simphiwe Khonco (6)
- Joey Canoy (7)
- Melvin Jerusalem (9)
- Wilfredo Mendez (-)
- Vic Saludar (8)
Dropped from the rankings: Ryuya Yamanaka (10)
Wilfredo Mendez upset Vic Saludar and joins the rankings at No. 9, with Saludar dropping to 10th and Ryuya Yamanaka exiting the poll.
- 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)
Vasyl Lomachenko and Juan Francisco Estrada won their respective bouts and maintain their spots in the pound-for-pound top 10.