Combat Press Boxing Rankings: October 2019

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.

1. Deontay Wilder (1)
2. Tyson Fury (2)
3. Andy Ruiz (3)
4. Anthony Joshua (4)
5. Luis Ortiz (5)
6. Dillian Whyte (6)
7. Alexander Povetkin (7)
8. Kubrat Pulev (8)
9. Joseph Parker (9)
10. Adam Kownacki (10)

Tyson Fury came out with a victory over Otto Wallin, but it wasn’t as easy as many expected. Wallin made things interesting, opening up a cut on Fury that could have very well stopped the fight and given the Swede the upset win. Fury’s cutman did a fantastic job of not allowing this to happen. Instead, Fury picked up the unanimous decision. However, Wallin’s stock went up, which should lead to more big fights for him.

1. Oleksandr Usyk (1)
2. Murat Gassiev (2)
3. Mairis Briedis (3)
4. Denis Lebedev (4)
5. Yunier Dorticos (5)
6. Ilunga Makabu (6)
7. Krzystztof Glowacki (7)
8. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (8)
9. Kevin Lerena (9)
10. Lawrence Okolie (10)

No fighters were in action in September, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Sergey Kovalev (1)
2. Oleksandr Gvozdyk (2)
3. Eleider Alvarez (3)
4. Artur Beterbiev (4)
5. Dmitry Bivol (5)
6. Badou Jack (6)
7. Gilberto Ramirez (7)
8. Jesse Hart (8)
9. Jean Pascal (9)
10. Marcus Browne (10)

No fighters were in action in September, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Callum Smith (1)
2. Chris Eubank Jr. (2)
3. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (3)
4. David Benavidez (7)
5. James DeGale (5)
6. Caleb Plant (6)
7. Anthony Dirrell (4)
8. Jose Uzcategui (8)
9. John Ryder (9)
10. Willie Monroe Jr. (10)

David Benavidez picked up the TKO win over Anthony Dirrell in the ninth round, by far his biggest win to date. A match-up with Caleb Plant would be great and easy to make, with both men under the PBC umbrella.

1. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (1)
2. Gennady Golovkin (2)
3. Daniel Jacobs (3)
4. Billy Joe Saunders (4)
5. Jermall Charlo (5)
6. David Lemieux (6)
7. Demetrius Andrade (7)
8. Sergiy Derevyanchenko (8)
9. Ryota Murata (9)
10. Michael Zefara (10)

No fighters were in action in September, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Julian Williams(1)
2. Jarrett Hurd (2)
3. Erislandy Lara (3)
4. Jaime Munguia (4)
5. Kell Brook (5)
6. Tony Harrison (6)
7. Jermell Charlo (7)
8. Liam Smith (8)
9. Brian Carlos Castano (9)
10. Michel Soro (10)

Jaime Munguia knocked out Patrick Allotey. Munguia is being protected quite a bit, as he has avoided tough match-ups. A rematch between Munguia and Dennis Hogan needs to happen after a controversial decision that went Munguia’s way.

1. Terence Crawford (1)
2. Errol Spence Jr. (2)
3. Shawn Porter (3)
4. Manny Pacquiao (4)
5. Keith Thurman (5)
6. Danny Garcia (6)
7. Jessie Vargas (7)
8. Sergey Lipinets (8)
9. Yordenis Ugas (9)
10. Kudratillo Abdukakhorov (10)

Errol Spence Jr. and Shawn Porter put on a “Fight of the Year” candidate. Spence was tested like he had never been before, with Porter utilizing that smothering, quirky style that gives everyone fits. However, Porter was eventually dropped with what seemed like it would be the final blow. Somehow, he recovered. That knockdown proved to be critical, though, as it led to Spence taking the narrow split decision.

1. Mikey Garcia (1)
2. Regis Prograis (2)
3. Josh Taylor (3)
4. Jose Carlos Ramirez (4)
5. Viktor Postol (5)
6. Maurice Hooker (6)
7. Kiryl Relikh (7)
8. Ivan Baranchyk (8)
9. Jack Catterall (9)
10. Mohamed Mimoune (10)

No fighters were in action in September, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Vasyl Lomachenko (1)
2. Mikey Garcia (2)
3. Richard Commey (3)
4. Robert Easter (5)
5. Luke Campbell (6)
6. Anthony Crolla (7)
7. Emmanuel Tagoe (8)
8. Devin Haney (-)
9. Rances Barthelemy (9)
10. Yuriorkis Gamboa (10)

Dropped from the rankings: Jose Pedraza (4)

Jose Pedraza moved up to 140 pounds… and lost. He has been removed from the 135-pound rankings as a result of his shift in weight. We also can no longer ignore what Devin Haney is up to. He joins the rankings all the way to No. 8 after dismantling a good fighter in Zaur Abdullaev.

1. Miguel Berchelt (1)
2. Gervonta Davis (2)
3. Francisco Vargas (3)
4. Miguel Roman (4)
5. Tevin Farmer (5)
6. Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (6)
7. Joseph Diaz Jr. (7)
8. Jamel Herring (8)
9. Andrew Cancio (9)
10. Masayuki Ito (10)

Miguel Roman added his 62nd career win with a decision over Tomas Rojas. He also picked up another WBC title, but not the WBC title. Yep, boxing can be confusing. Elsewhere, Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov scored an eighth-round TKO over Azinga Fuzile.

1. Gary Russell Jr. (1)
2. Leo Santa Cruz (2)
3. Josh Warrington (3)
4. Carl Frampton (4)
5. Abner Mares (5)
6. Oscar Valdez (6)
7. Scott Quigg (7)
8. Lee Selby (8)
9. Can Xu (9)
10. Tugstsogt Nyambayar (10)

No fighters were in action in September, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Guillermo Rigondeaux (1)
2. Rey Vargas (2)
3. Emanuel Navarette (3)
4. Daniel Roman (4)
5. Isaac Dogboe (5)
6. TJ Doheny (6)
7. Jessie Magdaleno (7)
8. Ryosuke Iwasa (8)
9. Shingo Wake (9)
10. Ronny Rios (10)

Emanuel Navarrete burst onto the scene with his battering of Isaac Dogboe. He’s gone on to repeat that success in a rematch with Dogboe and then a finish of Francisco De Vaca in August. In September, his victim was Juan Miguel Elorde, who didn’t make it out of the fourth round.

1. Naoya Inoue (1)
2. Luis Nery (2)
3. Ryan Burnett (3)
4. Jamie McDonnell (4)
5. Emmanuel Rodriguez (5)
6. Zolani Tete (6)
7. Jason Maloney (7)
8. Takuma Inoue (8)
9. Nonito Donaire (9)
10. Nordine Oubaali (10)

No fighters were in action in September, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Juan Francisco Estrada (1)
2. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (2)
3. Jerwin Ancajas (3)
4. Khalid Yafai (4)
5. Roman Gonzalez (5)
6. Donnie Nietes (6)
7. Kazuto Ioka (7)
8. Carlos Cuadras (8)
9. Andrew Maloney (9)
10. Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (10)

No fighters were in action in September, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Charlie Edwards (1)
2. Cristofer Rosales (2)
3. Artem Dalakian (3)
4. Kosei Tanaka (4)
5. Sho Kimura (5)
6. Moruti Mthalane (6)
7. Julio Cesar Martinez Aguilar (7)
8. McWilliams Arroyo (8)
9. Andrew Selby (9)
10. Junto Nakatani (10)

No fighters were in action in September, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Ken Shiro (1)
2. Hiroto Kyoguchi (2)
3. Milan Melindo (3)
4. Hekkie Budler (4)
5. Carlos Canizales (5)
6. Elwin Soto (6)
7. Angel Acosta (7)
8. Felix Alvarado (8)
9. Ganigan Lopez (9)
10. Edward Heno (10)

Hiroto Kyoguchi claimed a unanimous decision over Tetsuya Hisada.

1. Wanheng Menayothin (1)
2. Knockout CP Freshmart (2)
3. Byron Rojas (3)
4. Jose Argumedo (4)
5. Leroy Estrada (5)
6. Simphiwe Khonco (6)
7. Joey Canoy (7)
8. Melvin Jerusalem (8)
9. Wilfredo Mendez (9)
10. Vic Saludar (10)

No fighters were in action in September, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Terence Crawford (1)
2. Vasyl Lomachenko (2)
3. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (3)
4. Naoya Inoue (4)
5. Oleksandr Usyk (5)
6. Gennady Golovkin (6)
7. Errol Spence Jr. (7)
8. Mikey Garcia (8)
9. Juan Francisco Estrada (9)
10. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (10)

Errol Spence Jr. remains at the No. 7 following his razor-close decision victory over Shawn Porter.