Combat Press Boxing Rankings: December 2020

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.

1. Tyson Fury (1)
2. Anthony Joshua (2)
3. Deontay Wilder (3)
4. Andy Ruiz (4)
5. Luis Ortiz (5)
6. Alexander Povetkin (6)
7. Dillian Whyte (7)
8. Kubrat Pulev (8)
9. Oleksandr Usyk (9)
10. Joe Joyce (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Joseph Parker (10)

Joe Joyce enters the rankings after an impressive knockout victory over Daniel Dubois. His jab kept landing, causing Dubois’ eye to swell shut to the point where he took a knee and didn’t answer the 10 count. With Joyce’s entry, Joseph Parker slips out of the top 10.

1. Mairis Briedis (1)
2. Yunier Dorticos (2)
3. Ilunga Makabu (3)
4. Krzystztof Glowacki (4)
5. Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (5)
6. Kevin Lerena (6)
7. Lawrence Okolie (7)
8. Arsen Goulamirian (8)
9. Aleksei Papin (9)
10. Noel Gevor (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Artur Beterbiev (1)
2. Sergey Kovalev (2)
3. Oleksandr Gvovdyk (3)
4. Dmitry Bivol (4)
5. Jean Pascal (5)
6. Joe Smith Jr. (6)
7. Badou Jack (7)
8. Eleider Alvarez (8)
9. Gilberto Ramirez (9)
10. Maxim Vlasov (10)

Badou Jack found himself as one half of the co-main event on a pay-per-view headlined by Mike Tyson. Wait, what year is this? It was an easy decision win for Jack against Blake McKernan, whom many kept calling a “club fighter.” The contest was a catchweight bout, and Jack remains at No. 7 in our light-heavyweight poll.

1. Callum Smith (1)
2. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (2)
3. David Benavidez (3)
4. Billy Joe Saunders (4)
5. Caleb Plant (5)
6. Daniel Jacobs (6)
7. Anthony Dirrell (7)
8. John Ryder (8)
9. Willie Monroe Jr. (9)
10. Rocky Fielding (10)

Daniel Jacobs put on one of the worst performances of his career, if not the worst. He keeps his hold on sixth place in the rankings, but he only walked away with a split-decision win over Gabriel Rosado.

1. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (1)
2. Gennady Golovkin (2)
3. Jermall Charlo (3)
4. Demetrius Andrade (4)
5. Sergiy Derevyanchenko (5)
6. Ryota Murata (6)
7. Jaime Munguia (7)
8. Chris Eubank Jr. (8)
9. Michael Zefara (9)
10. Tim Tszyu (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

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

Kell Brook falls to No. 9 in the rankings, even though his loss to Terence Crawford came in a division down from junior middleweight. It’s simply hard to justify such a high ranking for Brook above the likes of Liam Smith and Brian Carlos Castano.

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. Yordenis Ugas (7)
8. Mikey Garcia (8)
9. Jessie Vargas (9)
10. Sergey Lipinets (10)

Terence Crawford once again showed why he is the best fighter in all of boxing. After two rounds that didn’t feature much action beyond Kell Brook landing his jab a few times, Crawford made an adjustment and ended up getting the TKO victory. Crawford switched to southpaw, put forward pressure on Brook, and overwhelmed his opponent with constant heavy shots. It’s that type of in-fight IQ by him and his corner that makes him special.

1. Josh Taylor (1)
2. Regis Prograis (2)
3. Jose Carlos Ramirez (3)
4. Viktor Postol (4)
5. Maurice Hooker (5)
6. Jose Zepeda (6)
7. Ivan Baranchyk (7)
8. Mario Barrios (8)
9. Jack Catterall (9)
10. Arnold Barboza Jr. (10)

Jack Catterral breezed through 10 rounds to pick up an unanimous-decision win over Abderrazak Houya. Catterral maintains his grip on the No. 9 spot with the victory.

1. Teofimo Lopez (1)
2. Vasyl Lomachenko (2)
3. Gervonta Davis (3)
4. Luke Campbell (4)
5. Richard Commey (5)
6. Devin Haney (6)
7. Emmanuel Tagoe (7)
8. Rances Barthelemy (8)
9. Javier Fortuna (9)
10. George Kambosos Jr. (10)

Boxing almost had itself a huge upset this month at lightweight. Emmanuel Tagoe was expected to not just defeat Mason Menard, but to do so via finish. Tagoe did pick up the victory, but it was only a majority decision. Elsewhere, Devin Haney defeated Yuriorkis Gamboa. Meanwhile, Javier Fortuna knocked out Antonio Lozada Torres. Despite all the action, the standings in the division hold steady, with Haney in sixth, Tagoe at No. 7, and Fortuna in the nine spot.

1. Miguel Berchelt (1)
2. Gervonta Davis (2)
3. Leo Santa Cruz (3)
4. Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov (5)
5. Joseph Diaz Jr. (6)
6. Tevin Farmer (7)
7. Jamel Herring (8)
8. Oscar Valdez (9)
9. Rene Alvarado (10)
10. O’Shaquie Foster (-)

Dropped from the rankings: Miguel Roman (4)

Miguel Roman suffered a knockout at the hands of O’Shaquie Foster. Roman’s days of being a ranked fighter are behind him. He departs the rankings, while Foster joins at No. 10.

1. Gary Russell Jr. (1)
2. Josh Warrington (2)
3. Emanuel Navarette (3)
4. Abner Mares (4)
5. Can Xu (5)
6. Shakur Stevenson (6)
7. Tugstsogt Nyambayar (7)
8. Jessie Magdaleno (8)
9. Kid Galahad (9)
10. Ryan Walsh (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Rey Vargas (1)
2. Murodjon Akhmadaliev (2)
3. Daniel Roman (3)
4. Isaac Dogboe (4)
5. Ryosuke Iwasa (5)
6. Ronny Rios (6)
7. Brandon Figueroa (7)
8. Stephen Fulton (8)
9. Luis Nery (9)
10. Carlos Castro (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Naoya Inoue (1)
2. Emmanuel Rodriguez (2)
3. Nonito Donaire (3)
4. Nordine Oubaali (4)
5. Jason Maloney (5)
6. Guillermo Rigondeaux (6)
7. John Riel Casimero (7)
8. Zolani Tete (8)
9. Takuma Inoue (9)
10. Oscar Negrete (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

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

No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

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

No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Ken Shiro (1)
2. Hiroto Kyoguchi (2)
3. Hekkie Budler (3)
4. Carlos Canizales (4)
5. Elwin Soto (5)
6. Angel Acosta (6)
7. Felix Alvarado (7)
8. Edward Heno (8)
9. Daniel Valladares (9)
10. Tetsuya Hisada (10)

No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.

1. Knockout CP Freshmart (2)
2. Wanheng Menayothin (1)
3. Byron Rojas (3)
4. Jose Argumedo (4)
5. Simphiwe Khonco (5)
6. Nkosinathi Joyi (6)
7. Joey Canoy (7)
8. Melvin Jerusalem (8)
9. Wilfredo Mendez (9)
10. Pedro Taduran (10)

Wanheng Menayothin’s undefeated record is no more. Knockout CP Freshmart got the victory that ended Menayothin’s 54-fight winning streak. Floyd Mayweather Jr. can sleep comfortably now. Meanwhile, Freshmart overtakes Menayothin as our top strawweight.

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

Terence Crawford reigns supreme over boxing. Yet another impressive victory solidifies his standing as the top pound-for-pound pugilist.