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.
Note: the numbers in parentheses represent the fighter’s ranking from the previous month.
- Tyson Fury (1)
- Anthony Joshua (2)
- Deontay Wilder (3)
- Andy Ruiz (4)
- Luis Ortiz (5)
- Dillian Whyte (6)
- Alexander Povetkin (7)
- Kubrat Pulev (8)
- Oleksandr Usyk (9)
- Joe Joyce (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Mairis Briedis (1)
- Lawrence Okolie (2)
- Yunier Dorticos (3)
- Ilunga Makabu (4)
- Krzystztof Glowacki (5)
- Krzysztof Wlodarczyk (6)
- Kevin Lerena (7)
- Arsen Goulamirian (8)
- Aleksei Papin (9)
- Noel Gevor (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Artur Beterbiev (1)
- Sergey Kovalev (2)
- Dmitry Bivol (3)
- Joe Smith Jr. (5)
- Badou Jack (6)
- Eleider Alvarez (7)
- Gilberto Ramirez (8)
- Maxim Vlasov (9)
- Marcus Browne (10)
- Callum Johnson (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Jean Pascal (4)
Badou Jack picked up his second consecutive win, but it came in another underwhelming match-up. Jean Pascal failed multiple drug tests for multiple banned substances, including EPO. This is really disappointing and severe on Pascal’s part, and it leads to his departure from the top 10. This opens the door for Callum Johnson to slide into the No. 10 spot.
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (1)
- Callum Smith (2)
- David Benavidez (3)
- Billy Joe Saunders (4)
- Caleb Plant (5)
- Daniel Jacobs (6)
- John Ryder (7)
- Rocky Fielding (8)
- Fedor Chudinov (9)
- Carlos Gongora (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged
- Gennady Golovkin (1)
- Jermall Charlo (2)
- Demetrius Andrade (3)
- Sergiy Derevyanchenko (4)
- Ryota Murata (5)
- Jaime Munguia (6)
- Chris Eubank Jr. (7)
- Michael Zefara (8)
- Liam Williams (9)
- Erislandy Lara (10)
Jermall Charlo handled Juan Macias Montiel with ease for an easy decision win. It could have been a stoppage multiple times, but Montiel was proficient in surviving just long enough to be saved by the bell. Jaime Munguia was also in action. He walked away with the TKO victory over Kamil Szeremeta. Both fighters stay in their respective spots in the rankings.
- Jermell Charlo (1)
- Brian Carlos Castano (3)
- Erickson Lubin (10)
- Jeison Rosario (4)
- Julian Williams (5)
- Tony Harrison (6)
- Kell Brook (7)
- Michel Soro (8)
- Tim Tszyu (9)
- Sergio Garcia (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Jarrett Hurd (2)
Jarrett Hurd has been in a freefall since his loss to Julian Williams. He suffered another setback against Luis Arias. Hurd dropped a split decision where he looked like a shell of his former self. As a result, he drops out of the rankings entirely. Erickson Lubin has bounced back well since his knockout loss to Jermell Charlo. He garnered his sixth consecutive victory and the most impressive one since the Charlo loss. Jeison Rosario was the victim. The former three-belt titleholder couldn’t make it out of the sixth round after a vicious body shot. Lubin jumps up to the No. 3 spot, while Hurd’s exit allows for the entry of Sergio Garcia in 10th.
- Errol Spence Jr. (1)
- Terence Crawford (2)
- Shawn Porter (3)
- Manny Pacquiao (4)
- Keith Thurman (5)
- Yordenis Ugas (6)
- Danny Garcia (7)
- Mikey Garcia (8)
- Jaron Ennis (9)
- Jessie Vargas (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Josh Taylor (1)
- Regis Prograis (2)
- Jose Carlos Ramirez (3)
- Gervonta Davis (-)
- Jose Zepeda (5)
- Viktor Postol (5)
- Ivan Baranchyk (6)
- Mario Barrios (7)
- Jack Catterall (8)
- Arnold Barboza Jr. (9)
Dropped from the rankings: Robert Easter Jr. (10)
Gervonta Davis chased down another title with a knockout of Mario Barrios in a great fight. Barrios was game, and it was a back-and-forth contest until Davis put a stop to the San Antonio native in the 11th round. Davis has been playing peekaboo across weight classes lately, so there’s no telling how long he’ll remain in the junior-welterweight top five.
- Teofimo Lopez (1)
- Vasyl Lomachenko (2)
- Ryan Garcia (4)
- Devin Haney (5)
- Richard Commey (6)
- Javier Fortuna (7)
- Emmanuel Tagoe (8)
- Luke Campbell (9)
- George Kambosos Jr. (10)
- Jorge Linares (-)
Dropped from the rankings: Gervonta Davis (3)
Vasyl Lomachenko delivered a performance more in line with what we expect from the uber-talented Ukrainian. His foe, Masayoshi Nakatani, looked befuddled. A Teofimo Lopez rematch would be great for Lomachenko and boxing fans, but first Lopez has to take care of business against a formidable opponent in George Kambosos Jr. later this year. Only one appearance at 135 pounds and another move up in weight are enough to lead to the removal of Gervonta Davis from the lightweight rankings. His career trajectory has been so weird, albeit successful, that he is ranked in two divisions 10 pounds apart but not at lightweight. Jorge Linares returns to the top 10 to take the place of Davis.
- Oscar Valdez (1)
- Gervonta Davis (2)
- Leo Santa Cruz (3)
- Miguel Berchelt (4)
- Jamel Herring (6)
- Shavkat Rakhimov (5)
- Joseph Diaz Jr. (7)
- Tevin Farmer (8)
- Shakur Stevenson (9)
- Chris Colbert (-)
Dropped from the rankings: O’Shaquie Foster (10)
Chris Colbert is another young fighter making waves. He picked up his biggest win yet against Tugstsogt Nyambayar. “King Tug” took the fight on short notice, but Colbert looked fantastic and took an easy decision victory. Colbert joins the rankings, which knocks O’Shaquie Foster from the top 10. Shakur Stevenson turned in a lackluster performance with his decision victory over Jeremiah Nakathila, but he remains at ninth in our poll.
- Gary Russell Jr. (1)
- Emanuel Navarette (2)
- Can Xu (3)
- Tugstsogt Nyambayar (4)
- Mauricio Lara (5)
- Josh Warrington (6)
- Jessie Magdaleno (7)
- Kid Galahad (8)
- Ruben Villa (9)
- James Dickens (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Rey Vargas (1)
- Murodjon Akhmadaliev (2)
- Daniel Roman (3)
- Ronny Rios (4)
- Stephen Fulton (5)
- Brandon Figueroa (6)
- Luis Nery (7)
- Ryosuke Iwasa (8)
- Carlos Castro (9)
- Angelo Leo (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Naoya Inoue (1)
- Nonito Donaire (2)
- Emmanuel Rodriguez (3)
- Nordine Oubaali (4)
- Jason Maloney (5)
- Guillermo Rigondeaux (6)
- John Riel Casimero (7)
- Zolani Tete (8)
- Takuma Inoue (9)
- Reymart Gaballo (10)
June brought about more violence from “The Monster” Naoya Inoue. The Japanese fighter is a joy to watch. His body shots decimated Michael Dasmarinas, leading to a third-round stoppage. With Nonito Donaire and John Riel Casimero no longer set to fight, it would be a great time to make the rematch between Inoue and Donaire. New Year’s Eve in Japan sounds perfect.
- Juan Francisco Estrada (1)
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (2)
- Roman Gonzalez (3)
- Kazuto Ioka (4)
- Khalid Yafai (5)
- Jerwin Ancajas (6)
- Carlos Cuadras (7)
- Joshua Franco (8)
- Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (9)
- Andrew Maloney (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Julio Cesar Martinez Aguilar (1)
- Artem Dalakian (2)
- Sunny Edwards (3)
- Junto Nakatani (4)
- Moruti Mthalane (5)
- Cristofer Rosales (6)
- McWilliams Arroyo (7)
- Sho Kimura (8)
- Giemel Magramo (9)
- Angel Acosta (10)
Julio Cesar Martinez Aguilar was the lone ranked fighter in action. The top flyweight defeated Joel Cardova via TKO in the sixth round.
- Ken Shiro (1)
- Hiroto Kyoguchi (2)
- Carlos Canizales (3)
- Elwin Soto (4)
- Felix Alvarado (5)
- Edward Heno (6)
- Daniel Valladares (7)
- Tetsuya Hisada (8)
- Sivenathi Nontshinga (9)
- DeeJay Kriel (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Knockout CP Freshmart (1)
- Petchmanee Freshmart (2)
- Wanheng Menayothin (3)
- Byron Rojas (4)
- Jose Argumedo (5)
- Simphiwe Khonco (6)
- Nkosinathi Joyi (7)
- Joey Canoy (8)
- Melvin Jerusalem (9)
- Wilfredo Mendez (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (1)
- Naoya Inoue (2)
- Errol Spence (3)
- Terence Crawford (4)
- Oleksandr Usyk (5)
- Teofimo Lopez (6)
- Gennady Golovkin (7)
- Vasyl Lomachenko (8)
- Juan Francisco Estrada (9)
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (10)
Naoya Inoue solidifies his spot in the pound-for-pound rankings following another dominant display in his victory over Michael Dasmarinas.
Editor’s Note: Fighters are eligible to be ranked if they have competed in the last 18 months. Fighters who announce their retirement will remain ranked for a period of six months following their final bout.