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)
- Deontay Wilder (3)
- Oleksandr Usyk (9)
- Anthony Joshua (2)
- Andy Ruiz (4)
- Luis Ortiz (5)
- Dillian Whyte (6)
- Kubrat Pulev (7)
- Joe Joyce (9)
- Joseph Parker (10)
If there were any doubts on how Oleksandr Usyk would be able to handle heavyweights, they’ve been laid to rest. And what is a better way to do so than by upsetting Antony Joshua in front of 70,000 fans, most of which were Joshua supporters? Usyk’s movement and technical prowess negated the size advantage of Joshua. Usyk even landed the heavier shots, most notably rocking Joshua towards the end of the twelfth round. Another 30 seconds and the fight most likely would have been stopped, but the final bell saved Joshua.
- 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)
Look inside a boxing dictionary for the word “stay-busy fight” and the matchup between Lawrence Okolie and Dilan Prasovic will show up. Easy win with Okolie finishing Prasovic in the third round.
- Artur Beterbiev (1)
- Sergey Kovalev (2)
- Dmitry Bivol (3)
- Joe Smith Jr. (4)
- Badou Jack (5)
- Eleider Alvarez (6)
- Gilberto Ramirez (7)
- Maxim Vlasov (8)
- Marcus Browne (9)
- Callum Smith (NR)
Dropped from the rankings: Callum Johnson (NR)
Callum Smith moved up to 175, his new home, and defeated Lenin Castillo by knockout in the second round. It was a scary knockout, with Castillo having to be immediately sent to the hospital. Thankfully, Castillo ended up okay. Smith enters the rankings at number ten. He’s a very talented boxer so he should be making a quick rise, once the level of his competition increases.
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (1)
- David Benavidez (3)
- Caleb Plant (5)
- Daniel Jacobs (6)
- John Ryder (7)
- Rocky Fielding (8)
- Fedor Chudinov (9)
- Carlos Gongora (10
- David Lemieux (NR)
- Gabriel Rosado (NR)
Removed from the Rankings: Callum Smith (2), Billy Joe Saunders (4)
John Ryder defeated 8-2 fighter, Jozef Jurko. Ryder had 34 fights under his belt coming into the fight, so if you guessed that he won by TKO, you were correct. Ryder remains at number six in the rankings. Callum Smith and Billy Joe Saunders (retirement) are removed from the rankings, making way for both David Lemieux and Gabriel Rosado.
- 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)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Jermell Charlo (1)
- Brian Castano (2)
- Erickson Lubin (3)
- Jeison Rosario (4)
- Julian Williams (5)
- Tony Harrison (6)
- Kell Brook (7)
- Michel Soro (8)
- Tim Tszyu (9)
- Sergio Garcia (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Errol Spence Jr. (1)
- Terence Crawford (2)
- Shawn Porter (3)
- Yordenis Ugas (4)
- Manny Pacquiao (5)
- Keith Thurman (6)
- Danny Garcia (7)
- Mikey Garcia (8)
- Jaron Ennis (9)
- Vergil Ortiz Jr. (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 (4)
- Jose Zepeda (5)
- Viktor Postol (6)
- Mario Barrios (7)
- Jack Catterall (8)
- Arnold Barboza Jr. (19)
- Montana Love (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Teofimo Lopez (1)
- Vasyl Lomachenko (2)
- Ryan Garcia (3)
- Devin Haney (4)
- Richard Commey (5)
- Joseph Diaz Jr. (6)
- Emmanuel Tagoe (7)
- George Kambosos Jr. (8)
- Javier Fortuna (9)
- Jorge Linares (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Oscar Valdez (1)
- Gervonta Davis (2)
- Leo Santa Cruz (3)
- Miguel Berchelt (4)
- Jamel Herring (5)
- Shavkat Rakhimov (6)
- Tevin Farmer (7)
- Shakur Stevenson (8)
- Chris Colbert (9)
- O’Shaquie Foster (10)
Despite controversy surrounding Oscar Valdez and his failed drug test, he was still allowed to compete. Valdez had his hands full against Robson Conceicao, but finished strong to take the decision win.
- Gary Russell Jr. (1)
- Emanuel Navarette (2)
- Tugstsogt Nyambayar (3)
- Mauricio Lara (4)
- Josh Warrington (5)
- Kid Galahad (6)
- Jessie Magdaleno (7)
- Leigh Wood (8)
- Can Xu (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)
- John Riel Casimero (7)
- Guillermo Rigondeaux (6)
- Zolani Tete (8)
- Takuma Inoue (9)
- Reymart Gaballo (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged..
- 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)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Hiroto Kyoguchi (2)
- Masamichi Yabuki (NR)
- Ken Shiro (1)
- Elwin Soto (4)
- Felix Alvarado (5)
- Edward Heno (6)
- Daniel Valladares (7)
- Tetsuya Hisada (8)
- Esteban Bermudez (NR)
- Carlos Canizales (3)
There were not too many fights in September, but two big upsets did happen. Discussed earlier was Usyk and his big win. In the 108-pound division, there was another one that was delivered, with this one being more massive and shocking. Ken Shiro lost his first fight against relatively unknown fighter Masamichi Yabuki. Yabuki was 12-3 entering the fight and delivered what may be the upset of the year. Yabuki skyrockets into the rankings to number two, with Shiro falling to three. Hiroto Kyoguchi is leading the way now. Also, previously unnoticed, Carlos Canizales had suffered an upset to Esteban Bermudez, so that was adjusted accordingly. DeeJay Kriel and Sivenathi Nontshinga have been removed from the rankings due to the changes.
- 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)
- Oleksandr Usyk (6)
- Errol Spence (3)
- Terence Crawford (4)
- Teofimo Lopez (6)
- Gennady Golovkin (7)
- Vasyl Lomachenko (8)
- Juan Francisco Estrada (9)
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (10)
Usyk’s massive victory has him now at number three in the pound-for-pound rankings.