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 (2)
- Oleksandr Usyk (3)
- Anthony Joshua (4)
- Andy Ruiz (5)
- Luis Ortiz (6)
- Dillian Whyte (7)
- Kubrat Pulev (8)
- Joe Joyce (9)
- Joseph Parker (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)
- Aleksei Papin (8)
- Noel Gevor (9)
- Mateusz Masternak (10)
- Thabiso Mchunu (NR)
Dropped from the Rankings: Kevin Lerena (7)
Ilunga Makabu edged out a split decision over Thabiso Mchunu to retain his WBC title, the same title Canelo was eyeing before those negotiations fell apart. Where Makabu goes after this, who knows. The big payday of fighting Canelo seems to not be happening anytime soon so he’ll be looking elsewhere. Despite the loss, Mchunu enters the rankings at No. 10, with Kevin Lerena falling out due to inactivity, as well as his impending fight at Heavyweight in March.
- Artur Beterbiev (1)
- Dmitry Bivol (2)
- Joe Smith Jr. (3)
- Badou Jack (4)
- Gilberto Ramirez (5)
- Maxim Vlasov (6)
- Marcus Browne (7)
- Callum Smith (8)
- Joshua Buatsi (9)
- Anthony Yarde (10)
Joe Smith Jr. had to finally settle for a “stay-busy fight” after cancellations ravaged his fight schedule for the better part of a year. Callum Johnson had to withdraw from their planned Jan 15th fight, leaving Smith to bash away at Steve Geffrard for 9 rounds. All systems seem a go for Smith to fight Beterbiev later in 2022.
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (1)
- David Benavidez (2)
- Caleb Plant (3)
- John Ryder (5)
- Daniel Jacobs (4)
- Rocky Fielding (6)
- Fedor Chudinov (7)
- Carlos Gongora (8)
- David Lemieux (9)
- Gabriel Rosado (10)
Can’t talk about boxing without mentioning a fight that was controversial due to scorecards. John Ryder was gifted quite a few rounds, and found himself on the winning side of his fight against Daniel Jacobs in London. The two flip spots in the rankings.
- Gennady Golovkin (1)
- Jermall Charlo (2)
- Demetrius Andrade (3)
- Ryota Murata (4)
- Jaime Munguia (5)
- Chris Eubank Jr. (6)
- Michael Zefara (7)
- Carlos Adames (8)
- Liam Williams (8)
- Sergiy Derevyanchenko (10)
Chris Eubank Jr. cruised to a decision victory over fellow ranked fighter, Liam Williams. Eubank keeps his spot, but Williams drops down a spot.
- Jermell Charlo (1)
- Brian Castano (2)
- Erickson Lubin (3)
- Jeison Rosario (4)
- Tim Tszyu (9)
- Sebastian Fundora (NR)
- Liam Smith (NR)
- Israel Madrimov (NR)
- Magomed Kurbanov (NR)
- Michel Soro (8)
Dropped from the Rankings: Julian Williams (5), Tony Harrison (6), Kell Brook (7), Sergio Garcia (10)
Julian Williams, Tony Harrison, Kell Brook and Sergio Garcia have all been removed due to either inactivity in the weight class or recent losses. Their removals and other recent bouts, lead to a bit of an overhaul from the No. 5 spot on down.
- Errol Spence Jr. (1)
- Terence Crawford (2)
- Yordenis Ugas (4)
- Keith Thurman (6)
- Danny Garcia (7)
- Jaron Ennis (8)
- Vergil Ortiz Jr. (9)
- David Avanesyan (10)
- Eimantas Stanionis (NR)
- Radzhab Butaev (NR)
Dropped from the Rankings: Shawn Porter (3), Manny Pacquiao (5)
Keith Thurman returned to the win column, and showed he’s still a player in the division if he’s healthy and focused. Thurman showed flashes of what made him a champion before, and never let Mario Barrios mount anything of concern. Health though is a problem, as Thurman hurt his hand in the fight. Hopefully he’s able to get back in the ring this year. Thurman moves up a spot, one that was previously occupied by the last man to beat him, Manny Pacquiao. With Pacquiao’s retirement and removal from the rankings, Eimantas Stanionis joins in at No. 9. And with Shawn Porter’s retirement looking to be for real and not just emotional talk after his loss, Radzhab Butae enters at No. 10.
- Josh Taylor (1)
- Regis Prograis (2)
- Jose Carlos Ramirez (3)
- Gervonta Davis (4)
- Jose Zepeda (5)
- Viktor Postol (6)
- Jack Catterall (8)
- Arnold Barboza Jr. (9)
- Montana Love (10)
- Subriel Matias (NR)
Dropped from the Rankings: Mario Barrios (7)
Mario Barrios has been removed from the rankings after a second consecutive loss, the most recent being at 147 against Keith Thurman. His removal leads to the arrival of Subriel Matias, who avenged his lone pro loss to Petros Ananyan.
- George Kambosos Jr. (1)
- Teofimo Lopez (2)
- Vasily Lomachenko (3)
- Ryan Garcia (4)
- Devin Haney (5)
- Gervonta Davis (6)
- Richard Commey (7)
- Joseph Diaz Jr. (8)
- Emmanuel Tagoe (9)
- Javier Fortuna (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Oscar Valdez (1)
- Shakur Stevenson (2)
- Leo Santa Cruz (3)
- Miguel Berchelt (4)
- Shavkat Rakhimov (5)
- Jamel Herring (6)
- Chris Colbert (7)
- Kenichi Ogawa (8)
- Robson Conceicao (NR)
- Xavier Martinez (9)
Dropped from the Rankings: Tevin Farmer (9)
Leo Santa Cruz was successful in defending his WBA title on the Thurman-Barrios undercard. Tevin Farmer has been removed due to inactivity, and Xavier Martinez suffered his first career loss to Robson Conceicao. As a result, Conceicao enters the rankings at 9, and Martinez drops to 10.
Gervonta Davis has been removed from the rankings due to inactivity in the weight class. O’Shaquie Foster has also been removed for inactivity. Kenichi Ogawa and Xavier Martinez enter 2022 as top-ten ranked fighters.
- Emanuel Navarette (2)
- Mark Magsayo (NR)
- Gary Russell Jr. (1)
- Mauricio Lara (4)
- Josh Warrington (5)
- Kiko Martinez (6)
- Kid Galahad (7)
- Leigh Wood (8)
- Rey Vargas (9)
- Can Xu (10)
Dropped from the Rankings: Tugstsogt Nyambayar (3)
Russell Jr. was upset by Mark Magsayo, who jumps all the way up to 2 in the rankings as a new entrant. It was Russell’s first defeat since losing to Lomachenko by majority decision in 2014. Tugstsogt Nyambayar was very fortunate to walk away with only a draw against Sakaria Lukas. King Tug has not had his hand raised in victory since 2019, in a split decision win against Cobia Breedy. Nyambar falls out of the rankings completely.
- Stephen Fulton (1)
- Murodjon Akhmadaliev (2)
- Daniel Roman (3)
- Ronny Rios (4)
- Brandon Figueroa (5)
- Luis Nery (6)
- Ryosuke Iwasa (7)
- Carlos Castro (8)
- Angelo Leo (9)
- Azat Hovhannisyan (10)
Luis Nery returned to the win column with a very impressive victory against Carlos Castro. Both Nery and Castro stay in their respective spots.
- Naoya Inoue (1)
- Nonito Donaire (2)
- Nordine Oubaali (4)
- Jason Maloney (5)
- Emmanuel Rodriguez (3)
- John Riel Casimero (6)
- Guillermo Rigondeaux (7)
- Zolani Tete (8)
- Reymart Gaballo (9)
- Rau’shee Warren (10)
Emmanuel Rodroguez drops down to 5 in the rankings after not finding the win column in some time. He’s been super unfortunate with how fights have turned out, either by NC or straight up robbery decisions.
- Juan Francisco Estrada (1)
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (2)
- Roman Gonzalez (3)
- Kazuto Ioka (4)
- Jerwin Ancajas (6)
- Jesse Rodriguez (NR)
- Carlos Cuadras (7)
- Joshua Franco (8)
- Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (9)
- Andrew Maloney (10)
Removed from the Rankings: Donnie Nietes (10)
Carlos Cuadras was beat by Jesse Rodriguez in “Bam’s” coming out party. We knew he was a talented boxer, but he passed his first big test with flying colors. And this was after he moved up in weight for a short notice fight. Rodriguez enters the rankings at 6 with his emphatic victory.. Nietes is subsequently removed from the top ten.
- Julio Cesar Martinez Aguilar (1)
- Artem Dalakian (2)
- Sunny Edwards (3)
- Junto Nakatani (4)
- Moruti Mthalane (5)
- McWilliams Arroyo (6)
- Giemel Magramo (7)
- Angel Acosta (8)
- Ricardo Sandoval (9)
- Seigo Akui (10)
No fighters were in action so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Hiroto Kyoguchi (1)
- Masamichi Yabuki (2)
- Ken Shiro (3)
- Elwin Soto (4)
- Felix Alvarado (5)
- Edward Heno (6)
- Daniel Valladares (7)
- Tetsuya Hisada (8)
- Esteban Bermudez (9)
- Carlos Canizales (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)
- Oleksandr Usyk (3)
- Terence Crawford (4)
- Errol Spence (5)
- Gennady Golovkin (6)
- Josh Taylor (7)
- Juan Francisco Estrada (8)
- Tyson Fury (9)
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (10)
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 (2)
- Oleksandr Usyk (3)
- Anthony Joshua (4)
- Andy Ruiz (5)
- Luis Ortiz (6)
- Dillian Whyte (7)
- Kubrat Pulev (8)
- Joe Joyce (9)
- Joseph Parker (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)
- Aleksei Papin (8)
- Noel Gevor (9)
- Mateusz Masternak (10)
- Thabiso Mchunu (NR)
Dropped from the Rankings: Kevin Lerena (7)
Illunga Makabu edged out a split decision over Thabiso Mchunu to retain his WBC title, the same title Canelo was eyeying before those negotiations fell apart. Where Makabu goes after this, who knows. The big payday of fighting Canelo seems to not be happening anytime soon so he’ll be looking elsewhere. Despite the loss, Mchunu enters the rankings at 10, with Kevin Lerena falling out due to inactivity, as well as his impending fight at Heavyweight in March.
- Artur Beterbiev (1)
- Dmitry Bivol (2)
- Joe Smith Jr. (3)
- Badou Jack (4)
- Gilberto Ramirez (5)
- Maxim Vlasov (6)
- Marcus Browne (7)
- Callum Smith (8)
- Joshua Buatsi (9)
- Anthony Yarde (10)
Joe Smith Jr. had to finally settle for a “stay-busy fight” after cancellations ravaged his fight schedule for the better part of a year. Callum Johnson had to withdraw from their planned Jan 15th fight, leaving Smith to bash away at Steve Geffrard for 9 rounds. All systems seem a go for Smith to fight Beterbiev later in 2022.
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (1)
- David Benavidez (2)
- Caleb Plant (3)
- John Ryder (5)
- Daniel Jacobs (4)
- Rocky Fielding (6)
- Fedor Chudinov (7)
- Carlos Gongora (8)
- David Lemieux (9)
- Gabriel Rosado (10)
Can’t talk about boxing without mentioning a fight that was controversial due to scorecards. John Ryder was gifted quite a few rounds, and found himself on the winning side of his fight against Daniel Jacobs in London. The two flip spots in the rankings.
- Gennady Golovkin (1)
- Jermall Charlo (2)
- Demetrius Andrade (3)
- Ryota Murata (4)
- Jaime Munguia (5)
- Chris Eubank Jr. (6)
- Michael Zefara (7)
- Carlos Adames (8)
- Liam Williams (8)
- Sergiy Derevyanchenko (10)
Chris Eubank Jr. cruised to a decision victory over fellow ranked fighter, Liam Williams. Eubank keeps his spot, but Williams drops down a spot.
- Jermell Charlo (1)
- Brian Castano (2)
- Erickson Lubin (3)
- Jeison Rosario (4)
- Tim Tszyu (9)
- Sebastian Fundora (NR)
- Liam Smith (NR)
- Israel Madrimov (NR)
- Magomed Kurbanov (NR)
- Michel Soro (8)
Dropped from the Rankings: Julian Williams (5), Tony Harrison (6), Kell Brook (7), Sergio Garcia (10)
Julian Williams, Tony Harrison, Kell Brook and Sergio Garcia have all been removed due to either inactivity in the weight class or recent losses. Their removals and other recent bouts, lead to a bit of an overhaul from the 5 spots on down.
- Errol Spence Jr. (1)
- Terence Crawford (2)
- Yordenis Ugas (4)
- Keith Thurman (6)
- Danny Garcia (7)
- Jaron Ennis (8)
- Vergil Ortiz Jr. (9)
- David Avanesyan (10)
- Eimantas Stanionis (NR)
- Radzhab Butaev (NR)
Dropped from the Rankings: Shawn Porter (3), Manny Pacquiao (5)
Keith Thurman returned to the win column, and showed he’s still a player in the division if he’s healthy and focused. Thurman showed flashes of what made him a champion before, and never let Mario Barrios mount anything of concern. Health though is a problem, as Thurman hurt his hand in the fight. Hopefully he’s able to get back in the ring this year. Thurman moves up a spot, one that was previously occupied by the last man to beat him, Manny Pacquiao. With Pacquiao’s retirement and removal from the rankings, Eimantas Stanionis joins in at 9. And with Shawn Porter’s retirement looking to be for real and not just emotional talk after his loss, Radzhab Butae enters at 10.
- Josh Taylor (1)
- Regis Prograis (2)
- Jose Carlos Ramirez (3)
- Gervonta Davis (4)
- Jose Zepeda (5)
- Viktor Postol (6)
- Jack Catterall (8)
- Arnold Barboza Jr. (9)
- Montana Love (10)
- Subriel Matias (NR)
Dropped from the Rankings: Mario Barrios (7)
Mario Barrios has been removed from the rankings after a second consecutive loss, the most recent being at 147 pounds against Keith Thurman. His removal leads to the arrival of Subriel Matias, who avenged his lone pro loss to Petros Ananyan.
- George Kambosos Jr. (1)
- Teofimo Lopez (2)
- Vasily Lomachenko (3)
- Ryan Garcia (4)
- Devin Haney (5)
- Gervonta Davis (6)
- Richard Commey (7)
- Joseph Diaz Jr. (8)
- Emmanuel Tagoe (9)
- Javier Fortuna (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Oscar Valdez (1)
- Shakur Stevenson (2)
- Leo Santa Cruz (3)
- Miguel Berchelt (4)
- Shavkat Rakhimov (5)
- Jamel Herring (6)
- Chris Colbert (7)
- Kenichi Ogawa (8)
- Robson Conceicao (NR)
- Xavier Martinez (9)
Dropped from the Rankings: Tevin Farmer (9)
Leo Santa Cruz was successful in defending his WBA title on the Thurman-Barrios undercard. Tevin Farmer has been removed due to inactivity, and Xavier Martinez suffered his first career loss to Robson Conceicao. As a result, Conceicao enters the rankings at No. 9, and Martinez drops to No. 10.
Gervonta Davis has been removed from the rankings due to inactivity in the weight class. O’Shaquie Foster has also been removed for inactivity. Kenichi Ogawa and Xavier Martinez enter 2022 as top-ten ranked fighters.
- Emanuel Navarette (2)
- Mark Magsayo (NR)
- Gary Russell Jr. (1)
- Mauricio Lara (4)
- Josh Warrington (5)
- Kiko Martinez (6)
- Kid Galahad (7)
- Leigh Wood (8)
- Rey Vargas (9)
- Can Xu (10)
Dropped from the Rankings: Tugstsogt Nyambayar (3)
Gary Russell Jr. was upset by Mark Magsayo, who jumps all the way up to 2 in the rankings as a new entrant. It was Russell’s first defeat since losing to Lomachenko by majority decision in 2014. Tugstsogt Nyambayar was very fortunate to walk away with only a draw against Sakaria Lukas. King Tug has not had his hand raised in victory since 2019, when he picked up a split decision win against Cobia Breedy. Nyambar falls out of the rankings completely.
- Stephen Fulton (1)
- Murodjon Akhmadaliev (2)
- Daniel Roman (3)
- Ronny Rios (4)
- Brandon Figueroa (5)
- Luis Nery (6)
- Ryosuke Iwasa (7)
- Carlos Castro (8)
- Angelo Leo (9)
- Azat Hovhannisyan (10)
Luis Nery returned to the win column with a very impressive victory against Carlos Castro. Both Nery and Castro stay in their respective spots.
- Naoya Inoue (1)
- Nonito Donaire (2)
- Nordine Oubaali (4)
- Jason Maloney (5)
- Emmanuel Rodriguez (3)
- John Riel Casimero (6)
- Guillermo Rigondeaux (7)
- Zolani Tete (8)
- Reymart Gaballo (9)
- Rau’shee Warren (10)
Emmanuel Rodriguez drops down to No. 5 in the rankings after not finding the win column in some time. He’s been super unfortunate with how fights have turned out, either by no-contest or straight-up robbery decisions.
- Juan Francisco Estrada (1)
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (2)
- Roman Gonzalez (3)
- Kazuto Ioka (4)
- Jerwin Ancajas (6)
- Jesse Rodriguez (NR)
- Carlos Cuadras (7)
- Joshua Franco (8)
- Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (9)
- Andrew Maloney (10)
Removed from the Rankings: Donnie Nietes (10)
Carlos Cuadras was beat by Jesse Rodriguez in his coming-out party. We knew he was a talented boxer, but he passed his first big test with flying colors. And this was after he moved up in weight for a short-notice fight. Rodriguez enters the rankings at six with his emphatic victory.. Nietes is subsequently removed from the top ten.
- Julio Cesar Martinez Aguilar (1)
- Artem Dalakian (2)
- Sunny Edwards (3)
- Junto Nakatani (4)
- Moruti Mthalane (5)
- McWilliams Arroyo (6)
- Giemel Magramo (7)
- Angel Acosta (8)
- Ricardo Sandoval (9)
- Seigo Akui (10)
No fighters were in action so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Hiroto Kyoguchi (1)
- Masamichi Yabuki (2)
- Ken Shiro (3)
- Elwin Soto (4)
- Felix Alvarado (5)
- Edward Heno (6)
- Daniel Valladares (7)
- Tetsuya Hisada (8)
- Esteban Bermudez (9)
- Carlos Canizales (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)
- Oleksandr Usyk (3)
- Terence Crawford (4)
- Errol Spence (5)
- Gennady Golovkin (6)
- Josh Taylor (7)
- Juan Francisco Estrada (8)
- Tyson Fury (9)
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.