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)
- Oleksandr Usyk (2)
- Deontay Wilder (3)
- Anthony Joshua (4)
- Andy Ruiz (5)
- Joe Joyce (8)
- Luis Ortiz (6)
- Dillian Whyte (7)
- Joseph Parker (9)
- Daniel Dubois (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Lawrence Okolie (1)
- Jai Opetaia (2)
- Mairis Briedis (3)
- Yunier Dorticos (4)
- Ilunga Makabu (5)
- Aleksei Papin (6)
- Noel Gevor (7)
- Mateusz Masternak (8)
- Thabiso Mchunu (9)
- Michal Cieslak (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Dmitry Bivol (1)
- Artur Beterbiev (2)
- Joe Smith Jr. (3)
- Callum Smith
- Gilberto Ramirez (4)
- Maxim Vlasov (6)
- Marcus Browne (7)
- Joshua Buatsi (8)
- Anthony Yarde (9)
- Mathieu Bauderlique (10)
Dmitry Bivol ended his 2022 campaign with another excellent performance, cruising to a decision victory over fellow ranked fighter, Gilberto Ramirez. Bivol handed Ramirez his first career loss and is arguably a “Fighter of the Year” candidate. Anthony Yarde was in action on the Nov. 19 and scored himself an easy victory, winning via TKO in the third round against Stefani Koykov. Yarde’s reward is a January clash against Artur Beterbiev. Callum Smith leaps Ramirez in the rankings.
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (1)
- David Benavidez (2)
- Caleb Plant (3)
- John Ryder (4)
- Daniel Jacobs (5)
- Rocky Fielding (6)
- Lerrone Richards (7)
- Carlos Gongora (8)
- David Morrell Jr. (9)
- Pavel Silyagin (10)
John Ryder has a potential shot against Canelo next, as the fourth-ranked fighter defeated fellow Brit, Zach Parker. Parker had to take the loss after suffering a broken hand and had the fight stopped in the fifth round.
- Jermall Charlo (2)
- Gennady Golovkin (1)
- Demetrius Andrade (3)
- Jaime Munguia (4)
- Chris Eubank Jr. (5)
- Ryota Murata (6)
- Michael Zefara (7)
- Zhanibek Alimkhanuly
- Carlos Adames (8)
- Erislandy Lara (9)
Dropped from the Rankings: Sergiy Derevyanchenko (10)
Jaime Munguia continued his tradition of avoiding top competition, knocking out Gonzalo Gaston Coria in the third round. Munguia’s spot in the rankings is more an indication of how shallow the division is, rather than him having an impressive resume. Zhanibek Alimkhanuly enters the rankings at No. 8 after a decision victory over Denzel Bentley for the WBO title.
- Jermell Charlo (1)
- Brian Castano (2)
- Sebastian Fundora (3)
- Tim Tszyu (4)
- Liam Smith (5)
- Erickson Lubin (6)
- Israel Madrimov (7)
- Magomed Kurbanov (8)
- Tony Harrison (9)
- Danny 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)
- Keith Thurman (3)
- Jaron Ennis (4)
- Yordenis Ugas (5)
- Vergil Ortiz Jr. (6)
- Eimantas Stanionis (7)
- David Avanesyan (8)
- Cody Crowley (9)
- Conor Benn (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)
- Jack Catterall (4)
- Arnold Barboza Jr. (6)
- Subriel Matias (8)
- Gary Antuanne Russell (9)
- Sandor Martin (10)
- Jose Zepeda (5)
- Montana Love (7)
Regis Prograis had arguably his best performance as a pro, knocking out Jose Zepeda in the eleventh round and becoming a champion in the process. It’s a big win for Prograis, especially in making him relevant once again, since the last two years he largely disappeared and faced low-level competition. Montana Love was in action and ended up getting disqualified in his fight against Steve Spark. The fight got chippy, and Love was given the loss after throwing Spark over the ropes. Love doesn’t fall out the rankings, but drops to No. 10. Zepeda falls to No. 9.
- Devin Haney (1)
- George Kambosos Jr. (2)
- Teofimo Lopez (3)
- Vasily Lomachenko (4)
- Ryan Garcia (5)
- Gervonta Davis (6)
- Richard Commey (7)
- Isaac Cruz (8)
- William Zepeda (9)
- Zaur Abdullaev (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Shakur Stevenson (1)
- Oscar Valdez (2)
- Leo Santa Cruz (3)
- Shavkat Rakhimov (4)
- Hector Luis Garcia (5)
- Joe Cordina (6)
- Chris Colbert (7)
- Kenichi Ogawa (8)
- Robson Conceicao (9)
- Jeremia Nakathiilia (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Emanuel Navarette (1)
- Rey Vargas (2)
- Mark Magsayo (3)
- Gary Russell Jr. (4)
- Mauricio Lara (5)
- Josh Warrington (6)
- Leigh Wood (7)
- Kiko Martinez (8)
- Ruben Villa (9)
- Issac Dogboe (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Stephen Fulton (1)
- Murodjon Akhmadaliev (2)
- Ronny Rios (3)
- Brandon Figueroa (4)
- Luis Nery (5)
- Ra’eese Aleem (6)
- Takuma Inoue (7)
- Zolani Tete (8)
- Daniel Roman (9)
- Marlon Tapales (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 (4)
- Jason Maloney (3)
- John Riel Casimero (5)
- Reymart Gaballo (6)
- Rau’shee Warren (7)
- Vincent Astrolabio (8)
- Paul Butler (9)
- Gary Antonio Russell (10)
Emmanuel Rodriguez looked fantastic against Gary Russell, displaying why he’s a top-five fighter in the division and a serious contender. Rodriguez jumps ahead of Maloney in the rankings.
- Juan Francisco Estrada (1)
- Jesse Rodriguez (2)
- Roman Gonzalez (3)
- Kazuto Ioka (4)
- Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (5)
- Francisco Rodriguez Jr. (6)
- Fernando Martinez (7)
- Carlos Cuadras (8)
- Argi Cortes (9)
- Jerwin Acajas (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)
- McWilliams Arroyo (6)
- Giemel Magramo (7)
- Angel Acosta (8)
- Ricardo Sandoval (9)
- Seigo Akui (10)
No fighters in the top 10 were in action during the last month, so the rankings remain unchanged.
- Hiroto Kyoguchi (1)
- Masamichi Yabuki (2)
- Ken Shiro (3)
- Jonathan Gonzalez (4)
- Hekkie Budler (5)
- Felix Alvarado (6)
- Edward Heno (7)
- Daniel Valladares (8)
- Esteban Bermudez (9)
- Elwin Soto (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.
- Naoya Inoue (1)
- Oleksandr Usyk (2)
- Terence Crawford (3)
- Errol Spence (4)
- Dmitry Bivol (5)
- Saul “Canelo” Alvarez (6)
- Josh Taylor (7)
- Juan Francisco Estrada (8)
- Tyson Fury (9)
- Shakur Stevenson (10)
Dmitry Bivol was in action and keeps his spot in the rankings. We would not be surprised if he finds his way into the top three by the end of 2023, if not sooner.