Best Pound-for-Pound Boxers in the World

On Saturday the 21st of September, 27-year-old Daniel Dubois caused a sizeable upset by beating Anthony Joshua at Wembley. Dubois, the IBF heavyweight champion of the world, won with real ease in his first title defence. He dominated from start to finish before scoring a knockout in the fifth round, to boost his record to 21 wins (20 by KO) and two defeats.

AJ was past his best and had shown clear frailties before but seemed to be embarking on something of a career comeback. However, whilst he must decide where to go next, the win has elevated Dubois to the top level of fighters. In 2023, he fought Oleksandr Usyk and gave a very decent account of himself and a rematch could be on the cards. A showdown with Tyson Fury would also be a mega-fight and if Dubois won against either (or both!) of those greats, he would truly be up there with the very best in the sport.

Weight Divisions

Boxing is an interesting sport in that fighters are separated by weight divisions. This is necessary to keep fighters safe and to ensure competitiveness but it is not something we see in too many non-combat sports. Whilst it is assumed, almost certainly fairly, that the best heavyweight in the world is the best overall, if fighters were to compete on a level playing field, in boxing there is a lot of interest in who the best “pound-for-pound” (P4P) fighter is.

Essentially, this is an assessment of who would win if size and weight were taken out of the equation. It is hypothetical and tries to pinpoint who would be the best boxer if all fighters were the same size. It is very subjective and to an extent counts against the biggest, heaviest boxers as, almost by definition, their greatest strength is almost discounted. It tends to emphasise skill, technique and multi-weight success, with this last facet generally less open to heavyweights.

Ring the Respected Judge

The Ring MagazineDifferent pundits and boxing fans will have their own opinions about who the best pound-for-pound boxer is at any given time. However, Ring Magazine’s list has for many years been generally accepted as a very decent guide. Initially founded as a boxing and wrestling magazine over a century ago (1922), over time boxing became its sole focus.

Now only available online, bar the odd printed special, Ring is an authority on all things boxing. They award their own world championship belts and provide influential rankings across all weight classes in both men’s and women’s boxing. However, it is perhaps their P4P rankings that generate the most discussion. Here are the current top 10.

Collage of heavy weight boxing champions
Usyk, top left (Web Summit), Inoue (首相官邸ホームページ), Crawford (MILLION DOLLAZ WORTH OF GAME), Alvarez (Box Azteca), Beterbiev, bottom left (Говорит Сочи (Эфкате), Bivol (Вячеслав Евдокимов), Davis (MILLION DOLLAZ WORTH OF GAME), Haney (MILLION DOLLAZ WORTH OF GAME) via Wikipedia

1) Oleksandr Usyk

Ukrainian great Usyk is 37 years old and relatively lightly boxed, with just 22 pro fights. He has won them all though and is a two-weight world champion. He turned professional in 2013 after an excellent amateur career that saw him claim Olympic gold in 2012 and win 335 of his 350 fights. Starting pro life as a cruiserweight, in his 15th fight he made history by becoming his country’s first unified world champion at any weight.

Clearly too good for everyone at the 200-pound mark, he stepped up to the heavyweight division after beating English ace Tony Bellew. After two successful fights at the weight, he fought Joshua at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and won easily on a clear and unanimous decision. He was the unified heavyweight champion of the world. Usyk remains unbeaten, though his win over Tyson Fury in May was a little controversial.

Usyk is an incredible champion though, and a very worthy choice for top spot in the P4P rankings. His craft and skill are phenomenal and to match Fury in that regard and overcome the Brit’s huge size advantage was some accomplishment. His footwork is magnificent and the combination of his natural southpaw stance and his sky-high ring IQ make him a nightmare to fight. Will surely go down as one of the all-time greats.

2) Naoya Inoue

Japanese fighter Inoue is not a name that will be familiar to casual boxing fans. However, the 31-year-old has won several titles over four different weights. He has explosive power in both hands and has a record of 28-0, with 25 wins coming by KO. That is an astonishing knockout rate for a man who has fought at light and super flyweight, plus bantam and super bantamweight.

3) Terence Crawford

US pugilist Crawford is another four-weight world champ and has been on Ring’s P4P list for almost a decade! Now 36 he has won all 41 of his fights, with 31 knockouts.

4) Canelo Alvarez

Mexican Alvarez is a name that all boxing fans and even occasional viewers will know. He has unified titles at three weights, held world championships at four and fought at five! That is a testament to his skill, with his movement and evasiveness big strengths. Aged 34, he has fought 66 times, losing just twice (two draws as well).

5) Jesse Rodriguez

The young Texan still has so much of his career ahead of him but has already achieved so much. A perfect record after 20 fights has yielded world titles at fly and super flyweight and more success is surely to come.

6) Artur Beterbiev

Beterbiev fights on at 39 and holds the accolade of being the only current world champion with a 100% knockout record. 20 fights, 20 wins, 20 KOs, all at light-heavyweight – impressive stuff and proof of his skill and power.

7) Dmitry Bivol

Bivol is Russian but was born in modern-day Kazakhstan and in some regards is an unusual inclusion in this list as he is generally ranked as only the second-best at his weight (behind Beterbiev, above). The fact he has a KO rate of around 50% and is only a single-weight world champion makes his rank of seven even more puzzling.

8) Gervonta Davis

Davis, from Baltimore, boasts a record of 30-0, with 28 KOs, befitting a man nicknamed Tank. He is the WBA lightweight world champion but has also fought and held titles at super featherweight and super lightweight.

9) Junto Nakatani

Japan’s second inclusion on this list has won all 28 of his fights and aged just 26 has already won world titles at three weights (flyweight, bantam and junior bantam). He is an awkward, powerful and versatile fighter and should continue to improve.

10) Devin Haney

Yet another American boxer completes the list, with the 25-year-old one of the few men to have beaten the brilliant Vasiliy Lomachenko. He had a perfect 31-0 record but his last was a no contest. Previously the undisputed lightweight champion of the world, he has also been champ at super lightweight.