MENU
World champions exist in every weight class, each of them great in their own way, in their own divisions. But who is the better among the best? That’s where pound for pound comes in.
The pound for pound rankings list down the best fighters in the planet, regardless of weight class. The rankings are determined relative to their fighting weights. And since these fighters do not necessarily compete directly or fight against each other, the rankings are subjective. Pound for pound is based on several criteria like record, quality of opposition and how many wins are by stoppage.
Currently, five major organizations have pound for pound rankings for professional boxers. These organizations are The Ring, ESPN, Boxing Writers Association of America, Transnational Boxing Rankings Board and BoxRec. For the purposes of our discussion, we will use the rankings used by The Ring, since it is the universally accepted pound for pound rankings in boxing. The Ring has maintained a list of pound for pound fighters since 1990. But right now, here are the Top 10 Pound for Pound Fighters according to The Ring:
1. Vasyl Lomachenko
The best amateur fighter of all-time is also the best pound for pound fighter in the sport today. Loma amassed an amateur record of 396-1 with his lone loss avenged twice, capturing gold in back to back World Championships and gold in consecutive Olympic games. He fought for a world title in his second professional fight, tied a record for winning a world title in his third fight, set a record for winning a second weight class in his seventh bout and a third division in only his 12th fight. Lomachenko is 12-1 with 9 knockouts. He defended his WBO junior lightweight title four times, forcing all four opponents to quit on their stools. In his last bout, Loma unified his WBA and Ring lightweight titles with the WBO belt. He is set to defend his titles against Anthony Crolla on April 12, 2019.
— LOMA (@VasylLomachenko) April 9, 2018
2. Terence Crawford
Crawford burst into the scene after a spectacular knockout win over Yuriorkis Gamboa in 2014. Since then, Bud has risen not just in the weight classes but in the pound for pound rankings. Crawford has captured world titles in three different weight classes. Currently, he is the WBO welterweight champion, having won the belt with a sensational stoppage of Australian Jeff Horn, who defeated Manny Pacquiao a couple of years back. Crawford is considered the best boxer today when it comes to technical skills. Bud has an undefeated record of 34-0 with 25 knockouts. Including the Gamboa win, Crawford has stopped nine out of his last 11 opponents. Bud is set to defend his belt against Amir Khan on April 20, 2019.
3. Saul Canelo Alvarez
Considered as boxing’ biggest draw since the departure of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Canelo Alvarez is Mexico’s top fighter today. Canelo is a multiple time world champion in three different weight classes. He is the current WBA, WBC, Ring and Lineal middleweight champion after defeating Gennady Golovkin in their rematch in September of last year. Alvarez and Golovkin fought to a split draw in 2017 to set up a rematch after taking separate fights in between. Canelo has an impressive record of 51-1-2 with 35 knockouts. His only loss came against Floyd Mayweather Jr in 2013. Alvarez is scheduled to fight Daniel Jacobs on May 4th. Canelo’s next fight is with Daniel Jacobs on May 4th in Nevada.
4. Oleksandr Usyk
Usyk is the second fighter from Ukraine in our list, the first being Lomachenko. The hard hitting southpaw is the first fighter in cruiserweight history to unify all four major belts: WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO. He won three of those belts during the inaugural World Boxing Super Series cruiserweight tournament where he also won the first ever Ali Trophy. He is also the first undisputed champion from Ukraine and the fifth four belt undisputed champion in boxing history. As an amateur Usyk won the gold medal in the 2011 World Championships and the 2012 Olympics. He has a record of 16-0 with 12 KOs. In his last fight, he scored a brutal 8th round TKO of Tony Bellew and is awaiting his opponent for May 18, 2019.
5. Errol Spence Jr.
Probably the best welterweight there is today, Spence represented the United States in the 2012 Olympics, reaching the quarterfinals stage. Since turning professional, he has not lost a professional bout and is 25-0 with 21 knockouts. Spence has fought as a welterweight since his pro debut and in 2017, he stopped Kell Brook to win the IBF welterweight title. He has since defended the belt three times. In his last bout just last March 16th, Spence dominated and outpointed lightweight champion Mikey Garcia to retain his IBF world title. Garcia moved up two weight classes to challenge Spence.
6. Gennady Golovkin
Despite losing to Canelo Alvarez in their last bout, The Kazakh god of war remains in the Top 10. First of all, that loss was disputed and so was the draw in their first bout. Other than those two fights, Golovkin has fought like a monster. He went on a 23 knockout streak from 2008 to 2017 and has the highest knockout to win ratio in middleweight title history at 87.2%. Triple G is also the longest reigning unified middleweight champion with five successful title defenses made. His record is 38-1-1 with 34 knockouts. Golovkin is known to have a granite chin as he’s never been knocked down in 390 total fights since he was an amateur.
7. Naoya Inoue
Inoue is the highest rated fighter from Asia in the pound for pound list. He is called the “Monster” for his knockout power and he has a record of 17-0 with 15 knockouts. Inoue is a three-division world champion, having held world titles in the bantamweight, junior bantamweight and light flyweight divisions. He is currently on a seven-fight knockout streak and is coming off a 1st round TKO of Juan Carlos Payano in the quarterfinals of the World Boxing Super Series bantamweight tournament. Inoue is scheduled to fight Emmanuel Rodriguez on May 18th in the semi-finals of the WBSS bantamweight tournament.
8. Srisaket Sor Rungvisai
When Rungvisai defeated Roman “Chocolatito” the first time around, many said he was just lucky and that he won using dirty tactics. But when he knocked out Gonzalez again during their rematch, the Thai fighter served notice that he is a force to be reckoned with in the super flyweight division. One fight later, he won the Ring and lineal super flyweight titles with a close majority decision win over Juan Francisco Estrada. Rungvisai has a record of 47-4-1 with 41 knockouts. His next bout is a rematch with Estrada slated for April 26th.
9. Mikey Garcia
If you watched last weekend’s bout, you wouldn’t appreciate Mikey Garcia who lost a lopsided decision to Errol Spence. But don’t forget that Garcia moved up two weight classes to take on Spence and that alone took a lot of balls to do. Garcia is a four weight division champion and is currently the WBC and IBF lightweight king. Garcia’s record is an impressive 39-1 with 30 knockouts. He is trained by his brother, the world class trainer Robert Garcia Jr. of Oxnard, California.
10. Donnie Nietes
Nicknamed “Ahas” ( Snake) in reference to his former job of taking care of the pet snake of his promoter, Donnie Nietes has risen from the bottom to the top of the boxing world. Nietes is the fourth Filipino fighter to win at least four weight divisions after Manny Pacquiao and Nonito Donaire Jr. In 2014, he surpassed the record of the legendary Gabriel “Flash” Elorde as the longest reigning Filipino world champion in history. Nietes has a record of 42-1-5 with 23 knockouts. In his last bout, Nietes defeated Japanese Kazuto Ioka to become the WBO junior bantamweight champion and the third Filipino and Asian four-division champion.
