2 weeks Ago By Michael Benson
Boxing’s pound-for-pound list is always hotly contested.There are at least three boxing icons that can lay claim to the top spot right now in their own right.GETTYOleksandr Usyk beat Tyson Fury twice in 2024 to establish himself as the best heavyweight around[/caption]Naoya Inoue finished 2023 on top of the pile after beating Marlon Tapales to join Terence Crawford on an illustrious list of two-weight undisputed champions.
Oleksandr Usyk then shot to the top of the rankings in May 2024 by beating Tyson Fury in a war of attrition to become the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the four-belt era before then beating the Gypsy King again in December.Three months after Usyk’s first win, Crawford made a case for himself to be re-crowned as pound-for-pound king when he defeated Israil Madrimov to become a four-weight world champion.The pound-for-pound argument is probably one of the most contentious in the sport and every supporter seems to have a unique opinion on it.
Some rank the best fighters in the world based purely on the manner of their performances – how they look.Some rank them based purely on their résumés and weigh up who has the best-recorded wins.Some take other factors such as activity and official results into account, too, meaning the whole thing becomes confusing.
Therefore, talkSPORT.com is going to lay out its criteria (based roughly on Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound criteria) for this list right now:CRITERIAResult – The official result always stands and ultimately trumps the other factors. The other three are all equally important.
Performance – The manner in which a fighter wins or loses.Resume – The opponents beaten/titles won.Activity – How often a fighter is fighting against top level opposition#10 – Junto NakataniAge: 27Record: 30-0 (22KOs)Nakatani is one of boxing’s fastest-rising stars.
At 26 years old he is already a three-weight world champion, having won world titles from flyweight to bantamweight. His crowning win came against Andrew Maloney. Nakatani is a three-weight world championMikey Williams/Top Rank#9 – Teofimo LopezAge: 27Record: 21-1 (13 KOs)Lopez stunned the boxing world by jumping straight in with Vasyl Lomachenko in his first fight after winning a world title and beating him at age 23.
He was then stunned himself by George Kambosos but has since bounced back with a dominant win over Josh Taylor to claim the WBO crown at super-lightweight followed by a couple of routine victories over Jamaine Ortiz and Steve Claggett.Teofimo Lopez is the WBO super-lightweight world championGetty#8 – Gervonta DavisAge: 30Record: 30-0-1 (28 KOs)Davis burst onto the scene winning the IBF super-featherweight world title aged just 21. He has since become a major star, knocking out respected opponents also at lightweight and super-lightweight.
His win over Ryan Garcia last year was his biggest to date. Since then, he has been very inactive with only one win over Frank Martin before a draw with against Lamont Roach.Davis has the lesser-recognised WBA ‘regular’ lightweight belt, but is expected to shortly be upgraded to become the legitimate WBA world championRyan Hafey/PBC#7 – Jesse ‘Bam’ RodriguezAge: 25Record: 21-0 (14 KOs)Rodriguez became WBC super-flyweight world champion at the age of just 22, and impressively stopped Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in his first defence.
He then moved down to flyweight to become the unified IBF and WBO world titles by stopping Sunny Edwards before moving back up again to score a statement KO over divisional great Juan Francisco Estrada.Rodriguez is the IBF and WBO flyweight world championEd Mulholland/Matchroom#6 – Canelo AlvarezAge: 34Record: 62-2-2 (39 KOs)Canelo is a four-weight world champion from super-welterweight to light-heavyweight. His astonishing record includes wins over Miguel Cotto, Amir Khan, Liam Smith, Gennady Golovkin, Daniel Jacobs, Sergey Kovalev, Callum Smith, Billy Joe Saunders, Caleb Plant and Jermell Charlo.
Canelo is the undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO super-middleweight world championAmanda Westcott/Showtime#5 – Dmitry BivolAge: 34Record: 24-1 (12 KOs)Bivol first became WBA light-heavyweight world champion in 2017 and has made several defences since the most notable being his victory over Canelo Alvarez in 2022. This made him only the second fighter ever to beat the great Mexican after Floyd Mayweather did it in 2013. In October, he narrowly missed out on becoming undisputed light heavyweight champion in a nip-and-tuck affair with Artur Beterbiev, but in the rematch, he claimed victory.
Bivol is now the undisputed light-heavyweight championMark Robinson / Matchroom Boxing#4 Artur BeterbievAge: 40Record: 21-1 (20KOs)Beterbiev collected all four major world titles one by one over the course of seven years, leaving several former champions in his wake. In October, he beat Bivol in a long-awaited all-Russian clash to be crowned the first undisputed light heavyweight champion of the four-belt era. But in the rematch, Bivol claimed victory.
Beterbiev is the undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO light-heavyweight world championMark Robinson/MatchroomEubank Jr v Benn Live on talkSPORTMore than 30 years after their dads fought each other, Chris Eubank Jr and Conor Benn finally meet in the ring.The fight will be LIVE on talkSPORT on Saturday 26 April from the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. Steve Collins, who beat both Chris Eubank Sr and Nigel Benn, is part of talkSPORT’s team and will join Adam Catterall, Gareth A Davies, Spencer Oliver and John Rawling for commentary on fight night.
You can also catch the action on talkBOXING’s YouTube Watchalong.#3 – Terence CrawfordAge: 37Record: 40-0 (31 KOs)Crawford is a three-weight world champion and a two-weight undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO king. His dominant win over Errol Spence to become the welterweight top dog had him in pole position of many 2023 lists while a follow-up victory over Israil Madrimov helped his case further.
Crawford is the WBA, WBC and WBO welterweight world championGetty#2 – Naoya InoueAge: 31Record: 29-0 (26 KOs)Inoue became WBC light-flyweight world champion at 6-0 aged just 20. In the ten years since, he’s beaten several top opponents in multiple divisions and stands today as a four-weight world champion and two-weight undisputed champion having stopped Marlon Tapales last year. In 2024, he beat Luis Nery and TJ Doheny before starting 2025 by dispatching Ye Joon Kim.
Inoue is the undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO super-bantamweight world championNaoki Fukuda/Top Rank#1 – Oleksandr UsykAge: 38Record: 23-0 (14 KOs)Usyk became undisputed WBA, WBC, IBF and WBO cruiserweight world champion in just 16 fights, beating Mairis Briedis, Murat Gassiev and Tony Bellew all in their home countries. He’s since repeated the feat at heavyweight by clearing out the division and beating lineal champion Fury. He then fought Fury in a rematch, beating him again, and he isn’t done there because he is looking to become the undisputed champion again and is looking set to face Daniel Dubois.
Usyk is the WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight world championGetty Read more on Beterbiev v Bivol 2Live commentary from Riyadh for ‘greatest boxing card ever’ including Beterbiev vs Bivol 2 and Parker vs Bakole‘Something special’ – Artur Beterbiev vs Dmitry Bivol 2 leaves boxing world torn as biggest stars make fight predictionsBeterbiev leaves fans stunned with sledgehammer exercise to keep stunning KO ratioDmitry Bivol explains exactly what taking punch from knockout artist Artur Beterbiev feels likeJoseph Parker to fight ‘world’s most avoided heavyweight’ after Daniel Dubois clash collapsesPart-time electrician to fight for world title against Shakur Stevenson at late notice in Rocky movie storylineEXCLUSIVE: Oleksandr Usyk backs fast-rising boxer to succeed him as heavyweight kingWATCH: We’ll be hosting a live watch-along for all the action over on the talkSPORT Boxing YouTube channelBETTING: Latest betting odds and offers for boxing’s biggest fights on talkSPORT BETOFFERS: Check out all the latest free bet offers available in the UK.
