B/R Pound-for-Pound Boxing Rankings: August 2023
August 15, 2023B/R Pound-for-Pound Boxing Rankings: August 2023
It's been a hot summer. Particularly in the ring.
Long-awaited unification fights, high-profile title challenges and spotlight matches between pound-for-pound wannabes have been the norm in the middle portion of 2023, providing seismic changes from heavyweight to flyweight and all points in between.
Such a stretch of meaningful action has prompted movement among the sport's elite, and the B/R combat team needed no further cajoling to take a new look at the competitive horizon and compile an updated list of the best of the best.
The go-to rubric included recent results, past performances and input from other respected sources, including The Ring and Boxing Scene. Scroll through to see what we came up with, and drop a line with your own thoughts in the comments.
10. Shakur Stevenson
Weight Class: 135 pounds
Major Titles Held: None
"Face of boxing" is a phrase promoters love to throw around.
Sometimes, it's because their fighter is genuinely an elite talent; and sometimes, it's intentionally co-opted to highlight style when substance is lacking.
But trust us, when it's used alongside Shakur Stevenson, it's the real thing.
The 26-year-old from Newark, N.J. is undoubtedly among the best young fighters in the business and is rapidly climbing the ranks after capturing belts at 126 and 130 pounds and subsequently moving to and calling for big events at 135.
He's unbeaten in 20 fights and hasn't really come close to losing.
And now that Mexican action star Emanuel Navarrete has become preeminent one weight class below by bludgeoning Óscar Valdez, whom Stevenson handled far less violently in April 2022, the drumbeat is starting for what would be a fascinating style clash.
9. Tyson Fury
Weight Class: Heavyweight
Major Titles Held: WBC
There are plenty of opinions regarding Tyson Fury.
Some appreciate the fact that he performs in the ring with the athleticism of a man far smaller than 6'9" and 270 pounds. And others like him because he's an interesting guy with a compelling back story and never at a loss for words with microphones nearby.
Meanwhile, others point out his maddening lack of recent activity—just three title defenses in more than three years as champion—and the choice he's made to lock down a match with MMA crossover foe Francis Ngannou rather than fellow champ Oleksandr Usyk.
We'll stake out the middle ground.
No matter how infrequent his appearances, Fury has been a strong champion, dispatching each of his three challengers inside the distance following the brutal KO of Deontay Wilder that won him the belt in February 2020.
Would we prefer a Usyk fight or an Anthony Joshua fight to an Ngannou fight? Sure.
But when he does get in the ring against a legit foe, Fury has evolved into a must-watch. And that's good enough for a No. 9 position here.
8. Errol Spence Jr.
Weight Class: 147 pounds
Major Titles Held: None
For the first time in his competitive career, Errol Spence Jr. is rebuilding.
But perhaps the hurdles he's handled outside the ring are indicative of his prospects.
The 33-year-old recovered and returned to the ring after a devastating car accident in 2019 and then missed out on a Manny Pacquiao cash-out fight after suffering a detached retina in 2021.
Spence will need that sort of mettle again now that he's been relegated back to contender status following a devastating KO at the fists of Terence Crawford in their welterweight unification showdown last month in Las Vegas.
Spence has the contractual ability to force a rematch with his now-four-belted foe, but it's unclear whether he'll follow through with that, regroup with another opponent or, as ESPN talking head Stephen A. Smith recently suggested, consider retirement.
Until he pulls the trigger on those or other options, his pre-Crawford prowess has earned him a spot on the back end of our list for the time being.
7. Gervonta Davis
Weight Class: 135 pounds
Major Titles Held: None (holds second-tier WBA championship)
Looking for another 135-pounder to claim "Face of Boxing" street cred?
You've found him in Gervonta Davis.
Thee 28-year-old slugger from Baltimore claimed a convincing victory in the biggest fight of the year's initial half, pummeling Ryan Garcia into a seventh-round surrender in April.
The triumph at a 136-pound catchweight didn't earn him any belts, but it did run his record to 29-0 with 27 KOs and continued a run of recent fan-friendly momentum that's seen him attract big houses in Las Vegas, Washington, D.C., Brooklyn and Los Angeles.
A rematch with Isaac Cruz, one of only two men to last the distance with him, seems a worthwhile next option for Davis, whose name has also been thrown around when it comes to fights with multi-belt lightweight king Devin Haney and Shakur Stevenson.
6. Devin Haney
Weight Class: 135 pounds
Major Titles Held: IBF, WBA, WBO
Want to make people forget a big-fight dud? Make a bigger fight.
That's the resume-building strategy these days for lightweight king Devin Haney, whose unanimous-decision win over Vasily Lomachenko was widely panned due to what many deemed dubious judging, prompting a jump to face a high-profile champion at 140 pounds.
According to Mike Coppinger of ESPN, promoter Eddie Hearn is in the detail-finalizing phase for a showdown matching Haney with WBC super lightweight titleholder Regis Prograis, who began a second reign in the weight class last winter and has since defended one time.
The WBC gave Haney permission to relinquish his full-time claim on title status at 135 and relabeled him as its "champion in recess" in advance of a fight expected to take place some time later this year if Hearn can get all parties to agree on specifics.
It's a weight jump that's been anticipated for a while anyway for the 24-year-old, who's had mounting difficulty making the lightweight limit.
A win over Prograis would presumably be a permanent goodbye to 135, though it could set up fights with Teofimo Lopez, Ryan Garcia and other ex-lightweights who now call the weight class home.
5. Dmitry Bivol
Weight Class: 175 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBA
Just when it seemed Dmitry Bivol was headed for stardom, he stalled.
The Kyrgyzstan-born, California-based light heavyweight pulled off 2022's signature upset when he schooled Canelo Alvarez in a WBA title try that May, and he added a shutout over then-unbeaten Gilberto Ramírez to earn more than a few votes as the year's top fighter.
However, rather than engaging Alvarez in a big-bucks rematch or locking down fellow divisional claimant Artur Beterbiev for a unification, Bivol has spent 2023 on the sidelines.
His and Alvarez's teams couldn't agree on money for a second go-round and WBC president Mauricio Sulaimán has nixed the idea of sanctioning a bout involving Bivol until the Russia-Ukraine hostilities have ceased because he views the 32-year-old as a Russian fighter.
Both Alvarez (Jermell Charlo) and Beterbiev (Callum Smith) have other bouts on their autumnal agendas, and Bivol's manager, Vadim Kornilov, told Tass (h/t Boxing Scene) that Bivol would also fight in October against an as-yet-undetermined foe.
4. Canelo Álvarez
Weight Class: 168 pounds
Major Titles Held: IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO
As always, Canelo Álvarez is not lacking in options.
He'll open a three-fight deal with Premier Boxing Champions by risking his four belts at 168 pounds with a late-September bout against Jermell Charlo, and a positive outcome will spike optimism for a subsequent showdown with David Benavidez, who's also a PBC client.
A champion at 154 pounds, Charlo jumped in for twin brother Jermall when the sibling said he'd not be ready to engage, and the Mexican superstar has no shortage of other foes perpetually calling him name, including the likes of social media agitator Jake Paul.
And while Paul's callout is ludicrous at best, it does recertify Álvarez's long-held position as the sport's most recognizable global star since former foe Floyd Mayweather Jr. exited.
He's engaged in 23 title fights across four weight classes and won 20 of them (with two losses and a draw), capturing belts from 154 to 175 pounds and climbing to No. 5 on Forbes' list of the year's highest-paid athletes. No other boxer reached the top 10.
3. Oleksandr Usyk
Weight Class: Heavyweight
Major Titles Held: IBF, WBA, WBO
Oleksandr Usyk was a dominant cruiserweight.
He picked up all four belts in the weight class prior to climbing the ladder, but his arrival at heavyweight wasn't greeted with expectations of instant success.
But the Ukrainian has proved his doubters wrong, and in a big way.
The 36-year-old snatched Anthony Joshua's trio of belts in what was considered a big upset in the fall of 2021, but he cemented his status as Joshua's competitive superior with another clear victory over the dethroned British slugger the following summer.
Chatter of a unification with Tyson Fury naturally followed but still has not panned out, leaving the WBC champ to face an ex-UFC fighter while Usyk defends later this month against yet another UK resident, once-beaten Londoner Daniel Dubois.
Usyk's undefeated record, his sublime skill set and his accomplishments in a pair of weight classes have him third or better on the most-respected pound-for-pound lists, and a win over Fury—if the fight ever gets made—would almost certainly be worth a step or two up.
2. Naoya Inoue
Weight Class: 122 pounds
Major Titles Held: IBF, WBC
For at least a few days, the "Monster" was king.
Naoya Inoue's track record of belt acquisition at 108, 115 and 118 pounds was impressive enough, but his comprehensive destruction of reigning and unbeaten two-belt 122-pound champ Stephen Fulton on a late-July Tuesday put him atop the pound-for-pound mountain.
With good reason, to be sure.
Titles in four weight classes, KOs in all but three of 25 wins and competitive dominance of foes both highly and lightly regarded was all the evidence the 30-year-old needed to stake a claim.
The Ring gushed in the immediate aftermath, with writer Joe Santoliquito raving that Inoue was perhaps "more machine than man. He may be more than the 'Monster' moniker he carries. He possesses those diamond-shaped calves that generate great torque on his punches. He works at different levels. His punches are so crisp. His footwork is impeccable. His subtle movements create gaping holes in opponents' defenses."
In truth, it took an equally preeminent performance from Inoue's only real contender for the top spot, welterweight Terence Crawford, to keep him from walking away with it here.
But no list that has the top two spots reversed should be denounced.
Inoue is a genuine superstar.
1. Terence Crawford
Weight Class: 147 pounds
Major Titles Held: IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO
Maybe it's because he's been so good for so long against so many opponents in so many weight classes, but people might have been sleeping a bit on Terence Crawford.
So much so that when he went into last month's 147-pound unification with Errol Spence Jr., it wasn't hard to find folks who suggested either the Texan would supplant him at welterweight or that, even if Crawford won, Naoya Inoue deserved to reign atop this and similar lists.
Clearly, Crawford disagreed.
And his reply to Inoue might as well have been captioned "Hold my beer."
The 35-year-old battered an unbeaten Spence with the violent precision that had highlighted previous victories, and the seventh-round TKO of his opponent rightfully kick-started discussion about his place among the division's recent all-time greats.
As for the future, a stay at 147 could mean rising contender Jaron Ennis gets his turn, though a rise to 154 to take on whatever's left of a post-Canelo Jermell Charlo is awfully intriguing for a guy perhaps focused on a fourth weight class title.
"Little kid from Omaha, damn," Crawford said at an Omaha parade celebrating his accomplishments. "Little kid from Omaha. Overachiever. I always say I'm an overachiever because my dream was just to win one title. Now I'm on top of Mount Rushmore."