Boxing pound-for-pound rankings: Is Oleksandr Usyk the inaugural Uncrowned king?

Oleksandr Usyk retained his WBA, WBC and WBO heavyweight titles with a unanimous decision win over Tyson Fury in their rematch this past Saturday in Riyadh to cement his place as the best heavyweight in the world, and for Uncrowned, our inaugural No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in boxing today.

Usyk is just one of three male fighters to become a two-division undisputed champion in the four-belt era, alongside Terence Crawford and Naoya Inoue. So it should come as little surprise that these three elite, undefeated fighters dominate the top spots in Uncrowned’s pound-for-pound lists.

In November, in another major rematch on the women’s side of the sport, Katie Taylor went up 2-0 in her rivalry with Amanda Serrano. Although she won a unanimous decision on the scorecards, with all three judges awarding her the fight by a single point, the verdict was controversial.

There has long been a two-horse race for the No. 1 pound-for-pound spot in women’s boxing, pitting the Irishwoman Taylor against American champion Claressa Shields. While Shields has been more dominant in her wins, Taylor owns the superior résumé.

Uncrowned’s panel of boxing experts — Keith Idec, Elliot Worsell, Darshan Desai and Kel Dansby — have ranked both the men’s and women’s pound-for-pound best, one through 10, using a weighted points system to determine the final rankings. (Being voted No. 1 equals 10 points, No. 2 equals nine points, down to No. 10 equaling one point.)

So here’s Uncrowned’s inaugural pound-for-pound rankings for boxing!

RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA - DECEMBER 21: Oleksandr Usyk punches Tyson Fury during the IBF, IBO, WBA, WBC and WBO Undisputed World Heavyweight titles' fight between Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury as part of Oleksandr Usyk v Tyson Fury 2, Reignited card at Kingdom Arena on December 21, 2024 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Richard Pelham/Getty Images) — Oleksandr Usyk is the Uncrowned king. (Richard Pelham/Getty Images)

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1. Oleksandr Usyk – Unified heavyweight champion

After scoring seven wins over five big-name British heavyweights, Usyk has implausibly become a fan favorite across the pond in the U.K. The Ukrainian is the epitome of fighting “anywhere at any time.” He has boxed in world title fights in seven different countries, mostly against the fighters from those countries.

For many, Usyk has completed boxing. After capturing undisputed titles at cruiserweight and heavyweight and taking out every major challenge along the way, there is little left to do in the sport for Usyk. But should he continue, his biggest test could come against the IBF cruiserweight champion, Jai Opetaia.

2. Terence Crawford – WBA super welterweight champion

Terence Crawford is your favorite fighter’s favorite fighter. Even Usyk recognizes Crawford as the pound-for-pound No. 1 fighter in the world, over himself.

“Bud” managed to clean out super lightweight without too much adversity then dove into 147 pounds as a feared fighter. Boxing politics prevented Crawford from proving himself as the best welterweight in the world for several years, but when he finally did land his long-awaited superfight with Errol Spence Jr., he showed exactly why he was avoided for so long. A fight initially thought to be a 50-50 match on paper became a total mismatch in reality. Crawford pummeled Spence for a ninth-round TKO win.

Recently, the Omaha native edged Israil Madrimov to become a four-division champion and is now aiming for a lucrative bout with Saul “Canelo” Alvarez up at super middleweight.

3. Naoya Inoue – Undisputed super bantamweight champion

Naoya Inoue began getting the recognition he truly deserved from the boxing community outside of Japan when he outboxed and knocked out Stephen Fulton in Tokyo in July 2023. Inoue followed that up with a stoppage win over Marlon Tapales to fully unify a second weight division in a mere five months with just two fights.

Inoue had a more routine 2024, defending his belts twice, and is scheduled to face Sam Goodman on Jan. 24. Mandatory defenses against Murodjon Akhmadaliev and David Rey Picasso likely await him later in 2025.

4. Artur Beterbiev – Undisputed light heavyweight champion

Beterbiev edged a controversial decision over Dmitry Bivol in October to become the undisputed light heavyweight champion. Some boxing fans, including Turki Alalshikh, were dissatisfied with the result, so an immediate rematch was made for Feb. 22 in Riyadh.

Beterbiev, 39, has picked up the 175-pound titles one by one and will likely look for a move up to cruiserweight to become a two-division champion should he emerge victorious in February.

A fight between Beterbiev and the consensus No. 1 cruiserweight, Jai Opetaia, would be a sensational matchup for late 2025. And there’s a chance that by the time it happens, it could be for all four cruiserweight belts — meaning a win would see Beterbiev join the top three in this list as two-division undisputed champions.

5. Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez – WBC super flyweight champion

Jesse Rodriguez stepped in to face Carlos Cuadras on five days’ notice for his first world title. It was a two-division jump for “Bam,” but his trainer, Robert Garcia, had no doubt his charge was up to the test.

Rodriguez impressed to capture the WBC super flyweight crown and has never looked back. The 24-year-old has taken out three of the four kings at super flyweight and is now chasing undisputed status at 115 pounds.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - SEPTEMBER 14: Canelo Alvarez speaks during a press conference after defeating Edgar Berlanga at T-Mobile Arena on September 14, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Omar Vega/Getty Images) — Canelo Alvarez’s legacy faces a pivotal 2025. (Omar Vega/Getty Images)

6. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez – Unified super middleweight champion

Saul Alvarez has been the sport’s biggest commercial star for almost a decade. The Mexican faced the best opponents boxing had to offer across many divisions until his May 2022 defeat to Dmitry Bivol. Since then, it does seem as if Alvarez has become more reluctant to take some of the bigger challenges available to him, such as David Benavidez or Crawford.

Alvarez’s latest bout against Edgar Berlanga was an underwhelming choice of opponent for the majority of boxing fans. Nevertheless, the event was a monetary success due to the Mexico vs. Puerto Rico rivalry and Alvarez’s hardcore fanbase. “Canelo” could choose to continue taking similarly straightforward contests for the remainder of his career if they come with a sufficient financial reward.

7. Dmitry Bivol – Former WBA light heavyweight champion

Bivol held the WBA light heavyweight crown for seven years until falling short to Beterbiev in their undisputed title fight in October. During his reign, Bivol made 12 successful defenses, which included an upset win over “Canelo” in 2022.

Due to the closeness of Bivol’s fight with Beterbiev, he still appears in pound-for-pound lists and is even ranked ahead of Beterbiev in a few of them, with some pundits insistent that he should still be considered the man at light heavyweight.

8. Junto Nakatani – WBC bantamweight champion

Junto Nakatani is perhaps in the position Inoue was among the wider boxing community before Inoue’s win over Fulton. As an undefeated three-division champion, but one based in the lower weights and away from the Western community, Nakatani is still building a fan base in the US.

He needs a breakout moment, and that could come against his Japanese counterpart. A mega all-Japan showdown between Inoue and Nakatani is tentatively being planned for the spring of 2026, per Inoue’s promoter Hideyuki Ohashi.

9. Gervonta “Tank” Davis – WBA lightweight champion

Davis, 30, claimed in early December that he will be retiring from the sport at the end of 2025 because boxing “is trash, garbage.”

“Tank” is one of the biggest attractions in US boxing, but he doesn’t have a résumé that warrants the fan base. Despite being at world level for eight years, his best win is Ryan Garcia, who has never won a world title, and that fight came with a weight stipulation that somewhat devalues the victory.

In fairness to Davis, he attempted to make a fight with Vasyl Lomachenko in the second half of 2024, but the matchup didn’t materialize because Lomachenko decided not to return to the ring until 2025.

If 2025 is Davis’ final year in the sport, boxing fans need to see him finally share the ring with the high-level competition that his talent merits.

10. Shakur Stevenson – WBC lightweight champion

A three-division world champion, Stevenson, 27, is crying out for the big fights at 135 pounds. He recently joined Eddie Hearn’s Matchroom Boxing to further that cause and will make his debut for the promotional company on Feb. 22 in Riyadh against Floyd Schofield.

With Turki Alalshikh watching closely from ringside, an impressive performance on that super-card is vital in helping Stevenson secure the unification fights he’s been calling for. Alalshikh’s wallet has helped break down the cross-promotional barriers boxing fans are used to seeing get in the way of big fights, and he could be instrumental in securing a bout for Stevenson with the likes of “Tank” Davis, Lomachenko, or Devin Haney.

DETROIT, MICHIGAN - JULY 27: Claressa Shields, poses with the WBC Elizabethan Belt and the WBO World Lightweight and Heavyweight Title belts after a second-round KO over Vanessa Lepage-Joanisse at Little Caesars Arena on July 27, 2024, in Detroit, Michigan. (Photo by Terrell Groggins/Getty Images) — Claressa Shields is Uncrowned’s queen of the ring. (Terrell Groggins/Getty Images)

WOMEN

1. Claressa Shields

Claressa Shields is a five-division world champion and one of just two female boxers, alongside Katie Taylor, to have held undisputed titles at two weight divisions.

Shields is currently campaigning at heavyweight, which is home to just 19 active and registered fighters. She won undisputed gold at middleweight, where there are only 37 active participants, and at super welterweight, which has 63 registered boxers.

With just 100 fighters in the two divisions she’s won undisputed in, it’s understandable why the two-time Olympic champion has struggled to find big-name dance partners. Regardless, she has beaten every contender put in front of her, and that’s all that we can ask of any pugilist.

2. Katie Taylor

Taylor has by far the best résumé in women’s boxing with wins over Amanda Serrano, Delfine Persoon and Chantelle Cameron.

The Irishwoman is nearing the end of her pro career and has just one or two bouts left, which we selfishly hope are trilogies against Serrano and Cameron in 2025.

3. Amanda Serrano

Puerto Rico’s Serrano was left disappointed, again, not to get the nod in her rematch with Taylor last month.

Despite being a seven-division champion, she has fallen short in her two biggest challenges against Taylor, but could have a chance to put it right in what would be a highly-anticipated trilogy in the spring of 2025, for which negotiations are already underway.

4. Chantelle Cameron

Should the Taylor-Serrano trilogy not materialize, the WBC made it clear that Chantelle Cameron would be next in line for Taylor’s WBC championship.

Cameron and Taylor shared one win apiece in their two bouts in Ireland last year. Cameron has worked her way back to another shot at the championship, winning two bouts in 2024 after losing her belts to Taylor in their November 2023 rematch.

5. Natasha Jonas

Natasha Jonas had a stellar 2024, edging Mikaela Mayer in a Fight of the Year contender and then winning a convincing decision over Ivana Habazin to unify two welterweight straps.

She faces WBA champion Lauren Price in an all-Britain unification contest on March 8 atop an all-women’s card in London. Should Jonas emerge victorious, a rematch with Mayer for all four 147-pound belts would be likely.

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - NOVEMBER 02: Gabriela Fundora poses after defeating Gabriela Alaniz in a fight at The Theater on November 02, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy/Getty Images) — Gabriela Fundora had one hell of a year in 2024. (Cris Esqueda/Golden Boy/Getty Images)

6. Gabriela Fundora

Gabriela Fundora impressively stopped Gabriela Alaniz to unify the flyweight division in November in Las Vegas.

At just 22, she is the youngest undisputed champion of the four-belt era, and she could well be the face of women’s boxing in the years to come.

7. Alycia Baumgardner

Alycia Baumgardner announced herself to the pugilist community when she knocked out Terri Harper on her feet to win the WBC super featherweight title in November 2021.

Baumgardner eventually became the undisputed champion at 130 pounds, beating Mikaela Mayer, but her career was halted for some time after failing an anti-doping test in the lead-up to her title defense against Christina Linardatou.

The American has boxed once since, against Delfine Persoon in a fight that was declared a no contest. The WBC has already ordered an immediate rematch between Baumgardner and Persoon.

8. Mikaela Mayer

Mayer has been on the wrong end of two disputed decisions. In 2022, she was considered unlucky not to get her hand raised after 10 brilliant rounds with Baumgardner, and earlier this year, she came away second-best again in the eyes of the judges against Jonas.

The rub of the green finally favored Mayer in September, though, when she edged Sandy Ryan to win the WBO welterweight title. Mayer-Ryan, alongside Taylor-Serrano 2, are the frontrunners for the women’s fights of the year, and hopefully, we can see them both again in 2025.

9. Savannah Marshall

Savannah Marshall was the biggest threat to Shields’ dominance at the higher weight classes. She had power that was rarely seen in women’s boxing.

But when the two did collide, Shields displayed her greatness, dominating the first half of their match. Marshall managed to tighten things up over the final five rounds, but she still came up short.

Marshall rebounded to win the undisputed super middleweight titles in her fight after and has since transitioned to MMA, chasing a rematch with Shields in the PFL.

Her next appearance, however, is expected to be a boxing match, likely on the Jonas-Price undercard.

10. Dina Thorslund

Dina Thorslund has secured world titles in two weight classes: Bantamweight and super bantamweight. Since unifying in 2023, she has made three successful defenses of her bantamweight crown.

Promoter Lou DiBella is organizing a bantamweight tournament, which could feature all three belt holders in the weight class and would provide Thorslund the path to undisputed.

Here’s how the Uncrowned team voted:

Keith Idec

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