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15 Best Pound-For-Pound Boxers 

The phrase “pound for pound” has been used occasionally in combat sports to determine who the best fighter on the roster is across all classes. In boxing, the ranking is largely based on the fighter’s ability, overall skill, and success, and pound-for-pound is the collective measure of a boxer’s true category of greatness. Although these boxers might have a fanbase on one side, the ranking is usually debated as experts and boxing fans have opinions on who should be dubbed the best pound-for-pound boxer of all time. Some experts believe that knockout power is the most important determinant of ranking, while others believe that strategy and technical skills are equally important. 

Since the sport of boxing was invented, we have witnessed some of the best fighters enter the ring and leave it with illustrious records that won them fans for the duration of their careers. Regardless of what people may think and the tainted opinions of fans, there are a few boxers who rank among the top of the list of the greatest boxers to have ever lived, based on their accomplishments and the legacy they left behind in the sport. 

These pound-for-pound boxing greats had fights that stood out, showcasing some of the best moments ever witnessed inside the ring, solidifying their place in boxing history and helping to inspire younger fighters. As we celebrate their achievements let us find out who they are.

1. Oleksandr Usyk

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Oleksandr Usyk is a professional boxer who is widely regarded as one of Ukraine’s all-time great boxers. He holds the unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and IBO heavyweight belts since 2021, The Ring magazine heavyweight title since 2022, and the undisputed cruiserweight title from 2018 to 2019, making him the first cruiserweight champion to hold all four major world titles. 

With his victory over Joshua, Usyk joined Evander Holyfield and David Haye as the only fighters to unify the cruiserweight world titles and become world heavyweight champions. The Ring named Usyk the world’s best active boxer pound for pound.

Related: Top 10 Facts about Oleksandr Usyk

2. Naoya Inoue

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Naoya Inoue, a Japanese professional boxer, has held the WBA (Super), IBF, and Ring magazine belts between 2019 and January 2023, as well as the WBC and WBO titles between 2022 and January 2023. Inoue is a three-division world champion and the former undisputed bantamweight world champion. With an 88% knockout ratio, Inoue is renowned for his timing, quickness, hitting force, and body-punching ability. According to The Ring, he is currently the second-best active pound-for-pound boxer in the world overall.

3. Terence Crawford

Terence Crawford has won world titles in three weight classes, including the WBO welterweight crown, which he has held since 2018. From 2014 to 2015, he held the WBO and Ring magazine lightweight titles, and from 2015 to 2017, he held the combined WBA (Super), WBC, IBF, WBO, and Ring light welterweight titles. He was the first undisputed light welterweight champion since Kostya Tszyu in 2004.

Only nine male boxers in history—as of March 2023—have ever held all four major world titles (WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO). Crawford is also the first male boxer since Jermain Taylor in 2005 to do so. Crawford is rated as the third-best boxer in the world, pound for pound, by TBRB. 

4. Errol Spence Jr.

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Errol Spence Jr. is a professional boxer from the United States who has held the IBF belt since 2017, the WBC title since 2019, and the WBA (Super) title since 2022. He is the current welterweight world champion. Errol Spence established himself as one of the best welterweight fighters of his time. Given the titles he now possesses, it is clear that he has a strong track record in the division. According to The Ring magazine, Spence is the fourth-best active boxer in the world, pound for pound.

5. Canelo ?lvarez

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Canelo, who possesses extraordinary punching power that makes him a perfect knockout machine, is without a question the best fighter of the modern era in terms of strength-to-weight ratio. Professional fighter Santos Saúl “Canelo” ?lvarez Barragán hails from Mexico and has gone on to establish himself as one of the finest boxers ever. In four weight classes spanning from light middleweight to light heavyweight, he has won numerous world championships, including three unified titles and two lineal titles.

?lvarez is the first and only boxer in history to hold the WBA (Super), WBC, Ring magazine, IBF, and WBO championships since 2020, making him the undisputed super middleweight champion. Canelo is ranked the fifth-best pound-for-pound boxer by TBRB.

6. Dmitry Bivol

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Dmitry Bivol, a Russian professional boxer, has held the WBA light heavyweight championship since 2017. He is currently one of the best boxers on the roster right now. On May 7, 2022, Bivol defeated Alvarez by a unanimous decision in Canelo’s second contest at light heavyweight in his professional career. According to The Ring, Bivol is the sixth-best active boxer in the world, pound for pound.

7. Vasiliy Lomachenko

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Ukrainian professional boxer Vasyl Lomachenko made his ring debut in 2013. He previously held the WBO featherweight championship from 2014 to 2015, the WBO junior lightweight title from 2016 to 2017, and the combined WBA (Super), WBC, WBO, and Ring magazine lightweight belts from 2018 and 2020. The Ring has Lomachenko listed as the sixth-best active boxer pound for pound in the world as of 2023.

Also Read: 10 Most Talented Ukrainian Boxers

8. Josh Taylor

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Scottish professional boxer Josh Taylor holds the titles of both the WBO and Ring magazine’s light-welterweight divisions. Since 2019, he has held the WBO championship, and since 2021, the Ring championship. He held the combined WBA (Super), WBC, and IBF titles between 2019 and 2022. He held the title of Commonwealth light welterweight champion from 2016 to 2017. On June 10, 2023, he will face Teofimo López to defend his WBO and The Ring light welterweight titles. He is ranked as the world’s eighth-best pound-for-pound boxer as of 2023.

9. Jermell Charlo

Jermell Charlo, the current undisputed light middleweight world champion, has held the WBC title since 2019 (and previously from 2016 to 2018), the WBA (Super), IBF and Ring magazine titles since 2020, and the WBO title since 2022. He defeated Brian Castao on May 14, 2022, in the tenth round of their fight. According to The Ring, he is the ninth-best active boxer in the world overall.

10. Juan Francisco Estrada

Having held the WBC super flyweight title since 2022 and The Ring super flyweight title since 2019, Mexican professional boxer Juan Francisco Estrada Romero is a two-weight world champion. Between 2012 and 2015, he held the WBA (Unified) and WBO flyweight titles. In March 2021, he held the WBC super flyweight title. From March 2021 until August 2022, he held the WBA (Super) title. According to The Ring, Estrada currently ranks as the tenth-best active boxer in the world, pound for pound.

11. Artur Beterbiev

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Artur Beterbiev, a professional boxer from Russia and Canada, has held the IBF, WBC, and WBO titles from 2017 through 2022, respectively. He now holds the title of unified light heavyweight world champion. He has fought in 19 fights and has won each one via knockout. Given that he has won every one of his fights in the professional ring via knockout or stoppage, Beterbiev is particularly renowned for his remarkable punching power.

12. Tyson Fury

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Tyson Fury, an English professional boxer, has been the WBC heavyweight champion since defeating Deontay Wilder in 2020. After defeating Wladimir Klitschko in 2015, he previously held the unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, IBO, and The Ring magazine titles. After his victory against Wilder gave him the third heavyweight, after Floyd Patterson and Muhammad Ali, to hold The Ring magazine’s title twice, Fury is largely acknowledged by media sources as the lineal heavyweight champion. 

13. Gennady Golovkin

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Gennadiy Golovkin, popularly known as “GGG” or “Triple G,” is a professional boxer from Kazakhstan who has won two times as the undisputed middleweight champion. He held the WBA (Super), WBC, and IBF belts at various points between 2014 and 2023, and he once competed for the undisputed super middleweight title in 2022. He was also a two-time IBO middleweight champion, holding the championship twice between 2011 and 2023.

On September 17, 2022, he engaged in a trilogy versus Canelo Alvarez, which he lost by unanimous decision. The Ring magazine named Golovkin the best fighter in the world, pound for pound, from September 2017 to September 2018.

14. Shakur Stevenson

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Shakur Stevenson is an American professional boxer who formerly held world titles in two weight classes. He held the WBO featherweight title from 2019 to 2020, the WBO super featherweight title from 2021 to 2022, and the WBC and The Ring super featherweight titles in 2022. On April 8, 2023, Shakur Stevenson will face Shuichiro Yoshino. Let us watch out for a masterclass.

15. Devin Haney

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Devin Haney, an American professional boxer, is the undisputed lightweight champion, having held the WBC title since 2019 and the WBA (Super), IBF, WBO, and Ring titles since 2022. Haney won the undisputed lightweight title on October 16, 2022, at Marvel Stadium in Melbourne, Australia, by unanimous decision against George Kambosos Jr. Haney immediately took command, dictating the tempo and employing his better jab. He will face Vasiliy Lomachenko to retain his title. 

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