Boxing’s P4P rankings have a new look after a seismic weekend of huge action in Las Vegas and Japan.
On Saturday night at Allegiant Stadium, Terence Crawford produced a performance for the ages to outpoint Canelo Alvarez and become the undisputed super-middleweight champion of the world.
It was a spectacular showing from ‘Bud’, who went up two weight classes to beat the fearsome Alvarez in front of a very pro-Canelo crowd on Mexican Independence weekend.
There was also a huge fight in Japan over the weekend, as ‘The Monster’ Naoya Inoue once again showcased his superstar power to defend his undisputed super-bantamweight titles against Murodjon Akhmadaliev in Nagoya.
These two fights were always going to have a major impact on our P4P rankings, and so it proved. Here is our latest top 10 on Monday September 15, 2025.
Boxing P4P rankings – Current top 10
1 Terence Crawford (USA)
Record: 42-0 (31)
Titles: IBF, WBC, WBO and WBA world super-middleweight champion,
Next Fight: TBC
In front of 70,000 largely pro-Alvarez fans, Crawford proved he is the best of his era. Canelo was 11-0 (4) as a super-middleweight. This was the supreme test.
On the night the unbeaten 37-year-old showcased his full bag of tricks against the Mexican. His footwork was impeccable. His defence was largely impregnable. The jab – from either stance – was mesmerising. But he also stood in the pocket at times and defiantly showed those who insisted beforehand that the Mexican would be ‘too big, too strong’ that he could take a shot from a powerful super-middleweight and return fire. Officially the judges scored it 116-112, 115-113 and 115-113. That seemed too close based on what most people had observed, but at least the right man won and Crawford cemented his legacy as one of boxing’s immortals.
2 Oleksandr Usyk (Ukraine)
Record: 24-0 (15)
Titles: WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO world heavyweight champion
Next Fight: TBC
P4P star and three-time undisputed king of the world Usyk has caught a bit of heat after the heavyweight world champion was caught busting moves at a recent concert in Ukraine. His onstage dancing upset the WBO – and mandatory challenger Joseph Parker – because Usyk is supposed to be “injured” right now and thus unable to defend his WBO belt against the New Zealand fighter.
Usyk hasn’t fought since knocking out Daniel Dubois in July to become a two-time undisputed heavyweight champ. His body of work in the last few years suggests he deserves an extended rest if he fancies one, but the rules are the rules we suppose.
3 Naoya Inoue (Japan)
Record: 31-0 (27)
Titles: WBC, IBF, WBA and WBO world super-bantamweight champion
Next Fight: TBC
Undisputed super-bantamweight champion Inoue’s impressive and dominant decision win over interim titlist Murodjon Akhmadaliev in Japan showed he is much more than a puncher. ‘The Monster’ had reeled off 11 straight stoppages going in, but here he showed a different side to his game.
It was a measured and dominant win over a dangerous Uzbek opponent, who became the first man since Nonito Donaire in 2019 to hear the final bell against Inoue.
The Japanese legend alluded afterwards that he would be back in action for a fourth fight of 2025 in December in Saudi Arabia.
4 Dmitry Bivol (Russia)
Record: 24-1 (12)
Titles: IBF, WBO and WBA world light-heavyweight champion
Next Fight: TBC
Dmitry Bivol will not fight again in 2025 and aims to return in 2026 after undergoing successful back surgery. It’s not ideal given his age and the unfinished business he has with Artur Beterbiev, but hopefully he can come back stronger in the new year.
5 Artur Beterbiev (Russia)
Record: 21-1 (20)
Titles: N/A
Next Fight: vs Deon Nicholson (November 22)
Beterbiev will fight Deon Nicholson on November 22, putting a potential mega-money trilogy bout against Dmitry Bivol on hold for now. Beterbiev – the former undisputed light-heavyweight king – is coming off a majority decision loss to Bivol in February, the first defeat of his pro career. Before that he defeated Bivol by majority decision to become undisputed champion in their first meeting last October. However, he needs to be active, and Nicholson looks like a classic ‘stay busy’ fight.
6 Shakur Stevenson (USA)
Record: 24-0- (11)
Titles: WBC world lightweight champion
Next Fight: TBC
Shakur retained his WBC lightweight title with an impressive win over William Zepeda in July, and there doesn’t seem to be anything official yet in terms of where he may go next.
A quality fighter who is often misunderstood, it was good to see Shakur pay tribute to George Foreman on X/Twitter recently by relaying Foreman’s classic line ‘Boxing is like jazz. The better it is, the less people appreciate it’.
7 Jesse ‘Bam’ Rodriguez (USA)
Record: 22-0 (15)
Titles: WBC and WBO world super-flyweight champion
Next Fight: vs Fernando Martinez (November 22)
Rodriguez put on a clinic in a 10-round stoppage of Phumelela Cafu on July 19 in Texas, and the prodigiously skilled American box-fighter of Mexican descent is next out in a unification bout against WBA champion Fernando ‘Pumita’ Martinez on a stacked card in November 22 in Riyadh. A versatile, skilful fighter with elite footwork, he has the potential to become one of the greatest fighters to come from his hometown of San Antonio.
8 Canelo Alvarez (Mexico)
Record: 63-3-2 (39)
Titles: N/A
Next Fight: TBC
When he eventually calls time on his career, Canelo’s case for admission to the Boxing Hall of Fame will be unchallengeable. He can have few complaints about the decision loss to Crawford, but at the same time he was never outclassed and you can be certain he won’t want to go out with a defeat. The Mexican marched forward all night in Vegas, but was picked off often by Crawford, who rarely presented a static target.
Canelo’s own ‘pound-for-pound’ star may be fading, but for now he remains boxing’s cash cow and it will be interesting to see where he goes from here.
He has held multiple world championships in four weight classes, and despite coming up short against ‘Bud’ he still has plenty of options in terms of future dance partners.
9 Junto Nakatani (Japan)
Record: 31-0 (24)
Titles: WBC/IBF world bantamweight champion
Next Fight: TBC
The word round the campfire is that Nakatani will vacate his IBF and WBC bantamweight world titles in the near future, and the plan is to move up to 122 for a blockbuster against Inoue. That potential superfight has been mooted for spring 2026. Seriously, take our money.
10 David Benavidez (USA)
Record: 30-0 (24)
Titles: WBC world light-heavyweight champion
Next Fight: vs Anthony Yarde (November 22)
Benavidez will have been an interested spectator in Las Vegas, given the fact ‘The Mexican Monster’ has been chasing a Canelo fight for several years now.
Benavidez’s next fight is locked in against Anthony Yarde for the WBC light-heavyweight title on November 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Benavidez’s fighting style is a study of controlled aggression, and he is one of the most exciting fighters to watch in any weight class.
Pushing for inclusion
Since our last list was compiled, Kenshiro Teraji suffered a shock loss on home turf as Ricardo Sandoval claimed a split decision upset victory to become the new WBA and WBC unified flyweight champion. At 33 it will be interesting to see where ‘The Amazing Boy’ goes from here.
Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis and Jai Opetaia are knocking on the door for pound-for-pound inclusion, and ‘Boots’ had been sparring with Canelo ahead of the Mexican’s big fight with Crawford. It’s so rare for established ‘pound-for-pound’ stars to spar with one another, and Ennis’ next fight is against Uisma Lima on October 11
NB – Boxing’s mythical ‘pound-for-pound’ list has been and always will be a subjective minefield, as fighters in different weight classes often do not compete directly against each other – which makes ratings difficult to compile.
The ‘P4P’ criteria – while not an exact science – is assembled upon fair analysis of fight records, boxers’ skills, strengths and weaknesses and recent title achievements.
