The Ring magazine is the bible of boxing, so it goes without saying that it’s pound-for-pound (P4P) rankings are essential reading each time they are published. If you’re a fan of heavyweight boxing, not quite so much.
The latest Ring list is now out, and the top 10 shows only one heavyweight on the list – and spoiler alert – it is NOT Tyson Fury or Anthony Joshua.
Who is boxing’s P4P king?
So who is boxing’s current P4P king? That would be welterweight star Terence Crawford. ‘Bud’ had a terrific 2023 as he blasted out big rival Errol Spence Jr in their long-awaited showdown of two unbeaten world champions.
Latest Ring Heavyweight Rankings: Top 10 with BIG shock for Deontay Wilder
Second on the list is brilliant Japanese star Naoya Inoue after ‘The Monster’ successfully unified the super-bantamweight world titles with a 10th-round knockout of Marlon Tapales in Tokyo on Boxing Day.
Then we get the only heavyweight on the list at #3, and it is current IBF, WBA and WBO champion Oleksandr Usyk. The brilliant Ukrainian of course unified the titles at light-heavyweight before moving up to boxing’s marquee weight class. He is now just one bout away from doing the same at heavy with that unification match vs Tyson Fury incoming on February 17.
Former P4P king Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez is down at #4 now, one spot ahead of the last man to beat him – the brilliant and unbeaten light-heavyweight champion Dmitry Bivol. A rematch at some stage would have huge ramifications for the P4P rankings.
Devin Haney is #6 on the list after his recent win over Regis Prograis to win the WBC world super-lightweight title in San Francisco. Then comes Spence at #7 and the devastating puncher that is Gervonta ‘Tank’ Davis (also now known as Abdul Wahid).
Teofimo Lopez fills the #9 spot after his terrific victory over Scotland’s Josh Taylor to claim the WBO world super-lightweight crown, and the top 10 is completed by undefeated world flyweight king Jesse Rodriguez.
Ring P4P Rankings
The latest pound-for-pound list for December 2023 is:
- 1. Terence Crawford (40-0)
- 2. Naoya Inoue (26-0)
- 3. Oleksandr Usyk (21-0)
- 4. Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez (60-2-2)
- 5. Dmitry Bivol (22-0)
- 6. Devin Haney (31-0)
- 7. Errol Spence Jr (28-1)
- 8. Gervonta Davis (29-0)
- 9. Teofimo Lopez (19-1)
- 10. Jesse Rodriguez (19-0)
