Who’s really the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world?

Who is the best boxer in the world? Just recently, many fans, pundits and fighters themselves would have told you it was Terence Crawford. And the American was our answer to that question, too, but his retirement in December has opened up the debate once more.

Crawford went out on top, an unbeaten, modern great whose final fight was a history-making win over Canelo Alvarez in September. With that easy points victory, the southpaw became the only three-weight undisputed king of the four-belt era, having tasted gold in five divisions overall.

But there are others, remarkably, who come close to his level and legacy. Those fighters await you at the bottom of this article, but en route you will encounter other icons of world boxing as well as rising stars of the sport.

Here is our list as of December 2025, with an honourable mention going to David Benavidez...

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For years, the Mexican was the face of boxing, courtesy of wins against Erislandy Lara, Miguel Cotto, Amir Khan, Gennadiy Golovkin, Daniel Jacobs, Billy Joe Saunders, Jermell Charlo and many more. Detractors will point to the 35-year-old’s clenbuterol controversy in 2018 and controversial scorecards in a few of his wins. Supporters will give more credence to Canelo’s admirable level of activity and his great number of formidable foes. A title holder in four weight classes, including a two-time undisputed king at super-middleweight, the Mexican is a true icon of modern boxing. Most recently, however, he disappointed in a defeat by the (admittedly great) Terence Crawford, who moved up to Canelo’s weight and thoroughly outclassed him in September.

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The American is certainly not one of the most-loved boxers around the worldwide, but when Haney is on, he is on. Haney possesses one of the lower stoppage rates on this list, but what he has sometimes lacked in finishing instincts, he makes up for in technical prowess. On his day, his range management, precision and footwork are as good as it gets, as he showed in back-to-back clinics against George Kambosos in enemy territory in Australian stadiums in 2022. Those wins saw the “Dream” earn and retain undisputed status at the age of just 23, and he maintained his lightweight reign with a(n admittedly close) victory over the great Vasiliy Lomachenko in 2023. The 27-year-old has since added world titles at super-lightweight and welterweight.

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The rising Japanese star, 27, is already a three-weight champion, having held gold at flyweight and super-flyweight before moving up to bantamweight. There, he collected a second belt in June by stopping Ryosuke Nishida, moving a step closer to a potential mega-fight with compatriot Naoya Inoue in the process. In fact, Nakatani’s career has resembled the earlier stages of Inoue’s up to this point; so, does undisputed bantamweight status also await “Big Bang”? Actually, he has moved straight up to super-bantamweight to face Sebastian Hernandez Reyes, and if he wins, he is set to face Inoue in 2026...

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The Australian entered our rankings after his vicious stoppage of David Nyika in January 2025, a fourth-round finish that kept Opetaia unbeaten – and kept the IBF cruiserweight belt around his waist. The southpaw, 30, is now eyeing unification bouts in the division, with Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez likely on the horizon (although Zurdo may be facing David Benavidez first...), and many fans believe no one at cruiserweight can stop Opetaia. In fact, some feel that his only true challenges would come at higher weights. Most recently, however, he broke Claudio Squeo’s jaw and eased past Huseyin Cinkara. Those results added to two decisions over Mairis Briedis, highlight-reel KOs of Ellis Zorro and Jordan Thompson, and a bullying TKO of Jack Massey. Opetaia needs tests as soon as possible, though.

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The American, 28, was already a two-weight world champion by the time he was 24. Now Stevenson is a force at lightweight, as he builds upon his significant success at featherweight – where he was WBO champion – and super-featherweight, where he was unified champion. In 2023, the unbeaten Stevenson won the WBC interim lightweight title, which was later upgraded when Devin Haney vacated his undisputed belts. Stevenson retained the official strap in July 2024, beating Artem Harutyunyan comfortably on points, before stopping short-notice replacement Josh Padley in February. Padley was a huge underdog but fought spiritedly, making Stevenson look a little uninspired. However, Stevenson showed skill and resilience in a fun fight with William Zepeda this July. A clash with Gervonta Davis, Ryan Garcia or Haney is crucial for him.

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The American super-flyweight is one of the most awe-inspiring boxers out there, courtesy of his incredible footwork, clever shot selection and mean offence. In November, “Bam” (he is better known by his nickname than his first name!) completely outclassed a world champion in Fernando Martinez, winning every round before dropping and stopping the Argentine in the 10th. With that, Rodriguez stayed unbeaten and expanded his collection of super-flyweight belts, while building on previous, high-profile wins over Sunny Edwards and Juan Francisco Estrada. He is closing in on undisputed status, and he is only 25 at the time of writing.

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The Russian, who fights out of Canada, was a dominant light-heavyweight champion. Some talked up Callum Smith’s chances in January 2024, but the champion dismantled his challenger with ease. Even at 39, Beterbiev looked as powerful as ever, dropping Smith twice to force a stoppage. With that, Beterbiev retained the WBC, WBO and IBF titles and improved his record to a perfect 20-0 with 20 KOs. Ahead of his fight with Smith, Beterbiev returned an ‘atypical’ drug-test result but was cleared to compete, and his win set up an undisputed clash with the next man on this list: Dmitry Bivol.

An injury to Beterbiev delayed the long-awaited bout, but it arrived in October and delivered. A strategic showdown over 12 rounds, Beterbiev finally met a foe he couldn’t knock out, but the older man still won – securing a disputed points victory to become undisputed champion. They ran it back in February, with Beterbiev now 40, and somehow the rematch was even better. This time, Bivol not only survived but succeeded, outpointing Beterbiev to hand him his first loss – and avenging his own.

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Entered our list in May 2022, following his stunning victory over Canelo. The Russian remained unbeaten and retained the WBA light-heavyweight title with that result, which he achieved by fighting on the front foot, picking his shots wisely, and producing almost double his opponent’s output. Bivol, 35, was then tasked with getting past the unbeaten Gilberto Ramirez and Lyndon Arthur, beating both on points with aggressive and sharp performances.

Next up was set to be a unification fight with compatriot Beterbiev, but an injury to the latter saw him replaced by Malik Zinad, whom Bivol stopped for his first KO in six years. Then, as mentioned above, the fight with Beterbiev was worth the wait, with Bivol boxing as close to perfectly as one could against such a heavy hitter. He was unfortunate not to get the win, but he somehow produced an even better showing in February 2025, getting the nod this time. With that, he not only reclaimed the WBA belt but also became undisputed, while handing Beterbiev his first loss.

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One of the lesser-known names on this list to the more casual fan, the Japanese does not lack in prowess what he may lack in profile. Inoue has one of the best stoppage percentages in our rankings, part of what makes him such an exciting athlete to watch – along with his effortless evasiveness, brutal body attacks, and frightening level of output.

The 32-year-old stopped Paul Butler in December 2022 to become undisputed bantamweight champion – and the first Asian boxer to hold four world titles in a weight class at once – having previously held gold at light-flyweight and super-flyweight. However, he vacated his bantamweight belts in January 2023 to move up and challenge Stephen Fulton.

In July 2023, Inoue took Fulton apart to hand the American his first pro loss and take his WBC and WBO super-bantamweight titles. That win saw the “Monster” become a four-weight world champion, further vindicating his No 1 spot on our list, before a spectacular performance to become undisputed in two divisions (just the second man ever to do so) by stopping Marlon Tapales.

Since then, however, Inoue has dropped slightly on our list while showing a bit of vulnerability. In May 2024 and May 2025, he was knocked down by Luis Nery and Ramon Cardenas respectively, although he rallied to knock out both men – showing that he has the heart and composure to match his other great qualities. Also, this September, he was supposed to be tested by Murodjon Akhmadaliev but coasted to an easy win. Next up is Alan Picasso, then potentially Nakatani...

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An Olympic gold medalist who reigned as the only undisputed cruiserweight champion of the four-belt era before moving up to heavyweight, where he became WBA, WBO, IBF and IBO champion in 2021 by outpointing Anthony Joshua with relative ease. The Ukrainian then beat Joshua on points again in 2022 to retain his titles and stay unbeaten. In August 2023, the southpaw stopped Daniel Dubois after recovering from a controversial ‘low blow’, again demonstrating that he is as technical and awkward as they come in the heavier weight classes.

His first win over Tyson Fury delivered after so much hype, with his dominant ninth round showing his power carried up to the heavyweight division – the definition of a pound-for-pound great. He then did the double over Fury with an even more comfortable points win in the rematch, establishing himself as the unlikely greatest heavyweight of this generation. Then came another rematch: against a more dangerous Dubois than the version Usyk faced in 2023, yet a 38-year-old Usyk was still too much for the 27-year-old, stopping him in just five rounds in a supreme performance. It was a performance that took Usyk to No 1 in our rankings, and he reclaimed that position in December after the retirement of Crawford, who briefly usurped him here after beating Canelo.