It’s been a huge couple months for boxing, with multiple elite fighters appearing. We saw some great fights and some key upsets, including the biggest fight in the history of women’s boxing. Undefeated champions met and Tyson Fury became just the second heavyweight champion to ever retire undefeated. Now that the dust has settled a bit, let’s take a look at where the best pound for pound boxers stand halfway through 2022 with the Trainwreck Sports top ten.
Men’s Top 10 Pound for Pound
- Naoya Inoue (23-0, 20 KOs)
- Terence Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs)
- Canelo Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs)
- Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs)
- Errol Spence Jr (28-0, 22 KOs)
- Artur Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs)
- Shakur Stevenson (18-0, 9 KOs)
- Vasily Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs)
- Josh Taylor (19-0, 13 KOs)
- Gervonta Davis (27-0, 25 KOs)
HONORABLE MENTION: Jermall Charlo (32-0, 22 KOs), Devin Haney (28-0, 15 KOs), Dmitry Bivol (20-0, 11 KOs, Román González (51-3, 41 KOs), Juan Francisco Estrada (42-3, 28 KOs), Carlos Cuadras (39-5-1, 27 KOs), Srisaket Sor Rungvisai (50-5-1, 43 KOs)
1. Naoya Inoue (23-0, 20 KOs)
The tiny three division world champion continues to dazzle as he builds an international name. It’s tough to attract attention in the lower weight classes, as boxing almost ignores anything below lightweight. Inoue is special though. His ring IQ is through the roof, his speed is phenomenal, and his precision is practically perfect. He’s also a terrific finisher, which is less common in the lower weights. He just stopped a future Hall of Famer in 2 rounds.
2. Terence Crawford (38-0, 29 KOs)
For years, Crawford has drawn fair criticism for avoiding big fights. Despite being a former undisputed champion (he vacated his titles to move up in weight), his record is far more impressive than his resume. That was mostly before he cut ties with promoter Bob Arum. His most recent fight was against a highly respected former champion in Shawn Porter. Porter may have outboxed Crawford at times, but he was unable to hurt the unbeaten champion. Crawford is a freak who looks like he actually enjoys getting hit. He’s a scary dude to be in the ring with and the best finisher in the sport.
3. Canelo Alvarez (57-2-2, 39 KOs)
I hate punishing a guy for daring to be great, but the pound for pound list is too competitive to ignore a loss. Canelo cleaned up the entire super middleweight division in under a year, but he may have bit off more than he could chew with the light heavyweights. He knocked out an aging Sergey Kovalev a few years ago in his first venture into the 178lb division, but he was recently outboxed by undefeated champion Dmitry Bivol. The face of boxing and the fighting pride of Mexico is still a dominant force, but it will be interesting to see how he rebounds.
4. Oleksandr Usyk (19-0, 13 KOs)
With the retirement of Tyson Fury, Usyk becomes the top heavyweight by default. He defeated Anthony Joshua in September for multiple belts, and before that was the undisputed cruiserweight world champion. He stepped away from boxing to join several other notable Ukrainian boxers in defending their country from the Russian invasion, but he is currently preparing to for his first title defense at heavyweight: a rematch with Joshua. Time will tell if ring rust is a factor for him.
5. Errol Spence Jr (28-0, 22 KOs)
It’s been a rough couple years for the undefeated welterweight champion. After a brilliant victory over a prime Shawn Porter in 2019, Spence was injured in a high speed car accident. He made an impressive comeback, and without a tune up fight dominated a respected gatekeeper in Danny Garcia. He was set to fight Manny Pacquiao, but had to back out due to an eye injury. That opened the door for Yordenis Ugas to send the Filipino into retirement. In April, Spence stopped Ugas in a vibrant back and forth unification bout. While boxing fans are still waiting for a battle of undefeated welterweights with Crawford, Spence has taken on plenty of big names in a loaded division.
6. Artur Beterbiev (18-0, 18 KOs)
No one has ever gone the distance with the lumbering light heavyweight champion. A late start to his pro career, injuries, and a legal battle over contract disputes have limited his resume, but the record speaks for itself. Outside of Oleksandr Gvozdyk, he’s drawn some criticism for not fighting enough big talent, but he’s made the most of a relatively small sample size. He just fought Joe Smith Jr, a top 5 talent in the weight class. Smith didn’t even make it out of the second round.
7. Shakur Stevenson (18-0, 9 KOs)
At just 24 years old, Stevenson is already a two division champion. I’ve kept him down in my rankings because although he is arguably the best active defensive boxer, he hadn’t shown himself to be too dangerous offensively. Then he absolutely beat the breaks off Oscar Valdez, a fellow undefeated champion who scored one of the best upsets of last year against former elite champion Miguel Berchelt. Before that, Stevenson stopped an average champion in Jamel Herring. Herring was thoroughly outclassed, but really wasn’t hurt much in the fight. Valdez by comparison, was swollen up as if he had an allergic reaction. Stevenson is quickly becoming a PPV star and rightly so.
8. Vasily Lomachenko (16-2, 11 KOs)
The record isn’t all that impressive, but his fights are eye popping. His 396-1 record still stands as the greatest amateur career ever, which included two Olympic gold medals. His two pro losses can both be chalked up to a lack of urgency. He was never really hurt or battered, he just wasn’t active enough in enough rounds to win. The times he has turned it on and “entered the matrix” though? Sheesh! He has probably the greatest footwork and technical prowess the sport has ever seen. He’s so advanced that he’s usually, literally, 2-3 steps ahead of his opponents. He lost his title to Teofimo Lopez, who stated that Masayoshi Nakatani was the most difficult opponent he’d ever faced. Lomachenko subsequently completely dismantled Nakatani and then thoroughly outboxed former champion Richard Commey.
9. Josh Taylor (19-0, 13 KOs)
Talyor’s undefeated record arguably has an asterisk after a very controversial decision over Jack Catterall in his last fight. Still, it’s hard to keep an undisputed champion off the list. Taylor is still improving as a fighter, and while he still lacks the precision of the guys higher on the list, there are few around his weight that can hang with him.
10. Gervonta Davis (27-0, 25 KOs)
There is still a long road ahead for Davis, who competes in what is arguably boxing’s deepest weight class. Lomachenko is a former pfp king who is now getting older. Ryan Garcia is one of the most physically gifted young talents in the sport. Devin Haney is another unbeaten champion, who it could easily be argued belongs on this list. He just won a unification bout over George Kambosos, who had most recently taken the titles off previously undefeated Teofimo Lopez. There are plenty of major fights to be made in this division, but for now, “Tank” Davis deserves to be here, after folding the undefeated Rolly Romero in his last bout.
Women’s Top 10 Pound for Pound
- Katie Taylor (21-0, 6 KOs)
- Amanda Serrano (42-2-1, 30 KOs)
- Claressa Shields (12-0, 2 KOs)
- Jessica McCaskill (11-2, 4 KOs)
- Seniesa Estrada (22-0, 9 KOs)
- Savannah Marshall (12-0, 10 KOs)
- Mikaela Mayer (17-0, 5 KOs)
- Christina Hammer (28-1, 1 NC, 13 KOs)
- Alycia Baumgardner (12-1, 7 KOs)
- Delfine Persoon (47-3, 18 KOs)
1. Katie Taylor (21-0, 6 KOs)
The undefeated champion beat the #2 pfp fighter in her last fight. Nuff said.
2. Amanda Serrano (42-2-1, 30 KOs)
Serrano may be best technician in women’s boxing. She narrowly lost a split decision to PFP queen Katie Taylor as the headline bout at Madison Square Garden. She’s skillful, exciting, produces knockouts, and is extremely humble. What’s not to like?
3. Claressa Shields (12-0, 2 KOs)
The knockouts haven’t come, but don’t let that fool you. Shields hasn’t had a close fight yet as a pro. The former Olympic champion has been a bully through three weight classes already, in just 12 pro fights. She’s even ventured into MMA. What she lacks in skillful precision she makes up for in strength and durability. She’s built like a tank and refuses to back down to any opponent, regularly jumping around weight classes to make fights happen.
4. Jessica McCaskill (11-2, 4 KOs)
She’s vicious. Those two losses aren’t a great look, but she twice defeated Cecilia Braekhus. The first lady of boxing was just one fight away from breaking Joe Louis’s 70+ year old record for consecutive title defenses. Then McCaskill ruined everything, and even crushed her in the rematch. She’s mean in the ring, and throws with bad intentions. She doesn’t have the precision of movement, but her demeanor and style is reminiscent of Mike Tyson.
5. Seniesa Estrada (22-0, 9 KOs)
It’s hard enough for men to get recognition in the lower weight classes. It’s darn near impossible for women, and yet Estrada is doing it. Not only that, but her knockout rate is terrific considering the women’s format of two minute rounds.
6. Savannah Marshall (12-0, 10 KOs)
Her knockout rate is simply astonishing. If she were a man, she’d already be featuring in co-main events. To have that many stoppages in the women’s format is almost unfathomable. To put things in perspective, let’s look at Deontay Wilder (42-2-1, 41 KOs), who has knocked out all of his professional opponents except Tyson Fury. Prior to losing his titles to Fury, he had the highest knockout percentage of any heavyweight champion ever. Yet if we took away the 19 knockouts that came after the 2:00 mark of a round, or after round 10 (women fight 10 rounds of two minutes, men fight 12 rounds of 3 minutes), his knockout rate would be lower than Marshall’s. It’s not a perfect comparison, or arguably even fair to Wilder (he knocked out Dominic Brezeale 2:17 into round 1 of 12, so that probably wouldn’t have gone the distance anyway), but it gives an idea of how impressive Marshall has been.
7. Mikaela Mayer (17-0, 5 KOs)
She’s still perfecting the range that her long frame allows, but she has knockout power. She sometimes struggles to keep persistent inside fighters from closing the distance, but when she’s dialed in, she’s great to watch. She works well behind her jab, and has decent enough footwork to set up her combos.
8. Christina Hammer (28-1, 1 NC, 13 KOs)
Her only blemish is a decision loss to Claressa Shields. She’s a patient fighter, using her jab to set up the right hand, as her last name suggests. It’s a tough style to operate with under women’s rules, which are less detrimental to fatiguing fighters. Still, she makes it work, and has a solid knockout rate as well.
9. Alycia Baumgardner (12-1, 7 KOs)
Her lone blemish is a split decision. She’s a rising star who is quickly gaining attention and respect. Her 4th round KO over Terri Harper was named women’s knockout of the year for 2021. Her last fight against Edith Soledad Matthysse went the distance, but she swept all ten rounds on all three scorecards.
10. Delfine Persoon (47-3, 19 KOs)
Persoon holds a terrific record, and two of her losses came by decision against Katie Taylor, the best female boxer in the world. The first fight was a controversial majority decision, and perhaps the closest Taylor has come to a loss. However, at 37, age is starting to catch up to her, and she’s starting to slow down. She’s still a force to be reckoned with, but her best days are likely behind her.