Who are the best boxers in the world, regardless of weight and size? BOXSPORT also regularly investigates this question and presents an updated Top 10 “Pound for Pound” with the best fighters currently available.
#10 Shakur Stevenson (24-0-0, 11 knockouts)
After the fast and, above all, defensively highly talented American unified the WBC and WBO world championship belts at super featherweight in 2022, Shakur Stevenson moved up to the more prestigious lightweight. After four victories and winning the WBC title, he is now considered number 1 in the 61.2 kilo limit. If Stevenson also beats his US rival Gervonta Davis or a top man like Floyd Schofield, he could climb up the P4P rankings.
#9 Teofimo Lopez (22-1-0, 13 knockouts)
The New Yorker’s star rose in 2020 when he surprisingly dethroned lightweight king Vassiliy Lomachenko. A career slump followed before Lopez bounced back and won the semi-welterweight crown with a victory over Josh Taylor in 2023. He has defended this unspectacularly three times so far – it would be time for another big fight. Devin Haney, Gervonta Davis or Ryan Garcia would be ideal dance partners for a pay-per-view spectacle.
#8 Junto Nakatani (31-0-0-, 24 knockouts)
As WBC and IBF world champion, the southpaw from Japan is the measure of all things at bantamweight. Nakatani’s knockout rate of 77 percent is impressive for the class up to 52.16 kilograms. The “silent warrior” is following in the footsteps of his compatriot Naoya Inoue and has already been world champion at flyweight and super flyweight. That’s why the boxing world is desperate to see the Japanese barnstormer against the super bantamweight “monster”. This fight would pulverize all records in the land of the rising sun.
Text by Martin Armbruster
You can find the complete BOXSPORT top 10 with other top-class fighters such as Oleksandr Usyk, Canelo Alvarez and co. in the current issue of BOXSPORT! Now in the BOXSPORT app! Click here to subscribe!