For as long as fans have followed professional prizefighting, identifying boxing’s “best” fighter at any given time has been the source of spirited debate in watering holes and on message boards from Australia to Zimbabwe. So what if we can’t truly determine whether, if all things were equal on the scales, Oscar Collazo would take down Oleksandr Usyk? We can sure as hell argue about it.

And that, for better or worse, is the crux of the pound-for-pound list. The exercise isn’t perfect or clean or even completely objective. The criteria is a bit ambiguous and the choices subject to personal tastes. But it’s a debate (most) fans relish, so we’re more than happy to indulge. Here’s BoxingScene’s latest update:

10. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez, 35, super middleweight

63-3-2 (39 KOs)

Most recently: Lost UD12 to Terence Crawford (September 13, 2025)

You don’t often see a fighter in his mid-30s, with nearly 70 pro fights and coming off a loss, hop into the pound-for-pound rankings. But Alvarez was able to slip through the backdoor into our list after his previous opponent – Terence Crawford, who had been our P4P No. 1 – hung up his gloves after their clash last September. Alvarez may very well be replaced here before he ever recovers from elbow surgery and returns to the ring, but it’s a measure of how potent he remains that he appears here at all.

Next: TBD

9. Oscar Collazo, 29, strawweight

14-0 (11 KOs)

Most recently: Won TKO6 over Jesus Haro (March 14, 2026)

Collazo makes his debut on the BoxingScene pound-for-pound list after his dominant win over Haro, though his move had as much to do with the departure of Crawford and Artur Beterbiev (who hasn’t fought in more than a year and had no fight scheduled) as his most recent performance. Still, it’s symbolic of the growing recognition of the lower weight classes that Collazo was able to join fellow “little guys” Junto Nakatani, Jesse Rodriguez and Naoya Inoue in our rankings. One of the biggest hitters among the lower weights, Collazo will be fun to watch for as long as he lasts.  

Next: TBD

8. Devin Haney, 27, welterweight

33-0 (15 KOs)

Most recently: Won UD12 over Brian Norman Jnr (November 22, 2025)

Haney’s excellent win over Norman – in which he knocked down and seemingly had Norman in danger of being stopped – put to rest any lingering concerns about PTSD following Haney’s three-knockdown loss to Ryan Garcia in April 2024 (since ruled a no-contest) and a lukewarm win over Jose Ramirez last May. Haney looked sharp and powerful against the previously unbeaten Norman, even if he may have eased off the accelerator a bit in the fight’s second half.

Next: TBD

7. David Benavidez, 29, light heavyweight

31-0 (25 KOs)

Most recently: Won TKO7 over Anthony Yarde (November 22, 2025)

If he isn’t boxing’s most avoided fighter, Benavidez has been notoriously avoided by some of the sport’s biggest names – including (but not limited to) Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Benavidez hung on at super middleweight for as long as he could, and when it became clear that the Canelo fight wouldn’t materialize, he moved up to light heavy and began knocking off highly credible opponents. The latest: a seven-round punishment of Anthony Yarde in Benavidez’s first defense of the full title. He has floated the idea of an eventual move to heavyweight, but Benavidez will first try to take over Canelo’s corner – Mexican Independence Day weekend – in a unification bout with Gilberto Ramirez in Las Vegas.

Next: Gilberto Ramirez (May 2)

6. Junto Nakatani, 28, junior featherweight

32-0 (24 KOs)

Most recently: Won UD12 over Sebastian Hernandez Reyes (December 27, 2025)

After unifying bantamweight titles last spring, Nakatani left behind his belts, traveled to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, and moved up to junior featherweight to dispatch Sebastian Hernandez Reyes on Naoya Inoue’s undercard. It was all a precursor to the making of perhaps the greatest matchup in Japanese boxing history, a blockbuster between Nakatani and four-weight champion Inoue, the current lineal and unified 122lbs champ. The Tokyo Dome on May 2 figures to be an environment like none before it.

Next: Naoya Inoue (May 2)

5. Shakur Stevenson, 28, junior welterweight

25-0 (11 KOs)

Most recently: Won UD12 over Teofimo Lopez Jnr (January 31, 2026)

Too often in boxing, promising young fighters are endlessly hyped as future stars, only to flicker and fade before they ever so much as begin to prove what all the fuss was about. So we should take a moment to appreciate what Stevenson is doing right now. After picking off a long series of lesser opponents and, perhaps worse, feinting his way through a few snoozefests against stiffer competition, Stevenson is now delivering the goods. He turned the volume down on free-swinging William Zepeda last July, then moved up to junior welterweight in January to dismantle Teofimo Lopez Jnr, usurp his title and become a four-division champion.

Next: TBD

4. Dmitry Bivol, 34, light heavyweight

24-1 (12 KOs)

Most recently: Won MD12 over Artur Beterbiev (February 22, 2025)

It wasn’t long ago that Bivol was regarded as little more than a curiosity, a technical wiz feasting on his division’s gatekeepers and has-beens. But over the past three-plus years, he has handed Gilberto Ramirez his first loss, humbled Canelo Alvarez and then avenged his first pro defeat by outclassing Beterbiev in their rematch. After undergoing surgery to remove a herniated disc (and, some would say, dragging his feet), Bivol is finally moving back toward the ring again: He recently came to an agreement on a defense against mandatory Michael Eifert, most likely in support of the Oleksandr Usyk-Rico Verhoeven heavyweight main event at Egypt’s Pyramids of Giza on May 23.

Next: Michael Eifert (details to be confirmed)

3. Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez, 26, junior bantamweight

23-0 (16 KOs)

Most recently: Won KO10 over Fernando Martinez

The youngest fighter on this list, Rodriguez is already a two-time junior bantamweight titlist and a two-division champ. He’s also something of a boxing unicorn – a small southpaw with brilliant technique who also happens to hit like a bullet train. He has already beaten distinguished former titleholders in Juan Francisco Estrada, Carlos Cuadras and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai, and taken apart undefeated contenders in Sunny Edwards and, most recently, Martinez. The unhinged fantasy matchmakers among boxing fans are calling for Rodriguez to move up two more divisions to test himself against Inoue. Crazier still, Rodriguez is willing to do it – in Inoue’s native Tokyo, no less. Put nothing past him.

Next: TBD

2. Naoya Inoue, 32, junior featherweight

32-0 (27 KOs)

Most recently: Won UD12 over David Picasso (December 27, 2025)

If you’re looking for cracks in the foundation, it would be easy to point to Inoue’s inability to finish his past two opponents early, following six straight knockouts since he moved up to junior featherweight in July 2023. That’s a little disingenuous given how easily he cast aside Murodjon Akhmadaliev last September and David Picasso last December, not to mention how high Inoue had already set the bar. In any case, we should know much more about where Inoue, the lineal and undisputed 122lbs champ, stands after his next bout: a colossal clash with Nakatani at the Tokyo Dome in May.

Next: Junto Nakatani (May 2)

1. Oleksandr Usyk, 39, heavyweight

24-0 (15 KOs)

Most recently: Won KO5 over Daniel Dubois (July 19, 2025)

Fans may not love the idea of the current undisputed heavyweight champion of the world spending the waning days of his 30s taking on anything but the most daring challenges, but after Usyk toppled Anthony Joshua, Tyson Fury and Daniel Dubois twice apiece over the past five years, he would seem to have no lands left to conquer. That is, unless you include Egypt and the realm of kickboxers, which Rico Verhoeven has dominated for more than a decade. Verhoeven will be Usyk’s next opponent, lined up for a May bout in the shadow of the Pyramids of Giza. At the very least, you have to give Usyk points for showmanship.

Next: Rico Verhoeven (May 23)

Jason Langendorf is the former Boxing Editor of ESPN.com, was a contributor to Ringside Seat and the Queensberry Rules, and has written about boxing for Vice, The Guardian, Chicago Sun-Times and other publications. A member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, he can be found at LinkedIn and followed on X and Bluesky.