Who is the best pressure fighter of the last 15 years? 

With the upcoming bout, Vergil Ortiz versus Erickson Lubin on Saturday at the Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, we are thinking about pressure fighters.

Ortiz is one of the best modern pressure fighters in the sport. It begs the question, who are his pressure-fighter peers? Who are the most relentless and brutal fighters of this timeframe? Often, a pressure fighter is a fan-favorite, as it is a style that leads to action. BoxingScene looks back on some of the best we have seen. 

10. Ruslan Provodnikov

Record: 25-5 (18 KOs)

Provodnikov was a crude craftsman who sometimes showed that having one weapon was more powerful than many. His weapon of choice was power and aggression. Provodnikov made his name in the sport by having a competitive and close fight with Timothy Bradley Jnr, one that some still believe he won. He followed that by walking down and dismantling Mike Alvarado. Yet, well-schooled boxers who were durable, like Chris Algieri and Mauricio Herrera, showed that he was not invincible. Provodnikov was also known for taking punches as he prioritized aggression and offense, as much as he mentally broke opponents with relentless offense.

9. Gabriela Fundora

Record: 17-0 (9 KOs)

Though one could easily include her brother, Sebastian, who is a junior middleweight titleholder, Gabriela mixes straight punches with a forward pressure that has seen her stop four of her last five opponents. Fundora is technical, but like all good pressure fighters, she loves to dish out damage, and when she sees an opponent going backwards in a fight, she pounces. Fundora is the only women’s boxer included on this list, and for good reason. She is stopping opponents with not just her power, but the pressure she applies in the ring. 

8. Isaac Cruz

Record: 28-3-1 (18 KOs)

Cruz stands at 5ft 4ins while fighting much taller opponents. He compensates for his size by having solid power, a good motor, and relentlessly stalking his opponents. At times, he can struggle to cut off the ring, but that doesn’t stop the steam on his shots. Cruz loves to land hard, concussive blows, and his focus shifts to doing damage rather than winning a fight on points. This has been a gift and a curse as fighters like Jose Valenzuela took advantage of that, looking just to land clean blows. Cruz is best known for giving Gervonta Davis a hard fight and has become a beloved modern Mexican fighter.

7. Errol Spence Jnr

Record: 28-1 (22 KOs)

Spence fought the same way as an amateur as he did as a pro. A strong southpaw who was looking to overwhelm his opponent with bone-shattering blows and volume. He would come at his opponent and look to do damage. The formula worked until he ran into Terence Crawford, who used that against him. Nonetheless, Spence for the most part excelled at one trait, though he could box off the back foot, his strongest trait was to fight like a downhill running back who batters his foes. 

6. Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez

Record: 53-4 (42 KOs)

Gonzalez was an offensive wonder, and while detractors will point to his defensive flaws, which he was able to get away with for a bit longer, fighting at the lower weights where fighters don’t traditionally hit as hard as the higher weight classes, Gonzalez, especially at his natural weights of junior flyweight and flyweight, was able to throw in combination while backing opponents up. Like most good pressure fighters, he set a pace for his fights, but he did it with fluidity and combination punching not typically seen in pressure fighters. Gonzalez was able to unload a unique combination punching with little wasted movement when attacking opponents. It vaulted him to become a four-division titleholder. 

5. Saul “Canelo” Alvarez

Record: 63-3-2 (39 KOs)

Alvarez learned from difficult styles. When he lost to Floyd Mayweather, he picked up elements of his style. What people don’t talk about is that when he had a draw with Gennadiy Golovkin, he began to implement Golovkin’s aggression and looked to break down opponents. Alvarez, after the second Golovkin bout that he won, was a heavy-handed puncher with good reflexes, looking to set traps and land big blows. His run to becoming undisputed at the super middleweight division was largely based on putting a ton of forward pressure on his opponents, while timing them with hooks.

4. Vergil Ortiz

Record: 23-0 (21 KOs)

Ortiz forces opponents to think fast. A hurried pace with one punch KO power, and a solid gas tank, and you have one of the most fearsome modern fighters in Ortiz. Ortiz is one of the most effective and efficient pressure fighters in recent memory. Ortiz has the traits of an all-time great boxer; now he just has to live up to his potential.

3. David Benavidez 

Record: 30-0 (24 KOs)

Benavidez towers over many, even at light heavyweight, with his 6ft 2ins frame seeming even bigger at times. Benavidez has the ability to throw fast combinations, with each blow being dealt capable of putting someone out. Add to it, Benavidez enjoys putting pressure on his opponents and seems to get stronger and better as his opponent finds discomfort in what he is doing. Benavidez is mentally strong, respectful until he feels disrespected and fully capable of winning a tough fight, like we saw when he edged David Morrell. Benavidez has blinding handspeed that is not often seen with pressure fighters.

2. Gennadiy Golovkin 

Record: 42-2-1 (37 KOs)

In his prime, Golovkin was amazing for a fan to see, and horrifying if you were his opponent. Golovkin was a technician. He didn’t have to move fast, but he made the fight fast. His hands were heavy, his boxing IQ was high, he could box if he wanted, essentially, he could do anything in the ring except move exceptionally fast with his feet. Golovkin was able to cut off the ring, hurt his opponents, and not let them off the hook. He was a great television fighter of the last decade. Golovkin’s greatest trait was setting opponents up, as he had a diverse collection of punches and was willing to throw shots away to set traps to land bigger shots. Golovkin was one of the most offensively gifted fighters in recent memory. 

1. Artur Beterbiev

Record: 21-1 (20 KOs)

Beterbiev is the modern gold standard of a pressure fighter. Beterbiev is the archetype for an all-time great pressure fighter. He can cut the ring off, set traps, and beat down his opponents until he fought Bivol. Beterbiev is so good at being a pressure fighter that many have underrated his vast boxing skill, since he made complicated fights look easy with his power, conditioning, and fight intelligence. If any young fighter wanted to learn how to be a pressure fighter (and hit above average), Beterbiev would be a good person to start watching tape on. He wrote the modern-day book on how to dismantle world-class opponents going forward. 

Honorable Mention: Subriel Matias, Sebastian Fundora, Ricky Hatton, Christin Medina, and Brandon Figueroa.