2023 is off to an excellent start, with fight after fight meeting or exceeding expectations. Last weekend was no exception with Joe Cordina winning a war against Shavkatdzhon Rakhimov and Gervonta Davis stopping Ryan Garcia in the richest fight of the year so far.
The results through the first third of the year have done plenty to shake things up since the last update. The difference between the top five in overall score rating average is 1.25 points. Put another way, it is nearly a five-way tie at the top.
Here’s a few notes on the update:
- Some title changes and vacant primary titles being filled generated a pool of 51 fighters to evaluate. Several fighters without major primary titles (Davis, Naoya Inoue, Roman Gonzalez, Vasyl Lomachenko, Shakur Stevenson, Kazuto Ioka, Junto Nakatani) were included.
- Wins for Davis and Artur Beterbiev had the most dramatic impact on this update, forcing a reshuffling that bumped Devin Haney out of the number one spot.
- Davis, Inoue, and Gonzalez are or have been part of several notable pound-for-pound lists in the last year. Inoue also vacated his bantamweight titles and is set to challenge Stephen Fulton for a pair of belts at Jr. featherweight. Ioka vacated a belt to rematch what initially was a unification with Joshua Franco. Nakatani moved up after vacating a flyweight belt and will soon challenge for a new title. Nakatani and Gonzalez both lead, or are tied for the lead, in one of the categories used for this index. Stevenson lost the lineal Jr. lightweight throne on the scale and is contending at lightweight.
- Shakur Stevenson and Kenshiro Teraji slip out of the top ten due in part to their opponent’s rankings in their last starts. Teraji’s foe was unranked by Ring Magazine or TBRB, the ratings metrics used for this index. Stevenson’s last foe, Shuichiro Yoshino, was ranked ninth by Ring in their April 1, 2023 ratings update and unranked by TBRB.
- Ten of the 51 fighters evaluated have four or more wins against fighters ranked in the top ten by TBRB and/or Ring in their last five fights or since May 1, 2020. Davis and Nakatani are tied for the lead in unique wins with five apiece.
Let’s see how it shakes out with one-third of 2023 in the books.
1) Artur Beterbiev (19-0, 19 KO)
Overall Points Rank: 3 (29 pts)
Unique Rated Wins Rank: 4 (4 unique wins)
Last Two Starts Rank: 8 (13 pts)
Average Opponent Ranking: 4 (5.2)
Age: 38
Current Lineal Titles: World Light Heavyweight (2019-Present, 4 Defenses)
Current Alphabet Titles: IBF Light Heavyweight (2017-Present, 7 Defenses); WBC Light Heavyweight (2019-Present, 4 Defenses); WBO Light Heavyweight (2022-Present, 1 Defenses)
Additional Titles: TBRB Light Heavyweight (2019-Present, 4 Defenses)
Record in Title Fights: 8-0, 8 KO
Last Five: Anthony Yarde TKO8 (Ring Magazine #7/TBRB #6 – 175), Joe Smith Jr. TKO2 (#3/#2 – 175), Marcus Browne KO9 (#6/#5 – 175), Adam Deines (Unrated), Oleksandr Gvozdyk TKO10 (#1/TBRB Champion – 175)
Three Year Activity Kicker: No
Next Opponent: TBA
The Take: Beterbiev got more than he bargained for with a spirited challenge from Anthony Yarde. As spirited as it was, Yarde ended up being the latest victim of a perfect statistical run. Beterviev has yet to need the judges. It was Beterbiev’s third consecutive top ten win at light heavyweight and fourth in his last five starts. The most fearsome light heavyweight in the world has only the most cerebral, Dmitrii Bivol, in the way of joining a recent trend toward undisputed champions in the sport.
2) Devin Haney (29-0, 15 KO)
Overall Points Rank: 6 (26.5 pts)
Unique Rated Wins Rank: 6 (4 unique wins)
Last Two Starts Rank: 1 (21 pts)
Average Opponent Ranking: 6 (5.7)
Age: 24
Current Lineal Titles: World Lightweight (2022-Present, 1 Defenses)
Current Alphabet Titles: WBC Lightweight (2019-Present, 6 Defenses); IBF/WBA/WBO Lightweight (2022-Present, 1 Defense)
Additional Titles: None
Record in Title Fights: 2-0 (7-0, 1 KO including WBC interim/non-franchise title fights)
Last Five: George Kambosos UD12 (Ring #1/TBRB#1 – 135), George Kambosos UD12 (Champion – 135), Joseph Diaz UD12 (#6/#9 – 135), Jorge Linares UD12 (#7/Unrated), Yuriorkis Gamboa (Unrated – 135)
Three Year Activity Kicker: No
Next Opponent: May 20, 2023 vs. #1/#2 Vasyl Lomachenko (17-2, 11 KO)
The Take: Haney rides high on the strength of his second straight win over George Kambosos. The victory gave Haney four straight wins against champions or top ten contenders according to Ring and/or TBRB. Haney went on the road for both of the wins against Kambosos, barely losing a round along the way. Haney now turns to a man who took a WBC franchise tag rather than defend against him a few years ago: former unified lightweight titlist Vasyl Lomachenko. Would a victorious Haney tempt staying at lightweight one fight longer for a showdown with Gervonta Davis or move to Jr. welterweight to challenge the winner of Josh Taylor-Temofimo Lopez?
3) Gervonta Davis (29-0, 27 KO)
Overall Points Rank: 5 (28.25 pts)
Unique Rated Wins Rank: 1 (5 unique wins)
Last Two Starts Rank: 4 (16.67 pts)
Average Opponent Ranking: 11 (6.2)
Age: 29
Current Alphabet Titles: None
Additional Titles: IBF Super Featherweight (2017, 1 Defense); WBA Super Featherweight (2018-19, 2 Defenses; 2020-21)
Record in Title Fights: 6-0, 6 KO (12-0, 11 KO including interim or sanctioning body sub-title title fights)
Last Five: Ryan Garcia KO7 (#3 – 135), Hector Garcia TKO9 (#2 – 130[-]), Rolly Romero (Unrated), Isaac Cruz (#9/#6 – 135), Mario Barrios (#7/#9 – 140[++])
Three Year Activity Kicker: Yes – Leo Santa Cruz KO 6 (Ring Unranked/TBRB #1[-] – 126)
Next Opponent: TBA
The Take: Davis is off to a big start in 2023. Ranked at the fringes of the top 30 in the competition index at the end of 2022, Davis enters the index top ten strong. Davis has started the year with a pair of highly rated wins to assume the leader spot for unique wins, breaking the tie with Nakatani by way of higher overall points for his wins. Davis’s five unique rated wins are also the most by any fighter in the last three years (Nakatani’s fifth win came in 2019). Davis’s quality of competition is trending upwards and there is no doubt he is the undisputed star of the lightweight division. Can we hope to see Davis challenge the winner of May’s Haney-Lomachenko bout in pursuit of the undisputed championship of the division?
4) Jermell Charlo (35-1-1, 19 KO)
Overall Points Rank: 2 (29.75 pts)
Unique Rated Wins Rank: 11 (3 unique wins)
Last Two Starts Rank: 6 (13.75 pts)
Average Opponent Ranking Rank: 3 (4.2)
Age: 32
Lineal Titles: World Jr. Middleweight (2020-Present, 2 Defenses)
Current Alphabet Titles: WBC Super Welterweight (2019-Present, 3 Defenses); WBA “super” Super Welterweight (2020-Present, 2 Defenses); IBF Jr. Middleweight (2020-Present, 2 Defenses); WBO Jr. Middleweight (2022-Present, 0 Defenses)
Additional Titles: WBC Super Welterweight (2016-18, 3 Defenses); Ring Magazine Jr. Middleweight (2020-Present, 2 Defenses); TBRB Jr. Middleweight (2022-Present, 0 Defenses)
Record in Title Fights: 7-1-1, 6 KO
Last Five Opponents: Brian Castano KO10 (#1/#2 – 154), Brian Castano D12 (#3/#2 – 154), Jeison Rosario KO8 (#2/#1 – 154), Tony Harrison KO11 (#6/#3 – 154), Jorge Cota KO3 (Unrated)
Three Year Activity Kicker: No
Next Opponent: TBA
The Take: Six years after winning his first belt in the division, Jermell Charlo stopped Brian Castano to plant his flag as the defining Jr. middleweight of his era. He reigns over one of boxing’s most competitive divisions. After a first fight plenty felt Castano had won, Charlo replied in emphatic fashion. Charlo is the first to unify all four major sanctioning body titles in the class and all signs point to Charlo keeping the titles together for at least his next defense. Tim Tszyu was set to get the first crack in January and would have been Charlo’s fifth straight top ten foe. The hand injury currently sidelining Charlo allowed Tszyu to bolster his credentials as a challenger with a win over Tony Harrison.
5) Errol Spence Jr. (28-0, 22 KO)
Overall Points Rank: 4 (28.31 pts)
Unique Rated Wins Rank: 5 (4 unique wins)
Last Two Starts Rank: 10 (12.5 pts)
Average Opponent Ranking: 5 (5.28)
Age: 33
Current Alphabet Titles: IBF Welterweight (2017-Present, 6 Defenses); WBC Welterweight (2019-Present, 2 Defenses); WBA Welterweight (2022-Present, 0 Defenses)
Previous Titles: None
Record in Title Fights: 7-0, 4 KO
Last Five Opponents: Yordenis Ugas TKO10 (#3- 147), Danny Garcia UD12 (#6/#7 – 147), Shawn Porter SD12 (#5/#4 – 147), Mikey Garcia UD12 (#1/#2 – 135[–]; Unrated/Champion -140[-]), Carlos Ocampo KO1 (Unrated)
Three Year Activity Kicker: No
Next Opponent: TBA
The Take: Spence rebounded from more than a year off and a horrific auto accident to dominate a game Danny Garcia. Then Spence lost another year and change to an eye injury, scuttling a planned showdown with Manny Pacquiao. It did not matter as Spence battered Cuba’s Yordenis Ugas to add a third belt at welterweight. A showdown with Terence Crawford didn’t materialize in 2022 and whether it will in 2023 remains to be seen. Injuries and inactivity have gutted the prime of Spence but a win over Crawford would stamp this era as his.
6) Saul Alvarez (58-2-2, 39 KO)
Overall Points Rank: 1 (42.46 pts)
Unique Rated Wins Rank: 3 (4 unique wins)
Last Two Starts Rank: 27 (7.12 pts)
Average Opponent Ranking: 2 (3.5)
Age: 32
Current Lineal Titles: World Super Middleweight (2021-Present, 1 Defense)
Current Alphabet Titles: WBA Super Middleweight (2020-Present, 4 Defenses); WBC Super Middleweight (2020-Present, 4 Defenses); WBO Super Middleweight (2021-Present, 2 Defense); IBF Super Middleweight (2021-Present, 1 Defense)
Additional Lineal Titles: World Middleweight (2015-21, 4 Defenses)
Additional Titles: WBC Super Welterweight (2011-13, 6 Defenses); Ring Super Welterweight (2013); WBC Middleweight (2015-17, 2 Defenses; 2018-19, 1 Defense); WBO Super Welterweight (2016-17); IBF middleweight (2019); WBO Light Heavyweight (2019); WBA Middleweight (2018-21, 1 Defense); TBRB/Ring Magazine Middleweight (2015-17, 1 Defense; 2018-21, 1 Defense); Ring Magazine Super Middleweight (2020-Present, 4 Defenses); TBRB Super Middleweight (2021-Present, 1 Defense)
Record in Title Fights: 18-2-1, 10 KO (19-2-1, 11 KO including WBA secondary title fights)
Last Five: Gennadiy Golovkin UD12 (#1 – (160[-]), Dmitrii Bivol L12 (#2/#1 – 175[+]), Caleb Plant TKO11 (#2 – 168), Billy Joe Saunders RTD8 (Ring #5/TBRB #6 – 168), Avni Yildirim RTD3 (Unrated)
Three Year Activity Kicker: Yes – Callum Smith UD12 (Ring Champion/#1 – 168)
Next Opponent: May 6, 2023 vs. #5 John Ryder (32-5, 18 KO)
The Take: Coming off a defeat for the first time since a loss to Floyd Mayweather in 2013, Alvarez built a huge lead against Gennadiy Golovkin and held his own in a few spirited exchanges down the stretch to end their rivalry for good. Next up is John Ryder in a homecoming fight for Alvarez in Mexico. Ryder will be Alvarez’s fifth straight foe ranked in their class by Ring or TBRB and Alvarez’s eleventh in his last twelve starts. Alvarez has said he’s eyeing a chance at revenge with Bivol but there will be fans who prefer a showdown with David Benavidez after Benavidez’s win over Caleb Plant.
7) Josh Taylor (19-0, 13 KO)
Overall Points Rank: 8 (24.5 pts)
Unique Rated Wins Rank: 7 (4 unique wins)
Last Two Starts Rank: 12 (10 pts)
Average Opponent Ranking: 8 (6.1)
Age: 32
Current Lineal Titles: World Jr. Welterweight (2021-Present, 1 Defense)
Current Alphabet Titles: WBO Jr. Welterweight (2021-Present, 1 Defense)
Additional Titles: Ring Magazine Jr. Welterweight (2019-Present, 3 Defenses); TBRB Jr. Welterweight (2021-Present, 1 Defense); IBF Jr. Welterweight (2019-22, 4 Defenses); WBA Super Lightweight (2019-22, 3 Defenses); WBC Super Lightweight (2021-22, 1 Defense)
Record in Title Fights: 5-0, 1 KO
Last Five: Jack Catterall SD12 (Unrated/#10 – 140), Jose Ramirez UD12 (#1/#2 – 140), Apinun Khongsong KO1 (Unrated), Regis Prograis MD12 (#1 – 140), Ivan Baranchyk UD12 (#6/#7 – 140)
Three Year Activity Kicker: No
Next Opponent: June 10, 2023 vs. #10/#9 Teofimo Lopez (18-1, 13 KO)
The Take: Taylor is here largely by the grace of an official decision. Plenty felt Catterall did enough to beat him but a rematch to resolve the issue fell apart. Taylor will return to the ring after more than a year away to face former lineal lightweight king Teofimo Lopez. Both men will be looking to kick start stalled careers. Still the lineal champion of the class, Taylor will look to remind the world where he stands in the pecking order in the red hot Jr. welterweight division in June.
8) Stephen Fulton (21-0, 8 KO)
Points Rank: 10 (20.5 pts)
Unique Rated Wins Rank: 12 (3 unique wins)
Last Two Starts Rank: 5 (15.5 pts)
Average Opponent Ranking: 14 (6.9)
Age: 28
Current Alphabet Titles: WBO Jr. Featherweight (2021-Present, 2 Defenses); WBC Super Bantamweight (2021-Present, 1 Defense)
Additional Titles: None
Record in Title Fights: 3-0
Last Five Opponents: Daniel Roman UD12 (#3 – 122), Brandon Figueroa MD12 (#4/#3 – 122), Angelo Leo UD12 (#6 – 122), Arnold Khegai UD12 (Unrated), Isaac Avelar KO6 (Unrated)
Three Year Activity Kicker: No
Next Opponent: July 25, 2023 vs. Naoya Inoue (24-0, 21 KO)
The Take: In what might be the best piece of matchmaking currently on the books, Fulton will travel to Japan to defend his belts against recently-undisputed bantamweight king Naoya Inoue. Boxing doesn’t get much better. Inoue vacated his title claims at bantamweight and is technically unrated by TBRB or Ring right now with his Jr. featherweight debut pending. For the purposes of the index, Fulton would be credited with beating a rising world champion…if Fulton wins. Fulton enters with three wins in a row against top ten opposition with a lopsided decision over Daniel Roman and Inoue will be the fifth undefeated opponent in Fulton’s last six starts.
9) Dmitrii Bivol (21-0, 11 KO)
Overall Points Rank: 12 (19.06 pts)
Unique Rated Wins Rank: 20 (2 unique wins)
Last Two Starts Rank: 2 (19.06 pts)
Average Opponent Ranking: 15 (7.1)
Age: 32
Current Alphabet Titles: WBA Light Heavyweight (2017-Present, 10 Defenses)
Additional Titles: None
Record in Title Fights: 10-0, 3 KO (13-0, 4 KO including interim title fights)
Last Five: Gilberto Ramirez UD12 (#3 – 175), Saul Alvarez UD12 (Champion – 168[-]), Umar Salamov UD12 (Unrated), Craig Richards UD12 (Unrated), Lenin Castillo UD12 (Unrated)
Three Year Activity Kicker: No
Next Opponent: TBA
The Take: Bivol went from building a solid resume at light heavyweight to what felt like limbo between his wins over Joe Smith and Saul Alvarez. The latter of those two was a hell of a way to get things going again. Bivol was the first man to officially defeat Alvarez since Floyd Mayweather and Bivol trounced the unbeaten Ramirez as an encore. A rematch with Alvarez would be lucrative but the best fight at light heavyweight is the same as it’s been for several years: a showdown with Beterbiev. Public pressure to see this fight, between men who have reigned together for going on six years, needs to amplify.
10) Naoya Inoue (24-0, 21 KO)
Overall Points Rank: 13 (19 pts)
Unique Rated Wins Rank: 13 (3 unique wins)
Last Two Starts Rank: 7 (13.5 pts)
Average Opponent Ranking: 17 (7.2)
Age: 30
Additional Lineal Titles: World Bantamweight (2022-23, 1 Defense)
Current Alphabet Titles: None
Additional Titles: WBC Light Flyweight (2014, 1 Defense); WBO Jr. Bantamweight (2014-18, 7 defenses); Ring Magazine Bantamweight (2019-23, 6 Defenses); IBF Bantamweight (2019-23, 6 Defenses); TBRB Bantamweight (2022-23, 1 Defense) WBA Bantamweight (2019-23, 5 Defenses); WBC Bantamweight (2022-23, 1 Defense); WBO Bantamweight (2022-23)
Record in Title Fights: 17-0, 15 KO (19-0, 17 KO including sub-title fights)
Last Five: Paul Butler KO11 (#6/#8 – 118); Nonito Donaire TKO2 (#1/#2 – 118); Aran Dipaen TKO8 (Unranked – 118); Michael Dasmarinas KO3 (Unranked – 118); Jason Moloney KO7 (#6/#5 – 118)
Three Year Activity Kicker: No
Next Opponent: July 25, 2023 vs. #1 Stephen Fulton (21-0, 8 KO)
The Take: Inoue will attempt to win alphabet titles in his fourth weight class in July after a short injury delay to the anticipated Fulton showdown. If Inoue pulls it off, he will be halfway to undisputed in a second weight class, potentially setting up a showdown with newly crowned Marlon Tapales later this year. Inoue-Fulton is going to be one of the richest fights in history below featherweight and they have the style clash to deliver a classic. Fulton will be Inoue’s eighth ranked opponent in his last ten starts.
Rest of the Top Thirty: Roman Gonzalez (Ranked 18 on Overall Points/15 on Unique Wins/18 on Last Two Starts/1 on Average Opponent Ranking), Tie – Tyson Fury (7/18/25/7)/Juan Francisco Estrada (11/19/12/15), Kenshiro Teraji (22/16/12/8), Oleksandr Usyk (13/30/3/17), Shakur Stevenson (8/7/31/22), Vasyl Lomachenko (22/10/29/8), Tie – Mauricio Lara (15/21/29/13)/Joe Cordina (21/23/8/26), Petchamanee CP Freshmart (16/31/20/20), Terence Crawford (25/17/16/30), Tie – Sunny Edwards (19/9/38/24)/Kazuto Ioka (17/14/39/20), Hector Garcia (28/25/33/12), Junto Nakatani (29/2/36/33), Jai Opetaia (27/33/11/31), Joshua Franco (26/32/28/19), Tie – Jesse Rodriguez (20/22/43/25)/Fernando Martinez (30/34/12/34), O’Shaquie Foster (31/26/19/35)
Previous Competition Index Updates
July 2020
November 2020
January 2021
March 2021
July 2021
January 2022
May 2022
July 2022
October 2022
January 2023
Here’s how it works (with updated criterion in bold).
Using the most recent ratings available in a print issue of Ring (or now monthly sample of online ratings) or the most recent archived Transnational Boxing Rankings Board ratings prior to a fight:
- Every primary WBA, WBC, IBF, and WBO titlist, some select recent former titlists, and fighters who appeared in either the Ring or TBRB pound for pound top ten in the last year or so were evaluated based on the official results against their last five opponents and/or last three years of activity and what those opponents were rated heading into the fight.
- Wins over rated opponents started at 11 points for a recognized TBRB or Ring champion down to one point for defeating a number ten contender. Draws got half credit. No points were given for a No Contest or No Decision but the result will be noted.
- Fighters who have produced a higher activity level were given a kicker score for any wins over rated opposition in the last three years no later than January 1, 2020. Everyone evaluated was scored for their last five opponents even if that was past the three year mark.
- Losses to rated opponents were given an inverse score, beginning with -1 for a champion down to -11.
- Losses to unrated opponents received a universal score of -12.
- Wins over unrated opponents were worth nothing.
- If there is a difference between a fighter’s Ring and TBRB rankings, the average of the two numbers was used (i.e. a win over a fighter rated second by one body and fifth by the other would be worth 7.5 pts).
- If a fighter was rated by only Ring or TBRB, half credit was given for a win based on the single rating. A loss total would come from an average of -12 and the point loss that would apply to the rating that was in place.
- Moves between weight classes were adjusted for by taking into consideration the body weight shift between weight classes. In other words, if a rated Jr. welterweight jumped up to beat a rated welterweight, the math would work like this: 147/140 multiplied by the divisional rating score. It works in reverse for a win over a fighter rated lower (i.e. 160/168 multiplied by the smaller fighters rating in his class). In an over the weight class fight, the divisions the men were rated in were used.
- Fighters from a higher class are noted with a [+], from a lower [-], after the weight limit of their respective weight class. The totals generated result in a rating for overall total score.
- Each fighter evaluated is given a score for how many unique wins they have against rated opponents; beating the same opponent twice counts for only one unique win. They are then rated based on unique wins with tiebreakers decided by whoever holds higher total points.
- A rating is generated for the point total for each fighter’s last two wins.
- The Ring/TBRB rankings for each fighter’s qualified opponents is generated on a scale of 0-11 (0 for champion/11 for unranked). Adjustments are made for weight classes. As an example, super middleweight champion Saul Alvarez’s 2022 loss at light heavyweight to Dmitrii Bivol came with Bivol ranked #2 by Ring and #1 by TBRB at light heavyweight. That’s an average ranking of 1.5. Adjusting for the move up in weight, 168 is divided by 175 and multiplied by 1.5 for a 1.44. Conversely, Alvarez’s defense at super middleweight against #1 ranked middleweight Gennadiy Golovkin would result in a 1.5 for Golovkin. The opponent rankings are combined and divided by total qualified fights for an average opponent ranking. Those averages were ordered lowest to highest and assigned a rating.
- The rating in each scoring category (Total/Unique Wins/Last Two Bouts/Average Opponent Ranking) were averaged against each other for a final score. Tiebreakers go to the fighter with the highest overall points.
- All divisions were treated equally based on the idea fighters can only face the men in their division while they are there and all point totals were applied based on official results.
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, a member of the International Boxing Research Organization, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com