B/R Boxing Rankings for November 2022
What would the holidays be without a little tumult?
So, in keeping with what's surely going on in family rooms across America these days, the B/R combat staff is changing things up on the rankings side, too.
Though many fighters from October's pound-for-pound boxing list have hung on for a place in November's list as well, there's been a fair bit of change in the order.
It's all part of the perpetual debate over who's the best of the best regardless of weight class, and our rubric for the rankings from heavyweight on down includes recent fight results, past performances and input from other respected sources, including The Ring and Boxing Scene, among others.
Scroll through to see what we came up with, and drop a line with your own thoughts in the comments.
10. Devin Haney
1 of 10
Weight Class: 135 pounds
Titles Held: IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO
It probably took him a bit longer than he'd have preferred but now that he's won and defended an undisputed lightweight championship, it'd be hard to deny Devin Haney a spot at the pound-for-pound table.
The 24-year-old California-born "Dream" had been a rising commodity at 135 pounds for a long time considering his age. Two clear wins this year over George Kambosos Jr. gave him preeminence beyond any reasonable argument.
That sort of membership has its privileges, and Haney's dance card will certainly be full going forward. Perhaps early next year there will be a showdown against Top Rank teammate Vasyl Lomachenko.
9. Tyson Fury
2 of 10
Weight Class: Heavyweight
Title Held: WBC
Tyson Fury is allegedly fighting again December 3.
But you'll forgive us if a third match against a guy he's already beaten twice doesn't exactly have us trembling with anticipation.
Rather than an all-England showdown with Anthony Joshua, an undisputed match with fellow champ Oleksandr Usyk or even a novelty circus with UFC kingpin Francis Ngannou, the Gypsy King chose to risk his WBC belt against two-time victim Derek Chisora.
Fury won a decision over Chisora in 2011 and beat him by knockout in 2014, and the match seems even more needless given the challenger's three-fight skid before he rallied to beat the dubious Kubrat Pulev by split decision in July.
So while it's always an event when a heavyweight champ enters the ring, it won't be particularly memorable on December 3 at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London unless Fury loses.
8. Shakur Stevenson
3 of 10
Weight Class: 135 pounds
Titles Held: None
When it comes to Haney and the burgeoning crop of suitors he's likely to have in days to come, none is more intriguing than Shakur Stevenson.
The 25-year-old has already won belts in two weight classes, and now that he's encountered difficulty making 130 pounds, he has his sights set on entering the mix at 135.
A medalist in the 2016 Olympics, Stevenson is 19-0 as a pro and has been a champion at both 126 and 130.
He was penciled in to defend against Robson Conceição in September, but he failed to make weight and vacated his titles before winning another clear decision.
His move to 135 and affiliation with Top Rank make bouts with the likes of Lomachenko and López doable, not to mention Haney or even Gervonta Davis.
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7. Jermell Charlo
4 of 10
Weight Class: 154 pounds
Titles Held: IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO
It's not a glamorous division, but 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo is doing all he can to make himself a glamorous fighter.
Charlo has campaigned at junior/middleweight/super welterweight for the bulk of a career that he began as a teenager in 2007, and he's been on the championship level for nearly every moment since a KO of John Jackson earned him the WBC belt in 2016.
He defended the title three times, lost it and regained it across two fights with Tony Harrison in 2018 and 2019. He has gone 2-0-1 since while adding the IBF, WBA and WBO belts to his stash.
There isn't a particularly compelling foe coming his way these days at 154, but he'd certainly be interested if and when a stream of welterweights named Crawford, Spence or Garcia begins flowing his direction.
6. Errol Spence Jr.
5 of 10
Weight Class: 147 pounds
Titles Held: IBF/WBA/WBC
Yeah. About those welterweights.
Errol Spence Jr. was hoping (we think) to punctuate his stay at 147 pounds with an epic showdown with fellow unbeaten kingpin Terence Crawford. In fact, it had gotten to the point where multiple reports indicated it was penciled in for mid-November.
But now that mid-November has come and gone, it may be time for other things.
Blame for the fact that the fight hasn't happened can be divvied up as you like, but the postscript reality is Spence may need to get future welterweight clashes against guys like Jaron Ennis rather than Crawford. Or, as we mentioned a moment ago, perhaps a jump at Charlo.
5. Dmitry Bivol
6 of 10
Weight Class: 175 pounds
Title Held: WBA
Ladies and gentlemen, meet your Fighter of the Year.
Though Dmitry Bivol was already a reigning champion with multiple title defenses at light heavyweight when 2022 began, he's taken his persona to new levels since January 1.
The WBA claimant was brought in as the B-side for Canelo Álvarez's latest rise to 175 pounds in the spring, but the 12-round clinic he put on against the ambitious, cinnamon-haired Mexican flipped the script in stunning fashion.
He added another layer to his FOY claim earlier this month when he won nearly every second of every round while scoring another unanimous decision against previously unbeaten former 168-pound champ Gilberto Ramírez.
The two wins have given him the pick of the litter when it comes to his future fights, leaving him with the possibility of a 2023 repeat with both a unification bout against fellow 175-pound champ Artur Beterbiev and a lucrative rematch with Álvarez.
4. Canelo Álvarez
7 of 10
Weight Class: 168 pounds
Titles Held: IBF/WBA/WBC/WBO
And on the flip side of Bivol, we find the aforementioned Álvarez.
The current or former champion in four weight classes warrants a spot ahead of his recent conqueror thanks to career accomplishment, but he won't have a chance to add to his resume in any significant way until at least May.
Álvarez emerged from a trilogy-clinching defeat of Gennady Golovkin in September with damage to his left arm and/or wrist that he said would require surgery.
If he returns in the spring, it'll likely be a tuneup fight in anticipation of either a return with Bivol or maybe a first-time date with Beterbiev in the late summer.
3. Terence Crawford
8 of 10
Weight Class: 147 pounds
Title Held: WBO
Again, and unfortunately, the headlines regarding Crawford have little to do with fights.
Or at least with fights that anyone is excited about.
Oh, he's actually meeting David Avanesyan on December 10 in his native Omaha, Nebraska, in defense of his WBO welterweight title. Given the frustration at the Spence fight not happening and the petty back and forth between the foiled rivals on social media, though, there's more blowback than anticipation as this fight approaches.
Like Spence before him, Crawford has accomplished nearly all there is to accomplish in a career that's yielded titles in three weight classes.
So if an ultimate showdown doesn't happen, he'll need to engage the likes of Ennis or Vergil Ortiz Jr. at 147 or rise to chase Charlo at 154 to maintain his high standard.
2. Naoya Inoue
9 of 10
Weight Class: 118 pounds
Titles Held: IBF/WBA/WBC
Perception is reality. And the perception is that Naoya Inoue is actively chasing greatness, no matter the opponent.
Already a three-belt champion at bantamweight, the Japan-based "Monster" is fighting for the second time this year and hoping to add "undisputed" to his resume with a December 13 showdown against 118-pound claimant Paul Butler.
He's five months off a smashing second-round KO of Nonito Donaire, so an equally compelling destruction of Butler could give him a viable case alongside Bivol when it comes to Fighter of the Year.
Donaire is a future Hall of Famer and had gone 12 compelling rounds with Inoue in their first fight. Butler isn't nearly as decorated, though, and his 1-2 record in three career title fights may be the item that leans the needle in Bivol's favor.
1. Oleksandr Usyk
10 of 10
Weight Class: Heavyweight
Titles Held: IBF/WBA/WBO
When Oleksandr Usyk fights, people watch.
And when the Ukrainian is finished fighting, people rate him highly.
Already an undisputed champion at cruiserweight, Usyk scaled the heavyweight mountain with a defeat of three-belt champ Anthony Joshua last year and repeated the feat this year to legitimize his claim.
He's at the top of The Ring's pound-for-pound list these days and eyeing a unification date with Fury, provided the Englishman gets past Chisora in early December. Should that match be made, it'd be the biggest in the division in years, and it'd be plenty interesting in the interim if Usyk gets together with three-time Fury foe Deontay Wilder.
"If I get the choice, of course, I'm going with Usyk," Wilder said on The Good Fight with Kate Abdo. "I'll go with Usyk, whup Usyk and then give [Andy] Ruiz a title shot. That's how it would work. Who wouldn't? We're in this business to obtain greatness and collect belts."
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