Boxing Pound-for-Pound Rankings: May 2025
Well, you can't say boxing didn't get an early May spotlight.
The sport was front-page news thanks to three cards in three days at far-flung locations like Times Square in New York, the Saudi desert in Riyadh and the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, even though the fights didn't always justify the hoopla.
The boxing side of the B/R combat team was jazzed nevertheless and reveled in the springtime afterglow enough to compile its monthly list of the ring's best. The typical sources were consulted, and the result is a 10-to-1 list that includes fighters from the 115-pound ranks all the way up to heavyweight.
Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought in the app comments.
10. Shakur Stevenson
1 of 10
Weight Class: 135 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBC
It's another month on the last rung of the ladder for uber-talented but still largely untested Stevenson. The New Jersey native is next in line to get headliner treatment in New York City when he defends against top contender William Zepeda in July.
9. David Benavidez
2 of 10
Weight Class: 175 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBC
The "Mexican Monster" got a delayed championship celebration thanks to the WBC, which elevated him to its full-fledged title when previously undisputed champ Dmitry Bivol indicated he'd rather pursue a trilogy with Artur Beterbiev. It's a second weight class claim for Benavidez, who reigned twice at 168 pounds, too.
8. Junto Nakatani
3 of 10
Weight Class: 118 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBC
The difficulty that pound-for-pound elite Naoya Inoue had in his recent title defense in Las Vegas has Nakatani hoping he'll get his Japanese countryman in a ring before the aura around the "Monster" fades. “I want to get a better version of Inoue than an older version," he told The Ring. "If we wait until next year, the excuse will be that Inoue got older. There is more credit to it if we beat him now."
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7. Artur Beterbiev
4 of 10
Weight Class: 175 pounds
Major Titles Held: None
He's the only beltless fighter on our list but the recent undisputed champion at light heavyweight appears to have an inside track on a third fight with Dmitry Bivol later this fall. But can the now-40-year-old recreate the menace that had yielded a 100-percent KO rate before the first of his two bouts with his 175-pound rival?
6. Canelo Alvarez
5 of 10
Weight Class: 168 pounds
Major Titles Held: IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO
The Saudi-orchestrated unification fight with pretend champion William Scull was a comprehensive dud but the man with the cinnamon hair did regain undisputed status at 168 pounds. And his post-fight staredown with Terence Crawford set wheels in motion for the biggest champion vs. champion matchup in recent memory.
5. Jesse Rodriguez
6 of 10
Weight Class: 115 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBC
We're still holding out hope to orchestrate a superfight between Rodriguez and the oft-mentioned Naoya Inoue, but the man known as "Bam" will have to settle in the meantime for a unification bout where he puts his WBC strap at 115 pounds up against the WBO belt of South African claimant Phumelala Cafu in mid-July.
4. Dmitry Bivol
7 of 10
Weight Class: 175 pounds
Major Titles Held: IBF, WBA, WBO
Well, Bivol got his dream of being an undisputed champ for a little while anyway. The 34-year-old possessed all four belts after beating Artur Beterbiev in their February rematch but relinquished the WBC belt to chase a trilogy fight rather than engage with the body's mandatory challenger, David Benavidez. That said, the Benavidez fight will likely still be there for the third fight's winner.
3. Naoya Inoue
8 of 10
Weight Class: 122 pounds
Major Titles Held: IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO
The second of three undisputed champs on our list, Inoue had a shockingly tough outing with unheralded challenger Ramon Cardenas in the aforementioned fight weekend's stop in Las Vegas. He was dropped for the second time in four fights but did rally to control the rest of the match before getting a stoppage in Round 8.
2. Terence Crawford
9 of 10
Weight Class: 154 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBA
It's official: Terence Crawford is back in the big-fight spotlight. The multi-division kingpin had fought just once since dispatching Errol Spence Jr. in their welterweight showdown in 2023, but he instantly climbed to the top of the trending lists when he went nose to nose with Canelo Alvarez after the Mexican's win earlier this month. Their September showdown will be the sport's hottest ticket this year.
1. Oleksandr Usyk
10 of 10
Weight Class: Heavyweight
Major Titles Held: WBA, WBC, WBO
Lest anyone forget, Usyk whipped Daniel Dubois two years ago while defending a then-three-belt claim to heavyweight supremacy which he later augmented with consecutive wins over Tyson Fury. But because the IBF is, well...ridiculous, he's got to fight Dubois again to become undisputed because the twice-KO'd Brit was awarded the organization's title when Usyk went ahead with the Fury rematch. Ahhh, boxing.
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