B/R Pound-for-Pound Boxing Rankings for December 2025
And down the stretch they come.
A particularly significant year in boxing has entered its final calendar month and the B/R combat team has interrupted its post-Thanksgiving/pre-Christmas revelry for another edition of its monthly Pound-for-Pound Rankings.
Results and competitive implications from recent fights were factored into the list, as was input from reputable sources like The Ring and others.
Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought of your own in the app comments.
10. Teofimo Lopez
1 of 10
Weight Class: 140 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBO
He's not everyone's cup of competitive tea, but Lopez has won six of seven championship fights while earning belts in two weight classes and beating former pound-for-pound contenders on the level of Vasyl Lomachenko and Josh Taylor.
Now that his long-rumored showdown with lightweight claimant Shakur Stevenson is official for Jan. 31, it provides "The Takeover" with another chance to make a P4P splash.
9. Shakur Stevenson
2 of 10
Weight Class: 135 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBC
Though he has titles in three classes to Lopez's two and has a pristine 8-0 record in his championship bouts, it somehow seems uber-talented but rarely challenged Stevenson needs the talked-about clash more than his rival.
In fact, a win over Lopez might start a stream of career-definers for the 28-year-old from New Jersey, with British lightning rod Conor Benn suggesting he and Stevenson have discussed a get-together if the interim hurdle is cleared.
8. Devin Haney
3 of 10
Weight Class: 147 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBO
At some point, even the most stubborn haters are going to have to start giving Haney—who's now been recognized with significant title belts in three weight classes—his just due.
The sleep-inducing "Dream" turned in a career-best performance in his first significant fight at welterweight when he bamboozled the robotic Brian Norman Jr. and swiped the younger man's WBO strap.
The win puts the former 135- and 140-pound claimant squarely in the mix for even bigger fights in the 140/147/154 corridor.
7. David Benavidez
4 of 10
Weight Class: 175 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBC
Just when it seemed the "Mexican Monster" would forever be defined as the guy Canelo Alvarez never wanted, he simultaneously legitimized a title claim in a second weight class and stole the cinnamon-haired star's Cinco de Mayo thunder.
The 28-year-old thrashed Anthony Yarde in the first defense of the full-fledged 175-pound WBC strap to which he'd been elevated outside the ring, then used his post-fight mic time to announce an ambitious challenge of unified cruiserweight/junior heavyweight champ Zurdo Ramirez in the spring. Canelo who?
6. Junto Nakatani
5 of 10
Weight Class: 122 pounds
Major Titles Held: None
That Nakatani is the only fighter on our list without a current claim to a significant title belt is hardly a knock. In fact, the reason why the former three-division champ is now belt-less is more a badge of honor than a criticism.
Nakatani relinquished a pair of trinkets at 118 pounds to move to 122, where he'll face Sebastian Hernandez in late December to prep the fans for a 2026 superfight in which he'll challenge undisputed divisional ruler Naoya Inoue.
5. Dmitry Bivol
6 of 10
Weight Class: 175 pounds
Major Titles Held: IBF, WBA, WBO
Sometimes, sublimely skilled fighters like Bivol slide in the monthly rankings due to recency bias, because the names around him have had significant results since the last time they had a meaningful fight.
But it in no way denies the greatness of the versatile Russian, who dismantled then-four-belt champ Artur Beterbiev when the two of them met in a February rematch. Whether a trilogy is on deck or Bivol chooses another foil, he's a legit operator.
4. Jesse Rodriguez
7 of 10
Weight Class: 115 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBA, WBC, WBO
The hottest fighter in the sport kept getting hotter in a November appearance in Saudi Arabia, dismantling a previously unbeaten titleholder (Fernando Martinez) in as one-sided a unification level fight as there's been in a few years.
The win added Martinez's WBA trinket to the WBC and WBO belts that "Bam" already owned, and it gave him a desirable set of competitive options. Stay at 115 and aim for undisputed, or climb to 118 or even 122 to chase bigger "Monsters."
3. Naoya Inoue
8 of 10
Weight Class: 122 pounds
Major Titles Held: IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO
Only one hurdle remains between Inoue and his most difficult (or at least his most lucrative) challenge in the form of Nakatani, in a bout that will raise the temperature in boxing-crazed Japan to unprecedented levels.
The hurdle comes in the form of No. 2 WBC contender Alan Picasso, who arrives with a glittering 32-0-1 record with 17 KOs, but with little support from the numbers guys at DraftKings, who've installed Inoue as a -3500 favorite.
2. Oleksandr Usyk
9 of 10
Weight Class: Heavyweight
Major Titles Held: IBF, WBA, WBC
Considered the world's preeminent heavyweight everywhere but the WBO's headquarters in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Usyk made waves recently when he ditched imminent retirement plans to suggest he'll stick around through 2026 and beyond.
The soon-to-be 39-year-old (his birthday is January 17) has just completed a six-fight run against defending or former heavyweight title claimants, and it'll be fascinating to see who emerges as the next new threat. Moses Itauma, anyone?
1. Terence Crawford
10 of 10
Weight Class: 168 pounds
Major Titles Held: IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO
It's good to be the king.
That's precisely where Crawford finds himself in the aftermath of his schooling of Canelo Alvarez in September that netted him universal recognition at 168 pounds and guaranteed ascension to the top of pound-for-pound lists.
Now, Crawford gets to decide between a second go-round with a rematch-seeking Alvarez or a move to 160, where he could chase a sixth division crown against the winner of an imminent unification between Janibek Alimkhanuly and Erislandy Lara.
