B/R Boxing Rankings: September 2024
It's been a busy year among the boxing elite.
Each of the 10 fighters deemed worthy for inclusion in B/R's pound-for-pound ring rankings for September has already fought once in 2024, and six of the 10 have at least one more fight scheduled for the calendar year's final four months.
That means it's a list that's constantly in some flux, and it's no different this month with no fewer than half of the positions swapping inhabitants from just one month ago.
A few more titanic shifts could occur in the next few weeks alone with a pair of four-division champions—Naoya Inoue and Canelo Alvarez—stepping through the ropes for title defenses at 122 and 168 pounds against ranked but prohibitive underdog challengers.
We put our collective heads together and consulted respected sources such as The Ring and others to come up with a definitive collection for the final (partial) month of summer.
Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought in the comments.
10. Teofimo Lopez
Weight Class: 140 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBO
It's another month on the bottom rung of the ladder for the "Takeover," who was last active for a 12-round decision over Steve Claggett in June. He's been working behind the scenes lately with Team Canelo as Alvarez preps for a mid-September fight at 168 pounds, sparking speculation that he's considering his own move to 147 or 154.
9. Junto Nakatani
Weight Class: 118 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBC
Turns out that Inoue is not the only unbeaten Japanese fighter terrorizing the lighter weight classes. The 26-year-old Nakatani ascended to the throne at 118 pounds that his countryman once held, winning the WBC strap in February and defending in July with another defense against top-ranked Tasana Salapat in October.
8. Gervonta Davis
Weight Class: 135 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBA
From here on in, it's an eight-pack of fighters who are pretty much universal commodities on all worthwhile pound-for-pound lists. The 29-year-old Davis re-cemented his position with a vicious eighth-round KO of Frank Martin in June and is consistently in chatter about prospective big fights with fellow unbeaten superstars Shakur Stevenson and Devin Haney.
7. Artur Beterbiev
Weight Class: 175 pounds
Major Titles Held: IBF, WBC, WBO
The three-belted half of the sport's most anticipated late 2024 fight, Beterbiev will arrive in Saudi Arabia for his showdown with fellow 175-pound champ Dmitry Bivol toting a 100-percent KO rate, too. He made it 20-for-20 with a seventh-round erasure of ex-super middleweight claimant Callum Smith in January.
6. Jesse Rodriguez
Weight Class: 115 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBC
The brightest star in the galaxy of fighters aged 25 or younger, Rodriguez has won six straight title fights across two weight classes since early 2022. Now 24, he made his way onto Fight of the Year ballots for 2024 when he climbed off the deck to halt future Hall of Fame inductee Juan Francisco Estrada in seven rounds in June.
5. Dmitry Bivol
Weight Class: 175 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBA
There's nothing like momentum coming into a big-time showdown and it's certainly on the side of the 33-year-old Bivol, who ended a streak of nine straight unanimous 12-round decisions in June with a sixth-round finish of Malik Zinad. The sublimely skilled Russian is a slight favorite—listed at -120 on DraftKings—with five-plus weeks left to go.
4. Canelo Alvarez
Weight Class: 168 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBA, WBC, WBO
Alvarez has gotten to the point where he can fight pretty much anyone and still be assured it'll be a big event. He proved it by defeating Jaime Munguia, who'd never fought at 168 pounds, in May. And he gets another shot in 11 days when he meets a grossly untested Edgar Berlanga in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, a David Benavidez fight remains unmade.
3. Naoya Inoue
Weight Class: 122 pounds
Major Titles Held: IBF, WBA. WBC, WBO
The B/R team has and will continue to bang the drum for an eventual all-Japan showdown with ninth-ranked Nakatani, but in the meantime, it's a Tuesday date with TJ Doheny—who's ranked second by the WBO and seventh by both the IBF and WBC. It'd be a colossal upset to say the least if it doesn't go well for Inoue, who's sitting at -5000 on DraftKings.
2. Terence Crawford
Weight Class: 154 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBA
The latest in a series of new frontiers has arrived for Crawford, who'd been a champion at 135, 140 and 147 pounds before last month's climb to 154 for a more-difficult-than-expected dethroning of WBA claimant Israil Madrimov. The good news? Ex-multi-division champ James Toney thinks he beats Canelo. "Yep," Toney told ESNEWS, "Crawford beats Canelo, by KO."
1. Oleksandr Usyk
Weight Class: Heavyweight
Major Titles Held: WBA, WBC, WBO
It's getting difficult to come up with new superlatives for Usyk, who'd reached undisputed status at cruiserweight before climbing to heavyweight for what's now been four straight title fight wins. A split decision over Tyson Fury in May was a shocker and he'll get the chance to do it again come December, when the parties will return to Riyadh for the rematch.