B/R Boxing Pound-for-Pound Rankings: December 2024
The arrival of the holiday season indicates that the year in boxing is grinding to an end, but a few of the sport's high-profile elites have some work to do before the calendar is flipped.
Heavyweights Oleksandr Usyk and Tyson Fury are scheduled for a December 21 rematch of their epic bout earlier this year, which Usyk won by narrow decision to become the division's first undisputed champion of the four-belt era. And though that claim has since been spoiled by the IBF's nonsensical promotion of Daniel Dubois, it's still a significant year-end event.
It'll come three days before another undisputed champ, Naoya Inoue, risks his jewelry against top-ranked 122-pound contender Sam Goodman. Inoue is the most decorated and dominant of the sport's current champions, having won belts in four weight classes and finished 25 of his 28 fights inside the scheduled distance.
The year-end action coincides nicely with the B/R combat team's final meeting of the year to come up with December's pound-for-pound boxing rankings. We put our collective heads together one last time for 2024 and consulted other respected sources to come up with a definitive collection that'll prompt discussion as fans get together to celebrate.
Take a look at what we came up with and drop a thought in the app comments.
10. Shakur Stevenson
Weight Class: 135 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBC
The king of the lightweights, according to the WBC at least, is among the most purely talented fighters in the world today but hasn't yet had the sort of opponent who'd lift him to the stratosphere. He won't get one in February either, where a match with top-ranked contender William Zepeda was scuttled by injury and will necessitate a sub.
9. Junto Nakatani
Weight Class: 118 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBC
It's difficult to have a better year than Nakatani had in 2024. He became a champion in his third weight class—118 pounds—with a KO in February and defended the title twice with KOs in July and October while fighting a grand total of 13 rounds. The more time passes, the harder it gets not to dream about an all-Japan showdown with Naoya Inoue at 122.
8. Gervonta Davis
Weight Class: 135 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBA
Those hoping for tickets to a Davis fight during holiday season will have to wait after his would-be match with fellow champion Lamont Roach Jr., who reigns a weight class down at 130 pounds, was moved from December 14 to March 1. Davis has held belts of varying worth in multiple divisions but has set up shop at lightweight, where he's KO'd four straight foes.
7. Canelo Alvarez
Weight Class: 168 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBA, WBC, WBO
It's waiting time for the decorated Mexican veteran Alvarez, who fought and won twice in 2024 but was hardly transcendent. Will he take the bait for a showdown with Terence Crawford? Will he ponder another move to 175 to meet powerhouse Artur Betebiev? Will he grab the bag and call Jake Paul's mouthy bluff? Stay tuned for an interesting 2025.
6. Jesse Rodriguez
Weight Class: 115 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBC
While Alvarez was largely stagnant in 2024, Rodriguez elevated his profile to star-level status. The Texan confirmed dominance at 115 pounds with a KO of future Hall of Famer Juan Francisco Estrada in June, then upstaged headliner Jaron Ennis with a three-round blowout of Pedro Guevara last month in Philadelphia. Of the sport's youngsters, he's the king.
5. Dmitry Bivol
Weight Class: 175 pounds
Major Titles Held: None
Bivol is the only non-champion on our list, but it's not because he doesn't deserve a belt. The B/R scorecard had him ahead at the end of October's unification with Artur Beterbiev, but the judges saw him on the short end of a majority decision. A rematch for light heavyweight supremacy is in the works for February and it's our guess he evens the series at one each.
4. Artur Beterbiev
Weight Class: 175 pounds
Major Titles Held: IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO
The second half of the Russian bloc at 175 pounds, Beterbiev saw his KO streak end against Bivol but not his unbeaten streak. Should he record a second win against his fellow elite, the options for the future will open up wide. Canelo Alvarez would be a lucrative option for sure, and Beterbiev has also mentioned Jake Paul in the aftermath of the Mike Tyson circus.
3. Terence Crawford
Weight Class: 154 pounds
Major Titles Held: WBA
It's next step time for Crawford, who reigned at 135, 140 and 147 through the end of 2023 and grabbed a belt at 154 with a defeat of Israil Madrimov in August. He's repeatedly mentioned a legacy fight with Canelo Alvarez at 168 but could swim comfortably amidst the sharks in his new weight class, too, where former rival Errol Spence Jr. may ultimately return.
2. Naoya Inoue
Weight Class: 122 pounds
Major Titles Held: IBF, WBA, WBC, WBO
There's a smidge more work to do in 2024 for the all-world Inoue, who's already dispatched two does this year in a combined 13 rounds. He'll risk his 122-pound supremacy against top-ranked Aussie contender Sam Goodman on December 24 and presumably set up a 2025 that could include risers from other weight classes or another climb of his own.
1. Oleksandr Usyk
Weight Class: Heavyweight
Major Titles Held: WBA, WBC, WBO
It'd be hard for Usyk to top the career moment he achieved in May with a defeat of Tyson Fury but he'll get another opportunity later this month when he meets the big Brit again on December 21 in Saudi Arabia. It's equally difficult to imagine what the Ukrainian would do for an encore if he wins again. But maybe old amateur foe Artur Beterbiev could rev his engines.