There are some simply fantastic fighters plying their trade right now, and plenty of them had themselves a great 2024. We’ve seen some great action this year, along with some absolutely sublime boxing skill. It will be a tough job when it comes to picking 2024’s Fight of the Year, that’s for sure. But that’s another article (or articles).
Another tough job, or maybe not, depending on your view, is picking the final ten great fighters who see out this year as the pound-for-pound best on the planet. Excellent fighters such as Canelo Alvarez, Terence Crawford, Naoya Inoue, Oleksandr Usyk, and others will all be stating their case for being at the top of the pile as 2024 comes to a close; or they will be leaving their fans and supporters to make their case.
So, who are the ten best fighters out there today and who are the ten P-4-P best as we inch towards next year?
Here’s a shot at it:
1: Oleksandr Usyk.
Usyk had himself a great year, with the much smaller man twice besting Tyson Fury in brilliant, engrossing and at times dramatic fights. Usyk is truly special.
2: Naoya Inoue.
Active and busy, Inoue would have boxed three times this year, but for his December 24 fight with IBF mandatory challenger Sam Goodman being postponed due to Goodman having to pull out with a cut. As it is, the unified super-bantamweight king scored two impressive stoppage win. “The Monster” now looks ahead to a bigger 2025.
3: Terence Crawford.
“Bud” boxed just once here in 2024, but he made it count as he won yet another world title. Crawford, who like Usyk and Inoue may well retire unbeaten, moved up to 154 pounds to take the tough Israel Madrimov’s WBA belt and also pick up the vacant WBO interim strap at the weight.
4: Canelo Alvarez.
Canelo boxed two times this year and in so doing he knocked off two young and unbeaten fighters. Canelo showed he has plenty left at age 34 with his commanding wins over Jaime Munguia and Edgar Berlanga. Who might the Mexican star face in 2025?
5: Artur Beterbiev.
The super-tough and also skilled Beterbiev made two memorable ring appearances this year. The unbeaten light heavyweight king stopped a game Callum Smith in January, and he then edged Dmitry Bivol to scoop up all the belts at 175 pounds in October. Beterbiev and Bivol will of course meet again in February.
6: Dmitry Bivol.
Bivol, who plenty of people feel deserved the win over Beterbiev, boxed late sub Malik Zinad in June, this when the Beterbiev fight was initially postponed, and Bivol won a wide decision. Bivol then lost a razor-close fight with Beterbiev and he is hungry for revenge. And he may well get it.
7: Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez.
“Bam” fought twice this year, and he gave us two impressive KO wins as he did so. Juan Francisco Estrada was routed save for a flash knockdown he managed to score before being stopped in the seventh round in June, while the previously unstopped Pedro Guevera was crushed inside three rounds in November. Rodriguez is a future great in the opinion of plenty of people.
8: Gervonta “Tank” Davis.
“Tank” is far too good a fighter for him to have boxed just once this year, this when he stopped Frank Martin in eight rounds back in June. Hopefully, the in-his-prime Davis will have a far more active 2025.
9: Junto Nakatani.
The superb southpaw from Japan gave “Monster” Inoue a real run for his money as far as which fighter from Japan had the best 2024. Nakatani boxed three times this year and he scarcely lost a round. Nakatani scored three KO wins in WBC bantamweight title fights. Could we see Nakatani Vs. Inoue next year?
10: Shakur Stevenson.
Like “Tank,” Stevenson is far too talented a fighter to be having just one fight a year, as was the case here in 2024. The knock on Shakur according to some people is he is “boring.” But Stevenson is massively gifted. A wide decision win over Artem Harutyunyan saw Stevenson showcase some of his skills, but not nearly enough. Hopefully Stevenson will have himself a far more active 2025.
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