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champ at flyweight and Ring-rated No. 1 in the other three divisions. He has faced 18 Ring-rated fighters since 2007, including Ring champs Juan Francisco Estrada, Akira Yaegashi and Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and respected world titleholders such as Brian Viloria, Carlos Cuadras, Edgar Sosa, Julio Cesar Martinez, Francisco Rodriguez Jr., Katsunari Takayama and Kal Yafai. The only definitive loss of his career – in my humble opinion – is the KO he suffered in his rematch with Sor Rungvisai. He is the first Nicaraguan boxer to reach No. 1 in The Ring’s pound-for-pound rankings. 7. Oleksandr Usyk – From 2013-2014, while fighting on the road and often in his opponent’s home country, Usyk collected every major world title (including Ring belts) at
both cruiserweight and heavyweight to become a two-division undisputed champion. His notable victories include Tyson Fury (twice), Anthony Joshua (twice), Mairis Briedis, Murat Gassiev, Daniel Dubois (twice), Tony Bellew, Marco Huck, Michael Hunter, Thabiso Mchunu and Krzysztof Glowacki. Usyk was The Ring’s 2018 and 2024 Fighter of the Year and twice reached No. 1 in The Ring’s pound- for-pound rankings. 8. Andre Ward – From 2004-2017, Ward climbed to the top of the super middleweight and light heavyweight divisions, unifying world titles and earning Ring championships in both weight classes. His notable victories include fellow Hall of Famer Carl Froch, Sergey Kovalev (twice), Mikkel Kessler, Chad Dawson and Arthur Abraham. Ward was The Ring’s 2011 Fighter of the Year, and he reached No. 1 in The Ring’s pound-for- pound rankings. 9. Gennadiy Golovkin – From 2014-2022, Golovkin engaged in 14 world title bouts as The Ring’s No. 1-rated middleweight. He unified three major belts and only came up short against Canelo Alvarez – via controversial split draw and majority decision loss – in two hotly contested, high-profile
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10. Vasiliy Lomachenko – From 2014-2018, Lomachenko won world titles in three divisions – featherweight, junior lightweight and lightweight. He won his first world title in his third pro bout. At lightweight, he earned the Ring championship and unified three major belts. Lomachenko faced 17 Ring-rated fighters (in just 21 pro bouts), including Jorge Linares, Guillermo Rigondeaux, Teofimo Lopez, Devin Haney, Gary Russell Jr., Orlando Salido, Jose Pedraza, Nicholas Walters and George Kambosos. He was The Ring’s 2017 Fighter of the Year and the first Ukrainian boxer to reach No. 1 in The Ring’s pound-for-pound rankings. Well, that’s my top 10. Let me know what you think by emailing comeoutwriting@gmail.com, or you can hit me up anytime on X or Instagram @dougiefischer.
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showdowns before regaining two titles. Golovkin, who was in The Ring’s middleweight rankings for 11 years (2011-2022), faced 16 Ring- rated fighters, including Alvarez, Daniel Jacobs, Daniel Geale, David Lemieux, Ryota Murata, Sergiy Derevyanchenko, Martin Murray, Matthew Macklin and Curtis Stevens. His rematch with Alvarez was The Ring’s 2018 Fight of the Year, and he was the first boxer from Kazakhstan to reach No. 1 in The Ring’s pound-for-pound rankings.
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