Look, I’m not going to bury the lede here. The best boxer in 2025 was Terence Crawford. Period. End of discussion.
Except Crawford isn’t boxing anymore.
He beat Canelo Alvarez on September 13 at Allegiant Stadium, became the first male fighter to win undisputed titles in three weight classes during the four-belt era, then announced his retirement three months later like he was declining a second slice of pie. Just walked away. Undefeated. 42-0. At the absolute peak of his powers.
This never happens in boxing. Fighters don’t leave on their own terms. They get carried out on their shields or wheeled out in wheelchairs years after they should’ve quit. Crawford looked at the sport, looked at his bank account, looked at his legacy, and said “I’m good.”
The man went from lightweight all the way up to super middleweight—that’s 33 pounds, for those keeping score at home—and demolished the biggest star in boxing. Not just beat him. Dominated him. Made Canelo look ordinary in front of 70,482 people at Allegiant Stadium.
Then he retired.
So who’s the best now? According to ESPN, The Ring, and pretty much every credible ranking system, it’s Oleksandr Usyk. The 38-year-old Ukrainian heavyweight who moves like he’s fighting in slow motion while everyone else is stuck in quicksand.
Why Usyk Inherited the Throne
Usyk didn’t just inherit the number one spot because Crawford left. He earned it by doing something nobody thought was possible anymore: dominating the heavyweight division without being a heavyweight.
The dude is 6-foot-3 and fights guys who outweigh him by 40 pounds. He beat Tyson Fury twice. He beat Anthony Joshua twice. He beat Daniel Dubois twice, knocking him out in five rounds in their July rematch at Wembley Stadium in front of 96,000 people who wanted to see him lose.
According to ESPN’s rankings updated January 15, 2026, Usyk sits at number one with a 24-0 record and 15 knockouts. He’s the former undisputed cruiserweight champion who moved up and became a two-time undisputed heavyweight champion. That’s not supposed to happen in the super-heavyweight era.
Think about that resume for a second. Usyk cleaned out cruiserweight in the World Boxing Super Series, moved up to heavyweight, and beat every major name in the division. He’s fought in seven different countries, mostly against fighters from those countries. The man is a road warrior who makes other fighters look like they’re training for a different sport.
The Inoue Factor
But here’s where it gets interesting. Naoya Inoue is ranked number two, and the gap between him and Usyk is razor-thin.
The Japanese star fought four times in 2025. Four. When was the last time a pound-for-pound elite fought four times in a calendar year? According to CBS Sports, Inoue became the first boxer since Larry Holmes in 1983 to defend his Ring championship four times in the same year.
Inoue is 32-0 with 27 knockouts. He’s won undisputed titles at two different weight classes—super flyweight and super bantamweight. He knocked out Ramon Cardenas in eight rounds in May after getting dropped early. He outboxed Murodjon Akhmadaliev in November, the same guy people accused him of avoiding. Then he closed out 2025 with a unanimous decision over David Picasso on December 27.
The “Monster” has that devastating combination of speed, power, and technical brilliance that makes opponents look foolish. He’s moving up in weight and still flattering people. A potential superfight with countryman Junto Nakatani in 2026 could decide who ends the year at number one.
The Crawford Era: September 13, 2025
Let’s go back to that night in Las Vegas. Crawford vs Canelo. Netflix streaming to the world. The third-largest indoor boxing crowd in U.S. history.
Crawford was the underdog. He was supposed to be too small. He’d fought once at 154 pounds—one time—before jumping straight to 168 to fight the biggest star in boxing. Canelo hadn’t lost in years except to Dmitry Bivol. He was the super middleweight king.
Crawford won 116-112, 115-113, 115-113 on the judges’ scorecards. It wasn’t close. By the final rounds, Crawford—the supposedly smaller man—had Canelo backing up. That’s not supposed to happen to Canelo Alvarez.
“I spent my whole life chasing something,” Crawford said in his retirement video posted December 17. “Not belts, not money, not headlines. But that feeling, the one you get when the world doubts you and you keep showing up and you keep proving everyone wrong.”
Crawford became a five-division champion that night. He joined legends like Manny Pacquiao, Oscar De La Hoya, Thomas Hearns, Sugar Ray Leonard, and Floyd Mayweather as the only male boxers to win titles in five divisions. And he became the first three-division undisputed champion of the four-belt era.
Then he walked away at 38 years old. Undefeated. Nothing left to prove.
The Rest of the Top Five
ESPN’s current pound-for-pound top five looks like this:
1. Oleksandr Usyk – Heavyweight, 24-0, unified champion
2. Naoya Inoue – Super bantamweight, 32-0, undisputed champion
3. Dmitry Bivol – Light heavyweight, 24-1, unified champion. Beat Artur Beterbiev in their February rematch after losing in October.
4. Artur Beterbiev – Light heavyweight, 21-1. Still has ridiculous power at 40 years old.
5. David Benavidez – Light heavyweight, 31-0. The “Mexican Monster” who Canelo spent years avoiding. Now moving up to cruiserweight to fight Gilberto Ramirez on Cinco de Mayo weekend.
These rankings change depending on who you ask. Some publications have Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez in the top five. The 24-year-old Texan from San Antonio knocked out Fernando Martinez in ten rounds in November and has become one of the most exciting fighters in boxing.
Shakur Stevenson (23-1) moved up to 140 pounds and is challenging Teofimo Lopez on January 31. A win there could push him into the top five. Devin Haney bounced back from the Ryan Garcia disaster—that whole positive test debacle—to win the WBO welterweight title in November.
What Crawford’s Retirement Means
Crawford’s departure leaves boxing in a weird spot. There’s no dominant American star at the top of the sport. Usyk is Ukrainian. Inoue is Japanese. The American fighters who could fill that void—Stevenson, Benavidez, Rodriguez—haven’t had that one defining moment yet.
Canelo’s still fighting. He’s 34 and vowing to continue despite losing to Crawford. But his performance in that fight raised questions. He hasn’t stopped anyone since 2021. His May fight against William Scull was terrible. The Crawford loss was his third defeat—Mayweather in 2013, Bivol in 2022, Crawford in 2025.
Some people think Crawford’s retirement is a negotiating tactic. Promoter Eddie Hearn suggested it might be leverage for future fights. But Crawford’s coach Brian McIntyre told the media that Crawford has nothing left to prove.
And honestly? He’s right.
Crawford turned pro in 2008 after failing to make the Olympic team. Seventeen years later, he’s arguably the best fighter of his generation. He beat Errol Spence Jr. He beat Shawn Porter. He beat Israil Madrimov. And he beat Canelo Alvarez moving up two weight classes.
The 2026 Pound-for-Pound Race
So where does this leave us heading into 2026?
Usyk needs an opponent. The Tyson Fury trilogy fight makes sense, but Fury’s already 0-2 against him. A third fight with Daniel Dubois—who now holds the IBF belt Usyk vacated—could restore his undisputed status. There’s talk of Deontay Wilder, but Wilder is 2-4 in his last six fights.
Inoue could leapfrog Usyk with a win over Nakatani. That all-Japanese superfight has been building for years. Both guys are undefeated. Both are elite. The winner walks away as the undisputed best in the country and potentially the world.
Bivol vs Beterbiev 3 is on the table for 2026. They’re 1-1. Light heavyweight is stacked right now. Benavidez adding the cruiserweight belt to his collection would be massive.
And then there’s the American contingent. Stevenson beating Lopez would be huge. Rodriguez continues to get better. Gervonta “Tank” Davis threatened to retire but probably won’t. Canelo will keep fighting until someone tells him to stop.
The Verdict
The best boxer in 2025 was Terence Crawford. No debate. The man who was supposed to be too small beat the biggest star in boxing, made history, and walked away on top.
But Crawford’s gone. And boxing moves on quickly.
Oleksandr Usyk is number one right now because he’s done everything. He’s beaten every big name at heavyweight despite being undersized. He’s a technical wizard who makes the best fighters in the world look ordinary.
Naoya Inoue is right behind him, fighting more frequently and dominating his division in ways we haven’t seen since the prime versions of Pacquiao and Mayweather.
The pound-for-pound debate will rage on in 2026. Usyk and Inoue are separated by the thinnest of margins. One big fight could flip the script completely.
But 2025? That was Crawford’s year. He came. He saw. He conquered. And then he did what nobody in boxing ever does.
He left.
Bold Prediction for 2026: Inoue beats Nakatani, finishes the year as pound-for-pound number one, and Crawford still doesn’t come out of retirement no matter how much money they wave in his face. Because some guys actually know when to walk away.
