Fabio Wardley makes heavyweight impact, Boots Ennis arrives at 154, more: Boxing rankings for November 2025

Heavyweight (Limit: None)

Notes: Someone mentioned it during the live discussion for Parker vs Wardley, but can you imagine how unfair it was when Fabio Wardley was taking part in white collar boxing? Obviously he hadn’t had the training he’s now had and all that, but the natural gifts he has are pretty special, and now here he sits as someone you can call the No. 2 active heavyweight in the sport.

I’m not dropping Parker much, in part because I think the stoppage was a bad one even if the most likely outcome was Wardley finishing him off, and in part because it was a great fight where Parker proved, yet again, his toughness and quality. He’s been a very good heavyweight for a long time and remains one now. And I just don’t believe — given how boxing actually works and not using the framework of a fantasy otherwise — that fighters should be overly “punished” in perception or respect for taking good fights and losing. Someone has to lose, but we do want to see the good fights.

Wardley, though, is something special. Not saying I’m certain he’s “elite” now in the way we use that word typically, but, like, in a very technical sense, yeah, he is. So is anyone in a top five, top 10. There are, at the moment, a total of 1,584 active heavyweights listed on BoxRec. He is, at worst, deserving of being called the third-best of all of them in the world right now, if you have Kabayel at No. 2 instead. Pretty high-end for this real, actual world we’re in! Obviously there are nuances to that discussion, but in a black-and-white way, yes, he is elite.

And when I say he’s something special, that comes from watching him. His power is terrific, he’s effectively awkward, he’s got good hand speed, he puts punches together nicely, and he’s tough, mentally and physically. He is also getting better by the fight; I had Parker up, 96-94, but the Wardley we saw on October 25 was a good bit better than the Wardley we saw against Justis Huni four months prior.

This is a dangerous, dangerous man. And of the current, active options, yes, I am as interested to see Usyk fight Wardley as I am anyone. My wish list among active heavyweights is Wardley and Kabayel for Usyk, I’m not particularly interested in seeing Fury try again. Usyk is an all-time talent, he might carve Wardley up like a Christmas ham. But Wardley is a threat. He doesn’t have many miles on him, he’s determined, and he’s confident. When you watch him fight, you see that an opponent can’t give him even a window of confidence, because if he sees that, he gets after it. He’s aggressive and fun to watch. If more of boxing’s stars had Fabio Wardley’s qualities, frankly the sport would be a lot healthier. But they don’t, and they’re not gonna. That’s part of what makes him special.

Cruiserweight (Limit: 200)

Notes: Just a minor note that Ryan Rozicki’s scheduled October 25 fight was postponed. It wasn’t a big fight or anything, but it was going to be some activity among the top 10. December will see some top names in action, but it’s been a quiet spell at cruiserweight.

Light Heavyweight (Limit: 175)

Super Middleweight (Limit: 168)

Middleweight (Limit: 160)

Notes: Lara’s back because he’s got something signed now, it’s a done deal. I allow that wiggle room, and the news just barely missed the cut by a few weeks for Lara, so get back in there.

Super Welterweight (Limit: 154)

Notes: Boots Ennis has arrived at 154, and he did so with a bang. It’s clear he’s a different level of talent than most of the fighters in this division, but we do still really need to see him face better opposition. That could be coming as soon as his next fight, thankfully.

IBF titleholder Bakhram Murtazaliev is officially one-year inactive but a deal is in place for him to fight Josh Kelly on January 31, so it’s the same deal as the Lara thing at 160, he stays in. His got in under the wire.

Welterweight (Limit: 147)

Super Lightweight (Limit: 140)

Lightweight (Limit: 135)

Super Featherweight (Limit: 130)

Featherweight (Limit: 126)

Super Bantamweight (Limit: 122)

Notes: Some shuffles here. Luis Nery is out because he’s fighting at featherweight now. He did win a fight on October 26. John Riel Casimero is out because he lost a fight on October 25 to Kyonosuke Kameda. Casimero at his best was a really good fighter and has had a really good career, but he’s had some unforced errors in recent years, and the upset loss to Kameda — a tough but limited fighter — pretty much ices whatever shot he had of talking Naoya Inoue into a money bout. (At least for now, boxing can be surprising — but Casimero is 36, too.)

In are Subaru Murata, who frankly I should have had ranked last month, which is why he hops over McGrail on my new assessment, and Toshiya Ishii, the reigning Japanese domestic champ. The big jolt is coming (probably!) in December when Junto Nakatani officially hits the rankings, provided Nakatani beats Sebastian Hernandez, which isn’t a total gimme, but Nakatani is special.

Bantamweight (Limit: 118)

Notes: The WBA title situation is turning into a mess, though this one is less “typical WBA” than the usual. Seiya Tsutsumi was moved to champion-in-recess due to an injury earlier this year. The WBA then elevated Antonio Vargas to full WBA titleholder status. Once Seiya got healthy, Tsutsumi vs Vargas was ordered and was set to happen, but Vargas had to withdraw following the passing of his mother.

This is obviously out of the WBA’s control, Vargas’ control, Tsutsumi’s control. Now the WBA have ordered Tsutsumi vs Nonito Donaire, 42, for the WBA title. Tsutsumi’s claim to the WBA title, with the way “champion-in-recess” works, is legitimate enough, by the standards of boxing titles. But so is Vargas’, in the same vein.

So we’re entering a situation where in mid-December, it’s not going to be very clear who the WBA champ is, and not in their classic, “Super World” and “World” way. The solution is for Vargas, when ready, to fight the Tsutsumi vs Donaire winner in 2026, and I’m sure that’s the idea, but there will be a time period where two guys have a fair claim. Unless Tsutsumi and Donaire fought to a draw. Which is possible.

Super Flyweight (Limit: 115)

Notes: Since this one will fly a bit under the radar, want to say here that I’m intrigued by this month’s matchup between 10th-ranked Cuadras, who is still a tough nut to crack, and Tomoya Tsuboi, who is in just his third pro fight, but is also 29 and a mature, polished fighter. Cuadras might be the right step-up at the right time, or Tsuboi might find some difficulties against a proper, hard veteran. Tsuboi was a really, really good amateur, but better amateur stars than him have found a pro game learning curve waiting within their first few fights, especially against this sort of opponent. I think it really just depends on how much Cuadras truly has left, but that’s a fighter who has been counted out before and hung in there.

Flyweight (Limit: 112)

Light Flyweight (Limit: 108)

Minimumweight (Limit: 105)