Shakur Stevenson takes over at 140 plus heavyweights, Crawford’s retirement, more: Boxing rankings for February 2026

Heavyweight (Limit: None)

Notes: Not much change in the interim. Anthony Joshua does return after his win over Jake Paul, but of course there are now questions about Joshua’s boxing future overall after the tragic death of two of his team members not long after that win in December. Purely from a boxing standpoint, I know and agree that his performance with Paul wasn’t the most impressive, but I take it about how I do Tyson Fury’s win over Francis Ngannou. It’s so goofy it’s hard to truly figure it into things, so the point is Joshua won his novelty fight and he’s active.

Speaking of Fury, he returns in April, “ending” his “retirement” once again. I said when he was removed due to “retiring” that if he had a fight set, I’d just put him back in the rankings, and I am. We’d passed the one-year mark for inactivity, but just barely. He’s got a fight set, he’s back in, and while the Real Boxing Fan in me wanted to keep Kabayel and Wardley ahead of him, if I think back on that second fight with Usyk, I still firmly believe I saw the two best heavyweights in the world on that day. It wasn’t so long ago that I’ve got firm reason to believe he’s been passed by either of them.

Cruiserweight (Limit: 200)

Notes: Mikaelyan won the rematch with Jack, so they switch spots. Rozicki has a fight scheduled so he stays in despite passing a year of inactivity; his most recent opponent, Yamil Peralta, does not get this luxury, as he has no fight scheduled. Rozicki is constantly scheduling fights that somehow or other don’t happen, so this is a “pretty sneaky, sis” sort of situation.

Light Heavyweight (Limit: 175)

Notes: Hey, so here’s a fun thing. Bivol (1), Beterbiev (2), and Smith (4) are all set to go one-year inactive at the end of February; on February 22, to be exact. Bivol had a surgery, Beterbiev had a December stay-busy fight scrapped, and Smith, as best I can tell, had been waiting on the bigger names to figure out their next moves, and maybe for a belt to fall vacant or Bivol to be “in-recessed” by one of those sanctioning bodies.

So that’s fun! If none of those three guys gets something scheduled or at least expected, like a “date TBD, but gonna happen” type thing, I guess it could be fun to fully honor the one-year deal and just see what this top 10 looks like next month missing those guys.

Beyond that, Benavidez (2), as the plans are now, intends to move to cruiserweight for at least a one-off with Zurdo Ramirez.

Ali Izmailov is out. His most recent fight came in December and he scraped out a decision over a guy with a 5-2-1 record. I do think he’s a good fighter, but after those top three slots this division gets really tight to rank, especially after the top five. I don’t like leaving guys in spots just because I had them there before. Izmailov is 32 years old, he hasn’t made that good of a case to be ahead of anyone here or several others. So an iffy performance like that should matter and have some penalty in a case like this, where there are a good handful, maybe a handful-and-a-half, of contenders for Nos. 6-10 that past the five who make it for me right now.

Imam Khataev is in, as is Radivoje “Hot Rod” Kalajdzic on the back of his comeback knockout of Oleksandr Gvozdyk, who falls out of the top 10. Gvozdyk was in pretty firm control of that fight, but he get stopped. Is the 34-year-old “Hot Rod” likely to be a long-term standout? No. But you gotta kinda feel good that one of these bigger shots went his way. Between them, people haven’t exactly been keen to fight the guy for a reason.

The back half of this top 10 is ripe for those within and beyond to make their cases with impressive showings this year.

Super Middleweight (Limit: 168)

Notes: I don’t particularly believe in Bud Crawford’s retirement any more than I did Tyson Fury’s most recent, but he’s gone through the steps of formally vacating every single one of his belts. The “vacancies” have been filled without fights by the WBC and WBA, and now Christian Mbilli and Armando Resendiz are recognized as the top dog at 168 by those organizations.

So Canelo is back at No. 1. Nobody else really has a very good case; Iglesias looks like a terrific fighter, sure, but in the immortal words of Teddy Atlas, “Against who? Against who? Against who? Against who? Against who?” And that’s kind of the state of the division after Canelo, really. A lot of guys with talent, not much really proven at top level.

Jacob Bank comes in to take Crawford’s spot in the top 10, basically, after dominating and stopping William Scull on January 31 in Denmark. To me, Bank has all the look of a good-not-great fighter, but he did the job at hand in that one, and that’s what he’s done so far with his stature growing bit-by-bit. Also, Bek Melikuziev is in, because Jermall Charlo being ranked is basically useless. He’s fought once in the last two years and it was against Cornflake LaManna, like, what are we rewarding here? His 168 lb wins are over LaManna and Jose Benavidez Jr. He was sitting on name value from, at this point, years ago. If he gets back, active, stays in the mix, faces something approaching a contender, sure. I’m not a huge believer in Melikuziev or anything but you’re weighing two mediocre wins against several, in this case I’m favoring quantity and ignoring faded Brand Name.

For a note, and we’ll get more into this thing in a moment, Jaime Munguia was cleared of the doping charges following his May 2025 win over Bruno Surace. But I don’t think he’s been very impressive in recent fights, honestly. I don’t see him having a particularly clear case other than he’s more popular than most of these guys. He’s 2-2 in his last four and lost to Surace before getting even with the rematch, which had a scandal around it. I can see him being ranked.

Middleweight (Limit: 160)

Notes: A limp division keeps finding ways to get worse and more infuriating.

Here’s why Erislandy Lara, 42 years of age and with no particularly good wins at middleweight, takes over the top spot:

In unfortunate terms, the doping scandal with Janibek is what it is. That’s the reality that to some degree, we have to accept with boxing. Boxing does not actually care about these things. If they did, Bald Baby Miller would be on a lifetime ban and we’d see someone, anyone who fails a doping test face any actual consequences. Instead, almost every time someone — a sanctioning body, a governing body, whatever — finds a way to sweep it under the rug. And sometimes even if someone does serve some sort of actual suspension, which you can guess by time inactive, they’re spared the indignity of anyone being firm and direct that it’s actually happening. They just sit out a year or so and casually return. Every bit of everybody in boxing pretending they treat the doping problem seriously is lip service; even when a promoter or someone takes a hard stance, they’re going to change that tune when it affects their fighter adversely, and suddenly the hunt is on for contaminated cows and eggs, or some dastardly conspiracy about supplement tampering.

You have two options to believe, I think. The first is that all these high-level professional athletes and their teams are morons, constantly stumbling into positive “A” and “B” samples, and it’s always some misunderstanding or mistake, or there continues to be a clear problem that nobody really wants to address, and yes, fighters and their teams are cheating across the sport. VADA was a great idea, but it has proven to be a Band-Aid at best, as they ultimately wind up having no real power once the testing is done. In Alimkhanuly’s case, the Kazakh governing body say they’re on the case, and wouldn’t you know it, but as soon as the “B” sample was positive, too, they revealed that just then, after a thorough investigation for two months or so, “new facts came to light.”

So Janibek is just out. It stinks, but it stinks less than the doping scandal. I suspect he won’t lose either of his belts to this. I suspect not much will come of it at all, frankly. It’s a feeble, ultimately meaningless statement to remove him from independent rankings that do not have an impact on the sport at large, but it’s something we can do, and something I believe in. And even then, at some point they fight again and you have to acknowledge that they’re active, and the doping scandal is no longer “active” itself. Such is boxing.

So there you are. Erislandy Lara in 2026, based off of wins over Cornflake LaManna, Spike O’Sullivan, Michael Zerafa, Danny Garcia, and Johan Gonzalez. Benn is here “for the time being,” so this top 10 is not even as “good” as it seems.

Super Welterweight (Limit: 154)

Notes: One-and-a-half new titlists! Josh Kelly upset Bakhram Murtazaliev to take the IBF title in Newcastle, and then later on in Puerto Rico on that same date, all of a couple days ago, Xander Zayas beat Abass Baraou to add the WBA title to the WBO belt he already held.

If you missed Zayas vs Baraou, what with it running head-to-head against Teofimo vs Stevenson, it was a good one. I thought Zayas had his most inspired and probably best performance to date as a pro, and I think he’s earned the jump over “Boots” Ennis. That’s one of those boxing-complicated things where I really wouldn’t pick Zayas to beat Ennis, but Zayas has definitely proven more in the division and arguably in general, although I struggle to see that as Boots’ fault, because he can’t get anyone to fight him.

He might get Kelly. That’s been floated and Ennis and his team have good sway with the IBF. Kelly’s win was the best night of his pro career for sure, and the biggest, and he just out-boxed Murtazaliev. I went in thinking Josh would win early rounds but might succumb to the pressure of Murtazaliev, but even though Bakhram did find some success in the middle and later rounds, it truly wasn’t enough. Kelly survived it, danced around it — look, he doesn’t have a style that’s going to make him some massive fan favorite, but it won him a world title. He was smart and did what he had to do to win that fight. I don’t think he reigns too long, especially if Ennis winds up being next for him, but he’ll always be able to say he was world champion.

Welterweight (Limit: 147)

Notes: Decided to take a fresher look, still came away thinking Stanionis is the second-best welter out there right now, still think Haney is — despite name value and what he’s achieved — kind of a weak No. 1, because Norman had been a pretty weak “top guy” in resume terms. But Haney at his best is world class, and he was definitely at his best in that one.

Vadim Musaev rockets in at No. 4 after dominating Tulani Mbenge, Jack Catterall slips into the “good but not great” pack toward the back end, and I’m going with Conah Walker at No. 10. Career momentum can be huge in boxing and right now that guy’s got a ton of it. He fought really close with Lewis Crocker in June 2024 and since then has beaten Lewis Ritson, Harry Scarff, Liam Taylor, and Pat McCormack, the last three by stoppage. It’s a fantastic run. Sometimes a guy like Walker just puts it together mid-career and starts rolling, and he has. Even before the Crocker fight he’d started moving, “upsetting” Cyrus Pattinson and Lloyd Germain in 2023-24, and his other two losses had been really close against solid fighters, too.

Welterweight right now doesn’t have the star power or standouts that it did for much of this century, but there is depth here and there is promise. I mean, you could take a few guys out that I have in and sub in Raul Curiel, Karen Chukhadzhian, Rohan Polanco, Liam Paro is in the division now, Tiger Johnson, Souleymane Cissokho if you’re into time wasters, Julian Rodriguez has put together a couple good wins, Paddy Donovan shouldn’t be forgotten.

I went with removal of Daniyar Yeleussinov on the fresh look because, while I think he’s quite possibly still talented enough to beat a lot of the guys here, the truth is that as things stand now and have for years, he’s not going to fight any of them. He’s had two fights since 2021 and the one he had last year was an eight-rounder. He told us once that he didn’t really like boxing, and that was in 2022. He was, at the time, standing his ground on what he felt was a terrible contract renewal offer from Matchroom, hoping to find a promoter who would get him good fights.

It hasn’t worked out for him, so it’d be easy to say he got some bad advice back then, but at the same time, he truly believed he was being offered “slave-like conditions” and a “worthless” contract. I really hope someone gives the guy a shot. There’s a good chance that it’s already too late to ever see the best of Yeleussinov as a pro, but still. In that interview back in 2022 with Lewis Watson, I thought Yeleussinov seemed like a smart, reasonable man, and sometimes that’s a rough thing to be in professional boxing.

Super Lightweight (Limit: 140)

Notes: Another fresh look. Shakur Stevenson arrives with a bang in the No. 1 slot after schooling Teofimo Lopez and taking the WBO title. It’s an open question what he’ll be doing next, but he has his sights set on Conor Benn for the moment, which would happen at 147 with a rehydation clause or won’t happen at all, so it’s certainly not certain. It’s hard to see him moving back down to 135 just because the bigger fights for him are at 140 (or 147).

Teofimo will probably also be moving up to 147, but stays here for now, dropping to No. 4. Shakur routed him, but Shakur’s an elite fighter, flat-out. Dalton Smith makes a big jump up to No. 3, having stopped Subriel Matias to win the WBC title in a really good fight. Hitchins and Russell will both make title defenses this month; both are favored to win their fights, but big chances, obviously, for Oscar Duarate and Andy Hiraoka.

Keyshawn Davis got back and looked pretty damn sharp in a dominant win over Jamaine Ortiz; I’m a big believer in Davis’ talent, if he’s locked in, he’s going to be a real problem at 140. And I’m putting Lamont Roach in at No. 10. The guy has gotten jobbed in his past two fights. He gave up his belt at 130, arguably should have beaten Tank Davis at 135, arguably should have beaten Pitbull Cruz at 140, came out with draws in both bouts. I think he should be ranked somewhere, and 140 is his most recent weight.

Lightweight (Limit: 135)

Notes: Leaving Shakur here as well as 140, for the time being. There is a chance he’ll fight at 135, I suppose, though I don’t really see it happening.

Raymond Muratalla really impressed with his win over Andy Cruz. Very few were picking Muratalla, but he went out there and just beat Cruz, who still has some pro work to do, but is very skilled. This division has a good amount of young and in-prime talent to make some good fights. I’d love to see Top Rank able to put together a unification with Muratalla and Mason, but they might prefer to have both holding titles if they’re ever planning to get a new streaming deal. (Proper TV is probably just not happening; any TV contract they could get — because the sport has burned every bridge there is to burn in TV and HBO and Showtime aren’t here to save them anymore — is not going to pay enough to make high-level fights anymore, boxing is a streaming sport now.)

Gervonta Davis is out. The WBA have had enough, he’s clearly not going to be fighting again any time soon, and he’d be officially going inactive on March 1, anyway.

Super Featherweight (Limit: 130)

Featherweight (Limit: 126)

Notes: Some adjustments. Sam Goodman pops in and fairly high. Looking at the division right now, I thought that’s about where he fit in. I’m a bigger believer than some in Kholmatov, I think. Bruce Carrington pops up to No. 4 after winning the WBC title. It wasn’t the greatest opponent in Carlos Castro, but also not a scrub or anything, and Carrington finished impressively against a solid pro.

Ball vs Figueroa had Fight of the Year ingredients and also a chance for the winner to really establish their No. 2 spot and even argue for the No. 1.

Out are ex-titlist Luis Alberto Lopez, who is staying at 130/135, it seems, and Stephen Fulton, who blew weight and then got smoked by O’Shaquie Foster when moving up in December.

Super Bantamweight (Limit: 122)

Notes: It’s still the Naoya Inoue Show until someone proves otherwise, and Junto Nakatani is next up. The fight is rumored for May 2 at the Tokyo Dome.

I thought Nakatani was good in the move up, and that Sebastian Hernandez proved his quality at the same time. That was a legitimizing bout for both. I do think, stylistically, Nakatani still presents some real challenges for Inoue. Inoue is a great body puncher and Nakatani did have some trouble with Hernandez’s body punching, but Inoue won’t and shouldn’t do what Hernandez did, which was wade in, stay in the pocket, and unleash what hell he could. That’s not a good strategy for Inoue with Nakatani because Inoue isn’t the style of fighter Hernandez is and it would give Nakatani a lot of chances to crack him. Inoue’s great, but he’s not invincible.

Bantamweight (Limit: 118)

Notes: I don’t think there’s any clear top dog here with Nakatani gone, following Inoue up, but this remains a fun division in part because so many of these fighters are both tightly ranked and make for good matchups in the ring. Juan Francisco Estrada will be joining this bunch soon, too, or at least he’s throwing his hat into the ring. He fought Karim Arce last summer in a quiet bantamweight move, and now he’s looking likely to fight Tenshin Nasukawa in April, which could be fun.

Super Flyweight (Limit: 115)

Notes: I understand Bam Rodriguez wanting to go undisputed, but with Garcia still owing Kenshiro Teraji his shot, that could take a good while to actually happen. Maybe you get it in by the end of 2026, maybe not. My stance is he’s done about all there is to really do at 115 other than an achievement far emptier than a lot of people want to admit. I mean, look, if he were to say he thinks 115 is the cap and just wants to stay, I’m good with that. I wasn’t demanding GGG move up from 160, or demanding Inoue go to 126 or the like. But that’s not the case. Bam has bigger fights in mind, and I kinda think he should go ahead and go after them. He’s done here for all it really matters.

Flyweight (Limit: 112)

Light Flyweight (Limit: 108)

Minimumweight (Limit: 105)