1 Dmitry Bivol
After winning a life-changing match against Saul “Canelo” Alvarez last May, Bivol then made a big impression six months later after defeating Mexico’s Gilberto Ramirez, who had previously been unbeaten defeated in 44 matches. His excellence, then, is hard to argue with.
2 Artur Beterbiev
With 19 knockouts after 19 wins, there’s no denying Beterbiev’s strength and finishing instinct. His list of victims now includes Anthony Yarde, Joe Smith, Marcus Browne and Oleksandr Gvozdyk.
3 Callum Smith
Mostly known as super-middleweight, Smith transitioned to light-heavyweight after a loss to “Canelo” Alvarez in 2020 and has so far performed well, stopping Gilbert Castillo Rivera for two innings. and then crushed former European champion Mathieu Bauderlique in the fourth round.
4 Joshua Buatsi
Unbeaten in 16 professional matches, Buatsi’s career has been sluggish so far. While clearly talented, his best wins were the decisive against Craig Richards, whom he won last year, and the 11th round loss to Ricards Bolotniks.
5 Anthony Yarde
In what could be described as an odd career to date, Yarde’s best win was his revenge against Lyndon Arthur in the fourth round, but perhaps his two most impressive performances both ended ended in defeat: the first against Sergey Kovalev in 2019 and the second against Artur Beterbiev last month.
Joshua Buatsi beat Ryan Ford (Action Image via Reuters/Andrew Canridge)
6 Mathieu Bauderlique
Undefeated before meeting Callum Smith last year, Bauderlique won the European light-heavyweight title following a seventh round loss to Igor Mikhalkin in 2021, following previous wins against the likes of Doudou Ngumbu and Hugo Kasperski.
7 Dan Azez
Now preparing to fight for the European title, Azeez has so far won 18 straight professional matches. He has also developed a knack for beating domestic opponents, having beaten Rocky Fielding, Shakan Pitters, Mason Cartwright and Hosea Burton in consecutive matches.
8 Igor Mikhalkin
Mikhalkin, a Russian living in Germany, is perhaps best known for his defeat in a title match with Sergey Kovalev in 2018. Before that, however, he reigned as European champion for two, belt guard three times.
9 Ali Izmailov
Like Bivol and Beterbiev, Izmailov is a Russian currently living in the US and turned pro relatively late. Now 29, he is undefeated in 9 games and won the USBA title last August when he overcame Eric Murguia in 10 innings.
10 Craig Richards
Respected for his efforts to lose heavily against both Dmitri Bivol and Joshua Buatsi, at the domestic level, Richards has also racked up victories of his own, beating the likes of Shakan Pitters, Andre Sterling and Jake Ball.
