The Ring first introduced its divisional ratings in 1925. A century later, it's no exaggeration to claim that these independent rankings are the most respected and talked about in world boxing.

The Ring Ratings Panel is made up of over a dozen experts from around the world. Opinions are shared, debate takes place, and the final decision on who should be ranked where is decided democratically every week. It sounds easy, but this can be an arduous and time-consuming process.

Here I will be going through each division in reverse order working my way up from strawweight to heavyweight and look at each ranked fighter's respective achievements and gaze into my crystal ball as to what may lay ahead.

After a busy first half of 2025 to compile another divisional breakdown, we begin with the always subjective mythical pound-for-pound top 10. As always, please enjoy the debate and respect other people's opinions.

RECORD: 24-0 (15 KOs)

THE PAST: 2012 Olympic champion Usyk cleaned out the cruiserweight division, scoring 12-round decision wins over Krzysztof Glowacki, Mairis Briedis and Murat Gassiev sandwiched between second-half stoppages of Marco Huck and Tony Bellew, all five victories coming on away soil in their home countries.

The manner in which he outboxed a dangerous and unbeaten IBF champion Gassiev to become undisputed champion was particularly eyecatching in July 2018. Seven years later, he has exceeded expectations in the sport's glamour division and continues to excel.

Although taking time to settle, the proud Ukrainian reminded everyone just how special he is when outpointing Anthony Joshua to pick up the IBF, WBA and WBO heavyweight titles in his third divisional appearance in September 2021. He repeated the trick in an immediate rematch the following year, before a ninth-round stoppage of Daniel Dubois.

Last year, he became the undisputed heavyweight titleholder after a 12-round split decision win over WBC champion Tyson Fury before winning more clearly in their second meeting seven months later. There was a sense of inevitability as the unbeaten titlist displayed his class to ice Dubois inside five rounds during last weekend's rematch at Wembley Stadium.

THE FUTURE: After another arduous training camp, the 38-year-old said he was eager for some time off before assessing his options. However, the next mandatory in rotation is the WBO, who have Joseph Parker as their interim champion and have already ordered that bout to happen next. Whether he takes it or vacates again, remains unclear at this stage.

RECORD: 30-0 (27 KOs)

THE PAST: Inoue devoured all before him en route to claiming world titles at 108, 115, 118 and 122 pounds. The big-punching Japanese 'Monster' has lived up to his moniker, scoring a series of devastating stoppage victories including Omar Narvaez, Jamie McDonnell, Juan Carlos Payano and Emmanuel Rodriguez in two rounds or less.

However, his triumphs over four-weight world champion Nonito Donaire are those which provided the 32-year-old with considerable acclaim. He edged past the Filipino in an instant classic that was later named The Ring's Fight of the Year before stopping him two rounds into their rematch three years and three successful IBF title defences later.

Six months later, he became the undisputed bantamweight champion when dominating Paul Butler and stopping the Brit after 11 one-sided rounds. With nothing left to conquer at 118, Inoue moved up in weight and looked as impressive as ever, bludgeoning unified champion Stephen Fulton into submission with an eighth-round stoppage.

Fulton, the consensus No. 1-rated junior featherweight at the time, had no answers as Inoue expertly added the WBC and WBO 122-pound titles to his growing list of accolades.

He later claimed the IBF and WBA titles with a tenth-round knockout win over Marlon Tapales to become the undisputed divisional king, before recovering from a career-first knockdown to stop former two-weight world champion Luis Nery in six rounds as more than 40,000 watched his first outing as undisputed at the rarely-used Tokyo Dome in May 2024.

He has stayed busy with a couple of routine defences against TJ Doheny and Ye Joon Kim before again climbing off the canvas, stopping Ramon Cardenas in round eight on May 4.

THE FUTURE: Inoue will face his toughest test in a while when he meets Murodjon Akhmadaliev at Japan's IG Arena in Nagoya on September 14.

RECORD: 41-0 (31 KOs)

THE PAST: Crawford started his pro career away from the bright lights, but soon enough the Nebraska native's big break came when stepping in on three days' notice to whitewash Amir Khan's former conqueror Briedis Prescott with a 10-round points win.

The super talented American switch-hitter went from strength-to-strength winning titles at 135, 140 and 147 before adding another string to his bow with world championship honours in the 154-pound division last summer.

Bud separated himself from the competition by becoming a two-weight undisputed champion, first at 140 and 147 two years ago. The 37-year-old made seven WBO welterweight title defences, notably stopping Khan, Kell Brook, Shawn Porter and David Avanesyan before his best: a dominant ninth-round win over longtime rival Errol Spence Jr.

That achievement saw him become the first male two-weight undisputed titleholder in the four-belt era, rarefied air that Usyk and Inoue have since joined him in achieving. Last August, he became a four-weight world champion when outpointing the unbeaten WBA titleholder Israil Madrimov to own a share of the spoils at junior middleweight too.

THE FUTURE: He will face Canelo Alvarez for the Ring and undisputed super middleweight titles, bidding for greatness at Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium on September 13.

RECORD: 24-1 (12 KOs)

THE PAST: Bivol was a standout amateur before turning professional in November 2014. The 34-year-old Kyrgyzstan-born technician claimed the WBA light heavyweight title in 2017, reeling off ten successful defences including a trio of 12-round decision wins over Isaac Chilemba, Jean Pascal and Joe Smith Jr after a final round stoppage of Sullivan Barrera.

However, his career-best points win over Canelo in May 2022 is what vaulted the 11-year pro into the pound-for-pound rankings. He picked apart Gilberto 'Zurdo' Ramirez six months later en route to another comfortable decision win, ended a year-long layoff with a dominant nod against Lyndon Arthur before impressively stopping Malik Zinad in six rounds.

An inspired surge by Artur Beterbiev saw him lose his title and undefeated record via majority decision during their enthralling first encounter in October, though he gained revenge by the same method of victory in an immediate rematch on February 22.

THE FUTURE: There has been talks of him facing Beterbiev in a rubber match, but nothing has been consummated yet.

RECORD: 21-1 (20 KOs)

THE PAST: Beterbiev was a standout amateur, winning gold at the 2009 World Championships and competing at the 2012 Olympics before the physically imposing Russian moved quickly as a professional.

He won a then-vacant IBF light heavyweight title and with it, his fearsome stoppage streak continued: Enrico Koelling was bested in the final round before title defences against Callum Johnson and Radivoje Kalajdzic came next. His breakout performance came when he dethroned then-WBC titleholder Oleksandr Gvozdyk in October 2019 with a 10th-round finish during their unification showdown.

The 40-year-old again showed his power carried late with knockouts of Adam Deines and Marcus Browne, in rounds nine and ten respectively, before blasting past WBO titleholder Joe Smith Jr inside two. He embraced a firefight and showed his toughness in London to dishearten Anthony Yarde before an eighth-round stoppage, before doing the same and finishing a round earlier against Callum Smith exactly 12 months later in Quebec, Canada.

Although he won a highly-anticipated undisputed matchup with Bivol to become the Ring and undisputed ruler at 175-pounds, was narrowly edged out in their February rematch.

THE FUTURE: Wants the third fight with Bivol but while voicing his frustrations about the wait, nothing has been agreed to as yet.

RECORD: 31-0 (24 KOs)

THE PAST: The heavy-handed boxer-puncher ran through his early opposition and holds stoppage wins over future junior flyweight titleholder Masamichi Yabuki, flyweight contender Seigo Yuri Akui and passed the litmus test of former 108-pound titleholder Milan Melindo all before the COVID-19 pandemic stymied the tall 27-year-old's progress.

He had to wait 13 months before winning the vacant WBO flyweight world title against Giemel Magramo with an eighth-round finish and made two subsequent defences, including his debut stateside, when stopping former titleholder Angel Acosta in four rounds.

He was equally impressive en route to an eighth-round finish of Ryota Yamauchi on the undercard of Gennadiy Golovkin-Ryota Murata, before testing his mettle in a new division.

The southpaw moved up to 115-pounds, beating Mexico's tough Francisco Rodriguez Jr over ten rounds before capturing another vacant WBO title with a highlight reel 12th-round knockout over Andrew Moloney in Las Vegas.

After one successful defence, a points win over Argi Cortes three months later, he headed to bantamweight where he's looked every bit the future star after stopping the durable Alexandro Santiago in six rounds for the WBC crown. After four title defences, he added the IBF crown to his ever-growing collection as Ryosuke Nishida's corner pulled him after six completed rounds on June 8 with their contest only going one way.

THE FUTURE: Nothing scheduled but you'd imagine he'll fight in the fall.

RECORD: 22-0 (15 KOs)

THE PAST: Rodriguez was a decorated amateur at junior level before turning professional at 17. 'Bam' worked his way through the junior flyweight rankings and was a highly-touted prospect when appearing on ESPN during the pandemic.

The Texan was given the opportunity to jump two weight classes and face savvy former titleholder Carlos Cuadras for the vacant WBC title and hasn't looked back since. He dropped Cuadras before claiming a 12-round unanimous decision, then made two championship defences - notably stopping Srisaket Sor Rungvisai in eight rounds.

He decided to drop down in weight and picked up the vacant WBO title, suffering a broken jaw in the process during a 12-round decision victory over Cristian Gonzalez. The 25-year-old southpaw stopped long-reigning IBF champion Sunny Edwards in nine to unify the titles at the end of 2023, though vacated them in moving back up to 115-pounds, where he won The Ring junior bantamweight title and regained the WBC strap after climbing off the canvas to knock out Juan Francisco Estrada in seven rounds.

After easily breezing beyond veteran Pedro Guevara, he made Phumelela Cafu's WBO title reign a short one when notching a tenth-round finish of the South African last weekend.

THE FUTURE: Rodriguez is already earmarked to face WBA ruler Fernando Martinez during another title unification bout as part of a stacked show in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia on Nov. 22.

RECORD: 63-2-2 (39 KOs)

THE PAST: Canelo turned professional at 15 and won his first world title at 20. He has gone on to win world titles in four weight classes from junior middleweight, middleweight, super middleweight with a brief pit stop at light heavyweight and boasts a cache of outstanding wins over Erislandy Lara, Miguel Cotto, Gennadiy Golovkin, Daniel Jacobs, Sergey Kovalev, Billy Joe Saunders and Caleb Plant among several others.

The recently turned 35-year-old is a modern day great and boxing's biggest star. Since being upset by Bivol in May 2022, he has since bounced back with six straight wins - notably ending his Golovkin trilogy victorious, while outpointing previously-unbeaten pair Jermell Charlo and Jaime Munguia among others.

THE FUTURE: Although originally reticent to the idea a few years back, his stance has warmed and now Canelo will test his mettle against another unbeaten world champion moving up when Crawford stands opposite him at Las Vegas' Allegiant Stadium on Sept. 13.

RECORD: 25-1 (16 KOs)

THE PAST: Teraji won the Japanese and OPBF titles inside eight fights. Soon afterward, 'The Amazing Boy' stepped up to the world scene and claimed the WBC title in May 2017 when edging past Ganigan Lopez via 12-round majority decision.

Teraji improved immeasurably after winning at championship level, making eight title defences which include stoppage victories in a Lopez rematch, while Milan Melindo, Jonathan Taconing and Randy Petalcorin were all dismissed inside the distance. That said, overconfidence saw him return from COVID-19 too quickly as Masamichi Yabuki inflicted a career-first loss with a tenth-round stoppage win at his expense in September 2021.

To his credit, a now 33-year-old Teraji doubled down by showing his class and an extra edge we hadn't previously seen by blitzing Yabuki inside three rounds to regain the title.

He then upped his game again, scoring a career-best scalp over previously unbeaten Hiroto Kyoguchi in seven rounds to claim The Ring and WBA belts at junior flyweight. He has since stopped late substitute Anthony Olascuaga and veteran former titleholder Hekkie Budler in nine rounds apiece before narrowly besting Carlos Canizales via 12-round majority decision.

He moved up to 112-pounds last year, scoring an 11th-round stoppage win over Cristofer Rosales for the vacant WBC title before adding the WBA strap by producing an inspired finish in the final frame of a fight he was trailing against Seigo Yuri Akui on March 13.

THE FUTURE: Teraji will defend his titles against a young, hungry contender in Ricardo Sandoval (26-2, 18 KOs) this coming midweek in Yokohama, Japan on July 30.

RECORD: 24-0 (11 KOs)

THE PAST: The 2016 Olympic silver medalist adapted to the professional game and his star quickly ascended. Stevenson shut down the previously-unbeaten Joet Gonzalez to claim the vacant WBO featherweight title in October 2019 before immediately moving up to 130lbs, where he was awarded The Ring's Performance of the Year after a dominant 10th-round stoppage win over WBO titleholder Jamel Herring in October 2021.

He added Ring and WBC titles to his ledger after outclassing another previously-unbeaten foe in Oscar Valdez over the 12-round distance, though lost his titles on the scales when missing weight for his scheduled defence in a routine win over Robson Conceicao.

The 28-year-old southpaw headed to 135-pounds after this mishap, where he was punch-perfect on his lightweight debut in stopping Shuichiro Yoshino in six rounds. However, he failed to impress despite winning the WBC strap against Edwin De Los Santos in November 2023 and that frustration continued against Artem Harutyunyan last summer.

Hand surgery sidelined him for an extended period of time before returning with a ninth-round stoppage of short-notice sub Josh Padley in February, while he temporarily silenced some critics and showed new wrinkes to his game when ruining another unbeaten record against mandatory challenger and interim champion William Zepeda in New York this month.

THE FUTURE: Stevenson hinted at returning in the fall or early 2026.

On the Cusp: Oscar Collazo, David Benavidez, Gervonta Davis, Jaron Ennis and Jai Opetaia.