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 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, looking at each ranked fighter's respective achievements and gazing into my crystal ball to determine what might lie ahead.

After a busy eight months of 2025, it's time to compile another divisional breakdown.

Next up is junior middleweight (154-pounds), a division overflowing with talent that will welcome former unified welterweight champion Jaron Ennis to its ranks next month. As always, please enjoy the debate and respect other people's opinions.

RECORD: 23-0 (21 KOs)

THE PAST: WBC interim champion Vergil Ortiz turned professional at 140 pounds back in the summer of 2016. The aggressive power puncher was bursting at the seams and by the time he reached contender status was up at welterweight, where he stopped former 140-pound titlist Maurice Hooker in March 2021 before needing a round more to dismiss one-time welterweight title challenger Egidijus Kavaliauskas in August 2021.

However, the 27-year-old Texan lost momentum due to a rhabdomyolysis diagnosis. After receiving the all-clear, Ortiz returned but saw an ill-fated fight with WBA beltholder Eimantas Stanionis fall apart on three separate occasions.

He jumped up to 154-pounds, snapping a 17-month hiatus with a pair of first-round stoppage wins before edging past Serhii Bohachuk during their Fight of the Year contender in August 2024. Last time out, he looked very good in outpointing Israil Madrimov over 12 rounds on February 22.

THE FUTURE: Ortiz will face one-time title challenger and highly-rated contender Erickson Lubin to headline Golden Boy's show in Fort Worth, Texas come November 8.

RECORD: 21-1-1 (13 KOs)

THE PAST: WBC champion Fundora built a portion of his early record on the road in Mexico, Argentina and Uruguay. The 27-year-old holds physical advantages over his opponents, standing 6-foot-5½ with a gargantuan 80-inch reach - two inches more than undisputed heavyweight king Oleksandr Usyk.

Rather than box on the outside though, he prefers to stand and fight. He has impressed stateside, notably outlasting Erickson Lubin (RTD 9) in an April 2022 firefight where both men were floored and a year later, Fundora built an early lead on the scorecards before Brian Mendoza shockingly knocked him out seven rounds into their interim title contest.

Set to return after a year-long layoff against Serhii Bohachuk, he instead stepped in at late notice to replace Vergil Ortiz against Tim Tszyu and upset a then-unbeaten WBO champion via 12-round split decision in March 2024. After another year off, Fundora returned to beat Chordale Booker with a fourth-round stoppage in March before a more conclusive victory over Tszyu in their July 19 rematch.

THE FUTURE: He will face former unified welterweight titleholder Keith Thurman in Las Vegas on October 25.

RECORD: 10-2-1 (7 KOs)

THE PAST: Madrimov won a slew of amateur titles before turning professional in fall 2018, after which he has moved quickly due to his pedigree in the unpaid ranks.

"The Dream" has proven a nightmare for his opponents and beat seasoned veterans like Norberto Gonzalez (TKO 6), Alejandro Barrera (TKO 5) and Eric Walker (UD 12). He twice fought perennial contender Michel Soro (TKO 9, TD 3).

He easily beat unheralded Raphael Igbokwe (UD 10) before scoring an eye-catching win over Magomed Kurbanov (TKO 5) to annex the vacant WBA title in March 2024 but lost it in a close-run affair against Terence Crawford five months later, enhancing his reputation.

However, the Uzbek struggled to find his usual rhythm and lost to Ortiz out in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in February before undergoing surgery on a series of troublesome injuries.

THE FUTURE: He needs to get back in the win column and then take aim at the other big names in the division next year.

RECORD: 23-0 (17 KOs)

THE PAST: Murtazaliev turned professional back in 2014, but his career was very much a slow burn and though he won an IBF eliminator against Jorge Fortea (UD 12) in May 2019, didn't get his title shot and remained active until that chance came after Jermell Charlo vacated his Ring and undisputed world titles.

The 32-year-old travelled to Germany for it and came on strong late before stopping Jack Culcay in the penultimate round of their vacant championship contest in April 2024. During his first defense, he was selected as likely cannon fodder against Tim Tszyu but upset the applecart with a career-best win via a destructive third-round stoppage.

THE FUTURE: He is in advanced talks to defend his title against Britain's Josh Kelly in the coming months.

RECORD: 27-2 (18 KOs)

THE PAST: Lubin was a former amateur star, who looked on course to represent the U.S. at the 2016 Olympics before giving that up and turning professional at 18. He looked the part during his rise before being brutally stopped in a round by WBC beltholder Jermell Charlo in October 2017.

That setback may have ruined a lot of fighters but, to his credit, Lubin raised his game and won six consecutive fights, most notably stopping former unified titleholder Jeison Rosario with a sixth-round knockout in June 2021.

The 29-year-old southpaw fell short in an all-action shootout with Sebastian Fundora, but returned to the win column beating Luis Arias (TKO 5) in June 2023. Arguably fortunate to get a 12-round points win over Jesus Ramos three months later, he most recently stopped Ardreal Holmes Jr with an 11th-round finish during their IBF title eliminator on May 10.

THE FUTURE: Rather than fight Murtazaliev for the IBF crown, he opted instead to venture down the WBC route and face interim beltholder Ortiz on November 8.

RECORD: 22-0 (13 KOs)

THE PAST: Zayas signed professional forms with Top Rank at 16. He got the requisite work and progressed mostly notably with wins over Fortea (TKO 5), former world champion Patrick Teixeira (UD 10) and previously unbeaten Slawa Spomer (TKO 9) in February.

After making public his desire to face Fundora, the proud Puerto Rican realised his potential by becoming the sport's youngest world champion after outboxing Jorge Garcia (UD 12) for the WBO belt Fundora would ultimately vacate, in Top Rank's final ESPN show on July 26.

THE FUTURE: A Puerto Rican homecoming once Top Rank have found a new platform.

RECORD: 26-4 (16 KOs)

THE PAST: Adams made his debut back in 2011 and won his first 14 fights before suffering a 10-round points defeat by Willie Munroe Jr in May 2014.

After three consecutive stoppage victories to start 2015, Apollo Thompson needed just two rounds to hand him a first knockout loss. Following that setback and a lengthy layoff, he revived his career by winning the Contender series, outpointing Shane Mosley Jr over 10 rounds in the November 2018 final.

That scalp earned him a WBC middleweight title shot against Jermall Charlo, who only lost one round across all three judges' scorecards in a dominant June 2019 decision victory.

The 36-year-old rallied to upset then-unbeaten contender Serhii Bohachuk in March 2021, before losing that momentum with another lengthy absence. When he returned, the California native lost a rousing 10-round split decision to Andreas Katzourakis before beating old rival Bohachuk in their rematch on last week's Canelo-Crawford undercard.

THE FUTURE: After pitching another big win over Bohachuk, this time with the Ukrainian's high rankings taken into account, he'll be determined to parlay that success into a bigger opportunity in the not-too-distant future.

RECORD: 23-1 (19 KOs)

THE PAST: Ramos turned professional in Mexico where his first eight fights took place. The Casa Grande native headed back to America, quickly outgrowing the welterweight division.

The hard-charging 24-year-old nephew of welterweight fringe contender Abel Ramos has beaten Brian Mendoza (UD 10), Luke Santamaria (UD 10) and rising prospect Joey Spencer (TKO 7) before a contentious 12-round points defeat by Erickson Lubin in September 2023.

Since that setback, he replied by beating Johan Gonzalez (TKO 9) in May 2024 and has remained active: stopping former unified 154-pound champion Jeison Rosario in eight rounds on February 1, before needing a round less to finish Guido Schramm on March 22.

THE FUTURE: He's headed to middleweight where he'll face Shane Mosley Jr. for the WBC's interim title on the Fundora-Thurman undercard come October 25.

RECORD: 17-1 (9 KOs)

THE PAST: The German-born fighter of Togolese heritage was a good amateur, winning bronze at the 2017 World Championships.

He turned professional the following year and by his fifth fight, had outpointed faded former world champion Carlos Molina via 12-round decision in February 2019. Five more appearances later, Jack Culcay inflicted his first defeat with a narrow 12-round split decision result during their IBF title eliminator in August 2020.

Over the next couple of years, like many, his career suffered because of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic. He managed to grab a foothold when besting Sam Eggington via 12-round majority decision in March 2024 for the European title.

After one title defense, he levelled up and surprised unbeaten prospect Yoenis Tellez with an impressive decision victory on away soil, winning the WBA interim strap on August 23.

That has subsequently been upgraded to full championship status, after existing beltholder Terence Crawford's win over Canelo Alvarez saw him officially depart the weight class.

THE FUTURE: Potentially a homecoming defense in Germany.

RECORD: 26-3 (24 KOs)

THE PAST: Bohachuk was a solid amateur who competed in the World Series of Boxing before turning professional in 2017. The Ukrainian won his first 18 fights all inside the distance - no-one could make it past six rounds - when Brandon Adams scored an eighth-round stoppage upset win while he led comfortably across all three scorecards.

He returned with five wins, again all inside the distance before a welcome 12-round points win over Brian Mendoza in March 2024. He narrowly lost to Vergil Ortiz five months later and after a stock-rising performance, had been tabbed to face Israil Madrimov before late-notice substitute Ishmael Davis felt his wrath with a stoppage after six rounds on the Oleksandr Usyk-Tyson Fury 2 undercard in December last year.

He stayed busy to solve a tricky Mykal Fox puzzle via 10-round decision in May, before Adams cruised past him in a repeat victory - this time by decision - on September 13.

THE FUTURE: Claims he'll bounce back stronger than ever after his latest setback, though we'll have to see when he returns.

Charles Conwell, Jorge Garcia, Uisma Lima, Bakary Samake and Tim Tszyu

Click here for the pound-for-pound review, as well as ten more divisions assessed - the strawweights, the junior-flyweights, the flyweights, the junior bantamweights, the bantamweights, the junior featherweights, the featherweights, the junior lightweights, the lightweights, junior welterweights and welterweights.