Cruiserweight: The true throne of the division empties after Oleksandr Usyk’s move to heavyweight. His alphabet belts had already begun to move around.
Light Heavyweight: Boxing has a new light heavyweight king. Artur Beterviev assumes the lineal mantle with his knockout of Oleksandr Gvozdyk. Saul Alvarez won his third major divisional crown with a knockout of Sergey Kovalev.
Middleweight: Gennady Golovkin is back in belted circles, regaining the IBF title with a gritty decision over Sergey Dereveyanchenko.
Welterweight: Errol Spence is now belted twice over after winning a gem against Shawn Porter. He is wished a speedy recovery from his auto accident shortly after the fight.
Jr. Welterweight: In a year where we’ve seen several unification clashes, two memorable events at Jr. welterweight have whittled the field to two top dogs. Josh Taylor won a tough decision over Regis Prograis to win the WBSS and said he’s ready for fellow unified titlist Jose Ramirez. 2020 is as good a time as any.
Lightweight: The WBC’s silly ‘franchise’ tag elevated Devin Haney to their official titlist.
Featherweight: Oscar Valdez vacated the WBO strap to move to Jr. lightweight and 2016 US Olympic Silver Medalist Shakur Stevenson claimed it in a lopsided decision over Joet Gonzalez.
Bantamweight: Another unified titlist arrives via the WBSS. Naoya Inoue won a bloody front-runner for Fight of the Year, overcoming a fractured orbital bone early to defeat a Noinito Donaire who turned back the clock. Will Inoue stick around to unify the whole division?
Flyweight: Charlie Edwards vacated his WBC belt and will test the waters at 115 lbs.
Strawweight: Two new titlists reign at 105 lbs. Wilfredo Mendez bested Vic Sauldar for the WBO strap in August and Pedro Taduran won the vacant IBF title in September.
Last Update: August 12, 2019
For the full update: https://www.boxingscene.com/forums/view.php?pg=boxing-ratings
Cliff Rold is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene, a founding member of the Transnational Boxing Rankings Board, and a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America. He can be reached at roldboxing@hotmail.com