Yes, I know... no need to thank me.

P4P rankings are a pain in the ass, and the source of huge disagreements between boxing fans. Something to argue about over beers at the neighborhood bar. Everyone's always got the right answer... and everyone else is wrong.

But hey... they're an inescapable part of our sport... and we actually love to talk about it even though publicly we claim to hate it.

So without further ado, I set out to find the latest p4p rankings by some of the organizations that do this sort of thing. Gotta be careful doing this, because not everybody puts out these rankings frequently enough to keep up with the latest fights and occurrences in boxing. But anyway, I chose four organizations that regularly put out p4p lists, and compared their rankings. There's more orgs, but I chose these. The Ring, BoxRec, TBRB, and ESPN. I'll share and comment on their rankings.

The Ring (updated Feb 2024)

1. Crawford
2. Inoue

(Every org, except BoxRec, had Crawford and Inoue #1 and 2 respectively, in their list. I would respectfully invert the two. Inoue, IMHO, has by far the better resume and the more impressive career at this point. Two things he's got going against him are: 1. He's a lighter weight than Crawford, and 2. He's Japanese and to my knowledge speaks little or no English. Unfair, to be sure... but it is what it is.)

3. Usyk - No issues there. Usyk has earned his spot with a sparkling resume at cruiser, and then his two victories over Joshua.
4. Canelo - Too high. I'd put both Bivol and Beterbiev above him. At least those guys don't duck anybody.
5. Beterbiev
6. Bivol
7. Haney - Meh. He did go up in weight and beat Prograis convincingly. That's worth something. I'm hoping he embarrasses the Princess next.
8. Spence - Meh. Damaged goods. Looked downright awful against Crawford. It's telling he's not ranked in the Top 10 by any of the other three orgs.
9. Davis - He was the first to expose the Princess. For that alone I'd give him a pass.
10. Jesse Rodriguez - (HUH??)


ESPN (updated Dec 2023)

1. Crawford
2. Inoue
3. Usyk
4. Bivol
5. Canelo - Nah... lower
6. Haney
7. Beterbiev
8. Davis
9. Shakur - After that pitiful performance against De los Santos, he should consider himself lucky he's on ANY list.
10. Tyson Fury - (no comment)

BoxRec (no date given)

1. Crawford
2. Canelo - They can blow me. Which is EXACTLY what they're doing to Canelo. They should all smoke a cigarette next.
3. Inoue - Canelo's not even fit to carry Inoue's jock strap.
4. Davis - More proof that BoxRec is out to lunch.
5. Haney
6. Bivol
7. Benavidez
8. Beterbiev
9. Navarrete
10. Eubank Jr.

(The only ones to leave out Usyk from their Top 10. BoxRec's rankings are shit for more reasons than one).

TBRB (no date given)

1. Crawford
2. Inoue
3. Usyk
4. Bivol
5. Canelo
6. Haney
7. Beterbiev
8. Teofimo
9. Teraji
10. Nakatani

(Nice to see some Japanese fighters in there for a change).