The Cruiserweight Boxing Rankings gets an update after Norair Mikaeljan defeats Ilunga Makabu for the vacant WBC Cruiserweight Title.

Honorable Mention

Thabiso Mchunu

Thabiso Mchunu is a boxer from South Africa. He has a professional record of 23 wins and 6 losses. 

Mchunu has won multiple regional titles, including the WBC silver cruiserweight title. He has challenged for a world title twice but lost both times.

In his most recent fight, he challenged Illunga Makabu for the WBC cruiserweight title, the fight was very close, however, Mchunu lost via split decision. His next fight has not been announced yet.

Mateusz Masternak

Opening the Top 10 Cruiserweight Boxing Rankings is Mateusz Masternak. Masternak is a professional boxer from Poland, and he has a record of 47 wins and 5 losses. 

Masternak has won multiple regional titles including the  WBA and IBF Inter-Continental cruiserweight titles, and the  WBO European Cruiserweight title.

In his most recent fight, he faced Jason Whateley and won via Unanimous Decision. His next fight is against #5 Fan Rankings ranked Chris Billiam-Smith.

Alexei Papin

Alexei Papin is a Russian professional boxer and former kickboxer, with an active boxing record of 15 wins and only 1 loss. 

Papin is the former IBF International Cruiserweight champion and also challenged Illunga Makabu for the WBC Silver Cruiserweight title. 

In his most recent fight, he faced off against Soslan Asbarov and lost via 2nd round knockout. His next fight has not been announced yet.

Top 10 Cruiserweight Boxing Rankings

10. Richard Riakporhe

Richard Riakporhe is a professional boxer from Britain, and he has an undefeated record with 16 wins. 

Riakporhe has held multiple regional titles at cruiserweight. He is the former British Cruiserweight champion and has held the WBA Inter-Continental and WBC silver Cruiserweight world titles as well. 

In his most recent fight, he defeated Krzysztof Głowacki via TKO and his next fight has not been announced yet.

9. Ilunga Makabu

Ilunga Makabu is a boxer from Congo. He has a professional record of 29 wins and 3 losses. 

Makabu is the former  WBC cruiserweight champion and won the title after defeating Michał Cieślak. He is also the former WBC Silver and WBC International Cruiserweight champion. 

Makabu defended the WBC title twice, before losing it to Badou Jack in his most recent fight. Makabu had a tough fight, getting dropped twice before losing the fight in the 12th round via TKO.

In his most recent fight, Ilunga Makabu lost to Norair Mikaeljan via TKO and there is no announcement about when he will fight next.

8. Lawrence Okolie

Lawrence Okolie is a professional boxer from Great Britain, and he has an undefeated professional record of 19 wins and 1 loss. 

Okolie is the former WBO cruiserweight champion of the world, and he won the title after defeating Krzysztof Głowacki back in March of 2021. He has defended the title twice since. 

In his most recent fight, he defended his title against Chris Billam-Smith which he lost by majority decision. Okolie was knocked down three times during the fight and was deducted two points for constantly holding.

7. Arsen Goulamirian

Title(s):

• WBA Cruiserweight Super Champion

Now in the Top 5 of the Cruiserweight Boxing Rankings is Arsen Goulamirian. Goulamirian is an Armenian-Born Boxer fighting out of France, and he has an undefeated professional record of 27 wins and 0 losses. 

Goulamirian is the current WBA Cruiserweight world champion. He won the interim title in 2018 after defeating Ryad Merhy and was later promoted to the WBA (Super) Cruiserweight world champion. He has defended the title three times. 

In his most recent fight, he defeated Alexey Egorov, and there is no official announcement about his next fight.

6. Badou Jack

Badou Jack is a Gambian-born Swedish professional boxer and he has a record of 28 wins and 3 losses. 

Jack has held world titles in three weight classes. He is the former WBC super-middleweight champion and WBA light-heavyweight world champion. 

He held the WBC Cruiserweight title and won it after defeating Ilunga Makabu. Badou Jack dropped Makabu twice, before finally finishing him in the last round, and getting a TKO win.

Badou Jack recently vacated the WBC Cruiserweight Title and now looks to have sights for the WBC Bridgerweight Title. His next fight will be against Lukasz Rozanski.

5. Chris Billam-Smith

Title(s):

• WBO Cruiserweight World Champion

Chris Billam-Smith is a professional boxer from England, and he has a record of 18 wins with only 1 loss. 

He is the current WBO Cruiserweight world champion and has previously held multiple regional titles including the European, Commonwealth, and WBA Continental Cruiserweight titles. 

In his most recent fight, he defeated Lawrence Okolie via Majority Decision. For his next fight, he was originally meant to fight  Okolie in a rematch, however, after the fight was delayed, he is now scheduled to face Mateusz Masternak on December 10th.

4. Norair Mikaeljan

Title(s):

• WBC Cruiserweight World Champion

Norair Mikaeljan, AKA Noel Gevor is an Armenian professional boxer with 27 wins and 2 losses. 

He is the current WBC cruiserweight world champion and has previously held multiple regional titles as well, including the WBC Silver and International Cruiserweight titles. 

He won the Vacant WBC world title last weekend, after defeating Ilunga Makabu via an impressive third-round TKO. Mikaeljan outclassed his opponent from start to finish, solidifying his position with a dominant performance.

3. Mairis Briedis

Mairis Briedis is a Latvian professional boxer with a record of 28 wins and 2 losses. 

Briedis is a three-time world champion at cruiserweight. He won the WBC title in 2017, and the WBO title in 2019, and is also the former unified IBF and the Ring cruiserweight world champion.

Recently, Briedis lost the title to Jai Opetaia. He had a slow start, and even though he rallied in the later rounds, and even broke Opetaia’s jaw, it was too little too late, and he lost via unanimous decision.

2. Yuniel Dorticos

Yuniel Dorticós is a Cuban professional boxer with a record of 26 wins and 2 losses. 

He is a former two-time world champion at cruiserweight. He held the  WBA cruiserweight title from 2017 to 2018 and the IBF cruiserweight title from 2019 to September 2020.  

In his most recent fight, he defeated Deibis Berrocal via TKO, and there is no official announcement about his next fight.

1. Jai Opetaia

Title(s):

• IBF Cruiserweight World Champion
• The Ring Cruiserweight World Champion

In at number 1 on the Top 10 Cruiserweight Boxing Rankings is Jai Opetaia. Opetaia is an Australian Professional boxer, with an undefeated record of 23 wins and 0 losses. 

As of last weekend, Jai Opetaia is the current unified IBF and The Ring cruiserweight world champion. He has also held multiple regional titles including the WBA Oceania and WBO Global cruiserweight titles

He won the IBF and The Ring cruiserweight titles after defeating Mairis Briedis. Opetaia took the lead on the scorecards in the early rounds and though Briedis had a comeback in the later rounds, Jai Opetaia won the fight via a unanimous decision.

Recently, Opetaia took on Jordan Thompson for his first title defense and knocked him out in the 4th round after a short but dominating performance. There is no announcement about his next fight yet.  

How would you rank these Contenders and Champions? Rank below to be added in the Power Rankings

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