Top 10 Cruiserweight Boxers – February 2022 Rankings

Ranking the best Cruiserweight boxers in the world after Ilunga Makabu defeated Thabiso Mchunu in a close fight to retain his WBC Cruiserweight Championship. Also where Mairis Briedis, Yuniel Dorticos, Lawrence Okolie, and more rank

By fan rankings | January 31, 2022

*For current and up to date rankings go to Top 10 Cruiserweight Boxers – World Rankings

The Cruiserweight division isn’t easy and so is ranking them. Therefore, here are the honorable mentions before moving on to the actual list.

Honorable Mention

Ryad Merhy

Title(s):

WBA (Regular) Cruiserweight World Champion

Ryad Merhy is a Belgian professional boxer with a professional record of 30 wins and 1 loss. Merhy is the current WBA (Regular) cruiserweight champion and has held the title since January 2021.

Chris Billam-Smith

Chris Billam-Smith is an English boxer with a professional record of 13-1. He has held the Commonwealth cruiserweight title since 2019, and last weekend, he defeated Tommy McCarthy via split decision.

Top 10 Cruiserweight Boxers

10. Mateusz Masternak

Mateusz Masternak Polish boxer with an extensive boxing record of 46 wins and 5 losses. He is the former EBU Cruiserweight champion and has also held the IBF Inter-Continental cruiserweight title.

He defeated Armend Xhoxhaj in his most recent fight, and as of now, there is no official announcement about his next fight.

9. Michał Cieślak

Cieślak is a professional boxer from Poland, with a boxing record of 21 wins, 1 loss, and 1 no-contest.

Most notably, he fought Ilunga Makabu for the WBC cruiserweight title in January of this year, however, he lost via UD. Cieślak has held multiple regional titles, including the Republic of Poland International cruiserweight title.

He won his most recent fight against Yury Kashinsky and his next fight is scheduled against Lawrence Okolie for the WBO Cruiserweight world title.

8. Krzysztof Głowacki

The next fighter on our list. Krzysztof Głowacki is also from Poland and has a professional record of 31-3.

He is a two-time WBO cruiserweight world champion and has held multiple regional titles as well. His most recent fight he challenged Lawrence Okolie for the WBO cruiserweight title, however, he lost the fight via TKO.

There is no announcement for his next fight as of yet.

7. Alexi Papin

Alexi Papin is a Russian boxer and former kickboxer, with an action boxing record of 13 wins and 1 loss. 12 of his wins have come by way of KO.

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

He won his most recent fight against Vaclav Pejsar via first-round TKO, and his next fight has not been announced yet.

6. Kevin Lerena

The next fighter on our list, Kevin Lerena, is from South Africa, and he has a professional boxing record of 27 wins and 1 loss.

Lerena is the current IBO cruiserweight champion and has held the title since 2017. He won the belt after defeating Youri Kayembre Kalenga and has since defended the title 6 times.

In his most recent fight, he fought Patrick Ferguson and won via TKO. As of now, there is no official announcement for his next fight.

5. Thabiso Mchunu

Thabiso Mchunu is another 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. Last weekend, he fought against 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.

4. Lawrence Okolie

Title(s):

WBO Cruiserweight World Champion

Coming from Great Britain, our next fight Lawrence Okolie is a popular rapper and author as well. As a professional boxer, he has an undefeated professional record of 17-0.

Okolie is the current WBO cruiserweight champion of the world, and he won the title after defeating Krzysztof Głowacki back in March of 2021. In his most recent fight, he defended his title against Dilan Prašović winning the fight via 3rd round KO.

Okolie is scheduled to fight Michał Cieślak for his next fight on 27th February.

3. Ilunga Makabu

Title(s):

WBC Cruiserweight World Champion

Ilunga Makabu is a boxer from Congo. He has a professional record of 29 wins and 2 losses.

Makabu is the current WBC cruiserweight champion and has held the title since January of 2021. He won the title after defeating Michał Cieślak and has defended it twice. Once against Olanrewaju Durodola, and last weekend against Thabiso Mchunu.

The fight was tough for both fighters, Makabu kept landing power shots, but also ate some massive counters from Mchunu. The fight ended in a split decision in the favor of Makabu, but the fight was very close.

2. Yuniel Dorticos

Yuniel Dorticós is a Cuban professional boxer with a record of 25 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.

Most recently, he fought Jesse Bryan, in November of last year, and won the fight via TKO. There is no official announcement about his next fight.

1. Mairis Briedis

Title(s):

IBF Cruiserweight World Champion

At number 1, we have Mairis Briedis. He is a Latvian professional boxer with a record of 28-1.

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

He won the titles in his fight against Yuniel Dorticos back in 2020, and since then has also defended them against Artur Mann in his most recent fight. His next fight has not been announced yet.

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