Top 10 Cruiserweight Boxers - July 2022 Rankings | Chris Billam-Smith defeats Isaac Chamberlain

Updating the best Cruiserweight Boxing Rankings after Chris Billam-Smith defeats Isaac Chamberlain in a grinding fight to remain the European and Commonwealth Cruiserweight boxing champion. Also earlier this month Jai Opetaia defeating Mairis Briedis by decision to become the new IBF Cruiserweight World Champion and The Ring Cruiserweight World Champion. Also where Lawrence Okolie, Ilunga Makabu, Thabiso Mchunu, and more rank including fight highlights

By Fan Rankings | July 07, 2022 - 12:22 PM

Honorable Mention

Badou Jack

Badou Jack is a Gambian-born Swedish professional boxer and he has held world titles in two weight classes. He is a former WBC super-middleweight champion and a WBA light-heavyweight world champion. He has not been able to get a title shot at cruiserweight yet, but he deserves an honorable mention.

Chris Billam-Smith

Chris Billam-Smith also deserves an honorable mention. He has a record of 16-1, and he is the current European and Commonwealth Cruiserweight boxing champion. He is also the former WBA Continental cruiserweight champion.

Just recently Chris Billam-Smith defeated Isaac Chamberlain by unanimous decision in a grinding fight. Billam-Smith and Chamberlain produced a fight of the year candidate that Billam-Smith edged out. His next fight has not been announced yet

Top 10 Cruiserweight Boxers

10. Mateusz Masternak

Mateusz Masternak is a professional boxer from Poland, and he has a record of 46 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 Armend Xhoxhaj from Kosovo and won via 4th round TKO. His next fight has not been announced yet.

9. Krzysztof Głowacki

The next fighter on our list. Krzysztof Głowacki is also from Poland and has a professional record of 33-3.

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

In his most recent fight, he defeated Francisco Rivas Ruiz and his next fight has not been announced yet.

8. Ryad Merhy

Title(s):

WBA Cruiserweight Regular Champion

Ryad Merhy is a professional boxer from Belgium. He has a professional record of 30 wins and only 1 loss.

Ryad Merhy is the current WBA (Regular) cruiserweight champion and he has held multiple regional titles including the WBA Inter-Continental and International cruiserweight titles.

In his most recent fight, he defended his title for the first time against Zhaoxin Zhang and won via TKO in the 9th round. His next fight has not been announced yet.

7. Alexei Papin

Alexei Papin is a Russian professional boxer and former kickboxer, with an active boxing record of 14 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 Dilan Prašović and won via 2nd round knockout. His next fight has not been announced yet.

6. 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.

5. Lawrence Okolie

Title(s):

WBO Cruiserweight Champion

Lawrence Okolie is a professional boxer from Great Britain, and he has an undefeated professional record of 18 wins and 0 losses.

Okolie is the current 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 Michał Cieślak, and his next fight has not been announced yet.

4. Ilunga Makabu

Title(s):

WBC Cruiserweight 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. He is also the former WBC Silver and WBC International Cruiserweight champion.

In his most recent fight, Ilunga Makabu defeated Thabiso Mchunu and defended his title for the second time. As of now, there is no announcement about when he will fight next.

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.

However, last weekend, 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. Jai Opetaia

Title(s):

IBF Cruiserweight Champion
The Ring Cruiserweight Champion

Jai Opetaia is an Australian Professional boxer, with an undefeated record of 22 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 last weekend. 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.

1. 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.

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

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