Pound for Pound: 2029

After Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez’s performance against Juan Francisco Estrada on Saturday night, we thought it would be a good time to repost Tom Gray’s speculative story from the most recent issue of The Ring Magazine, the July 2024 edition. In it, Gray took on the task of creating a pound-for-pound list from the perspective of somebody in 2029. (And remember, this was written before Bam flattened Estrada.) What do you think the P4P list will look like in five years?

THE RING JUMPS FIVE YEARS INTO THE FUTURE TO IMAGINE THE POUND-FOR-POUND STARS OF TOMORROW

When a truly special fighter reaches the pinnacle of boxing by pulling off an array of fistic miracles, their lofty position atop the mythical pound-for-pound list can seem unassailable. They’re so good that you just can’t imagine the sport without them in it.

From 1994 until 2004, the brilliant Roy Jones Jr. was the consensus choice for greatest fighter on the planet. The super-skilled dynamo from Pensacola captured world championships from middleweight to heavyweight and his performance level put him on another dimension. Jones was arguably the most talented fighter who has yet lived, but he made the fatal mistake of overstaying his welcome.

Shortly after Jones began his dramatic descent, Floyd Mayweather Jr. emerged as his pound-for-pound successor. From 2005 until 2015, with a brief retirement in the middle, the artist formerly known as “Pretty Boy” became “Money” … and he made plenty of it. Emulating Jones as a multi-weight world champion, the Grand Rapids technician ended his career as the best fighter in the world with an immaculate 50-0 record.

Whether boxing forces a fighter off the pound-for-pound throne or whether the king willingly abdicates, there are always replacements at the ready.

Today, there’s a lot more debate over who rules the pound-for-pound landscape. Naoya Inoue, Terence Crawford and Oleksandr Usyk have all established themselves as double undisputed champions, and none of them has ever tasted defeat. However, like Mayweather and Jones before them, all three will be forced to exit the elite level sooner or later.

Who will step in to replace “The Monster,” “Bud” and the current heavyweight king when they depart the pound-for-pound scene? 

Let’s consider everything we know right now, in mid-2024, and look five years into the future. What follows is an earnest attempt at predicting the top 10 best fighters in the world and how they got there.

The year is 2029 …

10 ZHANIBEK ALIMKHANULY
Record: 25-0 (20 KOs)
Titles: Reigning IBF/WBO middleweight

Soon after Gennadiy Golovkin retired from the sport, another rampaging middleweight from Kazakhstan began cutting a swathe through the 160-pound division.

Alimkhanuly has been so dominant in this weight class that securing further unification fights has proven to be impossible for years now. He has won his last 10 fights via knockout and none of his opponents have gone over nine rounds.

Having posted 12 successful defenses at middleweight, Alimkhanuly will soon be knocking on the door of some of the division’s greats. However, to carve out an enduring legacy of his own, he needs signature wins to be compared to his predecessors. There was a period of time, in 2025 and 2026, when Alimkhanuly held out hope for a megafight with Terence Crawford, but the American star never made the foray into the middleweight division, instead retiring after unifying 154-pound titles.

9 DAVID MORRELL
Record: 20-0 (18 KOs)
Titles: Reigning WBA light heavyweight

Cuban lefty David Morrell has been highly touted since turning professional in 2019. A prolonged stint as the WBA “regular” super middleweight champ stunted his progress due to poor opposition, and he initially went the same route at light heavyweight.

However, since being upgraded to 175-pound full champion in 2027, Morrell has won six more title defenses and his performances have been terrific. The 31-year-old has scored shutout wins over Christian Mbilli and Diego Pacheco, and it still looks like there are more gears to go through.

Having competed in Canada, New York and Saudi Arabia, Morrell has built a substantial fan following. His quick hands, aggressive style and thudding power make him an exciting television fighter, and he’s now headlining back in his home base of Minneapolis. 

The biggest fight in the division would be against No. 1-ranked 175-pounder David Benavidez, who holds two pieces of the light heavyweight puzzle. With Morrell at No. 2, if they can get that fight made, then the winner will hold the Ring belt and would only need the WBO title to be anointed undisputed champion.

8 DAVID BENAVIDEZ
Record: 38-0-1 (31 KOs)
Titles: Former two-time WBC super middleweight, reigning IBF/WBC light heavyweight

Following a fruitless wait to face then-undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez, Benavidez had no choice but to turn his attention to the light heavyweight division full-time.

The king of the division was Artur Beterbiev, whose crowning achievement was a dramatic, come-from-behind stoppage of Dmitry Bivol to become undisputed champion. A controversial draw against Beterbiev in 2025 was a bitter pill to swallow for Benavidez, who scored two knockdowns in the fight. But since Beterbiev’s retirement, the Las Vegas-born pressure fighter has gone from strength to strength.

“The Mexican Monster” is now on an eight-fight win streak and has picked up IBF and WBC titles at 175 pounds. His most impressive victories have been knockout wins over Diego Pacheco and Jaime Munguia, neither of whom had been stopped before.

The 32-year-old Benavidez is a veteran now but maintains the same breakneck pace and intensity he did in his super middleweight heyday. The goal now is to finally unify the entire light heavyweight division and retire on top.

7 KEYSHAWN DAVIS
Record: 25-0 (19 KOs)
Titles: Reigning Ring/WBO junior welterweight

Davis quickly outgrew the lightweight division and came of age with a close decision win over lingering junior welterweight champ Teofimo Lopez in 2026, after which Lopez called it a career. 

The quick-fisted phenom from Norfolk, Virginia, has made six defenses of his title and he’s been largely dominant. However, despite all his success, there have been unending calls for “The Businessman” to face lightweight titleholder Andy Cruz, who went 4-0 against him in the amateurs and defeated the American at the Tokyo Olympics.

A fight between these young hotshots has been discussed for over five years now, but it’s still no closer to becoming a reality. Promoter and network allegiances have prevented the fight from becoming a reality, and Saudi Arabia has not shown any interest in fronting the money required to make it happen.

The more realistic option for Davis is a huge unification matchup with WBA and WBC counterpart Abdullah Mason. Top Rank promotes both fighters.

6 ANDY CRUZ
Record: 15-0 (9 KOs)
Titles: Reigning WBC lightweight

The skids were greased for Cruz before he’d even turned professional. Unrivaled glory in the amateurs saw the Cuban sensation claim three World Championship gold medals before signing off as Olympic champion at Tokyo 2020.

Cruz doesn’t have the signature triumphs of some of his pound-for-pound contemporaries but it isn’t for a lack of trying. The 33-year-old veteran chased Gervonta Davis for years when the popular American was still in the pound-for-pound rankings, but politics kept the lightweight standouts apart and Davis has since been feeding exclusively on sacrificial lambs.

However, Cruz has passed the eye test with flying colors. His skill set and hand speed are incredible, and there are times when his reflexes appear otherworldly. Cruz makes top contenders reluctant to throw a punch, and you could count the number of rounds he has lost on one hand.

His vacant world title came courtesy of a dominant decision win over Edwin De Los Santos in 2025. Cruz has since made seven defenses, and his high activity level is a main contributor to his pound-for-pound position, but the fight fans want to see is still marinating. A matchup with former amateur rival and Ring/WBO junior welterweight champ Keyshawn Davis remains one of the most attractive fights in world boxing.

5 ABDULLAH MASON
Record: 29-0 (24 KOs)
Titles: Former WBC lightweight, reigning WBA/WBC junior welterweight

Mason was born into a fighting family, and a successful amateur run was bolstered by world-class sparring against elite players such as Shakur Stevenson and Devin Haney. When it finally came time for Mason to showcase his wares at the top level, he didn’t disappoint, and the sky’s the limit for this bright young star.

While it was unfortunate that the Ohio-born lefty outgrew the lightweight limit, which ruled out a money-spinning matchup with Andy Cruz, Mason has been no less impressive at junior welterweight. In three fights, he has already unified two world titles with dominant wins over Raymond Muratalla and William Zepeda.

There’s already talk of Mason moving north to 147 pounds, where more big fights are available. Having now filled out and gained his man strength, the two-weight world champ won’t be intimidated by any of today’s welterweights. If anything, they should be worried about him.

4 JAI OPETAIA
Record: 32-0 (23 KOs)
Titles: Former undisputed cruiserweight, reigning IBF/WBA heavyweight

No sooner had undisputed heavyweight and former undisputed cruiserweight champ Oleksandr Usyk retired from the sport than another 200-pound king staked his claim on the heavyweight division.

Opetaia, like Usyk before him, has the mobility, hand speed and technical craft to render today’s heavyweight behemoths inept. As a result, the Australian lefty is just two fights away from fully unifying the glamor division.

At heavyweight, Opetaia is earning the respect and attention he was denied at cruiserweight. While his skills and attributes were clear to see during his rise, the 33-year-old technician was hidden away on Saudi Arabia undercards and largely overlooked.

However, the shockwaves that Opetaia has sent through the sport since moving up in late 2026 have been felt worldwide. Wins over Filip Hrgovic and Agit Kabayel saw him become the unified champion, and he’s coming off a 12-round unanimous decision win over Daniel Dubois in London.

If he can claim the WBO and WBC crown from Moses Itauma and Jared Anderson, respectively, then the coveted Ring Magazine championship will be his, and perhaps even the No. 1 pound-for-pound spot may be his for the taking.

3 JUNTO NAKATANI
Record: 37-1 (26 KOs)
Titles: Former WBO flyweight, former WBO junior bantamweight, former undisputed bantamweight, reigning undisputed junior featherweight

Japan’s Nakatani had some big shoes to fill when compatriot and former conqueror Naoya Inoue retired in 2027.

Inoue walked off into the sunset as a three-weight undisputed champion and one of the greatest fighters ever. His swansong, a brilliant 10th-round TKO victory over Nakatani on New Year’s Eve 2026, solidified his legend and showcased his successor’s qualities in equal measure.

The setback was a sink-or-swim moment for Nakatani, who was crestfallen following his first professional defeat. Having moved up to 126 pounds for the Inoue bout, he returned to junior featherweight and added three more world titles, as well as the Ring championship, to his collection to unify the entire division. Emulating Inoue’s run at 122, Nakatani looks as good as ever, and his pound-for-pound recognition has been earned the hard way.

Now out from underneath The Monster’s shadow, Nakatani is a double undisputed champion with the world at his feet. The 31-year-old lefty holds brilliant wins over Fernando Martinez, Takuma Inoue, Yoshiki Takei, Stephen Fulton and Murodjon Akhmadaliev. 

2 JESSE RODRIGUEZ
Record: 26-0 (16 KOs)
Titles: Former IBF/WBO flyweight, reigning Ring/WBA/WBC/WBO junior bantamweight

“Bam” has been the noise of his ring moniker ever since he turned professional. The Texas-based left-hander has also been blessed with a golden era of opposition, and his superiority in the lower weight classes has vaulted him up the mythical rankings.

After unifying the flyweight division at the expense of Sunny Edwards, Rodriguez moved north and took out a trio of authentic boxing legends at 115 pounds. Points wins over Juan Francisco Estrada, Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez and Kazuto Ioka have guaranteed “Bam” a first-ballot Hall of Fame slot, and he’s showing no signs of slowing down.

While Rodriguez has had a string of mandatory obligations and a short layoff due to injury, his achievements are beyond reproach. At 29 years old, he’s still fresh and in his fighting prime.

One fight away from securing undisputed status at junior bantamweight, Bam insists that bantamweight is also in his future. If he becomes a three-weight world champion, his already-formidable reputation will reach even greater heights.

1 JARON “BOOTS” ENNIS
Record: 41-0 (36 KOs)
Titles: Former IBF/WBC welterweight, reigning WBA/WBC junior middleweight

In the tradition of the sport’s most acclaimed and gifted practitioners, Jaron “Boots” Ennis has maintained a vice-like grip on pound-for-pound supremacy through much of the past five years, and he is now the face of boxing in 2029.

Aligning himself with Matchroom five years ago, Boots has competed against the best and proven to be levels above. After unifying titles at welterweight and junior middleweight, the 5-foot-10 Ennis is now seeking more glory in a new division and intends to campaign as a middleweight.

Will the 31-year-old boxer-puncher mix with the fearsome and long-reigning middleweight king Janibek Alimkhanuly? Time will tell.

Since turning professional in 2016, the Philadelphia-born Ennis has showcased a dazzling skill set and lights-out power. However, there is so much more to the two-weight world champ, and he’s still improving. His speed, combination punching, switch-hitting and precision have seen him compared to legendary pound-for-pound predecessors Roy Jones Jr. and Terence Crawford.

Signature wins have come against Richardson Hitchins, Errol Spence, Eimantas Stanionis, Tim Tszyu and Vergil Ortiz Jr.

Tom Gray is a former managing editor of The Ring Magazine.
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