Top 10 Best Boxers 2023 Rankings | Fighter of the Year

Ranking the Top 10 Best Boxers of 2023 Rankings to determine the Fighter of the Year as Naoya Inoue leads the way

By Sunday Umoh | April 22, 2024

Fighter of the Year 2023 Rankings

This list was difficult as any boxer in the Top 3 could have been 2023 Fighter of the Year. It came down to a new division, multiple fights, the level of the opponents, and performance. Before we get to the Top 10 Best Boxers of 2023 Rankings here are our honorable mentions that barely missed the list.

Honorable Mentions

Dmitry Bivol

Artur Beterbiev

Oleksandr Usyk

Top 10 Best Boxers 2023 Rankings

10. Zhilei Zhang

2023 Title(s):

WBO Heavyweight Interim Champion

Starting off the Top 10 Best Boxers, we have Zhilei Zhang at number 10. His 2023 journey has been quite eventful, with two solid wins, and an interim world title.

Zhang started the year with an impressive win over the then-undefeated Joe Joyce, winning the WBO interim heavyweight title as well.

In his second fight of the year, he defeated Joyce once again in a rematch and set himself for a shot at a world title fight in 2024.

9. Emanuel Navarrete

2023 Title(s):

WBO Super Featherweight World Champion

In 2023, Emanuel Navarrete accomplished the impressive feat of becoming a three-time WBO world champion. He fought three times this year, with 2 wins and 1 draw. Navarrete started the year by winning the vacant WBO Super-featherweight title after finishing Liam Wilson.

He defended the title against the former champion Oscar Valdez in a brutal and extremely entertaining slugfest, and ended the year with an incredible back-and-forth fight against Robson Conceicao, which ended in a draw.

8. Anthony Joshua

After a rough 2022, in which he lost his unified titles to Usyk, 2023 seems like the start of AJ’s comeback. He stayed quite active this year, fighting three times, and winning all three fights.

Joshua started the year with an impressive unanimous decision win over tough contender Jermaine Franklin.

He then had a fight scheduled with Dillian Whyte, however, the fight fell through, and Joshua ended up facing Robert Helenius on short notice, finishing the fight with a knockout. Joshua ended the year with a third win over Otto Wallin, showing flashes of his former aggressive style.

7. Canelo Alvarez

2023 Title(s):

WBA Super Middleweight Super Champion
WBC Super Middleweight World Champion
IBF Super Middleweight World Champion
WBO Super Middleweight World Champion
The Ring Super Middleweight World Champion

Canelo Alvarez, the four-division world champion, and reigning Undisputed super middleweight world champion had an incredible year.

He started with a hard-fought win over two-time interim super middleweight champion John Ryder, and in September, he defeated the then-light middleweight undisputed champion Jermell Charlo in a dominant performance. With two amazing wins, Alvarez makes it in at number seven on our Top 10 Best Boxers of the year.

6. Leigh Wood

2023 Title(s):

WBA Featherweight World Champion

Leigh Wood is always an exciting fighter to watch, and he has been quite active in 2023, fighting three times, against big names. He started the year with a fight against Mexican knockout artist Mauricio Lara, which he unfortunately lost.

However, he came back three months later to exact revenge on his rival and win a dominant decision, securing the WBA featherweight title for a second time.

Wood closed the year with a TKO win against Josh Warrington, in one of the most thrilling fights of the year.

5. Gervonta Davis

2023 Title(s):

WBA Lightweight Regular Champion

At number 5 on the Top 10 Best Boxers 2023 Rankings, we have the undefeated three-division world champion Gervonta Davis. He has two thrilling fights this year.

To start the year off, he took on the then-undefeated WBA super featherweight champion Héctor García and made him quit on the stool after eight rounds.

For his second fight, he gave another dominant performance against the superstar Ryan Garcia in a PPV BlockBuster and won via knockout.

4. David Benavidez

2023 Title(s):

WBC Super Middleweight Interim Champion

2023 has easily been the best year of David Benavidez’s career. After winning the WBC interim Middleweight title last year, Benavidez solidified his position in the division, by making two impressive title defenses against two former champions.

He started the year with a win over Caleb Plant and finished Demetrius Andrade in late November.

3. Devin Haney

2023 Title(s):

WBC Super Lightweight World Champion
WBA Lightweight Super Champion
IBF Lightweight World Champion
WBO Lightweight World Champion
WBC Lightweight World Champion
The Ring Lightweight World Champion

After taking the throne for the best fighter of 2022, Haney did not disappoint in 2023 either. He has two high-stakes fights against very tough opponents and won a world title in a new division.

His first fight was against former three-division champion, and future hall of famer, Vasyl Lomachenko. Haney had a tough fight but managed to edge the scorecards for a Unanimous decision win.

For his second fight, he moved up to Super Lightweight and won the WBC super lightweight title after defeating champion Regis Prograis.

2. Terence Crawford

2023 Title(s):

WBA Welterweight Super Champion
IBF Welterweight World Champion
WBO Welterweight World Champion
WBC Welterweight World Champion
The Ring Welterweight World Champion

After defending the WBO Welterweight title since 2018, we finally saw Crawford take on fellow welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. with all four major world titles on the line.

Crawford won the fight via an impressive TKO and became a two-division undisputed world champion. A feat only some boxers can achieve.

Though he only fought once in 2023, it was perhaps one of the biggest fights of the year, and his career, so Crawford makes it at number two.

1. Naoya Inoue

2023 Title(s):

WBA Bantamweight Super Champion
IBF Bantamweight World Champion
WBO Bantamweight World Champion
WBC Bantamweight World Champion
The Ring Bantamweight World Champion
WBA Super Bantamweight Super Champion
IBF Super Bantamweight World Champion
WBO Super Bantamweight World Champion
WBC Super Bantamweight World Champion
The Ring Super Bantamweight World Champion

Recognized by many as the best active boxer in the world, Naoya Inoue has had an incredible year. He became a four-division world champion and a 2-division undisputed world champion.

Inoue started off the year in a new division, by defeating Stephen Fulton and winning the WBC and WBO super-bantamweight titles.

He also just knocked out Marlon Tapales to close off the year and added the WBA (Super), IBF, and vacant The Ring super-bantamweight titles to his name as well. All and All, Inoue is our pick for the best boxer of 2023.

Where would you rank the Contenders and Champions boxers of 2023? Rank below to be added in the Boxing Power Rankings.