Top 10 Light Flyweight Boxers – World Rankings

Updating the Junior Flyweight Boxing Rankings after Kenshiro Teraji defeated Carlos Cañizales to remain the unified Light Flyweight Champion

By Sunday Umoh | February 2, 2024

It is only the beginning of 2024 and we already have a Fight of the Year contender, as Ken Shiro and Carlos Cañizales gave boxing fans an excellent back-and-forth contest. Despite the challenge, Ken Shiro won and maintained his spot at the top of the Light Flyweight Boxers World Rankings. Let’s take a look at our updated top 10, but first, here are some honorable mentions.

Honorable Mention

Regie Suganob

Title(s):

WBO Junior Flyweight Interim Champion

Regie Suganob is from the Philippines and also deserves a Light Flyweight Boxers World Rankings honorable mention. He has a record of 14 and 1, and he is the current WBO Global Light Flyweight Champion.

Masamichi Yabuki

Masamichi Yabuki is a Japanese professional boxer, with a record of 17 wins and 4 losses.

He is the former WBO Minimumweight World Champion and won the title after defeating Kai Ishizawa last year, however, he lost the title to Melvin Jerusalem.

In his most recent fight, he defeated Kenichi Horikawa via Majority Decision. Though he doesn’t make the Light Flyweight Boxers World Rankings he deserves an honorable mention.

Shokichi Iwata

Shokichi Iwata is from Japan also deserves a Light Flyweight Boxers World Rankings honorable mention. He has a record of 12 and 1, and his recent fight was a win against Rene Mark Cuarto.

Top 10 Light Flyweight Boxers – World Rankings

10. Miel Fajardo

Miel Fajardo is a professional boxer from the Philippines, and he has a record of 11 wins and 1 loss.

Fajardo is the current Oriental and Pacific Boxing Federation Light Flyweight champion and has previously held the Asian Boxing Federation Flyweight title as well.

In his most recent fight, he defeated John Paul Gabunilas via first-round TKO and there is no official announcement about his next fight.

9. Daniel Matellon

Daniel Matellon is a Cuban professional boxer, with a record of 13 wins, 1 loss, and 2 draws.

Matellon is the former WBA interim light-flyweight champion. He won the title after defeating Erik Omar Lopez in 2020 and defended it once. Matellon has also held multiple regional titles.

He fought Carlos Canizales in his most recent fight. The fight had to be stopped because of multiple head clashes, which opened a cut near Canizales’ left eye. Matellon was deducted two points and lost the fight via Technical Decision.

8. Sivenathi Nontshinga

Now at #8 on the Light Flyweight Boxers World Rankings is Sivenathi Nontshinga. Nontshinga is a South African professional boxer, with an undefeated record of 12-1.

Nontshinga is the former IBF light-flyweight world champion. He defeated Hector Flores via split decision for the title. The fight was very close on the scorecards, however, Nontshinga landed the sole knockdown of the fight in the second round, which edged two judges in his favor.

Nontshinga is also a former IBF international and African light-flyweight champion. His recent fight was against Adrian Curiel and lost by knockout in a big upset. There is no announcement on his next fight.

7. Masamichi Yabuki

Masamichi Yabuki is a Japanese professional boxer, with a record of 15 wins and 4 losses.

He is the former WBC junior flyweight champion and won the title after defeating Kenshiro Teraji last year, however, he lost the title in an immediate rematch. Yabuki is also the former Japanese light-flyweight champion.

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

6. Carlos Cañizales

Carlos Cañizales is a professional boxer from Venezuela. He has a record of 26 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw.

Cañizales is the former WBA (regular) Light Flyweight champion of the world and has held multiple regional titles as well.

He defeated Daniel Matellon via Technical Decision. There was a clash of heads in the 2nd round and the ref stopped the fight after the 8th round by doctor’s advice. His next fight has not been announced yet.

In his most recent fight, Cañizales had a very competitive back and forth battle against Ken Shiro, with the Unified WBA and WBC Junior Flyweight world titles on the line. However, he lost the fight via majority decision.

5. Elwin Soto

Now in the Top 5 of the Light Flyweight Boxers World Rankings is Elwin Soto. Soto is a Mexican professional boxer, and he has a record of 20 wins and 3 losses.

Soto is the former WBO junior flyweight champion. He won the title in 2019 after defeating Ángel Acosta. He defended it 3 times before losing it to Jonathan González.

In his most recent fight, he defeated Brian Mosinos by split decision. There is no official announcement about his next fight.

4. Hector Budler

Hector “Hekkie” Budler is a professional boxer from South Africa, with a record of 35 wins and 5 losses.

Budler has held titles in two boxing weight classes. He has held the unified IBO and WBA minimumweight titles and is also the former Unified WBA (Super), IBF, and The Ring light-flyweight champion. He defeated Jonathan Almacen to win the vacant WBC Silver light-flyweight title as well.

In his most recent fight, Budler challenged Kenshiro Teraji for the unified WBA and WBC Junior Flyweight titles, however, he lost. His next fight has not been announced yet.

3. Adrian Curiel

Title(s):

IBF Light Flyweight World Champion

Now in the Top 3 of the Light Flyweight Boxers – World Rankings is Adrian Curiel. Curiel is a professional boxer from Mexico with a record of 24 wins, 4 losses, and 1 draw.

Curiel is now the current IBF Light Flyweight World Champion after defeating Sivenathi Nontshinga by knockout in the second round. After an action packed first round Curiel delivered an excellent over hand right that delivered the upset. No announcement on his next fight

2. Jonathan González

Title(s):

WBO Light Flyweight World Champion

Jonathan González is a professional boxer from Puerto Rico, and he has a record of 27 wins, 3 losses, 1 draw, and 1 no-contest.

He is the current WBO junior flyweight boxing champion and has held the title since October 2021 making two successful title defenses. He has also held the WBO NABO title at both junior flyweight and flyweight.

In his most recent fight, he defended his title against Shokichi Iwata and won the fight via unanimous decision. He is scheduled to make his third title defense against Rene Santiago on March 2nd.

1. Kenshiro Teraji

Title(s):

WBC Light Flyweight World Champion
WBA Light Flyweight Super Champion
The Ring Light Flyweight World Champion

Now at #1 of the Light Flyweight Boxers – World Rankings is Kenshiro Teraji. More commonly known by his ring name Ken Shiro, Kenshiro Teraji is a Japanese professional boxer with a record of 22 wins and 1 loss.

Ken Shiro is a two-time WBC light flyweight champion and currently holds the unified WBA (Super), WBC, and The Ring Light Flyweight titles.

Shiro defended his unified titles against Anthony Olascuaga, winning by 9th round TKO. The fight was largely one-sided, with Ken Shiro getting 2 knockdowns before finishing the fight in the 9th.

Ken Shiro then defended his titles against Hekkie Budler defeating him by TKO in the 9th round. Budler started off strong but Shiro was able to overcome that and dominate the rest of the way.

In his most recent fight, Ken Shiro made his third unified title defense against Carlos Cañizales in an absolute war that ended with a Majority decision win for Ken Shiro.

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