1 Naoya Inoue
A quite terrifying puncher, Inoue has ended 21 of his 24 pro wins inside schedule. He won the WBC light-flyweight title in 2014 and later that same year won the WBO super-flyweight title, which he defended seven times. After that, he reigned for a long time as world champion at bantamweight and now he looks to move to super-bantamweight and repeat his success there.
2 Juan Francisco Estrada
Known as “El Gallo”, Estrada won his first world titles as a flyweight when beating Brian Viloria in 2013. He later added a WBC super-flyweight belt to his collection when avenging a defeat to Srisaket Sor Rungvisai and then avenged a loss against Román González by beating him not once but twice.
3 Román González
Nicaragua’s legendary “Chocolatito”, arguably one of the finest technicians in the game, is a veteran of 55 pro fights. He won the WBA minimumweight title in 2008, the WBA light-flyweight title in 2011, and then a WBC flyweight title in 2014. At super-flyweight, meanwhile, he beat Carlos Cuadras to win a WBC title and also beat Khalid Yafai to take his WBA belt.
4 Kazuto Ioka
Ioka won the WBC minimumweight belt back in 2011, defended it three times, and then won a WBA title at light-flyweight the following year. By 2015 he was winning world titles as a flyweight, which is where he had most success, and in 2019 he beat Aston Palicte to win a WBO belt at super-flyweight. Last time out he outpointed Joshua Franco to take the WBA belt.
5 Jesse Rodriguez
Even if relatively new on the scene, Rodriguez, at 23, has achieved plenty already. In a breakout 2022, he defeated Carlos Cuadras to become WBC super-flyweight champion and then followed this with a stoppage of Srisaket Sor Rungvisai. Now at flyweight, he last time out beat Christian Hernandez to take the WBO belt.
Jesse Rodriguez
6 Stephen Fulton
Set to fight Naoya Inoue next, Philadelphia’s Fulton is unbeaten at 21-0 (8) and getting better all the time. Since winning his WBO super-bantamweight belt with a decision over Angelo Leo in 2021, he has beaten both Brandon Figueroa – from whom he took the WBC belt – and Daniel Roman, also by decision.
7 Brandon Figueroa
Though edged in a close fight by Stephen Fulton in 2021, Figueroa remains one of the best super-bantamweights in the world. Wins over Luis Nery, Carlos Castro and Mark Magsaya prove this.
8 Kenshiro Teraji
Called “The Amazing Boy” in Japan, Teraji was involved in something of a modern classic last year when stopping Hiroto Kyoguchi in seven rounds. In addition to that, he has been a light-flyweight champion since 2017 and now holds both WBC and WBA belts.
9 Leigh Wood
Once written off as a domestic also-ran, Wood now rides high as the WBA featherweight belt-holder. Last year he knocked out Michael Conlan in one of the fights of 2023 and this year he avenged a loss against Mauricio Lara
10 Sunny Edwards
Unbeaten at 20-0 (4), and the current IBF flyweight belt-holder, the skillful Edwards’ best win remains a title-winning decision against Moruti Mthalane in 2021. His first big test arrives against Jesse Rodriguez next time out.
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