Teofimo Lopez's ugly decision victory over Jamaine Ortiz on Feb. 8 at the Michelob Ultra Center in Las Vegas allowed him to retain his WBO super lightweight championship, but it cost him four spots in the most recent KevinIole.com pound-for-pound rankings of the world's best boxers.
Lopez dropped from 12th to 16th in our ratings after scoring a 115-113, 115-113 and 117-111 victory over Ortiz in a lackluster, low-action affair. He was the only ranked boxer active during the time period.
It's important to note how I define pound-for-pound when considering my rankings. I see it as if everyone weighed the same, but kept the same proportions and skillsets relative to the opposition. So, if for the sake of argument we considered them all as 160-pounders, the 6-foot-9 WBC heavyweight champion Tyson Fury would still be proportionately taller than the other fighters. Their skills would be seen as like video game scores and could translate across weight classes.
The rankings as of Feb. 9, 2024, are immediately below. As always, drop your list into the comments, and explain any disagreements you have with mine.
| 1 | Terence Crawford | Undisputed welterweight champ | 40-0, 31 KOs |
| 2 | Naoya Inoue | Undisputed super bantamweight champ | 26-0, 23 KOs |
| 3 | Oleksandr Usyk | IBF-WBA-WBO heavyweight champ | 21-0, 14 KOs |
| 4 | Devin Haney | WBC super lightweight champ | 31-0, 15 KOs |
| 5 | Artur Beterbiev | IBF-WBC-WBO light heavyweight champ | 20-0, 20 KOs |
| 6 | Canelo Alvarez | Undisputed super middleweight champ | 60-2-2, 39 KOs |
| 7 | Gervonta Davis | WBA lightweight champ | 29-0, 27 KOs |
| 8 | Shakur Stevenson | WBC lightweight champ | 21-0, 10 KOs |
| 9 | Dmitry Bivol | WBA light heavyweight champ | 22-0, 11 KOs |
| 10 | Tyson Fury | WBC heavyweight champ | 34-0-1 24 KOs |
| 11 | Jesse Rodriguez | IBF-WBO flyweight champ | 19-0, 12 KOs |
| 12 | David Benavidez | Interim WBC super middleweight champ | 28-0, 24 KOs |
| 13 | Kenshiro Teraji | WBA-WBC light flyweight champ | 22-1, 14 KOs |
| 14 | David Morrell Jr. | WBA super middleweight champ | 10-0, 9 KOs |
| 15 | Errol Spence Jr. | Welterweight contender | 28-1, 22 KOs |
| 16 | Teofimo Lopez | WBO super lightweight champ | 20-1, 13 KOs |

