The writer of this column is aware that pound-for-pound debates can cause severe anger, strange heart palpitations and in some cases a loss of hearing.

Such debates have been known to provoke readers to switch off completely but please endeavour to get to the bottom of this one before any snap judgements. Please also bear in mind that any and all pound-for-pound debates are entirely hypothetical. While The Ring ratings panel have wrestled with the overall, worldwide standings for the past week, over here in Britain, one man had seemingly done enough to claim the top spot ahead of an increasingly competitive chasing field. But boxing moves fast and on Saturday night, Liverpool’s Nick Ball was stopped in the 12th round of a fight he was on his way to losing on points anyway. So with the only male boxer to have successfully defended a world title now down, out and relieved of his belt, what does that mean for Britain’s male P4P rankings? Let’s have a little look shall we.

CRITERIA

What is always most important and very often overlooked when it comes to making a reasoned argument in this case is the exact criteria for discussion. See below for what factors will be considered.

Take a step back, have a look at their whole record and determine what they have achieved in this game and against whom have they done it. Yes, there may have been ups and downs but how long have they been at it? How have they responded to setbacks? Who have they fought and what have they managed to achieve? What is more valuable - one huge win to claim the world title, or a decade of solid victories? They say records are for DJs but sometimes they tell their own story.

There are two sides to this coin. Firstly, what belts have they managed to rack up in their career and how have they fared in those big, career-defining fights? Equally, what is the context of their title win? Just because they have won a belt, it does not mean they are automatically above the person who hasn’t quite got there yet. What’s more valuable in this debate? Winning an interim title and getting elevated a few months later or losing on a split in a unification with a long-running world champion? There is nuance in every part of the discussion.

When you forget all the other stuff, the records, belts and any other factors, how good are they at boxing? What do you think and feel when you watch them fight? How do they perform when they have an opponent in front of them under the lights on fight night? Sometimes this critical factor can be overlooked because sometimes a special fighter can out perform the other metrics by virtue of simply being very good. Even so, the likes of Moses Itauma and Adam Azim might not have done quite enough to get right up into the higher reaches yet.

While overall body of work is important, let’s not forget that these are rankings as of right now, which will fluctuate and change over the next weeks, months and years. Often there can be ageing, legacy fighters hanging around in lists for months if not years based on their overall achievements. This is fine to a point but there needs to be a cut-off and a consideration for what has happened most recently. For the purposes of this discussion, only fighters who have competed in a scheduled 12-round fight over the past 12 months are considered - sorry Tyson Fury and Anthony Joshua.

Based on the above, see below for my current British pound-for-pound top five.

1. Anthony Cacace

"Irish heart, Italian soul" shout the billboards in Belfast promoting next month’s fight against Jazza Dickens and, whether or not Cacace is British is a debate well above this column’s paygrade. But considering he’s a former British champion, he is welcome on this list. Cacace does not currently hold a world title but he never lost his IBF junior lightweight belt in the ring, instead choosing to vacate it in his quest for bigger fights. An unbelievable talent, who heads into his Dickens clash off the back of huge victories over Leigh Wood, Josh Warrington and Joe Cordina, two of which were stoppages. And when it comes to the eye test, there are not many more talented fighters out there.

The writer of this column is aware that pound-for-pound debates can cause severe anger,

"Irish heart, Italian soul" shout the billboards in Belfast promoting next month’s fight against Jazza Dickens and, whether or not Cacace is British is a debate well above this column’s paygrade. But considering he’s a former British champion, he is welcome on this list. Cacace does not currently hold a world title but he never lost his IBF junior lightweight belt in the ring, instead choosing to vacate it in his quest for bigger fights. An unbelievable talent, who heads into his Dickens clash off the back of huge victories over Leigh Wood, Josh Warrington and Joe Cordina, two of which were stoppages. And when it comes to the eye test, there are not many more talented fighters out there.

Yes, 29-year-old Smith has had ‘only’ 19 fights but he’s won them all, with 14 inside the distance, won the British title outright and stopped long-time world-level campaigner Jose Zepeda in five. But, of course, what boosts him right into the upper echelons of this list is that stunning fifth-round knockout of reigning champion Subriel Matias in Brooklyn last month. Recency bias? Absolutely. But it’s a win that deserves all of it.

3. Nick Ball


Often fighters plummet dramatically after losing one fight but let’s not forget what had put Ball top of the tree before Saturday’s defeat. A former WBA featherweight champion with three successful defences, one of which came against previously undefeated Sam Goodman. That’s not to mention his split draw against Rey Vargas, 36-1 at the time, which many people thought Ball won. He came unstuck on Saturday night but he did so against a world class American so he’s still up there with the very Best of British.

There are some people who hate it when heavyweights are included in pound-for-pound discussions - don’t be like those people. Undefeated world heavyweight champion Fabio Wardley deserves to be right up there and could possibly argue for a slightly higher slot, considering he’s stopped Frazer Clarke, Justis Huni and Joseph Parker across a scintillating 12-month period. There are rumours of a potential fight with former world champion Daniel Dubois and a victory there would no doubt boost him even higher.

Another man who could well become Britain’s No. 1 is 26-year-old Hamzah Sheeraz, who is still undefeated and will likely win a world title in his very next fight. He scythed through everyone at domestic level and then stopped previously unbeaten Austin "Ammo" Williams in his big acid test. The brakes were pumped in February 2025 when a weight-drained Sheeraz was lucky to get away with a split draw against Carlos Adames in his challenge for the WBC middleweight title but he looked back to his best in July when he crushed Edgar Berlanga in his super-middleweight debut.

Rest of the top 15 (in no particular order): Josh Kelly, Jazza Dickens, Conor Benn, Callum Smith, Chris Billam-Smith, Lawrence Okolie, Jack Catterall, Lewis Crocker, Anthony Yarde, Joe Cordina.