The person at the top of the heavyweight mountain is generally regarded to be the No.1 man in boxing, or as Mike Tyson put it, “The Baddest Man on the Planet!” Sugar Ray Robinson is often regarded as P4P the best fighter the sport has ever had, but against the heavyweight kings such as Joe Louis and Muhammad Ali, size rules, and the he would have had little chance.
In women’s boxing, the landscape is different. The sanctioning bodies have scrambled to replicate a similar number of weight classes and belts to match the men’s side of the sport, but in truth, this isn’t necessary. It may make financial sense to churn out as many champions as possible, but this has segregated the talent, devaluing what should be viewed as the greatest title in women’s boxing: The World Heavyweight Championship. The biggest and best fighters among the heaviest female boxers over the last 20 year have all been able to fight below 168lb. Laila Ali fought as low as 160lb, Ann Wolfe as low as 151lb. More recently, Hanna Gabriels (a former welterweight titlist) jumped straight from 150lb to win the WBC Heavyweight Title, and in July 2024, Claressa Shields, who cleared up all the belts at 154lb, moved up to heavyweight and trounced the WBC Heavyweight Titlist.
Like with the men, to a certain degree size matters, but there are no 6’6”, 250lb juggernauts in these waters. The best woman above welterweight is generally always regarded to be the No.1 woman on the planet. In the list below, we count down the world’s best women above 147lb.
15.Oshae Jones
14.Mapule Ngubane
13.Danielle Perkins
12.Vanessa LePage-Jeanisse
11.Raquel Miller
10.Hannah Rankin
9.Maricela Cornejo
8.Lani Daniels
7.Cecilia Braekhus
6.Shadasia Green
5.Mary Spencer
4.Ema Kozin
3.Femke Hermans
2.Franchon Crews-Dezurn
1.Savannah Marshall
Champion: Claressa Shields
*Claressa Shields (No.1) defeated Christina Hammer (No.2) on April 13, 2019. This fight was also for the vacant Lineal Middleweight Championship.
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Thanks to contributions from ratings panel members: David Avila, Adam McMeeking, Julian Haramoure, Yuriko Miyata, Blanca Gutierrez.