With many of the stars of British boxing on their way out or already retired, it is an intriguing time as the young replacements look to prove their worth.
1. Anthony Joshua 2. Tyson Fury These two men have to go at the top of this list. The order you have them in, to me, is a matter of preference. I actually would favor Fury in a fight but recent form is in the favor of Joshua. A draw with Wilder is his only notable performance in over three years whereas Joshua has stopped Klitschko and beating top ten fighters in Takam, Breazeale and Parker.
3. Josh Warrington I never, ever believed Josh Warrington was this good. I didn?t see him beating Selby or Frampton. He performed superbly in both fights, showing not only intelligent pressure but a speed and boxing ability I was not seeing in earlier fights. Another domestic bout comes next as he takes on the Sheffield boxer Kid Galahad. If he wins, hopefully we see him in other big fights in a loaded division.
4. Callum Smith His crowning moment came when winning the WBSS with a vicious stoppage victory over George Groves. His career has seemingly stalled since and although he has been announced as fighting on the Joshua card, the fact an opponent is still unnamed a month out is a problem. In a division where there is a strong domestic feel, you hope big clashes come soon.
5. Josh Taylor Maybe the most talented man on this list, Josh Taylor is headed towards the top of the mountain. He has improved for every challenge he has been set and currently looks a favorite the WBSS. He will have to beat Ivan Baranchyk to get there, but his level only looks to be improving. Following that he will face Regis Prograis in the final of the WBSS, likely one of the fights of the year.
6. Billy Joe Saunders Billy Joe has three notable wins in his career, Chris Eubank Jr., Andy Lee and David Lemieux. None of them are of the highest class. It?s a shame, because Saunders is another with a natural talent which is seemingly limitless. I need to see him in a big fight and soon. He has left the deep middleweight division to enter a rapidly depleting super middleweight division. It wouldn?t surprise me if he goes a career without the type of fight his skill deserves.
7. Charlie Edwards I am not sold on Charlie Edwards. He beat up on a champion, who in hindsight may not have been one of the top guys in the division. Andrew Selby did it more impressively. He is a champion though and seems to want the Kal Yafai fight at some point.
8. Ryan Burnett Poor Ryan Burnett. He had taken a heap of huge fights and was looking to test himself in the WBSS. Instead he retires hurt with a back injury and has to give up his world title. He will return soon but it is a real shame that he had to miss out on testing himself against the best. Given the withdrawal of Zelani Tete, he would likely be heading for a unification with Naoya Inoue.
9. Carl Frampton The Irishman is taking a bit of an extended break from the sport after his defeat against Josh Warrington. It was a close loss against someone who many now regard as a top boxer and goes alongside his other close defeat against Leo Santa Cruz. Frampton will have to rebuild and look to come again but his talent means he definitely has that ability.
10. Kal Yafai Maybe the most disappointing title reign of any current champion. He has made four title defenses and not one of them has been at all intriguing. Given the loaded nature of his division, you want to see him in big fights, but instead he has arguably not fought anyone inside the top 20 in the division. What?s the point?
11. Dillian Whyte A definite top five heavyweight who has only improved over the last few years since a defeat to Anthony Joshua. Wins over Dereck Chisora, Joseph Parker and Lucas Browne have impressed many and he may have the toughest task of the big four in the division when taking on Luis Rivas next.
12. Luke Campbell The disappointing golden boy of the 2012 Olympics. Campbell was an incredible amateur but has almost always flattered to deceive as a professional. His best performance came in a loss to Jorge Linares but since then he has only seen one fight against a notable opponent. He needs to be out and in bigger fights as he approaches 32.
13. Liam Smith Liam Smith is just below world level in a division that is quite strong. He has held the WBO Title previously, but came up short in his last attempt which came against Jaime Munguia. Whenever he steps back down to domestic level, he shows himself to be a level above with big wins over Sam Eggington and Liam Williams.
14. Jamie McDonnell We haven?t seen Jamie since last May, when he was comprehensively flattened by Naoya Inoue. It came at the end of an incredible run at bantamweight. The talk since has been that McDonnell was severely weight drained and is looking to move up at least one weight class.
15. Chris Eubank Jr. A win over a retiring James DeGale means people are once again clamoring to see Eubank challenge for a world title?the IBO does not count! I still have doubts whether his boxing ability is good enough against the top level, having seemed a level short against Billy Joe Saunders and George Groves.
16. Jack Catterall Another prospect who has arguably been badly promoted. Maybe it?s the lack of marketability but Catterall is near a world title level and there seems to be no buzz about him. A bout against Josh Taylor could be a great domestic fight but you wonder what Catterall brings to these big fights.
17. Kell Brook It still feels like Kell Brook was a bit wasted as a talent, despite being a world champion with a huge win over Shawn Porter. The two losses to Gennady Golovkin and Errol Spence were vicious and potentially career defining. It may be high on recent form but Brook at his best looks like he can compete to just below world level.
18. Lee Selby Another fighter I find hard to rank, this time because I know I rate him higher than most. I thought he was the most complete featherweight until Josh Warrington routed him. He will also have his skill, but a move up to lightweight makes me worry about his virtually non-existent power.
19. Gavin McDonnell The tough Doncaster fighter has only lost twice and they arguably came against the top two fighters in his weight. I expect McDonnell to return down to a lower level for a while before rebounding to one final world title tilt.
20. Rocky Fielding Last time we saw Rocky Fielding in a ring, he was decimated by Canelo Alvarez. No shame in that, most would be. Before that he had clinched a world title with an impressive victory over Tyron Zeuge. What makes sense now is a domestic clash.
21. John Ryder One of his potential opponents for that clash will be John Ryder who he beat by contentious split decision in 2017. Since then, he has arguably been more impressive, despite the lack of a world title. He has stopped Patrick Nielsen, Jamie Cox and Andrey Sirotkin to earn a shot at the interim WBA Title.
22. Callum Johnson Probably the best light heavyweight in the UK, Johnson has almost been left in no man?s land. He managed to hurt Artur Beterbiev, but was stopped. Before that though, he stopped British champion Frank Buglioni in one and has since stopped Sean Monaghan in three. He looks to be below world level but is above most of the British talent. The only two fighters on that level would be Buatsi and Yarde, but I cannot see either man fighting him.
23. Anthony Crolla Crolla is on the way down the list and it wouldn?t be a surprise if he retired soon. He was decimated by Vasyl Lomachenko but most can?t live with him. He is a former lightweight champion but now looks a level below.
24. Liam Williams Liam Williams was hardly embarrassed when losing twice to Liam Smith. Since then, he has moved up to Middleweight and won four straight including impressive stoppages in his last two against Mark Heffron and Joe Mullender.
25. Joshua Buatsi On talent, Buatsi has an argument for being top here. He has always looked absolutely incredible to me, with poise and timing. The only reason he isn?t higher is his opponent strength. Hopefully he continues to be accelerated and is in with top level competition soon.
26. Scott Quigg Quigg is another who has perhaps found his level. Carl Frampton ended his super bantamweight reign whilst Oscar Valdez broke his nose in his bid to be a champion at bantamweight. His comeback fight came at super featherweight and he will probably be in last chance saloon if he gets another title shot.
27. Andrew Selby I?ve long been a huge fan of Andrew Selby and he is another one who is up there in terms of pure talent. He has always had troubles and it finally caught up to him in the ring when losing to Julio Cesar Martinez. I still have a lot of belief in Selby and would love to see him rebound and eventually clash Charlie Edwards.
28. Anthony Yarde This is a little bit based on hype giving I still do not think Yarde has fought a halfway decent opponent. He is obviously very athletic and powerful but I still would like to see him tested. He will be in his next fight, taking a huge step up by taking on Sergey Kovalev.
29. Lawrence Okolie Not the most talented of the Olympians, nor particularly enjoyable to watch, but Okolie?s r?sum? is very good. He has dominated the domestic side of the division with wins over Isaac Chamberlain and Matty Askin. Rumours persist that his next bout will be a world title shot.
30. Ted Cheeseman I considered many for this spot but finally settled on Cheeseman. Yes, he is coming off a bad loss to Sergio Garcia. However, he has always shown talent and is still incredibly young. He cleaned up domestically and may take on Scott Fitzgerald next, which would tell us a lot.
Just missed out: Paul Butler, Kid Galahad, Ryan Walsh, Thomas Patrick Ward and Dereck Chisora
Will be here next time: Sunny Edwards, Jordan Gill, Joe Cordina, Josh Kelly and Lerrone Richards
