WE’RE into the business end now.
The Boxing News Power List 2025 is closing in on its climax, and the names in positions 20 to 11 are the true heavy hitters. These are the figures with the money, muscle and sheer authority to change the course of the sport overnight.
Big decisions, bigger paydays and the power to make or break careers – this is where influence gets serious.
Let’s dive into the next chapter of the countdown.
20. Sergey Lapin
Perhaps due to the departure of Alex Krassyuk, but also because of his own credentials, Lapin has become an integral component of Team Usyk. As the pound-for-pound king’s Sports Director, Lapin often finds himself sitting at the negotiating table with a selection of the sport’s heaviest hitters. In his role as the CEO of Ready To Fight, too, the Ukrainian rarely affords himself a moment’s rest.
19. Frank Smith
Seen as Eddie Hearn’s eventual, and perhaps not too distant, successor, Matchroom CEO Smith is far more than just a second in command. Often spearheading negotiations for some of the sport’s biggest events, Smith also boasts a particularly productive relationship with Dmitry Bivol, a top five pound-for-pound operator, which appears to have only grown stronger in recent years.
18. Jake Paul
Anyone who can draw 65 million viewers to a fight with a 58-year-old is the very definition of influential. As well as drawing the important “casual” audience in great numbers, Paul has also done a lot of good work as a promoter in making women’s boxing a mainstream attraction.
17. Egis Klimas
Known for his no-nonsense attitude and shrewd business mind, Klimas remains one of this sport’s most respected deal-makers. As the long-term manager of Oleksandr Usyk, Klimas was involved in two iconic encounters with Tyson Fury. Previously, he also helped guide the careers of Vasyl Lomachenko and Sergey Kovalev.
16. Floyd Mayweather
Mayweather’s lucrative but monotonous exhibition tour is now over (hopefully), so ‘Money’ has returned to the more productive pursuit of mentoring rising pros through his gym and promotion, most notably highly promising teenager Curmel Moton.
15. Manny Pacquiao
With one fight, Pacquiao re-emerged as one of the world’s most marketable boxers. At 46 and inactive for four years, Pacquiao last month held WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios to a draw, adding to an already legendary legacy. Now, once again, every boxer in and around his weight wants to fight him, and every fan wants to watch.
14. Akihiko Honda
Hall of Famer Honda has presided over Japan’s Teiken Promotions since the 1960s and shows no signs of slowing down even as he turns 78 next month. Teiken remains Japan’s leading stable as boxing in the country enjoys unprecedented success and international exposure.
13. Spencer Brown
Having risen up the ranks, most notably through his capacity as Tyson Fury’s manager, Brown is now considered a global titan of the promotional game. Among his clients are leading heavyweight contenders Joseph Parker and Agit Kabayel, but equally, the Goldstar Promotions boss has developed a tight, and therefore valuable, relationship with Turki Alalshikh.
12. Boris Van Der Vorst
There can be few prouder accolades than being “the man who saved Olympic boxing”. Van der Vorst’s World Boxing was tasked with overhauling the amateur code after it was left off the Los Angeles 2028 programme, pending massive reforms. World Boxing satisfied the International Olympic Committee, and the sport was reinstated.
11. Oleksandr Usyk
Traditionally, the world heavyweight champion has always been one of the most important people in boxing. That status has long been diluted with the proliferation of title belts, but Usyk, as the division’s long-awaited undisputed ruler, has brought that historic prestige back to “the richest prize in sport”.
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