1 Gennady Golovkin
By far Kazakh boxing’s greatest export, Golovkin, now 40, has terrified the middleweight division since 2010, losing only once in that time to Saul “Canelo” Alvarez. Big moments include wins over Danny Jacobs, Sergiy Derevyanchenko and, earlier this year, Ryota Murata in Japan.
2 Zhanibek Alimkhanuly
Southpaw middleweight Alimkhanuly is currently 12-0, winning eight of those fights by stoppage. In the last 14 months he has stopped Rob Brant (RTD 8), Hassan N’Dam (TKO 8) and Danny Dignum (TKO 2), putting himself very much on the map.
3 Sergey Lipinets
A battle-hardened aggressor, Lipinets became an IBF super-lightweight belt-holder in 2017, when outpointing Akihiro Kondo, only to lose the belt in his first defence against Mikey Garcia. Last time out he stopped Omar Figueroa Jnr in eight rounds to win the WBC super-lightweight belt.
4 Meiirim Nursultanov
Yet another Kazakh based in Oxnard, California, Nursultanov turned professional in 2016 and is now 17-0 as a middleweight. This year he has stopped both Andrey Sirotkin and Sebastian Horacio Papeschi inside five rounds.
5 Zhan Kossobutskiy
Big-punching southpaw Kossobutskiy has ended 17 of his 18 professional wins inside the scheduled distance and subsequently emerged as a dangerman at heavyweight. His standout wins have so far come against Johann Duhaupas (TKO 5) and Alexis Garcia (TKO 5).
6 Kanat Islam
Though he fell short in his last fight against Jimmy Kelly in February, Islam had won all 28 fights before that, including victories over the likes of Brandon Cook and Walter Kautondokwa.
7 Daniyar Yeleussinov
Still relatively untested as a pro, Yeleussinov is nevertheless 11-0 and a former top amateur. So far in his pro career he has stopped Julius Indongo in two rounds and outpointed Juan Hernan Leal over 12.
8 Ruslan Madiyev
Maidyev has been beaten a couple of times as a pro, losing against both Pablo Cesar Cano and Danielito Zorrilla, but has also managed to secure decent wins against Jesus Antonio Perez Campos and Luis Hernandez Ramos to move his record to 14-2.
9 Aidos Yerbossynuly
Super-middleweight Yerbossynuly finds himself at 16-0, with 11 wins inside the distance, and last year stopped Lennox Allen in 11 rounds. Before that he knocked out unbeaten Ghanaian Issah Samir inside three.
10 Ali Akhmedov
Though stopped in the 12th round by Carlos Gongora in 2020, Akhmedov has otherwise been impressive, winning 18 pro fights and halting the likes of David Zegarra (RTD 3) and Marcus McDaniel (TKO 3).