Dmitry Bivol defended his WBA light heavyweight title with an impressive unanimous-decision victory over Gilberto “Zurdo” Ramirez and positioned himself as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters currently in boxing.
With the victory, Bivol moved from No. 8 to No. 7, while also creating a gap between him and fellow 175-pound champion Artur Beterbiev, now at No. 9. A Bivol-Beterbiev fight to crown an undisputed champion at light heavyweight would be a must-see bout.
“Bivol routed Canelo Alvarez in May, and proved it was because he was better — not just bigger — by dominating a much larger opponent in “Zurdo” Ramirez,” ESPN boxing writer Mike Coppinger said about his decision to move Bivol to the No. 5 spot. “This list is all about who would win if everyone is the same weight, and it’s hard to argue that Alvarez should be above Bivol in the light of Bivol’s breakout campaign — that should net him fighter-of-the-year honors. It will take a special fighter to upend Bivol, and it’s unlikely even Beterbiev can do it if they fight each other.”
A potential unification fight could prove difficult to make, though, considering Bivol and Beterbiev work with different promoters.
“I proved myself, I can be the best guy in the world,” Bivol said after the fight. “I have a goal. I wanna be undisputed champion, but it doesn’t all depend on me. If it all depends on me, I fight for all four belts. … I hope they are listening to me, what I want. I’m like a kid who has a dream; I want to go with this dream.”
Devin Haney enters the rankings for the first time at No. 8, following his victory over George Kambosos Jr. to defend his undisputed lightweight championship.
Our panel of Coppinger, Timothy Bradley Jr., Joe Tessitore, Michael Rothstein, Teddy Atlas, Nick Parkinson, Andre Ward, Ben Baby, Eric Raskin, Crystina Poncher, Michelle Joy Phelps, Eric Woodyard, Kel Dansby, Bernardo Pilatti, Charles Moynihan, Salvador Rodriguez, Jim Zirolli. Michael Mascaro and Aladdin Freeman share their votes.
More rankings: Divisional rankings and ESPN’s women’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Note: Results are through Nov. 8.
1. TERENCE CRAWFORD Previous ranking: No. 1
RECORD: 38-0, 29 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO10) Shawn Porter, Nov. 20
NEXT FIGHT: Dec. 10 vs. David Avanesyan
2. NAOYA INOUE Previous ranking: No. 2
RECORD: 23-0, 20 KOs
DIVISION: Bantamweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO2) Nonito Donaire, June 7
NEXT FIGHT: Dec. 13 vs. Paul Butler
3. ERROL SPENCE JR. Previous ranking: No. 3
RECORD: 28-0, 22 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO10) Yordenis Ugas, April 16
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
4. OLEKSANDR USYK Previous ranking: No. 4
RECORD: 20-0, 13 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (SD12) Anthony Joshua, Aug. 20
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
5. CANELO ALVAREZ Previous ranking: No. 5
RECORD: 57-2-2, 39 KOs
DIVISION: Super middleweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Gennadiy Golovkin, Sept. 17
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
6. TYSON FURY Previous ranking: No. 6
RECORD: 32-0-1, 23 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO6) Dillian Whyte, April 23
NEXT FIGHT: Dec. 3 vs. Derek Chisora
7. DMITRY BIVOL Previous ranking: No. 8
RECORD: 21-0, 11 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Gilberto Ramirez, Nov. 5
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
8. DEVIN HANEY Previous ranking: No. N/R
RECORD: 29-0, 15 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) George Kambosos Jr., Oct. 16
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
9. ARTUR BETERBIEV Previous ranking: 7
RECORD: 18-0, 18 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO2) Joe Smith Jr., June 18
NEXT FIGHT: Jan. 28 vs. Anthony Yarde
10. SHAKUR STEVENSON Previous ranking: No. 9
RECORD: 19-0, 9 KOs
DIVISION: Junior lightweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Robson Conceicao, Sept. 23
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
The formula
The rankings are based on a descending points system, with a first-place vote receiving 10 points, a second-place vote receiving nine points, and so on. A tie goes to the fighter with the highest ranking and then the one with the most votes at that ranking.
Others receiving votes: Vasiliy Lomachenko (12), Jermell Charlo (10), Gervonta Davis (8), Roman “Chocolatito” Gonzalez (4), Stephen Fulton (1).
How our writers voted
Atlas: 1. Crawford, 2. Bivol, 3. Inoue, 4. Usyk, 5. Spence, 6. Fury, 7. Lomachenko, 8. Alvarez, 9. Davis, 10. Haney
Bradley: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Spence, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Usyk, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Fury, 9. Stevenson, 10. Haney
Coppinger: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Fury, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Spence, 8. Gonzalez, 9. Haney, 10. Beterbiev
Tessitore: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Spence, 6. Alvarez, 7. Stevenson, 8. Fury, 9. Bivol, 10. Haney
Parkinson: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Alvarez, 4. Usyk, 5. Spence, 6. Bivol, 7. Fury, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Haney, 10. Lomachenko
Raskin: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Spence, 4. Fury, 5. Usyk, 6. Bivol, 7. Alvarez, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Stevenson, 10. Lomachenko
Ward: 1. Crawford, 2. Spence, 3. Inoue, 4. Usyk, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Stevenson, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Haney, 10. Davis
Baby: 1. Usyk, 2. Alvarez, 3. Haney, 4. Crawford, 5. Inoue, 6. Spence, 7. Fury, 8. Stevenson, 9. Bivol, 10. Fulton
Rothstein: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Fury, 4. Alvarez, 5. Spence, 6. Usyk, 7. Bivol, 8. Haney, 9. Davis, 10. Stevenson
Phelps: 1. Alvarez, 2. Crawford, 3. Spence, 4. Usyk, 5. Haney, 6. Inoue, 7. Fury, 8. Charlo, 9. Bivol, 10. Stevenson
Rodriguez: 1. Inoue, 2. Fury, 3. Alvarez, 4. Crawford, 5. Spence, 6. Usyk, 7. Bivol, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Haney, 10. Charlo
Poncher: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Spence, 5. Fury, 6. Bivol, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Stevenson, 9. Haney, 10. Charlo
Osuna: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Bivol, 4. Crawford, 5. Spence, 6. Alvarez, 7. Haney, 8. Charlo, 9. Stevenson, 10. Beterbiev
Woodyard: 1. Crawford, 2. Fury, 3. Spence, 4. Alvarez, 5. Haney, 6. Inoue, 7. Usyk, 8. Davis, 9. Stevenson, 10. Bivol
Dansby: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Haney, 5. Spence, 6. Crawford, 7. Fury, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Bivol, 10. Charlo
Moynihan: 1. Spence, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Alvarez, 5. Fury, 6. Usyk, 7. Bivol, 8. Haney, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Lomachenko
Pilatti: 1. Inoue, 2. Bivol, 3. Crawford, 4. Spence, 5. Usyk, 6. Fury, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Lomachenko, 9. Stevenson, 10. Charlo
Zirolli: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Spence, 5. Fury, 6. Usyk, 7. Stevenson, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Bivol, 10. Haney
Mascaro: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Spence, 4. Fury, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Alvarez, 7. Usyk, 8. Stevenson, 9. Lomachenko, 10. Haney
Freeman: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Spence, 4. Usyk, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Alvarez, 7. Stevenson, 8. Haney, 9. Bivol, 10. Lomachenko
ESPN experts’ poll
First place: Crawford (9), Inoue (6), Usyk (3), Spence (1), Alvarez (1)
Second place: Inoue (8), Crawford (6), Fury (2), Bivol (2), Spence (1), Alvarez (1)
Third place: Spence (6), Alvarez (4), Inoue (3), Usyk (3), Crawford (1), Fury (1), Bivol (1), Haney (1)
Fourth place: Usyk (5), Crawford (3), Spence (3), Alvarez (3), Fury (2), Bivol (2), Beterbiev (1), Haney (1)
Fifth place: Spence (7), Fury (3), Beterbiev (2), Alvarez (2), Bivol (2), Haney (2), Usyk (1), Inoue (1)
Sixth place: Alvarez (6), Usyk (5), Fury (3), Inoue (2), Bivol (2), Crawford (1), Spence (1),
Seventh place: Fury (4), Stevenson (4), Usyk (3), Bivol (3), Beterbiev (3), Spence (1), Haney (1), Lomachenko (1)
Eighth place: Beterbiev (6), Haney (3), Stevenson (3), Fury (2), Charlo (2), Alvarez (1), Davis (1), Lomachenko (1), Gonzalez (1)
Ninth place: Bivol (6), Haney (5), Stevenson (5), Davis (2), Beterbiev (1), Lomachenko (1)
10th place: Haney (5), Charlo (4), Lomachenko (3), Stevenson (2), Beterbiev (2), Bivol (1), Davis (1), Fulton (1)