Light heavyweight unified champion Artur Beterbiev defended his three world titles with an eighth-round TKO victory over Anthony Yarde on January 28 in London. It was Beterbiev’s 19th stoppage victory in 19 professional fights. He’s the only current champion with 100% KO accuracy.
However, for many of our panelists the victory wasn’t impressive enough to move him up on the pound-for-pound list. Beterbiev got hit, a lot, and Yarde was up in two of the three scorecards when the fight as stopped.
“It was another impressive win for Beterbiev, but not enough to leapfrog Errol Spence Jr., who’s defeated better competition,” ESPN boxing writer Mike Coppinger said about keeping Beterbiev at No. 8 on his list. “Beterbiev will need to face Bivol if he wants to move up in the ranks.”
Others, like ESPN writer Ben Baby, moved Beterbiev high on the list because while he gets hit, Beterbiev is still dominating.
“Sure, Beterbiev was down on the cards before he ended up stopping Yarde, but he has been the world’s top light heavyweight for a considerable amount of time and even in the midst of a challenge, he showed that he might not have an equal in the 175-pound division. It’s hard to argue that somebody is as dominant inside their division as Beterbiev.” Baby said.
Our panel of Timothy Bradley Jr., Michael Rothstein, Coppinger, Joe Tessitore, Teddy Atlas, Nick Parkinson, Andre Ward, Baby, Eric Raskin, Crystina Poncher, Michelle Joy Phelps, Eric Woodyard, Kel Dansby, Bernardo Osuna, 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 Feb. 2.
1. TERENCE CRAWFORD 
Previous ranking: No. 1
RECORD: 39-0, 30 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO6) David Avanesyan, Dec. 10
NEXT FIGHT:
2. NAOYA INOUE Previous ranking: No. 2
RECORD: 23-0, 20 KOs
DIVISION: Bantamweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO11) Paul Butler, Dec. 13
NEXT FIGHT: TBA vs. Stephen Fulton
3. OLEKSANDR USYK Previous ranking: No. 3
RECORD: 20-0, 13 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (SD12) Anthony Joshua, Aug. 20
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
4. ERROL SPENCE JR. Previous ranking: No. 4
RECORD: 28-0, 22 KOs
DIVISION: Welterweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO10) Yordenis Ugas, April 16
NEXT FIGHT: TBA vs. Keith Thurman
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. DMITRY BIVOL 
Previous ranking: No. 7
RECORD: 21-0, 11 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Gilberto Ramirez, Nov. 5
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
7. TYSON FURY 
Previous ranking: No. 6
RECORD: 33-0-1, 24 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO10) Derek Chisora, Dec. 3
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
8. ARTUR BETERBIEV Previous ranking: No. 8
RECORD: 19-0, 19 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO8) Anthony Yarde, Jan. 28
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
9. DEVIN HANEY Previous ranking: No. 9
RECORD: 29-0, 15 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) George Kambosos Jr., Oct. 16
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
10. SHAKUR STEVENSON Previous ranking: No. 10
RECORD: 19-0, 9 KOs
DIVISION: Junior lightweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Robson Conceicao, Sept. 23
NEXT FIGHT: April 8 vs. Shuichiro Yoshino
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: Gervonta Davis (8), Vasiliy Lomachenko (6), Jermell Charlo (4), Juan Francisco Estrada (3).
How our writers voted
Atlas: 1. Crawford, 2. Bivol, 3. Inoue, 4. Usyk, 5. Spence, 6. Fury, 7. Lomachenko, 8. Alvarez, 9. Davis, 10. Beterbiev
Bradley: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Spence, 7. Fury, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Stevenson, 10. Haney
Coppinger: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Fury, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Spence, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Haney, 10. Stevenson
Tessitore: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Spence, 6. Alvarez, 7. Stevenson, 8. Bivol, 9. Fury, 10. Haney
Parkinson: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Fury, 8. Spence, 9. Estrada, 10. Haney
Raskin: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Spence, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Fury, 7. Usyk, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Stevenson, 10. Davis
Ward: 1. Crawford, 2. Spence, 3. Inoue, 4. Usyk, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Stevenson, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Haney, 10. Estrada
Baby: 1. Inoue, 2. Usyk, 3. Crawford, 4. Spence, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Fury, 8. Bivol, 9. Haney, 10. Stevenson
Rothstein: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Fury, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Usyk, 7. Spence, 8. Haney, 9. Stevenson, 10. Davis
Phelps: 1. Alvarez, 2. Crawford, 3. Spence, 4. Usyk, 5. Haney, 6. Fury 7. Inoue, 8. Bivol, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Charlo
Rodriguez: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Fury, 4. Alvarez, 5. Spence, 6. Usyk, 7. Bivol, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Stevenson, 10. Davis
Poncher: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Spence, 6. Fury, 7. Bivol, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Stevenson, 10. Haney
Osuna: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Bivol, 4. Crawford, 5. Spence, 6. Alvarez, 7. Haney, 8. Fury, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Charlo
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. Crawford, 5. Fury, 6. Haney, 7. Spence, 8. Bivol, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Charlo
Moynihan: 1. Crawford, 2. Spence, 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. Fury, 6. Usyk, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Haney, 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. Alvarez, 5. Fury, 6. Usyk, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Bivol, 9. Stevenson, 10. Lomachenko
Freeman: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Spence, 8. Stevenson, 9. Haney, 10. Fury
ESPN experts’ poll
First place: Inoue (9), Crawford (8), Usyk (2), Alvarez (1)
Second place: Crawford (8), Inoue (6), Spence (2), Bivol (2), Usyk (1), Fury (1)
Third place: Usyk (6), Spence (4), Inoue (3), Alvarez (2), Fury (2), Crawford (1), Bivol (1), Beterbiev (1)
Fourth place: Alvarez (5), Bivol (4), Crawford (3), Usyk (3), Spence (2), Beterbiev (2), Fury (1)
Fifth place: Spence (6), Fury (4), Alvarez (5), Haney (2), Bivol (3)
Sixth place: Usyk (5), Alvarez (5), Fury (5), Beterbiev (2), Inoue (1), Spence (1), Haney (1)
Seventh place: Spence (4), Usyk (3), Bivol (3), Fury (3), Stevenson (3), Inoue (1), Beterbiev (1), Haney (1), Lomachenko (1)
Eighth place: Beterbiev (7), Bivol (5), Haney (3), Spence (1), Alvarez (1), Fury (1), Stevenson (1), Davis (1)
Ninth place: Stevenson (8), Beterbiev (4), Haney (4), Bivol (1), Fury (1), Davis (1), Estrada (1)
10th place: Haney (5), Charlo (4), Davis (3), Stevenson (2), Lomachenko (2), Bivol (1), Fury (1), Beterbiev (1), Estrada (1)
