Oleksandr Usyk solidified his No. 1 spot in the ESPN pound-for-pound men’s boxing rankings with a unanimous decision victory over Tyson Fury on Dec. 21 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in a rematch of Usyk’s split decision win in May. This time, all three judges agreed and scored the fight 116-112.
Usyk (23-0, 14 KOs) climbed to the No. 1 spot after his first victory over Fury, making him the first undisputed heavyweight champion in the four-belt era. And with the win in the rematch, Usyk has shown he’s also the best heavyweight of his generation. He has two victories apiece against Fury and Anthony Joshua and one against Daniel Dubois in his past five fights.
Fury (34-2-1, 24 KOs) still has a lot left in his tank and could beat many other heavyweights in a tough division. However, he remains outside the pound-for-pound top 10.
After the fight, Fury, 36, said he felt confident he had won. However, all three judges gave the nod to Usyk in six of the last seven rounds.
“I thought I won that fight again. … I thought I’ve won both fights,” Fury said during the postfight news conference. “But then again, I’ve gone home with two losses on my record now, so there’s not much I can do about it.
“It is what it is. I’m not going to cry over spilled milk, it’s happened now. I know boxing, I’ve been in it all my life. You can’t change no decisions, but I’ll just always feel a little bit hard done by. Not a little bit, actually — a lot.”
Usyk, 37, has many options to maintain his No. 1 spot. He could rematch Dubois — who now owns the IBF belt Usyk vacated before the Fury rematch — to have a chance of regaining his status as an undisputed champion, or he could fight Fury in a trilogy fight. Usyk has hinted at the possibility of even moving down to cruiserweight, where he reigned as undisputed champion in 2018.
No. 2-ranked Terence Crawford has no fight scheduled, but he’s hoping to face Canelo Alvarez in 2025. Naoya Inoue, No. 3 on the list, will be back in the ring Jan. 24 against Sam Goodman. Crawford and Inoue have a chance to make a case for the top spot, but they need impressive victories against top opponents.
Here’s the rest of the top 10 and how our panelists voted.
Our panel of Mike Coppinger, Timothy Bradley, Joe Tessitore, Teddy Atlas, Nick Parkinson, Eric Raskin, Michelle Joy Phelps, Claudia Trejos, Bernardo Osuna, Crystina Poncher, Eric Woodyard, Bernardo Pilatti, Charles Moynihan, Salvador Rodriguez, Jim Zirolli, Michael Mascaro, Aladdin Freeman, Victor Lopez and Damian Delgado Averhoff shares its votes.
More ESPN rankings: divisional rankings and women’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Note: Results are through Dec. 27.
1. OLEKSANDR USYK     Previous ranking: No. 1
RECORD: 23-0, 14 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Tyson Fury, Dec. 21
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
2. TERENCE CRAWFORD  
  Previous ranking: No. 2
RECORD: 40-0, 31 KOs
DIVISION: Junior middleweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Israil Madrimov, Aug. 3
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
3. NAOYA INOUE     Previous ranking: Tied for No. 3
RECORD: 28-0, 25 KOs
DIVISION: Junior featherweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO7) Luis TJ Doheny, Sept. 3
NEXT FIGHT: Jan. 24 vs. Sam Goodman
4. ARTUR BETERBIEV     Previous ranking: No. 4
RECORD: 21-0, 20 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (MD12) Dmitry Bivol, Oct. 12
NEXT FIGHT: Feb. 22 vs. Dmitry Bivol
5. CANELO ALVAREZ     Previous ranking: No. 5
RECORD: 62-2-2, 39 KOs
DIVISION: Super middleweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Edgar Berlanga, Sept. 14
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
6. DMITRY BIVOL     Previous ranking: No. 6
RECORD: 23-1, 12 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight
LAST FIGHT: L (MD12) Artur Beterbiev, Oct. 12
NEXT FIGHT: Feb. 22 vs. Artur Beterbiev
7. JESSE “BAM” RODRIGUEZ     Previous ranking: No. 7
RECORD: 21-0, 14 KOs
DIVISION: Junior bantamweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO3) Pedro Guevara, Nov. 9
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
8. GERVONTA DAVIS     Previous ranking: No. 8
RECORD: 30-0, 28 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (KO8) Frank Martin, June 15
NEXT FIGHT: March 1 vs. Lamont Roach
9. SHAKUR STEVENSON     Previous ranking: No. 9
RECORD: 22-0, 10 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Artem Harutyunyan, July 6
NEXT FIGHT: Feb. 22 vs. Floyd Schofield
10. JUNTO NAKATANI     Previous ranking: No. 10
RECORD: 29-0, 22 KOs
DIVISION: Bantamweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO6) Tasana Salapat, Oct. 14
NEXT FIGHT: Feb. 24 vs. David Cuellar
The formula
The rankings are based on a descending points system, with a first-place vote awarding 10 points, a second-place vote awarding nine points and so on. A tie goes to the fighter with the highest ranking, then the one with the most votes at that ranking.
Others receiving votes: Teofimo Lopez Jr. (17), David Benavidez (7), Vasiliy Lomachenko (5), Tyson Fury (3).
How our writers voted
Bradley: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3: Inoue, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Alvarez, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Davis, 8. Bivol, 9. Lopez, 10. Stevenson
Coppinger: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Davis, 9. Nakatani, 10. Fury
Atlas: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Davis, 7. Lomachenko, 8. Alvarez, 9. Rodriguez, 10. Nakatani
Tessitore: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Beterbiev, 4. Inoue, 5. Rodriguez, 6. Nakatani, 7. Bivol, 8. Alvarez, 9. Stevenson, 10. Davis
Parkinson: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Bivol, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Alvarez, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Davis, 9. Nakatani, 10. Lomachenko
Raskin: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Alvarez, 8. Davis, 9. Stevenson, 10. Benavidez
Poncher: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Alvarez, 6. Bivol, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Davis, 9. Stevenson, 10. Nakatani
Osuna: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Lopez, 9. Stevenson, 10. Davis
Phelps: 1. Usyk, 2. Alvarez, 3. Crawford, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Inoue, 6. Bivol, 7. Lopez, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Davis, 10. Fury
Rodriguez: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Alvarez, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Bivol, 8. Davis, 9. Stevenson, 10. Nakatani
Trejos: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Alvarez, 6. Bivol, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Davis, 9. Stevenson, 10. Nakatani
Woodyard: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Davis, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Stevenson, 8. Lopez, 9. Benavidez, 10. Bivol
Moynihan: 1. Inoue, 2. Usyk, 3. Crawford, 4. Alvarez, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Davis, 8. Stevenson, 9. Benavidez, 10. Rodriguez
Pilatti: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Davis, 8. Nakatani, 9. Benavidez, 10. Fury
Zirolli: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Stevenson, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Alvarez, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Lopez, 10. Nakatani
Mascaro: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Rodriguez, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Alvarez, 8. Davis, 9. Lopez, 10. Nakatani
Freeman: 1.Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Rodriguez, 6. Bivol, 7. Nakatani, 8. Alvarez, 9. Davis, 10. Stevenson
Lopez: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Crawford, 4. Alvarez, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Davis, 9. Stevenson, 10. Nakatani
Delgado Averhof: 1. Usyk, 2. Inoue, 3. Beterbiev, 4. Crawford, 5. Alvarez, 6. Rodriguez, 7. Davis, 8. Bivol, 9. Stevenson, 10. Lopez
ESPN experts’ poll
First place: Usyk (15), Crawford (2), Inoue (2)
Second place: Inoue (9), Crawford (8), Usyk (1), Alvarez (1)
Third place: Crawford (8), Inoue (6), Usyk (3), Beterbiev (2)
Fourth place: Beterbiev (11), Alvarez (3), Crawford (1), Inoue (1), Bivol (1), Rodriguez (1), Stevenson (1)
Fifth place: Beterbiev (5), Alvarez (5), Bivol (5), Rodriguez (2), Inoue (1), Davis (1)
Sixth place: Bivol (8), Rodriguez (5), Alvarez (3), Beterbiev (1), Davis (1), Nakatani (1)
Seventh place: Rodriguez (6), Davis (4), Alvarez (3), Bivol (2), Stevenson (1), Nakatani (1), Lopez (1), Lomachenko (1)
Eighth place: Davis (8), Alvarez (3), Bivol (2), Rodriguez (2), Lopez (2), Stevenson (1), Nakatani (1)
Ninth place: Stevenson (8), Lopez (3), Benavidez (3), Davis (2), Nakatani (2), Rodriguez (1)
10th place: Nakatani (7), Fury (3), Davis (2), Stevenson (2), Bivol (1), Rodriguez (1), Lopez (1), Benavidez (1), Lomachenko (1)
