Oleksandr Usyk delivered another impressive performance in a split decision victory over Anthony Joshua on Saturday to retain the WBA, WBO and IBF heavyweight world titles. He also added the vacant Ring belt, making him the lineal champion in the division.
This was a rematch of Usyk’s unanimous decision win over Joshua in September 2021.
With the victory, Usyk (20-0, 13 KOs), of Ukraine, picks up two spots in ESPN’s pound-for-pound rankings, leapfrogging Canelo Alvarez and fellow heavyweight champion Tyson Fury in moving to No. 4, behind just Terence Crawford, Naoya Inoue and Errol Spence Jr.
ESPN writer Mike Coppinger moved Usyk up one spot on his list, citing how the champion responded after he was hurt by Joshua’s attack in Round 9.
“I probably undervalued Usyk following his win over AJ last September, but after the way he responded to adversity in Round 10, it’s impossible to deny Usyk’s greatness,” Coppinger said. “The top seven or eight fighters on this list are interchangeable, for the most part. Some big fights this fall should go a long way toward creating separation.”
Fury, the WBC champion, said he was retiring after his TKO win over Dillian Whyte in April. But following Usyk’s victory, Fury said that he’s ready to fight Usyk to finally crown an undisputed champ for the first time in the four-belt era.
That fight could happen sooner than later, according to Fury’s promoter, Frank Warren.
“[Fury] and Usyk would be a really good fight,” Warren told the BBC on Monday. “It’s a fight that I think will be made because both teams would like to see that happen.
“Usyk said after the fight that it’s the only fight he’s interested in, and it’s certainly the same case with Tyson. It’s just a matter of where it will generate the most income, because it’s a unique fight, a historic fight.”
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, Bernardo Osuna, Eric Woodyard, Claudia Trejos, Kel Dansby, Bernardo Pilatti, Charles Moynihan, Salvador Rodriguez, Carlos Irusta, Mike Mascaro, Jim Zirolli and Aladdin Freeman share their votes.
More rankings: Divisional rankings and ESPN’s women’s pound-for-pound rankings.
Note: Results are through Aug. 24.
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: TBA
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: TBA
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. 6
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. 4
RECORD: 57-2-2, 39 KOs
DIVISION: Super middleweight (undisputed champion)
LAST FIGHT: L (UD12) Dmitry Bivol, May 7
NEXT FIGHT: Sept. 17 vs. Gennadiy Golovkin
6. TYSON FURY Previous ranking: No. 5
RECORD: 32-0-1, 23 KOs
DIVISION: Heavyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (TKO6) Dillian Whyte, April 23
NEXT FIGHT: TBA
7. 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: TBA
8. DMITRY BIVOL Previous ranking: No. 8
RECORD: 20-0, 11 KOs
DIVISION: Light heavyweight (champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Canelo Alvarez, May 7
NEXT FIGHT: Nov. 5 vs. Gilberto Ramirez
9. VASILIY LOMACHENKO Previous ranking: No. 9
RECORD: 16-2, 11 KOs
DIVISION: Lightweight
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Richard Commey, Dec. 11
NEXT FIGHT: TBA vs. Jamaine Ortiz
10. SHAKUR STEVENSON Previous ranking: No. 10
RECORD: 18-0, 9 KOs
DIVISION: Junior lightweight (unified champion)
LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Oscar Valdez, April 30
NEXT FIGHT: Sept. 23 vs. Robson Conceicao
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: Devin Haney (19), Gervonta Davis (14), Jermell Charlo (9), Juan Francisco Estrada (4), Josh Taylor (1), Gennadiy Golovkin (1), Stephen Fulton (1).
How our writers voted
Atlas: 1. Crawford, 2. Bivol, 3. Inoue, 4. Usyk, 5. Spence, 6. Alvarez, 7. Lomachenko, 8. Fury, 9. Davis, 10. Beterbiev
Bradley: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Spence, 4. Alvarez, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Fury, 7. Usyk, 8. Stevenson, 9. Charlo, 10. Haney
Coppinger: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Fury, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Usyk, 7. Spence, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Lomachenko, 10. Stevenson
Tessitore: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Spence, 7. Lomachenko, 8. Stevenson, 9. Fury, 10. Bivol
Parkinson: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Alvarez, 4. Usyk, 5. Spence, 6. Fury, 7. Bivol, 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. Alvarez, 6. Bivol, 7. Stevenson, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Haney, 10. Davis
Baby: 1. Crawford, 2. Alvarez, 3. Usyk, 4. Inoue, 5. Spence, 6. Lomachenko, 7. Fury, 8. Haney, 9. Stevenson, 10. Fulton
Rothstein: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Fury, 4. Alvarez, 5. Spence, 6. Usyk, 7. Lomachenko, 8. Bivol, 9. Davis, 10. Stevenson
Phelps: 1. Crawford, 2. Spence, 3. Alvarez, 4. Inoue, 5. Usyk, 6. Fury, 7. Charlo, 8. Haney, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Bivol
Osuna: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Spence, 5. Alvarez, 6. Bivol, 7. Charlo, 8. Stevenson, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Haney
Rodriguez: 1. Inoue, 2. Fury, 3. Usyk, 4. Crawford, 5. Spence, 6. Alvarez, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Bivol, 9. Lomachenko, 10. Charlo
Poncher: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Spence, 5. Fury, 6. Usyk, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Stevenson, 9. Charlo, 10. Haney
Woodyard: 1. Crawford, 2. Fury, 3. Spence, 4. Alvarez, 5. Inoue, 6. Usyk, 7. Davis, 8. Haney, 9. Stevenson, 10. Taylor
Trejos: 1. Crawford, 2. Spence, 3. Usyk, 4. Inoue, 5. Fury, 6. Alvarez, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Lomachenko, 9. Stevenson, 10. Davis
Dansby: 1. Usyk, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Alvarez, 5. Spence, 6. Fury, 7. Haney, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Charlo, 10. Stevenson
Moynihan: 1. Spence, 2. Crawford, 3. Inoue, 4. Fury, 5. Usyk, 6. Alvarez, 7. Lomachenko, 8. Bivol, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Golovkin
Pilatti: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Spence, 4. Usyk, 5. Fury, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Alvarez, 8. Davis, 9. Lomachenko, 10. Stevenson
Zirolli: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Spence, 5. Fury, 6. Usyk, 7. Stevenson, 8. Beterbiev, 9. Lomachenko, 10. Haney
Mascaro: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Spence, 4. Alvarez, 5. Fury, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Usyk, 8. Stevenson, 9. Lomachenko, 10. Bivol
Freeman: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Spence, 4. Alvarez, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Usyk, 7. Fury, 8. Stevenson, 9. Haney, 10. Lomachenko
Irusta: 1. Usyk, 2. Fury, 3. Inoue, 4. Spence, 5. Crawford, 6. Bivol, 7. Alvarez, 8. Charlo, 9. Taylor, 10. Lomachenko
ESPN experts’ poll
First place: Crawford (12), Inoue (6), Usyk (3), Spence (1)
Second place: Crawford (8), Inoue (6), Spence (3), Fury (3), Alvarez (1), Bivol (1)
Third place: Inoue (6), Spence (6), Usyk (4), Alvarez (4), Fury (2)
Fourth place: Alvarez (7), Spence (4), Usyk (4), Inoue (3), Fury (2), Crawford (1), Bivol (1)
Fifth place: Spence (6), Fury (5), Alvarez (3), Usyk (3), Beterbiev (3), Crawford (1), Inoue (1)
Sixth place: Usyk (6), Alvarez (4), Fury (4), Bivol (4), Beterbiev (2), Spence (1), Lomachenko (1)
Seventh place: Lomachenko (4), Alvarez (3), Beterbiev (3), Usyk (2), Fury (2), Stevenson (2), Charlo (2), Bivol (1), Haney (1), Davis (1), Estrada (1)
Eighth place: Beterbiev (6), Stevenson (6), Bivol (3), Haney (3), Fury (1), Lomachenko (1), Davis (1), Charlo (1)
Ninth place: Lomachenko (6), Stevenson (4), Beterbiev (3), Haney (3), Charlo (3), Davis (2), Fury (1)
10th place: Haney (4), Stevenson (4), Bivol (3), Lomachenko (3), Davis (2), Taylor (2), Charlo (1), Beterbiev (1), Golovkin (1), Fulton (1).
Credit: ESPN
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