RIYADH SEASON: ARTHUR BETERBIEV VS. DIMTRY BIVOL | FIGHT HIGHLIGHTS

 

BOXING POUND-FOR-POUND RANKINGS: DOWN AND OUT; WHO REPLACES DEVIN HANEY IN THE TOP 10?

Devin Haney, above, is out of the top 10 after losing to Ryan Garcia on April 20. Al Bello/Getty Images

 In one of the most entertaining fights between two of boxing's young stars this year, Ryan Garcia defeated Devin Haney by majority decision Saturday night at a packed Barclays Center in New York City.

Garcia (25-1, 20 KOs) entered the fight surrounded by controversy, erratic comments and questions about his readiness and fitness to fight. To top that, Garcia was 3.2 pounds over the weight limit the day before the bout.

But as soon as the bell rang, Garcia showed his speed and power and wobbled Haney with his trademark left hook to the chin. Haney recovered well, and won the next four rounds in all three judges' scorecards, but Garcia took over the fight in Rounds 6 and 7, connecting 28 power punches while Haney only landed five. Garcia outlanded Haney the rest of the way 50 to 34 and knocked him down three times (Rounds 7, 10 and 11).

"I shouldn't have put too much pressure on myself to stop him, because every time I hurt him, I went crazy and I couldn't stop him," Garcia said after the fight. "I think the ref [Harvey Dock] should've stopped the fight. [Haney] was really hurt. I felt bad, I even looked at [Bill Haney, Devin's father and trainer] to stop the fight."

The loss sends Haney out of the top 10 from his previous spot at No. 6, opening the door for Jesse "Bam" Rodriguez to make his debut in ESPN's P4P rankings. Garcia received a few votes but not enough yet to crack the top 10.

"After the way Garcia was able to break through Haney's defense, and the tremendous power he displayed with three knockdowns, Garcia cracks my top 10," ESPN boxing writer Mike Coppinger, who ranked Garcia at No. 9 on his list, said. "Haney looked untouchable against Regis Prograis. And while Garcia had a weight advantage, he still was able to land flush on Haney's chin with surprising frequency."

Timothy Bradley Jr., a two-division champion, current ESPN boxing analyst and member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame, left Haney out of his list after the loss.

"Haney was beaten by a fighter who admittedly was drinking and smoking weeks out before their match," Bradley said. "Someone who was out partying nights before their battle. Someone that has never participated in a championship contest. Haney is talented but is no longer a P4P fighter at the moment."

Our panel of Mike Coppinger, Timothy Bradley Jr., Joe Tessitore, Teddy Atlas, Nick Parkinson, Eric Raskin, Michelle Joy Phelps, Claudia Trejos, Bernardo Osuna, Eric Woodyard, Bernardo Pilatti, Charles Moynihan, Salvador Rodriguez, Jim Zirolli, Michael Mascaro, Aladdin Freeman, Victor Lopez and Damian Delgado Averhoff, shares its votes.

1. TERENCE CRAWFORD     Previous ranking: No. 1

RECORD: 40-0, 31 KOs

DIVISION: Welterweight (undisputed champion)

LAST FIGHT: W (TKO9) Errol Spence Jr., July 29

NEXT FIGHT: Aug. 3 vs. Israil Madrimov

2. NAOYA INOUE     Previous ranking: No. 2

RECORD: 26-0, 23 KOs

DIVISION: Junior featherweight (undisputed champion)

LAST FIGHT: W (KO10) Marlon Tapales, Dec. 26

NEXT FIGHT: May 6 vs. Luis Nery

3. OLEKSANDR USYK     Previous ranking: No. 3

RECORD: 21-0, 14 KOs

DIVISION: Heavyweight (unified champion)

LAST FIGHT: W (TKO9) Daniel Dubois, Aug. 26

NEXT FIGHT: May 18 vs. Tyson Fury

4. CANELO ALVAREZ     Previous ranking: No. 4

RECORD: 60-2-2, 39 KOs

DIVISION: Super middleweight (undisputed champion)

LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Jermell Charlo, Sept. 30

NEXT FIGHT: May 4 vs. Jaime Munguia

5. DMITRY BIVOL     Previous ranking: No. 5

RECORD: 22-0, 11 KOs

DIVISION: Light heavyweight (champion)

LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Lyndon Arthur, Dec. 23

NEXT FIGHT: June 1 vs. Artur Beterbiev

6. ARTUR BETERBIEV     Previous ranking: No. 7

RECORD: 20-0, 20 KOs

DIVISION: Light heavyweight (unified champion)

LAST FIGHT: W (TKO7) Callum Smith, Jan. 13

NEXT FIGHT: June 1 vs. Dmitry Bivol

7. GERVONTA DAVIS     Previous ranking: No. 8

RECORD: 29-0, 27 KOs

DIVISION: Lightweight

LAST FIGHT: W (KO7) Ryan Garcia, April 22

NEXT FIGHT: June 15 vs. Frank Martin

8. SHAKUR STEVENSON     Previous ranking: No. 9

RECORD: 21-0, 10 KOs

DIVISION: Lightweight champion

LAST FIGHT: W (UD12) Edwin De Los Santos, Nov. 16

NEXT FIGHT: July 6 vs. Artem Harutyunyan

9. TYSON FURY     Previous ranking: No. 10

RECORD: 34-0-1, 24 KOs

DIVISION: Heavyweight (champion)

LAST FIGHT: W (SD10) Francis Ngannou, Oct. 28

NEXT FIGHT: May 18 vs. Oleksandr Usyk

10. JESSE "BAM" RODRIGUEZ     Previous ranking: Not ranked

RECORD: 19-0, 12 KOs

DIVISION: Flyweight (champion)

LAST FIGHT: W (TKO9) Sunny Edwards, Dec. 16

NEXT FIGHT: June 29 vs. Juan Francisco Estrada

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. (20), David Benavidez (11), Vasiliy Lomachenko (5), Devin Haney (4), Ryan Garcia (3), Emanuel Navarrete (3), Errol Spence Jr. (2), Junto Nakatani (2).

How our writers voted

Atlas: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Bivol, 4. Usyk, 5. Davis, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Lomachenko, 8. Alvarez, 9.Benavidez, 10. Haney

Bradley: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3: Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Stevenson, 8. Davis, 9. Rodriguez, 10. Lopez Jr.

Coppinger: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Davis, 8. Fury, 9. Garcia, 10. Haney

Tessitore: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Stevenson, 7. Alvarez, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Lopez, 10. Davis

Parkinson: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Alvarez, 4. Usyk, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Davis, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Nakatani, 10. Lopez

Raskin: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Bivol, 4. Alvarez, 5. Usyk, 6. Stevenson, 7. Davis, 8. Benavidez, 9. Beterbiev, 10. Rodriguez

Trejos: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Davis, 8. Stevenson, 9. Fury, 10. Garcia

Phelps: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Davis, 8. Stevenson, 9. Fury, 10. Garcia

Osuna: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Stevenson, 9. Lopez, 10. Davis

Rodriguez: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Alvarez, 4. Usyk, 5. Bivol, 6. Davis, 7. Beterbiev, 8. Fury, 9. Rodriguez, 10. Stevenson

Woodyard: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Davis, 5. Fury, 6. Lopez, 7. Usyk, 8. Stevenson, 9. Bivol, 10. Beterbiev

Moynihan: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Alvarez, 4. Usyk, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Bivol, 7. Davis, 8. Fury, 9. Spence, 10. Stevenson

Pilatti: 1. Inoue, 2. Crawford, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Beterbiev, 6. Davis, 7. Benavidez, 8. Navarrete, 9. Rodriguez, 10. Fury

Zirolli: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Stevenson, 4. Alvarez, 5. Usyk, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Bivol, 8. Lopez, 9. Benavidez, 10. Rodriguez

Mascaro: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Rodriguez, 8. Lopez, 9. Stevenson, 10. Haney

Freeman: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Beterbiev, 5. Bivol, 6. Alvarez, 7. Stevenson, 8. Rodriguez, 9. Davis, 10. Lomachenko

Lopez: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Alvarez, 5. Bivol, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Davis, 8. Fury, 9. Stevenson, 10. Rodriguez

Delgado Averhof: 1. Crawford, 2. Inoue, 3. Usyk, 4. Bivol, 5. Alvarez, 6. Beterbiev, 7. Davis, 8. Fury, 9. Rodriguez, 10. Stevenson

ESPN experts' poll

First place: Crawford (15), Inoue (3)

Second place: Inoue (14), Crawford (3), Alvarez (1)

Third place: Usyk (10), Alvarez (4), Bivol (2), Inoue (1), Stevenson (1)

Fourth place: Bivol (5), Usyk (4), Alvarez (4), Beterbiev (4), Davis (1)

Fifth place: Bivol (7), Alvarez (4), Beterbiev (3), Usyk (2), Davis (1), Fury (1)

Sixth place: Beterbiev (8), Bivol (2), Alvarez (2), Davis (2), Stevenson (2), Fury (1), Lopez (1)

Seventh place: Davis (7), Usyk (2), Stevenson (2), Rodriguez (2), Bivol (1), Alvarez (1), Beterbiev (1), Benavidez (1), Lomachenko (1)

Eighth place: Fury (5), Stevenson (3), Rodriguez (3), Lopez (3), Alvarez (1), Davis (1), Benavidez (1), Navarrete (1)

Ninth place: Rodriguez (4), Davis (2), Stevenson (2), Lopez (2), Benavidez (2), Bivol (1), Beterbiev (1), Fury (1), Spence (1), Garcia (1), Nakatani (1)

10th place: Haney (4), Stevenson (3), Rodriguez (3), Davis (2), Lopez (2), Beterbiev (1), Fury (1), Lomachenko (1), Garcia (1)

- ESPN 

TOP 100 MEN BOXERS: CANELO, WILDER AND OTHER TOP FIGHTERS

Terence Crawford, Canelo Alvarez, Deontay Wilder and Naoya Inoue are some of the top 100 fighters in boxing. Illustration by ESPN

Five of ESPN's top 10 heavyweights -- three of them former champions -- compete Saturday in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on one of the most stacked cards in years (ESPN+ PPV, 11 a.m. ET).

Anthony Joshua meets Otto Wallin in the main event while Deontay Wilder faces Joseph Parker in the co-feature. If both Joshua and Wilder win -- no foregone conclusion -- they have a deal in place to finally meet on March 9 in Riyadh, sources told ESPN.

Also on the undercard: ESPN's No. 1 light heavyweight, Dmitry Bivol, and No. 1 cruiserweight, Jai Opetaia.

No. 8 heavyweight Filip Hrgovic will compete as well on Saturday. There are also talented heavyweight boxers on this eight-fight card that sit just outside ESPN's rankings, like Frank Sanchez, Arslanbek Makhmudov and Daniel Dubois, who meets Jarrell "Big Baby" Miller.

The following week, Naoya "The Monster" Inoue attempts to become an undisputed champion in a second weight class in 12 months with a fight against Marlon Tapales on Tuesday in Tokyo (ESPN+, 3 a.m. ET).

But where do they all rank among the top 100 boxers in the world?

The age-old pound-for-pound debate rages on year after year. Just who is the baddest man on the planet?

Fighters jockey for position in their respective weight classes, but they're also measured against each other time and again. Those who can rack up titles in multiple weight classes sometimes are pushed ahead of others during these water-cooler arguments across the world, and really, it's impossible to have a consensus No. 1 no matter who's competing at the time.

This is all subjective. After all, most of the fighters on this list will never face each other, sometimes even when they're competing in the same weight class. That's the reality of today's fractured boxing landscape.

But we can still try to determine who deserves to stand above the rest across global boxing, taking into account accomplishments, current form, talent level, potential, and most of all, the vaunted eye test. Some fighters just look the part.

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