Check out my rankings within each division by clicking on the links below. If there is a lineal champion in a weight class, he is ranked No. 1.
For a list of the current champions in all weight classes, click here.
Note: Results through Dec. 18. In an effort to provide the most up-to-date rankings, ESPN.com's division-by-division boxing rankings will be updated every Tuesday.
More Divisional Rankings
Heavyweight - Cruiserweight - Light heavyweight - Super middleweight
Middleweight - Junior middleweight - Welterweight - Junior welterweight
Lightweight - Junior lightweight - Featherweight - Junior featherweight
Bantamweight - Junior bantamweight - Flyweight - Junior flyweight/Strawweight
MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION (UP TO 160 POUNDS)
1. Gennady Golovkin (37-0-1)
After nearly two years of waiting for the huge fight he had wanted for so long, unified world champion Golovkin finally got the opportunity to face Canelo Alvarez in the most significant fight of 2017. They finally met in a mega HBO PPV event on Sept. 16 and delivered the great fight we all hoped for. Most thought Golovkin did enough to clearly win a close fight, but it turned out to be a split draw with one judge, Adalaide Byrd, rendering a horrific scorecard that read 118-110 for Alvarez, which did not reflect even close to the reality of the fight. Nonetheless, GGG retained his title for the 19th time and moved within one defense of tying Bernard Hopkins' all-time division record. A rematch with Alvarez is very likely to be made for May 5, and it will be anther good fight. Hopefully, there will be a knockout or better judging next time.
Next: TBA
2. Canelo Alvarez (49-1-2)
Alvarez, the face of boxing in the post-Floyd Mayweather/Manny Pacquiao era, made unified middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin wait for nearly two years to face him but when they finally met on Sept. 16 in a massive event fans had looked forward to, and delivered the classic fight we all expected. Alvarez, in his first fight at 160 pounds though he had won the middleweight title at a catch weight of 155 pounds, fought well but most thought he lost a close decision. However, the fight was ruled a split draw, paving the way for a likely rematch next year. It will be another massive fight.
Next: TBA
3. Daniel Jacobs (33-2)
Jacobs defended his secondary title four times before squaring off with unified world champion Gennady Golovkin in a much-anticipated mandatory fight on March 18. Jacobs was a huge underdog, but did himself proud. Although he lost a decision in a very good fight, it was very close and he ended Golovkin's 23-fight knockout streak to prove he belongs among the elite fighters in the world. If ever a fighter can win by losing, Jacobs did just that. He then signed with promoter Matchroom Boxing and HBO and had his first bout of those deals on Nov. 11, a one-sided decision against Luis Arias. Jacobs is expected back in April.
Next: TBA
4. Billy Joe Saunders (26-0)
England's Saunders made his second title defense against Willie Monroe Jr., who previously had been drilled by Gennady Golovkin in a world title fight, on Sept. 16. Saunders won a unanimous decision in a dreadful fight. But on Dec. 16, Saunders traveled to the Quebec home turf of former titlist and mandatory challenger David Lemieux and put on an absolute clinic in a one-sided unanimous decision to retain his belt for the third time and set himself up for a possible fight against the expected May 5 rematch between Golovkin and Canelo Alvarez.
Next: TBA
5. Sergiy Derevyanchenko (11-0)
Born in Ukraine and based in New York, Derevyanchenko was a sensational amateur who has moved quickly in the pros. In July 2016, he knocked out former titlist Sam Soliman in the second round, followed with a fifth-round knockout of previously undefeated Kemahl Russell in March and then on Aug. 25 beat down tough Tureano Johnson. Derevyanchenko stopped Johnson in the 12th round of a title eliminator to earn a mandatory title shot against the winner of the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin fight.
Next: TBA
6. Jermall Charlo (26-0)
Houston's Charlo made three junior middleweight title defenses and then vacated his belt in order to move up to middleweight. He made his debut at 160 pounds in a world title eliminator July 29 on the Mikey Garcia-Adrien Broner undercard and destroyed the hobbled and wildly overmatched Jorge Sebastian Heiland, dropping him twice and knocking him out in the fourth round to become one of Gennady Golovkin's mandatory challengers.
Next: TBA
7. David Lemieux (38-4)
After losing by one-sided eighth-round knockout to Gennady Golovkin in an October 2015 title unification bout, Lemieux, a big slugger from Montreal, won four fights in a row to earn the mandatory position to challenge England's Billy Joe Saunders for his title on Dec. 16. Saunders traveled to Lemieux's home area in Quebec and boxed circles around Lemieux in a laughably one-sided decision. Back to the drawing board for Lemieux.
Next: TBA
8. Royota Murata (13-1)
Murata, a 2012 Olympic gold medalist for Japan, faced France's Hassan N'Dam for a vacant secondary title on May 20 in a major fight in Japan. Murata dropped N'Dam with a clean right hand in the fourth round and dominated the fight yet came up on the wrong side of a horrible split decision that ranks as one of the biggest scoring travesties in recent years. He won the fight and got absolutely robbed. They met again in Tokyo on Oct. 22 and Murata battered N'Dam into a seventh-round knockout to claim the belt. Murata will make his first defense in the spring in Japan, and if all goes well, the plan is for him to defend against Esquiva Falcao (19-0) in Las Vegas on a Top Rank ESPN card in a rematch of the very close Olympic final.
Next: TBA
9. Demetrius Andrade (25-0)
Andrade, a two-time junior middleweight titlist, has had long stretches of inactivity due to his own questionable business decisions, but he appears back on track. He moved up to middleweight on Oct. 21 and dominated the much taller Alantez Fox to hand him his first defeat by one-sided decision on HBO. It wasn't too exciting but that was mainly because Fox was in survival mode. Andrade has tremendous talent and hopes to get into the mix with some of the bigger names in the division. He could return to HBO in early 2018.
Next: TBA
10. Andy Lee (35-3-1)
Ireland's Lee, a former titleholder, lost his belt to Saunders by majority decision in December 2015 and decided to take a break during 2016. But Lee returned March 18 on the Gennady Golovkin-Daniel Jacobs undercard and shook off the rust with a one-sided decision win against KeAndrae Leatherwood. He had been mentioned as a possible fall opponent for Daniel Jacobs but that didn't pan out and Lee's inactivity means he will have had only one fight since the loss to Saunders.
Next: TBA